MGMT5007 Management and Organisational Behaviour : A Case Study Assessment Answer

Management Case Study Assignment

Case Scenario

Introduction

Welcome to the unit of Management and Organisational Behaviour (MGMT5007).

This unit is focused on issues relating to the theories, principles and practices of management and organisational behaviour. In particular it emphasizes critical thinking, reflection, action and decision-making within the context of the global business environment. This unit has a direct relevance to your everyday life as a business student and future business person, business leader, manager or entrepreneur. An important aspect of managing and leading effectively is to have an understanding of organizational behaviour and so we will investigate important aspects of the study of organizational behaviour and their relevance to management and leadership.

Through discussions, case studies and the consideration of management and organizational behaviour through the news and other media, this unit provides you with important learning that will act as the basis for effective people management and leadership. In order to achieve this you will need to be committed to and engaged with the learning process, come to the workshops prepared and be ready to show energy and involvement in the learning process.

This unit will consider the history of management thought and its relevance for management today. You will discover that even in a globalized business environment where technology is in use everywhere the importance of the effective management of people, relationships and organizational behaviour is central to successful business. This unit will provide you with the foundations for a successful business career.

Success in business requires commitment, engagement and a strong work-ethic and so success in this course requires the same. It is important that you come to workshops prepared by having done the on-line work, and be prepared to show high energy and involvement in the workshops. Teamwork, collaboration and interaction are also important for effective management and these elements are important in M&OB.

I am pleased to have you in this Unit and hope that you will enjoy the learning experience and find the unit of practical benefit.

Unit Learning Outcomes

All graduates of Curtin University achieve a set of nine graduate attributes during their course of study. These tell an employer that, through your studies, you have acquired discipline knowledge and a range of other skills and attributes which employers say would be useful in a professional setting. Each unit in your course addresses the graduate attributes through a clearly identified set of learning outcomes. They form a vital part in the process referred to as assurance of learning. The learning outcomes tell you what you are expected to know, understand or be able to do in order to be successful in this unit. Each assessment for this unit is carefully designed to test your achievement of one or more of the unit learning outcomes. On successfully completing all of the assessments you will have achieved all of these learning outcomes.

Your course has been designed so that on graduating we can say you will have achieved all of Curtin's Graduate Attributes through the assurance of learning process in each unit.

On successful completion of this unit students can: Graduate Attributes

addressed 1 Examine management theories and concepts that relate to workplace behaviours

2 Develop coherent arguments relating theories to workplace behaviours

3 Apply management theory to practical situations using collaborative team-skills

4 Assess and develop solutions to practical management situations including ethical

and socio-cultural competencies

? Curtin Business School (CBS) School of Management

? MGMT5007 Management and Organisational Behaviour Bentley Campus 25 Jul 2016 School of Management, Curtin Business School (CBS)

Page: 3 of 11 CRICOS Provider Code 00301J The only authoritative version of this Unit Outline is to be found online in OASIS

Curtin's Graduate Attributes

Learning Activities

This unit engages learners for 36 hours during the course of the semester, based on a one hour online class. In addition students will be expected to work on the material posted in preparation for the workshops.

Workshops

The workshops are opportunities for students to discuss issues in M&OB, analyze cases and clarify the content of the unit. Students are the main drivers of learning and while there are weekly topics for consideration it is important that students are prepared for the unexpected; that something different might be introduced in workshops to stimulate the learning process. The business world is characterized by uncertainty, discontinuity and ambiguity and managers and leaders have to be able to cope with disruption. A workshop is typically building on the material available on the blackboard including the videos, publishers' slides, the peer-reviewed journal articles recommended for that week and other materials that would become available onto the blackboard as we go through the semester. Thus, this workshop will be structured around learning opportunities during which these concepts, theories relevant to the theme can be interpreted and applied to practical settings. These learning opportunities include activities such as identification of relevant theories in relation to the topic of the day, problem-based case studies, or simulations or work samples designed to surface/reveal key theoretical principles and perspectives -- mostly undertaken in a team setting.

