management

BUSN 2044 Managing Diversity

Assignment 1 – Individual Essay

Individual Essay and Panel Presentation: 25% Essay length: 1000 words (15%) – 18th April 2016. Panel discussion: 10 Minutes (10%) – 3rd May 2016

Students choose an essay topic from the list below. Students are to research the academic and

practitioner (grey literature) to prepare a 1000-word essay which examines the following:

1. Why is this topic a diversity management issue? Tip: Use the academic literature to answer

this.

2. Discuss up to three current/contemporary workplace practices aimed at managing this

aspect of diversity? Tip: use real-life examples from organisations to support your

argument. It might be where you work or from an organisation you have researched in the

media or on an organisation’s website.

3. What are the strengths and weaknesses of these practices? Tip: Use the academic

literature and lecture content to answer this.

Students will then discuss their essay findings in an interactive panel discussion with other

students who researched that same essay topic, facilitated by the lecturer.

The task

1. This assignment is conducted individually.

2. Students need to produce a 1000 word essay.

3. At least 4 primary refereed academic sources should be used that are dated no

earlier than 2010. Beyond the refereed academic references students are

encouraged to research widely on good quality websites (government sites,

professional associations, NGOs etc). Full referencing is expected.

Choose from one of the contemporary Managing Diversity issues below

1. Mental health 2. Lifestyle acceptance (GLBTI)

3. Bullying and harassment 4. Care giving responsibilities

5. Supplier diversity (supply chain)

6. CEO commitment to diversity

Structure of the Essay

Your essay should be structured as follows:

Introduction

1. This states the purpose and structure of the paper, and identifies the main theme or

proposition(s) that you are trying to prove. It tells the reader what to expect.

Body

1. In the body of the paper you are trying to build a logical argument that supports the main

theme or proposition. The body needs to be consistent with what you have said you are

going to do in the introduction.

2. Each paragraph should have a topic sentence, and the points you are making should

reflect that topic sentence.

3. You need to refer to theory to analyse the topic you are discussing.

4. Use theory and examples to explain your argument.

5. Remember that you are trying to present a logical, cohesive and clear analysis of the

key issues that you have identified, and to use these to support your proposition or theme

in a systematic way.

6. You only have 1000 words therefore you will need to be succinct and persuasive in

presenting your argument.

Conclusion and recommendations

1. A conclusion is not just a list of the key points you have made. You need to draw together

your key points to demonstrate that you have supported your theme or proven your

proposition(s).

2. The conclusion needs to be consistent with both the introduction and the body of the

report.

GRADING RUBRIC IS PROVIDED BELOW

Discussion Panel Format 1. Students (panelists) will sit at the front of the class with the tutor.

2. The tutor will introduce the essay topic question being discussed – 1 minute

3. The lecturer will ask each student on the panel to introduce themselves. Each panelist will

have 1 minutes to provide an overview of their key findings, in the form of 3 key points,

from their essay. The tutor will the panel questions regarding the topic which any panelist

(student) can answer. The tutor may also direct specific questions at a panelist (student)

4. The lecturer will ask the audience to ask questions.

5. The lecturer will thank the panelists and close the session.

Panel session will take approximately 10-12 minutes.

3 2 1 0 Overall

Impression

Author directly addresses main

question or issue, and adds new

insight to the subject not provided in

lectures, readings, or class

discussions. He/She is able to

synthesize this knowledge in new

ways and relate to material not

covered in the course.

Author competently addresses

main question or issue, but does

not add much new insight into

the subject. That said, it is clear

that the author has researched the

topic and is able to communicate

this knowledge to others.

Author attempts to address

main question or issue, but

has not be able to convey

their knowledge.

Essay does NOT address main

question or issue.

Argument Essay contains a clear argument—

i.e., lets the reader know exactly what

the author is trying to communicate.

An argument is present, but

reader must reconstruct it from

the text.

Author attempts, but fails, to

make an argument.

No attempt is made to articulate

an argument.

Evidence Provides compelling and accurate

evidence that convinces reader to

accept main argument. The

importance/relevance of all pieces of

evidence is clearly stated. There are

no gaps in reasoning—i.e., the reader

does not need to assume anything or

do additional research to accept main

argument.

