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Task Overview:
This assessment item is worth 50% of your overall grade, and is designed for you to:
• develop an awareness of and focus on evidence based management
• describe a theory and apply it to an organisational behaviour in order to provide insightful recommendations
• develop recommendations (hopefully empirically validated) on how the organisational situation/behaviour could be improved
• reflect upon what you have learnt from applying a theory to a work situation/experience and how this learning has informed the way you will behave in the future
You are required to write case analysis that demonstrates your knowledge and understanding of a core theory from the unit. You have a choice of three (3) theories – only choose one (1) of the following:
1. Job Characteristic Model (Lecture 7 + pg 185-186 in the textbook)
2. Job Embeddedness Theory (Lecture 8 + CMD Readings)
3. Path-Goal Theory of Leadership (Lecture 9 + pgs 387-389 in the textbook)
You will need to recall, describe and analyse an example from your own working life, and use one of the above theories to explain how and why the theory has something to offer in terms of providing constructive advice for more effective organisational behaviour in the future. Remember, this case analysis is about demonstrating your understanding of the theory you choose to write about, so it is critical that you think carefully about a work situation or experience, and what sorts of insights each of the theories could offer to improve organisational effectiveness in the future.
You are also required to reflect upon YOUR learning from undertaking the task. In a separate section following your Conclusions and Recommendations, reflect on not only WHAT you learnt from applying your chosen theory to a work situation/experience but HOW the process of undertaking the task helped you to consolidate, modify or adapt professional behaviours and HOW this learning will inform YOUR professional practice in the future.
It is up to you to decide what experience and what theory you will use, but it is useful to discuss your ideas with your tutor early in the semester to make sure you are giving yourself the best chance of success in this assessment item.
Format:
This case analysis is a mixture of critical analysis and reflection, and requires you to first review a theory (i.e. a literature review), apply the theory to gain insight into a personal work example (show how the theory fits with a work situation or experience and explains what happened), and then provide recommendations based on the theory on how to improve the situation or experience described in your example, and also reflect upon what you learnt and how this learning will inform your own professional practice.
Structure:
Cover Page
•Include the title of your case analysis, your name, student number, unit code (MGB200), tutor’s name, tutorial time, and the final word count of your essay.
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Literature Review
•In the first section of your analysis you will need to define and describe the theory you have chosen, and discuss why it is important (in general terms). This is best achieved by writing a short literature review. If you are unsure of what a literature review is, literature reviews are commonly used in journal articles to define and discuss the fit of specific theories to the context of what the journal article is all about. When doing your research for this essay task, take a look at how the authors of journal articles introduce, define and discuss the theories they are talking about in their articles.
Application/Example
•Describe the work situation/experience you have chosen, being sure to use formal terminology (consistent with the textbook/literature) to indicate to your reader that you can identify the components/events of the situation or experience that could be explained or analysed by your chosen theory.
•Apply the theory to a work situation or experience, discussing which aspects of the experience can be explained or defined by your chosen theory, and analyse the situation or experience (with support from literature/journal articles) to determine what went well, and what could be improved from the organisational perspective.
Conclusion and Recommendations
•Generate recommendations that identify the sorts of things in organisations that need to be consolidated and improved upon, being sure to provide a clearly defined pathway (steps/goals) for improvement that highlights your understanding of your chosen theory.
Reflection on own learning
• Reflect upon what you have learnt from undertaking the essay task. In this part of the essay, you will need to use the conclusions you made from applying your chosen theory to a work situation/experience about organisational behaviour and reflect on how the learning you have gained from this will impact on YOUR OWN future professional practice.
• You could reflect on how learning about your chosen theory challenged or confirmed your prior knowledge and experience, assumptions or preconceptions and whether it uncovered any values, beliefs, or assumptions about a particular behaviour. You could also reflect upon how you may consolidate, adapt or modify your behaviour in the future, now that you are better informed about it based on applying theory to a particular situation or experience.
• Remember to ensure that your reflections are linked to the evaluation you undertook of a work situation/experience and your conclusions and recommendations.
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Reference List:
•Your reference list must be formatted in the current (6th edition) APA Style
•Use a hanging indent (paragraph formatting setting)
•Do not use Wikipedia, consultant websites or online essays
•Do not reference the lecture slides. Instead, look at the references in each slide or at the end of a set of slides to guide your research for supporting arguments.
•Do use (reference) journal articles and the textbook to support your arguments
Length/Word Count:
The word limit for the essay is 2500 words. This word count includes general text, headings, references, tables, footnotes, etc. However, the word limit does not include the cover page, reference list, page headers or footers, or any appendices you decide to include. Please note that content within the appendix will not contribute to your grade.
The word limit is 2500 words. Anything beyond 2500 words will not be read or marked. If you go beyond the word limit you are likely to lose marks for your recommendations and written expression.
We suggest you assign your word count as follows:
1. Literature review (≈1200 words)
2. Diagnosis (≈400 words)
3. Recommendations (≈400 words)
4. Self-reflection (≈500 words)
Penalty for Late Submission of Assessment
Assessment submitted after the due date without an approved extension will not be marked and will receive a grade of 1 or 0%. If special circumstances prevent you from meeting the assessment due date, you can apply for an extension. If you don’t have an approved extension you should submit the work you have completed by the due date and it will be marked against the assessment criteria.