You are to assume the role of a HR consultant who has been appointed by your case study company.You have been asked to write a 2,500 word report – (excluding reference) covering the following: Investigate and analyse how the organisation’s internal and e
report style
a competent level of English
full Harvard-style referencing
double spaced
MSc Human Resource Management
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN CONTEXT
Master level of language , performance ,professionalism required !!!
Please remember about university restrictions in relation to the similarity of the paper.
Maximum level of similarity is 10%.Therefore I would like to request non plagiarism report.
Kindly read all instructions!!!
Coursework
Assignment Brief: Individual Assignment
You will be assessed via a case study based project. This will require you to set the management of human resources within an organisational, societal and commercial context. You will assume the role of a consultant acting on behalf of your chosen organisation. The purpose of this assignment is to develop knowledge and understanding of HRM in context using the practical application of a case study.
The Tasks
You are to assume the role of a HR consultant who has been appointed by your case study company. (pick the company ,you have to decide about which organization you are going to write.)You have been asked to write a 2,500 word report – (excluding reference) covering the following:
Investigate and analyse how the organisation’s internal and external environments impacts upon its HRM policies and practices. (This is worth 70% of the final mark).
Predict future trends which may have an impact on the organisation and its employees in the next decade. You need to justify your predictions and indicate what impact they may have upon the organisation’s future HRM practices. (This is worth 30% of the final mark).
Procedures
1. Select an organisation of your choice on which to base your research. For example, it may be an organisation known personally to you; one that you are interested in working for; or one that is topical.
2. Conduct the relevant research (see Task Section).
3. Write up the report addressing ALL the relevant issues and answering both questions from the Task Section.
Hints and tips for the process of investigation :
Ensure you have sound knowledge & enough information about your chosen case study organisation (a SWOT analysis may help here)
Investigate and analyse the external influences for your case study organisation (conduct a PESTLE analysis)
Evaluate the impact of the organisation’s environment on HRM & HRD (or how the organisation’s context affects HRM) e.g.
Focus on the key issues facing your case study company – these will be different for each & every organisation but you should have at least 5-6 key issues.
b. Take each issue and predict the impact this has or could have on the organisation’s HRM policies and practices.
Predict future trends which may have an impact e.g. proposed legislation; economic predictions; changes to education policy; changes to demographics; changes to political systems & governments
Hints and Tips
This is a research assignment – clear evidence of having researched the topic and read relevant sources is therefore necessary. Use the University’s library resources as well as external sources of information. Primary research should be conducted wherever possible.
You will receive support to complete this assignment during the taught element of this module. You are advised to take full advantage of these sessions and prepare accordingly and as directed for the support sessions.
You should write the assignment up in report style format with introductions, subsections, conclusions, recommendations etc. of 2500 words in length.
You must identify ALL your sources of information and reference your material using the Harvard Referencing System. A full bibliography and references section is needed at the end of your report – you will lose marks if you do not reference properly.
Sources of Information
Course textbooks
Lectures & tutorials
Statistical data e.g. Government surveys, Mintel, Social Trends
Academic & Practitioner Journals
CD Roms
Annual reports
Policy documents e.g. Trade unions, TUC, political parties, European Union, CBI
The internet
National Newspapers
Interviews e.g. with employees, managers, customers
Don’t forget!
You must NOT simply produce a company report – marks are awarded for analysis of the contextual issues only.
Assessment criteria
You will produce a report based on your case study and the analysis you carry out. The following aspects of the report will be taken into account when assessed:
The thoroughness of the research; a detailed and critical knowledge of the relevant literature
An understanding of the issues reviewed during the lectures and seminars
The quality of argument and debate; an ability to go beyond mere description of facts or theory to analyse its components and the debates over the subject
The application and understanding of contextual issues in relation to the case study organisation
The capacity to incorporate practical or personal experience in a relevant manner
An ability to identify implications for HR policy and practice
Quality of presentation and format:
a clear, logical structure of the assignment or presentation
a competent level of English
full Harvard-style referencing
The three generic criteria “Reading & Knowledge” “Understanding, analysis and argument” and “Organisation and presentation” do not have arithmetic weightings. Your overall mark will be based on the marker’s judgement of your overall performance across the three criteria. You will be given a feedback document which will: (i) show your overall mark (ii) show your performance category for each of the three criteria and (iii) provide suggestions designed to help you to improve your future performance for each of the three criteria.
