Management and Organisational Change

Assignment Brief Part One:

According to Rollinson (2010), who cites Vroom, ‘task performance’ does not rely solely on motivation. 

Required:

Critically evaluate the use of motivation theories in contemporary business to determine their effectiveness in improving employee task performance.

Part Two: 

“Soft systems approaches to change emphasize not just the content and control of change but also the process by which change comes about. They require consideration of the cultural and political aspects of organisations as much as the structure and systems”. (Senior and Fleming:

2006). 

Required:

Determine in what situations it is either appropriate or inappropriate to employ soft system methodologies.

Part two and part one are equally weighted

Assignment Considerations

General 

It can be good practice in your preparations for each part to undertake a number of activities.  These include:

• Do not repeat the question, merely state Part A or Part B at the top of the respective response.
• Establishing key issues/areas raised by the question
• Defining fundamental terms 
• Describing contextual information e.g. background to topic and its significance and/or interesting statistical data
• Identifying, explaining in detail and cross-comparing relevant concepts, models and theoretical approaches
• Applying concepts to contemporary issues within business settings
• Applying models/theories to workplace/organisation/industry examples and/or evaluating the practical application of models/theories
• Drawing parallels between theory and practice
• Evaluating relative merits and drawbacks of opposing academic viewpoints with a view to building independent opinions
• Formulating balanced, persuasive independent arguments based on academic evidence and judgement
• Stating a clear, overall answer to the question

Part One Particular consideration may be given to:

• Assessing the context, which may include factors such as: Industry, Organisational age, Organisational size, Et. al.
• Definitions, examples and theories surrounding motivation from a range of sources.
• Analyse at least two observable practices which have been adopted by organisations which has been designed to enhance ‘task performance’. 
• Critique how the given theories may work, in practice. You should consider the practice in different workplaces, industries and reasons for change. 
• Furthermore, you should explore the advantages and disadvantages of the theories presented in obtaining enhanced organisational effectiveness.
• It is important to use appropriate references for the facts given; through application of the APA 6^th Ed Referencing system.

Part Two Particular consideration may be given to:

• Analyse the practice of organisational change methodology by discussion of the differences between the soft and hard systems models of change.
• Analyse how these models might work by exploring the advantages and disadvantages of the theories presented.
• Critically analyse the factors that should be taken into account when considering hard systems approaches to change.
• It is important to draw a parallel between the theory and practice and use appropriate references for the facts given through application of the APA 6^th Ed Referencing system.

Assignment Guidance 

Word count and presentation: You are required to submit an essay-type assignment not exceeding 4,000 words (excluding references). The essay should be divided in two parts, separating your response to Part One and Part Two. Submit both parts using one single document. Each part should provide an introduction, a main section (with sub-sections) a conclusion and a reference list.  If using tables/images provide labels and sources.  Write in a suitable academic style.  

Submission: Your individual assignment should be submitted by Friday 29 April 2022, 23:59 (UK Time) via the Turnitin submission link.  Your file name should provide your matriculation number, taking the format of 40xxxxxx MOC.  Your name should NOT appear.  

Weighting: The assignment accounts for 90% of your overall mark on this module.  Parts one and two of the assignment are weighted equally.  

Referencing: Follow the APA 7^th Ed. referencing system throughout.  Provide a separate reference list for Part One and Part Two.  All references provided in your list should link to a corresponding within text citation.