Task 1 – 1000-word essay:
The objective of this assignment is to consider your approach to management, this involves applying theory to managing people in a specific context.
For a workplace of your choice (Think working environment such as hospital, hairdresser, bar, office rather than a business). Please talk about “Amazon”.
The organization wants to modernize its approach towards managing people and has asked you to do the following:
Explore how leadership & management theory can support managers to develop successful professional teams.
Provide examples from your own experiences and from research.
It is not necessary to provide citations for the workplace and you can talk in the first person if preferable. The objective here is to relate theory to practice to explain how you would manage people in a specific context.
Example Structure
1. Introduce a workplace and the kind of issues it may face when managing people (100 words)
Consider – lack of trust from leadership style, lack of motivation, boring work design, lack of opportunity, lack of empowerment.
2. Compare and contrast two leadership/management theories (250 words)
Example: Which would work better in the organisation? Transactional or transformation? Theory X or Y?
Consider McGregor Theory XY, Henri Fayol’s Principles of Management, Transformational and Transactional Leadership, Lewin’s leadership styles, Ouchi Theory Z.
Week 2 covers Management and Leadership Theory
3. Identify a leadership approach which will improve the working environment at your selected organisation (100 words)
This could be a specific theory or a mixture of various elements taken from numerous theories to form your own approach.
4. Critically assess how your selected leadership approach can utilise teamworking and lead to reduced conflict (200 words)
Consider Tuckman’s group formation, Belbin’s team roles, Patrick Lencioni types of conflict.
Examples: Patrick Lencioni & Canvas 4.7 Leading Teams, articles on conflict.
Weeks 4 & 5 cover teamwork and Conflict
5. Analyse how your leadership approach will improve motivation and performance (250 words)
Learning & development, feedback, appraisals & performance review,
Approaches at Google, Clydesdale Bank.
Maslow, Herzberg, Dan Pink, McGregor’s Theory X/Y.
Week 3 covers motivation and week 6 covers performance management.
6. Conclusions and Recommendations (100 words)
Why will your selected leadership approach work in producing effective teams?
What recommendations can you make to ensure this leadership approach becomes embedded in the company?
Use this section to summarise how your essay addresses the assignment question and the learning outcome.
Task 2 – 1000-word essay:
Assess what drives Organizational Change and Evaluate how an Organizational Change model such as Kotter’s 8 steps can support leaders to positively impact the success rate of an organizational change initiative.
Ensure to use an example which focusses on organizational issues such as Lego, Pollack and Pollack, and XYZ Construction which can be found on the Canvas pages. (week 8 – please note that Lego is a video interview with supporting articles)
Lego Case Study
Basic Structure 1000 words
1.Introduction (50 words)
Introduce the assignment question and the organisation you will use to address the assignment question.
2. Sources of Change (200 words)
In this section you need to explain why the selected organisation (e.g. Lego) needed to change and you could also mention what factors were resisting change in the organisation.
A simple way to address this section is to use Lewin’s forcefield analysis to explain what was producing and resisting change in the organisation.
Other examples:
The internal and external factors which produced the need to change in the organisation.
You may choose to use one or more of the following to address the question:
In what way does change come from outside (PEST) or within (SWOT, Culture, Diversification, Process, Performance)
3. Apply and Evaluate models of change management (375 words)
In this section you can use Kotter’s 8 steps to structure your work and explain how the change management process links to each step. You can then evaluate each step e.g. how well did the organisation e.g. Lego apply the 8 steps in pursuing change?
Discuss to what extent your organisation conforms to a planned or emergent change approach.
Apply Kotter’s 8 steps to the experience of the selected organisation’s change process and evaluate the effectiveness of using Kotter’s 8 steps to produce successful change.
Example apply Kotter’s 8 steps to Lego and discuss whether this approach worked.
4.Analysis and Recommendations. (375 words)
In this section you need to analyse the success of the change process which was undertaken at the organisation. You can also assess how well the theory explains the process of organisational change management.
Does Kotter’s 8 steps support effective change processes?
Can you make any recommendations to improve the 8 steps?
Can you make recommendations to improve the change process at your selected organisation?
What lessons can be learnt for other organisations from using the 8 steps?
What lessons can be learnt for other organisations from the case study?
Example Report on Culture & Change
This example has structures similar to what you need to do in your report, you can use it to help you plan your structure and for insight into theories.