https://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/pestle-analysis.aspx
an example: kent business school swot analysis
STRENGTHS
Focus on ethics & sustainability as part of mission statement (ethics & environment)
Good & improving university league table ranking (markets)
Ranked highly as a good employer (university/ HE market)
Good NSS ratings/ student feedback (university/ HE market)
Good REF ratings, quality of research (university/ HE market)
WEAKNESSES
Poor on-line learning development (technology)
Heavy reliance on income from teaching (97%)
High labour turnover
Low morale of KBS staff / higher education
Lack of equality & diversity in KBS workforce
Low income from research activities
OPPORTUNITIES
Strong student demand for business courses (social) – build on market
demand
Improve NSS feedback and ratings
Improve research excellence – raise research income & outputs
Focus on ‘impact’ in research work
Proposal of Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) (political)
Build on technology for learning purposes (technology)
Lifting of cap on undergraduate recruitment
THREATS
Scarce skills and strong competition for labour (social)
Scarce public funding (economic)
Increased student fees & impact on demand (economic/political)
Proposal of Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) (political)
Volatile & uncertain market (economic & social)
UK Border Agency increased controls (political)
Increased competition – international; further education (economy & markets)
Industrial action & dissatisfaction with pension changes (social & economic)
Analysing the external environment (PESTLE)
Political:
Party politics; government and opposition; public services; taxation policy; privatisation/ deregulation policies; public expenditure controls; EU & internal institutions; local government
Economic:
Economic policy; interest & inflation rates; exchange rates; consumer confidence; the business cycle; economic growth prospects; unemployment rates; disposable incomes; labour costs; competition, alternative suppliers
Sociocultural:
demographic change (gender, ethnicity, age, disability, social class); changing values in society (also related to CSR/ethics); changing lifestyles; changing family structures; changes in consumer tastes & preferences; levels of education; religion; geographical distribution
Technological:
new product potential; alternative means of providing service; new discoveries; rates of government & industry expenditure on research & development; changing communications technology; new production technology; rate of technology transfer
Legal
Contract law, employment law, health and safety, company law, codes of practice, regulatory bodies, the legal system, the European Union
Ethical & Environmental:
Stakeholder interests, ethics in the workplace, ethical business relationships, ethical productions, ethical purchasing & consumption, employee welfare, human rights, corporate social responsibility
Global warming; conserving natural resources, sustainable development, carbon footprints, protecting the eco-environment
KEY ISSUES FROM KBS’S CONTEXT AND THEIR IMPACT ON HRM
Scarce skills and strong competition for labour (social)
Increased competition for research funding & requirement to demonstrate impact within research (political & economic)
Teaching Excellence Framework (political)
Increased focus on learning technologies & online learning
impact of hrm/hrd
Resourcing – recruitment & selection; employee retention; employee morale; job design; reward management
HR strategy; staff selection; training & development; work allocation; reward management; career development; performance management
HR strategy; staff selection; training & development; work allocation; reward management; career development; performance management
Staff selection/labour demand; training & development; student recruitment – marketing; performance management
THE FUTURE FOR KBS & RECOMMENDATIONS
Issue
Demographic challenges – ageing workforce & labour supply
Recommendation
Flexible retirement options
Monitor pension offering
Strengthen employer branding to attract new talent
Broaden preferred labour market e.g. international; improve diversity &
equality
Monitor reward packages to ensure they remain attractive to ‘new talent’
Offer clear career and progression paths for younger academics
REPORT FORMAT
1.THE TITLE PAGE
2.TABLE OF CONTENTS
3.INTRODUCTION:
brief outline of the case study organisation (description)
4.FINDINGS & ANALYSIS:
These should be your 5-6 key issues facing the organisation and their impact on HRM. (analysis)
5.CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS:
Key future trends that will be important for the organisation and what impact will these have on HRM/ what recommendations & strategies do you advise to deal with these future challenges? (analysis)
ENDING THE REPORT
6.You should provide a REFERENCE LIST
7.All material e.g. SWOT analysis, STEEPLE analysis, questionnaires, interviews questions and information considered important, but not essential to the text, you should use an APPENDIX for each new set of information
Assessment criteria
You will produce a report based on your case study and the analysis you carry out.The following aspects of the report will be taken into account when assessed:
The thoroughness of the research; a detailed and critical knowledge of the relevant literature
An understanding of the issues reviewed during the lectures and seminars
The quality of argument and debate; an ability to go beyond mere description of facts or theory to analyse its components and the debates over the subject
The application and understanding of contextual issues in relation to the case study organisation
The capacity to incorporate practical or personal experience in a relevant manner
An ability to identify implications for HR policy and practice
Quality of presentation and format:
a clear, logical structure of the assignment
a competent level of English
full Harvard-style referencing
The three generic criteria “Reading & Knowledge” “Understanding, analysis and argument” and “Organisation and presentation” do not have arithmetic weightings. Your overall mark will be based on the marker’s judgement of your overall performance across the three criteria. You will be given a feedback document which will: (i) show your overall mark (ii) show your performance category for each of the three criteria and (iii) provide suggestions designed to help you to improve your future performance for each of the three criteria.
