how people manage themselves and interact with others

 

The portfolio is split into for parts called Assignments.

Portfolio Assignment 1 is about how people manage themselves and interact with others;

Portfolio Assignment 2 is about how people are led and how theory can help us understand the leadership process; Portfolio Assignment 3 is about the factors which influence upon how people are led, the personal values of people (leaders) and how organisational culture can, and does, affect leadership; Portfolio Assignment 4 concerns approaches to the management of change.

As well as the core text: Whetten, D.A. and Cameron, K.S. (2011, 8th Edn.), Developing Management Skills. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, supported by Mullins, L.J. (2010, 9th edn.) Management and Organisational Behaviour. Harlow: Pearson Education and also Senior, B. and Swailes, S. (2010, 3rd edn.) Organizational Change. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. ( both available as an ‘e’ book via the Learning and Information Centre’s electronic database) you may wish to refer to the following texts for guidance:
Arnold, J. Silvester, J. Patterson, F. Robertson, I. Cooper, C. and Burnes, B. (2005, 4th Edn.) Work Psychology: Understanding Human Behaviour in the Workplace, Harlow: Pearson Education (available as an ‘e’ book), Cottrell, S. (2008) The Study Skills Handbook. 3rd Edn. Palgrave MacMillan or Pedler, M. Burgoyne (2006) A manager’s guide to self development. McGraw-Hill. These texts are available in the University Learning Centres.

Assignment 1

How and who we work for can impact upon our health, well-being and thus, in general our lives. Consider the following information, freely available from the Health and Safety Executive accessed from the HSE website on 18 September 2012 at: <http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/dayslost.htm>
The latest information from the UK Government’s Labour Force Survey for 2010/11 shows:
– Around 26.4 million working days were lost in total, 22.1 million due to work-related illness and 4.4 million due to workplace injuries.
– On average, each person suffering took around 15 days off work, 19 days for ill health and 7.2 days for injuries on average.
– The number of working days lost has fallen over the past decade.
– Stress, depression or anxiety and musculoskeletal disorders accounted for the majority of days lost due to work-related ill health, 10.8 and 7.6 million days respectively.
– The average days lost per case for stress, depression or anxiety (27 days) was higher than for musculoskeletal disorders (15 days).
Clearly there is a business argument to take stress very seriously and thus managers need to consider how they manage themselves and those who work for them.
Question1 – We know what the effects of stress are from the Health and Safety Executives research but what is stress exactly?
Question 2 – Discuss, using ideas from the general model of stress, the causes (sources) of stress and thus how stress can be managed in the work place. In your response you must make reference to how the various causes of stress can be categorised.
Question 3 – Referring to the mini case study below discuss the types of stressors which are negatively affecting Jane and how the organisations management might improve her situation and thus reduce her stress levels.
Consider the day in the life of an office worker. She works for a small haulage company which employs 80 people. It has a warehouse, 50 lorries of various sizes and functions, ranging from vans with tail-lifts for delivering light weight parcels and other goods, tipper trucks for working on building sites, ‘flat-bed’ lorries with cranes for delivering heavy goods such as pallets of bricks to building sites and articulated trucks which carry palletised loads.
Jane’s job is simple, she receives telephone and email messages from potential clients who want to know the cost of transporting an item from ‘A’ to ‘B’ and at what cost. She passes the request on to a colleague who does the costing and then contacts the enquirer with the information they have requested.
Jane is conscientious, diligent and bright. She left school five years ago with seven GCSEs at grade ‘B’ and was thinking of going on to sixth form to study A levels but family circumstance did not permit. She has been doing the same job in the same business since leaving school. Her office is like many offices that you one would work, it is bright and airy and until nine months ago she was reasonably content, although not fulfilled. Her old boss left the company and she was given a new supervisor. She now dreads coming to work. She never feels as though she does things right. Although not always criticised for her work Jane senses that what she does is not satisfactory in the eyes of her boss, for example, if she does more than her defined role she is admonished for ‘exceeding her authority’. Jane does not know, from one day to the next how her supervisor will react to her. She wants to leave the company but in the current economic situation there is no where to go to. Work is affecting her well-being.
Assignment 2
Rensis Likert’s ‘Behavioural Approach’ to leadership is very appealing by suggesting how people should be led; one could say it is too simple.
1. Discuss, referring to appropriate theory, how Likert conducted his research, you must identify the criteria he used during his investigation.
2. Further discuss what he meant by supportive relationships and supportive behaviour and the role it plays in effective leadership.
3. In what way does Likert suggest that employees (team members) can be encouraged to achieve high level goals?
4. In what way does Likert suggest that the end result variables of an organisation, such as the organisation’s productivity, costs, scrap materials created etc. can be positively impacted upon?
Assignment 3
1. John Gardener (1990) On Leadership, New York Press, wrote, “In this country [USA – author’s words] – and in most democracies-power has such a bad name that many people persuade themselves they want nothing to do with it.” Discuss, with relevance to appropriate theory whether managers should develop an understanding of and a competence in building a power base within an organisation.
2. There are many sources of power. In terms of success, in Western cultures people favour and foster personal and dispositional (she achieved what he has done because she was the brightest) as opposed to Chinese cultures which favour situationally centred (he was promoted because he knew lots of people in the headquarters) explanations of success. If this type of logic is taken further, in to the realms of managing organisations, then one could consider whether managers should explore and develop an understanding of ‘Personal’ as opposed to ‘Positional Power’. Discuss, with reference to relevant theory the issues and the pros and cons of these two very different types of power.
Gretton, cited in Mullins (2010, p. 683), suggests that, “Today’s leaders understand that you have to give up control to get results. That’s what all the talk of empowerment is about”. Define what is meant by empowerment and explain how empowerment differs from delegation. Using appropriate theory examine why it is important in the 21st century why leaders, at all levels in the organisation, need to empower their staff.
Assignment 4
This final part of your portfolio addresses change management and culture. In your response to the following questions you must refer to appropriate theory.
1. Identify the types of managerial tools which can be used to bring about organisational change.
2. As a more readily accessible but perceived measure of an organisation’s health, researchers have started to investigate ‘Organisational Climate’. Explain what is meant be this term and what it means in terms of the organisation. What sort of characteristics might be the sign of a healthy organisation?
3. Following along from the above question, explain and discuss the general principles which management might adhere to when trying to bring about change within an organisation

