Introduction: Students need to provide a brief introduction to the focus of the investigation and the context of the organisation. The main points the introduction needs to address are:
Outline the organisation and its key issues
Outline the focus of the investigation
Outline the structure of the investigation
Explain why the issues are a problem: Students need to explain why the issues they have previously highlighted are a challenge for the organisation and why they need to be addressed.
Common reasons are:
Issues will have a negative impact on employee motivation
Issues will have a negative impact on employee satisfaction
Issues are likely to cause high employee turnover
Issues have a negative impact on performance
Issues have a negative impact on organisational culture
Issues have a negative impact on quality
Issues have a negative impact on customer perception
This explanation must be supported by theory and academic literature, and the context of the organisation should always be taken into account.
Explain how the issues have arisen: Students should focus on two or three main issues, explaining how they have arisen.
Look at key theories and research to see what the main drivers are likely to be
The context of the organisation should always be taken into account when applying theory and literature to the case
Outline how the issues can be resolved: Students should use their explanations as to how the issues have arisen, students should provide a theoretical solution to the issues.
Using key theory and academic literature students should make a series of suggestions as to how the issues might be resolved
For example, theory might suggest that increased training would be beneficial
All ideas need to be supported with reference to theory and literature
Outline specific recommendations: Students should build on the theoretical solutions to the issues and make specific recommendations that take the form of human resource policy and practice.
For example, if theory has suggested that training is a solution for the problem, students should recommend which type of training, what the training should cover, who should conduct the training, length of the training and who should be trained
Students need to justify all of their ideas and decisions using appropriate references
Students should also take into account the context of the case organisation
Students should aim for three or four main recommendations
Explain the practical implications of implementing recommendations: Once the recommendations have been outlined, students should discuss the practical implications for the organisation.
Overview potential limitations of the recommendations: Students also need to overview what the potential limitations of the recommendations might be.
This is a prudent approach because it prevents over-promising to the organisation.
To do this, students should look at the research and identify the key problems with the recommendations made.
Conclusion: Students should overview the key points and recommendations made in the investigation. Good conclusions will offer an order of priority with regard to the recommendations and justify this order with reference to the context of the organisation
Appendix: The appendix should contain a full description of the organisation. This should include:
Function
Size
Age
Structure
Location
Aims/Objectives
Employee composition
Reference List: The list should include all the literature cited in the reflection.
The list should not include any literature that is not cited in the reflection.
Students are expected to use the UWE Harvard Referencing system.
Formatting of in-text citations and the reference list are taken into account when marking.
More information can be found here.
Please note:
1. Word count suggestions are not provided because there are too many variables that effect the size of each section, for example the nature of the issue(s) chosen.
2. The appendix and reference list are NOT included in the word count