https://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/pestle-analysis.aspx
WRITING AN ACADEMIC REPORT:HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN CONTEXT
HINTS ON PROCEDURES
The format described below is a basis for writing reports for academic purposes. It has schematic and conventionally accepted sections; all sections and sub-sections are numbered and headed, using a system which distinguishes principal points and subordinate points e.g. 1, 1.2, 1.2, 1.3; 2, 2.1, 2.2 etc.
The main sections are:
THE TITLE PAGE
This contains:
The subject/title of the report
The identity of the author
The identity of the recipient/s
The date of completion
‘Confidentiality’ if required
Number of words written
TABLE OF CONTENTS
This lists the main sections of the report, with page numbers. A separate contents listing should be used for all tables, diagrams and graphs.
INTRODUCTION
For Human resource management in context: This section should give a brief outline of the case study organisation including the country in which you are going to base your report (if your case study company is a multinational you may wish to focus on just one country of their operation).
FINDINGS & ANALYSIS
This section contains the results of your research.
Facts should be reported here – you should not include personal comments.
Report on your Findings in descending order of importance, with the most important coming first. Start broadly with main findings before working through the more detailed findings which all address the report aims and objectives.
Findings should be detailed and form the largest part of the report.
Non-essential, but relevant information may be included in an Appendix, but beware of weighing down the report with extraneous material e.g. copies of journal articles, or completed questionnaires should not be included in your appendix.
It may be useful to use graphs, diagrams, pie charts etc. to summarise statistical data where relevant. If you do so you should provide a Figure number, title and reference if the source is not yourself.
Analysis should involve answering the aims and objectives set and addressing the literature.
All sources MUST BE REFERENCED.
For Human resource management in context: in this section you should be addressing Tasks 1 & 2 of the assignment brief.
CONCLUSIONS
This section has two functions: it summarises the principal findings and contains the researcher’s interpretation of their significance:
Ensure that you answer the questions, aims and objectives that you have been set
Your Conclusions are derived from evidence provided in Findings. You should not introduce new factual material at this stage.
RECOMMENDATIONS
This section contains recommended future action arising from the Conclusions. You should only include Recommendations if they were requested in your Terms of Reference.
Usually Recommendation are worded succinctly, as follows e.g. It is
recommended (1) that the performance management system is reviewed; (2) that the organisation employ an external consultant to conduct the review.
Make sure that all Recommendations are reasonable and practicable e.g. you should ask yourself ‘how much would this recommendation cost if implemented?’
The order of your Recommendations might be determined by the order in which they should be carried out e.g. short-term before long term, or by their descending order of importance.
For Human resource management in context: you can combine the Conclusions & Recommendations section if you wish and use this section to address Task 2 of your assignment.
ENDING THE REPORT
You should provide a REFERENCE LIST (using the Harvard referencing system) of secondary sources referred to; and a BIBLIOGRAPHY (using the Harvard referencing system), of all sources read as part of the research.
If you wish to attach material e.g. questionnaires, interviews questions and information considered important, but not essential to the text, you should use an APPENDIX for each new set of information. Each appendix should be numbered and start on a fresh page. Remember to be highly selective about the amount of material included in the Appendix.