The following detail is important when:
• Preparing for your assessment
• Checking your work before submission
• When interpreting your grade and feedback after marking. (Note that your work will not be returned to you so always keep a copy of your work for this purpose.)

Learning Outcomes Tested
(Insert detail)
Is able to demonstrate and understanding and awareness of the concepts of managing self, and is able to explain and apply the fundamentals of theory which underpin the management of self.
Is able to identify and explain, the concepts of leading and managing others in respect of current and key theories of leadership and management.
Is able to explain and discuss theories which impact upon the moral and ethical approaches and stances to the management of people.
Is able to explain some of the basic theoretical constructs of managing change in the workplace.

Assessment Criteria (Insert detail)

Using information: Identify and assess relevant academic literature to support analysis and to inform discussion

Analysis: Discuss the use of argument, models, evidence and techniques in the development of theory and practice.

Critical thinking: Objectively assess the relative contribution of different analytical approaches and theoretical perspectives.
Performance descriptors (by grade) (Insert detail)
See at the end of this document

To help you further:
• Refer to module guide for contact details of module leader and Departmental Administrator
• Resit details will be posted on WOLF

Detail of tutorial inputs, etc.
Recommended reading and other sources
(Where different from module guide listing) As per the module guide
If available insert checklist of issues for student to consider before submission.
See ‘Important Requirements’ section

 

