HRM325Strategic HRM

Assignment Briefing

Assessment Briefing

• Case study approach, your chosen

organisation will provide the context for

answering the questions.

• Demonstration of knowledge acquired,

understanding, application and critique of

that knowledge.

• Three [3] tasks, two worth 25% each and

one worth 50%

• Submission via JIRA or Turnitin as notified

by module leader/tutor/administration office.

Academic writing• Do not use first person but “the author”, “the writer”

• Remember to include an introduction at the beginning and also a conclusion at the end

• Work must be logically structured and supported throughout by appropriate academic references, do not use websites that lack academic credibility, for example wikipedia; tutor2u or businessballs.

• You must acknowledge the work of others by “citing” the source.

• Respond to the tasks: not enough to describe the details of what you have found but you need to “compare”, “contrast”, “discuss”, “evaluate” essentially do what you have been asked to do!

Getting started:• Understand the task.

• Understand the command words.

• Mind-mapping is a good technique to use in the beginning.

• Gather key information...this means you will need to locate an organisation, gather information and read so that you can support your work appropriately.

Introduction – Strong Example• XXX based in the UK will be the sole subject

and organisation for the following report in which the author will critically assess, evaluate and review the existing HRM practices with appropriate recommendations proposed from the findings…..

• This provides a clear introduction for the reader.

Introduction – Weak Example• Africa, North America and Europe are the

new extensions being catered by the company xxx.

• A confusing introduction: What is the focus of the work?

Task 1Organisation and context• Critically analyse the internal and external environment for

your chosen organisation, making reference to appropriate literature sources.

• Here the focus is on introducing the organisation and providing context for the sections that will follow.

• You may use a range of strategic management tools here such as PESTEL, STEEPLE, SWOT or Porters Five Forces to consider the external environment.

• You can look at Life Cycle or Schuler and Jackson to try and examine and analyse links between internal and external contexts.

• Alternatively you could consider the use of Harvard model of HRM which includes both internal and external contexts.

Task 2SHRM• Using appropriate concepts and models of SHRM critically

evaluate a variety of human resource policies and procedures.

• In this task you are exploring the SHRM approach, RBV, Best Fit, Best-Practice or Ad-Hoc.

• You should evaluate a number of policies and practices, a minimum of two, appropriate literature should be used to support your analysis.

• No right or wrong answer here but the strength of discussion and support for your discussion that matters and your ability to link this to the first task.

Task 3Making recommendations• Make recommendations relating to the attraction and

retention of talent to support future performances of your chosen organisation. This might be the adoption of new approaches to SHRM or new methods in managing human resources. In this section you should also demonstrate awareness of barriers to implementation which may include cultural differences, different working practices and/or legislation.

• In this section you are following from the preceding work. What is the organisational strategy, the HRM strategy, the findings from your evaluation making sure that the links between strategy, findings and recommendations are explicit.

Submission• The word count is 3000 words [+10%], not including any appendices.

• A single word-processed document, use font size 12 for headings and sub-headings and font size 11 for the substantive report.

• The document should be properly structured as a report:-– Cover page which includes your name, student number, module title and word count. [not included

in word count]

– Executive summary [not included in word count]

– Introduction

– Findings and Conclusion [Task 1 and Task 2]

– Recommendations [Task 3]

– Reference/Bibliography [not included in word count]

– Appendices [not included in word count]

• Produce clear, specific reasoning and support to justify answers.

• Work containing viruses, or work that cannot be run directly, will result in a fail grade being awarded for this assessment.

• The document should be submitted via JIRA/Turnitin as indicated by tutor or assessment brief.

• It is advisable to retain a copy of your assignment for you own records.

• Your mark and feedback will be made available to you electronically once the internal moderation process has taken place, you should note that at this stage marks are still subject to external examiner and academic board approval.