Local Charity Culture and Change Report (Level 7)
Optional additional themes:
The Role of Organisational Culture in Change Management
Edgar Schein, Charles Handy, Organisational Subcultures – See resources for Week 7
Analyse the role of leadership in gaining the commitment of others to change
Role of leadership may include but is not limited to leadership styles, Situational Leadership (Hersey and Blanchard, 1977), timescales, negotiating and influencing skills, Emotional Intelligence (Goleman, 1998), collaborative working techniques, resilience and accountability, openness, positive and adaptable, open to feedback.
What kind of leaders should HR seek to recruit and develop?
Specify reasons for engaging with stakeholders throughout the change management process
Stakeholders may include but are not limited to internal: team members, line managers, senior managers, board members; external: customers, pressure groups, government agencies; connected: suppliers, partners, contractors.
How should HR communicate during the change management process (refer back to the models)
Examine tools for implementing and monitoring change
Tools may include but are not limited to roadmaps, flowcharts, cultural mapping, process maps, readiness assessments, Gantt charts, communication and project plans, IT applications such as Asana, performance management to ensure reward for adopting new behaviours.
How can HR play a role throughout the change process to ensure progress (refer to the models)
Recommend approaches to overcome risks and barriers to change
Risks and barriers may include but are not limited to organisational (splinter groups, logistical barrier e.g. remote working, shift work, rising costs, changing priorities, delay tactics); (hostility, sense of loss, resistance to change, depression, refusal to engage).
What can HR do to disconfirm the status quo and reduce the resistance to organisational change?
Assess practical methods to support individuals throughout the change management process
Practical methods of providing support refers to supporting people through coaching and mentoring and may include learning and development, supervision, one-to-one meetings, team meetings, workshops, setting an example, use of specialist advice and support
Analyse methods for monitoring and measuring the impact of planned change
Methods may include but are not limited to periodic reporting, surveys and questionnaires, interviews, benchmarking activities, mystery shopper, scorecards, data and metrics, audits, targets, workshops, observation, conversations, regular meetings.
Discuss approaches to embed and sustain planned change in an organisation
Approaches may include but are not limited to overcoming barriers, meeting objectives, achieving planned benefits, periodic monitoring, key performance indicators (KPIs), continuous professional development (CPD) requirements.
How could HR see if a visible culture change has taken place?
Task 3 – 500-words Critical Reflection:
How can the theory and concepts from the module be used to produce a positive workplace culture?
Use examples and citations and consider the following:
How do the theories studied in the module relate to your experience of working with others
Which leadership styles would you prefer to work under and why?
How has this module influenced the way you believe people should be treated at work?
Use the discussion sections and case studies to help you if you lack organisational examples and experience.
What makes for a good reflective piece of writing?
1. Show knowledge of the module, use citations and relate theory to your experience.
2. Be specific, discussing theory in relation to your personal life will come across as authentic only if you discuss in some depth.
3. Consider how you can evidence your perspective on how people are managed in the workplace. Use your own experience.
4. Keep it simple for example – do your experience of work conform to theory X and Y – which would work more effectively based on your experiences? Are there situations where work is presented as theory Y but the reality is theory X?
The following is an excerpt from the 79% example essay:
I currently work in Tesco Mobile as a customer assistant with 3 other colleagues and a manager. I
have been employed in this role for seven months and have decided to end my employment soon.
This is due to the managerial style adopted by my manager. This unit has been invaluable in
teaching me the various managerial styles that management could adopt.
I have identified that my Tesco Mobile manager reiterates the management style of McGregor’s
‘theory X’. This style of management “adopted is a function of the manager’s attitudes towards
people and assumptions about human nature and behaviour.” (Mullins, 2019, pp.387). My manager
follows the ‘theory X’ assumption that amongst his employees:
“the average person is lazy;
•most people must be controlled, and threatened with punishment if the organisation is to achieve
its objectives;
•motivation occurs only at the physiological and security levels.
The central principle of Theory X is likely to result in an exploitative or authoritarian style of
management.” (Mullins, 2019, pp.387)
My manager is often threatening in terms of job loss if employees in the mobile store are not
meeting sales targets. Further, when employees request holidays or time changes, he behaves in an
authoritarian manner and often declines any emergency requests.
