Reference no: EM133142704 , Length: word count: 2000 words

Summative Assessments - There are two summative assessments.

Summative 1 Brief -

The question - Understanding organisational culture is a key skill in effective professional development, and this understanding is an enabler towards greater adaptability and initiative.

a. Briefly define organisational culture. Discuss, using evidence from academic literature, how culture manifests itself in organisations, including, for example, how it may be recognised, analysed and assessed. Your answer should refer to established tools and techniques available which can be used to inform these areas. You may use examples to illustrate your answer. (50%)

b. Using the theories, tools and techniques you have discussed in part a. above, conduct an analysis of the culture in your own organisation (or your own department if you wish) (35). Comment reflectively on how you feel the culture you have analysed contributes positively or negatively to your professional development (15).

Guidance notes for summative 1.

In answering part a., you are first asked to define a technical term. To answer this well, you should offer more than one definition and be able to argue which is the most appropriate based on your factual reasoning (not your opinion). There is a balance to be achieved here because this part of the question asks you to be brief - a couple of paragraphs at maximum. You are demonstrating that you can search for a few definitions and very briefly argue why one of them is best. There is no right answer; it is your reasoning that is being tested. Finding good definitions other than those provided in the lecture notes will gain more credit than simply relying on the material you have been spoon fed.

The rest of the question follows many of the broad topics covered in the course material. Better answers will demonstrate the ability to search for related material that can be the subject of evaluation. However, volume does not mean quality - so again you must be balanced in your approach within the word count. Relying solely on the lecture material should attract a passing score, but only if you demonstrate understanding and application. Wider reading around the subject is likely to attract a higher score. Again, there are no right answers; you must argue your case based on evidence from literature and the course materials.

Plan the structure and flow of your essay before writing the content.

Signpost the essay - saying where you are going with it, before jumping straight into the detail.

Conclude your essay, summing up the main points very briefly.

Add references in Harvard style both in the text and in a reference list (not a bibliography).

If you use examples always do it to support theory, not the other way around.... Write the theory - explain it - illustrate with example. Do not lead with the example to try to explain theory.

In answering part b. bear in mind that the focus is on the application of theory. You've explained and demonstrated understanding of theory in part a. so don't repeat this - part b. is about demonstrating that you can apply it in practice.

You must decide the tools and techniques you use - there are too many to use them all so be discerning. There is no right answer - you are building a watertight case from the application of established techniques.

You can choose your whole organisation, or, if this is too big, choose your department or subsidiary - just as long as you have a deep awareness of the culture that exists.

Your cultural analysis is worth 35% so spend that amount of word count on it.

The second part of the question requires you to be reflective. Reflective writing is different because you can talk about yourself in the first person... I did this or I felt that...etc. This is the only part of the assessment where you should write in the first person. Remember that the most important part of reflective writing is the expression of feelings. Remember also that reflective writing is more successful if you follow a reflective model to structure your narrative. This section is worth 15% of the marks so spend 15% of the word count on it.

Summative 2 Brief -

The question - Organisational change is an integral part of the world of work, and must be managed effectively to facilitate the optimisation of your professional development.

a. Write an essay which chronicles a critical incident of significant organisational change which affected you directly in terms of your central involvement in that change. Your essay should briefly outline the change in question, and then evaluate how the change was managed by applying established change management theories, tools and techniques to the incident. Make recommendations as to how such a change could be managed better, should further similar organisational change be required in the future (80).

b. Reflect briefly on how this incident of change affected you in terms of your feelings, learnings and the conclusions you drew from the change experience; commenting on how your approach to change has been influenced by the experience (20).

Guidance notes for summative 2 -

In your answer to part a, structure is important to get right otherwise you risk tying yourself in knots! To answer part a. well you must spend significant time planning the answer before you write.

The change incident could be anything from full organisational restructure to smaller departmental changes. The important thing is that you must be significantly affected by it. This could mean you had responsibilities for carrying out all or part of the change, or you could have been significantly affected by it either in job role, or in how you perform your current role.

Outline the change in sufficient detail for you to be able to evaluate the key elements of the change - but do not spend vast word counts getting into superfluous detail.

Then you need to look at the available change management tools that you can use to evaluate what happened - there are many of these so you need to choose those that are appropriate to what you wish to argue. Always remember there is no one right answer - you must build a well evidenced case for your assertions. When using theories, explain it very briefly, then demonstrate you understand it by using it to evaluate the appropriate aspects of the change you intend it to inform.

Then, when your arguments are complete, make logical recommendations based on your assertion as to how your critical change incident could be managed better should a similar change be required again in the future.

When answering part b. remember that, as a reflective piece, the focus is on you personally rather than your organisation. Therefore your answer needs to be on a more personal level. As in summative 1, you should explore your feelings, and structure your answer with the help of a recognised reflective model.

Part b. only requires 20% of the word count, so you must demonstrate good economy of language to be as informative, yet as succinct as possible.