Provides necessary evidence to

convince reader of most aspects

of the main argument but not all.

The importance/ relevance of

some evidence presented may not

be totally clear. Reader must

make a few mental leaps or do

some additional research to fully

accept all aspects of main

argument.

Not enough evidence is

provided to support author’s

argument, or evidence is

incomplete, incorrect, or

oversimplified.

Either no evidence is provided,

or there are numerous factual

mistakes, omissions or

oversimplifications. There is

little or no mention of

information from lectures and

readings.

Counter-

Evidence

The author considers the evidence, or

alternate interpretations of evidence,

that could be used to refute or

weaken his/her argument, and

thoughtfully responds to it.

Author acknowledges that

counter-evidence or alternative

interpretations exists, and lists

them fully, but does not

effectively explain to reader why

his/her argument still stands.

Author acknowledges some

of the most obvious counter-

evidence and alternative

explanations, but is not

comprehensive in this task.

There is little or no attempt

made to respond to them.

No acknowledgement of

counter-evidence or alternative

interpretations.

Sources

Evidence is used from scholarly

journal articles and other credible

sources.

Evidence is used from many

sources, but author relies heavily

on a more limited set of sources.

Some effort is made to go beyond

material presented in class when

required, but not much. If

outside sources are used, they are

primarily non-scholarly (i.e.,

Uses only a few scholarly

sources provided in class, or

does not go beyond what has

been provided by professor

when required to do

additional research.

Does not use sources.

intended for a general audience)

and/or web-based.

Citations All evidence is properly cited in the

Harvard referencing style.

All evidence is cited using

Harvard referencing style, but

there are some minor problems

with completeness or format of

some citations.

Some pieces are unreferenced

or inaccurately referenced,

and there are problems with

completeness and format of

citations.

No attempt is made to cite

evidence.

Organization Essay contains an intro, main body,

and conclusion. Introduction lays out

main argument and gives an outline

of what the reader can expect in the

essay. The conclusion brings

everything together, acknowledges

potential shortcomings of the paper,

and gives the reader a sense of what

further work might be done to

advance the subject matter described

in the paper.

Essay contains an intro, main

body, and conclusion. The

introduction lays out the main

argument but gives the reader

little idea of what to expect in the

essay. The conclusion nicely

summarizes the main argument

and evidence, but does not move

beyond what has already been

presented in the paper.

Essay contains an intro, main

body, and conclusion. The

introduction gives the reader

an idea of what to expect in

the paper, but does not

effectively lay out the main

argument. It may begin with a

set of rhetorical questions, or

an anecdote that is never fully

explained. The conclusion

does little more than restate

the problematic introduction.

Intro and/or conclusion may

be too wordy or short.

Essay has no clear

organizational pattern.

Clarity and Style All sentences are grammatically

correct and clearly written. No words

are misused or unnecessarily fancy.

Technical terms, words from other

languages, and words from other

historical periods are always

explained. All information is

accurate and up-to-date. Paper has

been spell-checked AND proofread

and contains no errors.

All sentences are grammatically

correct and clearly written. An

occasional word is misused or

unnecessarily fancy. Technical

terms, words from other

languages, and words from other

historical periods are usually, but

not always, explained. All

information is accurate and up-to-

date. Paper has been spell-

checked AND proofread, and

contains no more than a few

minor errors, which do not

adversely affect the reader’s

ability to understand the essay.

A few sentences are

grammatically incorrect or not

clearly written. Several words

are misused. Technical terms,

words from other languages,

and words from other

historical periods are rarely

explained. Not all information

is accurate and up-to-date.

Paper contains several errors.

Reader’s ability to understand

essay may be compromised by

these errors.

Paper is full of grammatical

errors and bad writing.

Several words are misused.

Technical terms, words from

other languages, and words

from other historical periods

are rarely explained. Not all

information is accurate and up-

to-date. Paper has not been

spell-checked or proofread,

and contains numerous errors.

Reader has a difficult time

understanding essay because

of errors.