Please write an essay which critically examines

HR4005 – Managing People

Assignment Session

Preparation Sheet for Assignment 1

Task:

Please write an essay which critically examines the HR function and, draws from the key principles of HRM and assesses how the HR function can help organizations to be more effective in achieving competitive advantage. You should draw on the frameworks and concepts introduced in the lecture series, and focus on:

The nature and characteristics of HRM;
People management strategies, procedures and tools;
Wider organizational implications and contributions of HRM in practice;
Current patterns and trends in the approach to HRM in the organisation and sector of your choice;
Relevant survey data, case studies or any recent discussion which highlights approaches to HRM will be useful here. What seem to be the key HRM issues and problems which face management in organisations at the moment?

You are free to select an organisation of your choice to use as a case study to illustrate your points. Always remember the constraints of access to relevant recent research.

What is the essay asking? What does it mean to critically examine?

Where are you going to find the information to complete your essay? The lecture and seminar will give you some important information, but it will not be enough to write an essay. If you use some of the sources given on the assignment brief, what steps will you take to get access to these sources? How you will use these sources?

What questions do you have about the assignment now?

Assignment submission

Blackboard is open for submission – you should submit your work in the space appropriate to your tutor
There is ‘space’ on the School of Business and Enterprise Blackboard site to load a dummy version of the assignment to Turnitin – only students see this – it can be used to gauge similarity – you can submit as often as you wish provided you leave 24 hours between submissions. You can do this on the real site as well – tutors only ever see the version live at the deadline. See below for where you can locate it
Work is anonymised – you should not include name or other identifier
Feedback will be made automatically available from the 15th day
Requests to extensions/ECs go the Hub – Blackboard provides information on what to do
If you have a disability, you should include the electronic ‘sticker’ you are asked to include
Banded marking will once again be used

Argument

Avoid basing argument on insufficient evidence or basing it on anecdotal evidence or ‘folk wisdom’. Emphasise that an essay is not unsubstantiated personal opinion – it is looking at the sources and making an objective assessment. Some examples would be helpful of what you mean.

Arguments need to be in paragraphs – the first sentence of the paragraph should tell the reader the theme of what follows. Avoid making every paragraph a sentence.

In terms of substantive content, you should think about what methods organisations use. You do not need to cover everything – 3 approaches in detail are often better than many covered in cursory fashion. The textbooks provide the basis of the information you need.

This is NOT an essay on ‘what is HR?’ – instead you are asked to critically examine how the HR function helps organisations achieve competitive advantage. The success of HR is how it actively contributes to and supports the business organisation.

Referencing

There is material on Blackboard – what appears in the Reference List must also appear in the text, and vice versa.

Researching material

Proper academic material is good – random Googling is not good. We want sources from text books, journal articles, good quality practitioner material (CIPD, websites with ac.uk or gov.uk ending). We do not want random blogs, Business Balls, odd things off company websites, obscure PhDs from universities in other countries etc.)

You need to read enough of the material you are citing before you use it. Sometimes speakers of other languages tend to rely on translations on what other people say, which leads to sources that do not say what the students claim. Please do not fabricate sources or refer to materials which are not relevant; for example, items from other countries, medical journals or obscure topics.

How much should you read? If you write without any sources, you will not pass; but if you cite lots of material that you have not read it is not much better. Approximately 7 to 12 well used sources are suggested – with an electronic, online catalogue available, this should be a reasonable stock of things to rely on.

Grammar

These tips may be useful:

Read back to yourself what you have written (aloud) and think whether it makes sense
If a sentence is too long to say in one breath, then it is very often too long a sentence
Leave the material aside for a day on completion and re-read before submission – this requires careful planning

Careful sentence construction leads to better essay construction. If you show your work (in part or in whole) to someone who knows nothing about HRM, would that person understand what you are talking about?

Avoid the use of the word “I” and “we” and most certainly don’t use “you”!

Layout

Font
Line spacing
Margins
Avoid crushing everything on to as few pages as possible – reference list on a separate page – it is an electronic submission and there is no cost benefit to spacing things out, as there are with a paper copy
Proof-reading and spell check
No diagrams and pictures
No headings in any essay
Avoid bullet points

An essay consists of an introduction, many paragraphs and a conclusion with supporting references. The conclusion should not be a ‘one liner’ – you should consider how HR contributes to business success, or summarise in some other way your findings or analysis (HR contributes, but only where…..)