The workshops are concerned with developing your theoretical understanding of M&OB but equally importantly with ensuring that you appreciate the practicalities and practice of management and leadership.

Learning Resources Essential texts

The required textbook(s) for this unit are:

• 'Management and Organisational Behaviour, Australia', 2nd Edition, is a book customised by Dr Theodora Issa in July 2015 in co-operation with the publishers McGraw-Hill Irwin.
• This book provides more than one perspective on theories from different scholars, this ISBN comes in hard copy (which comes in black and white) and e-book (which comes in colour) - Students can either purchase the hard copy (black and white) or the e-book (colour)
• McGraw-Hill, advised that the location of the SOFT COPY (Electronic copy of this compiled book is also available) the link to this book has been changed in July 2014
• Please check with Co-op or your bookshop for how best to obtain copies

(ISBN/ISSN: 9781308593630)

Online resources

Professional Skills (work independently and as a team) (plan own work)

Find out more about Curtin's Graduate attributes at the Office of Teaching & Learning website: ctl.curtin.edu.au

Apply discipline knowledge

Communication skills

International perspective (value the perspectives of others)

Thinking skills (use analytical skills to solve problems)

Technology skills

Cultural understanding (value the perspectives of others)

Information skills (confidence to investigate new ideas)

Learning how to learn (apply principles learnt to new situations) (confidence to tackle unfamiliar problems)

? Curtin Business School (CBS) School of Management

? MGMT5007 Management and Organisational Behaviour Bentley Campus 25 Jul 2016 School of Management, Curtin Business School (CBS)

Page: 4 of 11 CRICOS Provider Code 00301J The only authoritative version of this Unit Outline is to be found online in OASIS

• 'Management and Organisational Behaviour, Australia', 2nd Edition, is a book customised by Dr Theodora Issa in July 2015 in co-operation with the publishers McGraw-Hill Irwin.
• This book provides more than one perspective on theories from different scholars, this ISBN comes in hard copy (which comes in black and white) and e-book (which comes in colour) - Students can either purchase the hard copy (black and white) or the e-book (colour)
• McGraw-Hill, advised that the location of the SOFT COPY (Electronic copy of this compiled book is also available) the link to this book has been changed in July 2014
• Please check with Co-op or your bookshop for how best to obtain copies

Other resources

Please check the blackboard for further resources under TEXT, REFERENCES and OTHER RESOURCES section.

Assessment Assessment schedule

Unit Learning Task Value % Date Due

Outcome(s) Assessed Assignment 30 percent Week: Week 6

1 Day: Monday 5th Sept 2016 Time: 16:00 hrs WST

Detailed information on assessment tasks

1. INDIVIDUAL: Critical and Reflective reading and writing (30%)

For this assessment, you are required to write a critical and reflective review on TWO readings provided by your unit coordinator using the template and further information available on the Blackboard. This assessment will be based on the criteria that are derived from the reviewer’s guide to Peer-reviewed Journal articles by Emerald:

1. Originality
2. Relationship to Literature
3. Methodology
4. Results
5. Implications and significance of this work
6. Quality of Communication
7. Overall conclusion by you
8. What did I learn from this exercise - your reflective piece supported by sources (e.g. peer-reviewed journal articles)
9. References

You will be required to provide your overall conclusion on the two articles, followed by your reflection on

2 Report 35 percent Week: Week 13

Day: Friday 28th Oct 2016 Time: 16:00 hrs WST

3 Presentation 35 percent Week: Week 7-11

Day: Workshop Day Time: Workshop Time

? Curtin Business School (CBS) School of Management

? MGMT5007 Management and Organisational Behaviour Bentley Campus 25 Jul 2016 School of Management, Curtin Business School (CBS)

Page: 5 of 11 CRICOS Provider Code 00301J The only authoritative version of this Unit Outline is to be found online in OASIS

your experience of reading and critically analysing these two articles. Being an academic assessment the assessment will follow the Chicago 16 style referencing (in-text citation and some 12 peer-reviewed journal articles in the reference list). You might also look for articles relevant to your reflection in the library, where you can access and read articles on-line. The use of Wikipedia is not permitted in any shape or form in your academic writing for this unit. It is not only the number of peer-reviewed sources that will be assessed but the method those sources were incorporated and linked together in support of your arguments.