Avoiding Academic Misconduct
Warning
Collusion, plagiarism and cheating are very serious offences that can result in a student being expelled from the University. The business school has a policy of actively identifying students who engage in academic misconduct of this nature and routinely applying detection techniques including the use of sophisticated software packages.
Avoid Collusion
The business school encourages group working, however to avoid collusion always work on your own in order to complete your individual assessments. Do not let fellow students have access to your work before it is submitted and do not be tempted to access the work of others. Refer to your module tutor if you do not understand or you need further guidance.
Avoid Plagiarism
You must use available and relevant literature to demonstrate your knowledge of a subject, however to avoid plagiarism you must take great care to acknowledge it properly. You should therefore always use of the Harvard style referencing system in all cases.
(For further guidance go to www.wlv.ac.uk/lib and from the menu that then appears, make these choices in turn: Study skills, referencing, Harvard Citation).
Plagiarism is the act of stealing someone else’s work and passing it off as your own. This includes incorporating either unattributed direct quotation(s) or substantial paraphrasing from the work of another/others. For this reason it is important that you cite all the sources whose work you have drawn on and reference them fully in accordance with the Harvard referencing standard.
Extensive direct quotations in assessed work is ill advised because:
It represents a poor writing style that is unlikely to meet the pass grade marking criteria, and it could lead to omission errors and a plagiarism offence could be committed accidentally.
Maximising the benefits of team working
An individual assessment must represent an effort prepared and submitted by you. It will contain your solutions to exercises set during the delivery of the module. (Your submission may reflect some contributions arising from group working and classroom discussion).
Always:
Maintain a file of evidence (e.g. academic papers used in preparing your portfolio)
(QCA 5) Performance Descriptors.
A14- A16 Work of an excellent standard.
B11- B13 Work of a very good standard. C8- C10 Work of a competent standard. D5- D7 Work of a satisfactory standard. E4 Work of an unsatisfactory standard.
Full answer to the question and content wholly relevant. Excellent understanding of relevant theory, concepts and models. Application of appropriate theory to examples/practice. Answers most if not all aspects of the question. Content mainly relevant. Very good understanding of relevant theory and concepts and application of theoretical models. Evidence of a developing appreciation of contextual issues. Main issues addressed and solid attempt to answer question. Some relevant content applied. Sound knowledge and understanding of relevant theory and concepts and identification of main issues Satisfactory attempt to address question/issues with some content relevant to assignment topic. Material largely repeats taught input and lacks development or personal interpretation. Some general understanding of topic theory and concepts Questions not answered. Content not relevant. Little or no evidence of understanding of relevant theory. Very repetitive of taught input – no development or application. The use of extensive quoted passages evident.
Evidence of independent thinking and some analysis of issues.
Critical use of theory excellently applied to assignment issues. Clear synthesis of ideas Some analysis of ideas and evidence of some synthesis of ideas. Application of theory to practice and examples given where appropriate. Ability to compare and contrast issues, ideas, theories, models, and to analyse more complex ideas Some (if limited) attempt to apply theory to practice. Limited critical appraisal demonstrated. Tends to be descriptive. Largely descriptive and lacking in critical thought and application of theory Little or no critical thinking. Wholly descriptive- no attempt at analysis or evaluation. Little or no evidence of application of theory.
Wide range of reading evidenced. Understanding of studied materials demonstrated. All citations correctly made and complete list of references/ bibliography. Excellent management and appropriate use of information. Clear evidence of appropriate reading indicating independent research. Use of a range of sources. Referencing generally correct. Accurate reference list /bibliography. Very good management and appropriate use of information Evidence of reading Competent range of source materials used. Referencing generally competent with list of references provided. Materials used quite effectively Some evidence of reading from set list, however, materials not used effectively to support work. Some attempt at referencing source material using Harvard Referencing standard but limited list of references Little evidence of reading.
Inaccurate references/lacks referencing. No list of references
/bibliography.

Excellently structured, well-organised material. Logical progression of argument and sequencing of ideas. Full supporting evidence for all assertions. Excellent layout incorporating relevant presentation of data such as charts, graphs etc, where appropriate. Very good layout incorporating relevant presentation of data such as charts, graphs etc., where appropriate. Effective use of materials. All parts clearly linked and contributing to argument. Appropriate evidence/material to support assertions. Clear layout, good presentation and some attempt at useful presentation of data via charts, etc. Competent structure but lapses in coherence. Most arguments supported by evidence/ references. Word-processed with few errors. Layout could be improved upon. Lacks coherent structure with little linkage of ideas. Tends to be repetitive in places with some assertions made but not supported by appropriate evidence. Poor structure.
Little or no linkage of ideas. Assertions, where present, are not supported. Illogical structure or sequencing of ideas. Badly laid out.
Excellent grammar, punctuation and spelling throughout. Wholly appropriate style for task and audience.
Excellent presentation, the approach is clear, fluent and precise. Generally accurate grammar, punctuation and spelling. Clear in meaning and generally fluent. Appropriate style for purpose and recipient. Whilst generally competent, some lapses in grammar, spelling or punctuation.
Meanings always clear but not always explained in a clear and concise way. Several errors in grammar, punctuations and /or spelling.
Lacks fluency. Awkward or clumsy phrasing/language meaning not always clear
Careless mistakes. Serious and frequent errors in grammar, punctuation and /or spelling. Unclear in terms of meaning, hindering understanding by reader.

 

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