Contemporary (Responsible) Issues in Management， Critical discussion

MSc in Management
 
Contemporary (Responsible) Issues in Management
 
 
Assessment

1. Your assignment must be no longer than 3000 words excluding reference list and appendices
2. Appendices are only to include supplementary material. Any information/ diagram vital to your answer must appear in the main body of your assignment
3. You must include a word count on the coversheet of your assignment
4. Please use Arial or Times New Roman font in 12 point and double spacing of lines
5. You must critically draw upon relevant academic theory and research covered in the module and identified through your independent research and reading
6. Your assignment is to be fully and consistently referenced. Note that your essay will be submitted to ‘turnitin’ (i.e. anti-plagiarism software)

Assignment Brief
 
For this assignment, you are asked to critically analyse how ONE specific company is addressing TWO of the contemporary issues facing organisations.
 
This assignment requires that you undertake independent research to examine:
 

7. How do your TWO selected issues affect your selected company?
8. How is your selected company responding to your selected two issues?
9. How are commentators (media and other stakeholders) interpreting and evaluating your selected company’s response?
10. What recommendations would you make to the company in how they should respond to the two issues in the future?

To complete this assignment, you will need to critically reflect, in light of your wider reading of academic literatures concerned with the issues you focus on, on the opportunities and challenges for your selected company, and what the firm might do differently or more effectively deal with them going forward.
 
Assignment Instructions
Step 1: Select ONE company from the list below or any you are familiar with
 

 
Step 2: Select TWO issue areas. Following is a list for example. This is not an exhaustive list. You are free to explore sub-issues related in this the list:
 

11. Management issues, trends and practices in 21^st century
12. Corporate Political Activities, Non-market Strategies in Challenging Institutional Environments
13. Gender and Sustainability; Gender & Executive Pay in Organisations
14. Sustainable Global Supply Chains
15. Precarity in the Workplace
16. Family Businesses – Parochial Dinosaurs?
17. Issue covered by Prof Oded Shenkar
18. Issue covered by Prof Oded Shenkar

 
Step 3: STRUCTURE your coursework as follows
 

• Introduction: justify selection of your ONE company & TWO issue areas (500 words)
• Critical examination of your first selected issue (1000 words)
• Critical examination of your second selected issue (1000 words)
• Conclusion: summary and key recommendations for your selected company (500 words)
• Reference list (include only sources that you have cited in your coursework)
• Appendices (only supplementary information should appear here)

Assessment Criteria
Your assignment will be graded according to the following criteria:

• Logical structure & quality of presentation – is your assignment appropriately structured and presented? Does it meet the assignment brief? – 10%
• Evidence of quality business research – have you clearly undertaken wider research into your company that is integrated and analysed within your assignment in ways that add value in relation to your assignment brief? – 15%
• Evidence of wider reading of academic literature – is there evidence of wider academic reading into the issues you focus on that informs and enhances your analysis of the threats and opportunities faced by your chosen company? Have you made use of appropriate theory and wider evidence to inform your analysis of the issues you examine? – 15%
• Quality and depth of analysis – how effectively have you evaluated the significance of the issues raised, situating their significance within wider debates, and demonstrating their implications for your chosen company? – 20%
• Establishing soundly argued solutions, actions, and responses to the issues raised – have you developed possible responses to the issues raised for your company, substantiated by theory or evidence? – 20%
• Evidence of a capacity for critical reflection – Does your assignment demonstrate a capacity to use evidence and theory reflectively and appropriately within context, showing a sensitivity to its likely limitations? – 20%

 
Sources of useful information:
http://www.wsj.com/europe
http://www.ft.com/home/uk
https://www.theguardian.com/uk
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news
http://uk.reuters.com/business
Alternatively, many useful databases (e.g. Nexis for media sources, and Business Source Premier for business and management academic papers) can be found at:
http://findit.bham.ac.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=44BIR_VU1
Advice on these databases can be provided by The University Library