Submission of this assessment: The assessment needs to be between 1,500 - 2,000 words +/-10%, where your reflective piece, any appendices you might feel need to be attached, and your reference list will be considered outside the word count. In line with Curtin Policy, you will need to submit this assessment ONLINE through plagiarism that is embedded in the blackboard. Submissions through e-mail, or hard copies placed in the pigeon hole ARE UNACCEPTABLE, and penalty of late submission will apply immediately.

Please ensure that the DECLARATION available at the end of this unit outline, and on the blackboard is added at the beginning of your assessment presentation including this one. Failing to add this DECLARATION will make you subject to penalty.

2. INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY REPORT: (35%)

BACKGROUND ON THE ASSESSMENT AND THE ASSESSMENT TOPIC - those will become available on the blackboard later in the semester.

This assessment will need to be submitted in the form of a CONSULTING REPORT.

A template for this assessment available on the blackboard, however, as a guide your report should include the following sections:

1. Transmittal Letter
2. Executive Summary
3. Introduction
4. Background and Literature
5. Analysis of the case situation and identification of issues.
6. Recommendations.
7. Contingencies
8. Implementation Plan
9. References
10. Appendices (if applicable)

This report should be about 3,000 words +/- 10%. Please note that the executive summary, appendices and the reference list are not included in this word count.

The report must conform to the guidelines for written assessments as well as to rigorous academic and consulting standards, especially with regards to referencing. You will be assessed on the quality and the way you use these sources, how well you have used these resources to analyze the case, identify issues and offer recommendations. You need to adhere to the requirements of Chicago 16 style referencing for in-text citation and reference list to acknowledge your sources. You are expected to use a diverse base of sources, though at the postgraduate level, you do not need us to specify how many sources you need to use, and what is the caliber of these sources, however, in order to assist you, please note that you are expected to have included at least 18 sources 75% of these sources need to be peer-reviewed journal articles others to be derived from other sources that you might find useful for the specific purpose of this report (e.g. books, professional magazines, government websites, stock exchange websites etc...). The use of Wikipedia is not permitted in any shape or form in your academic writing for this unit. It is important to note that writing a consulting report is a very significant skill in the global business environment.

This report will be submitted ONLINE through the plagiarism embedded in the blackboard.

Please ensure that the DECLARATION available at the end of this unit outline and on the blackboard is added at the beginning of your assessment presentation including this one. Failing to add this DECLARATION will make you subject to penalty.

3. PRESENTATION (35%)

? Curtin Business School (CBS) School of Management

? MGMT5007 Management and Organisational Behaviour Bentley Campus 25 Jul 2016 School of Management, Curtin Business School (CBS)

Page: 6 of 11 CRICOS Provider Code 00301J The only authoritative version of this Unit Outline is to be found online in OASIS

This assessment has two components, part A is a group presentation (20%) and part B is as a panel (15%).

Part A (20%): You are to make a formal presentation in a group of a maximum of five students on ONE assigned case study (to be decided) to the entire class and specifically to another team of students who will act as your client, during Weeks 7 – 11 of your semester. These cases will be assigned in due course. Your style should be as a team of consultants and the format would be the same as you will use for the written report assignment above.

Your presentation is to last 30 minutes (maximum), after which you will have 15 minutes of Q&A which will be conducted by the team who are the panel for your case. . Please note that you are NOT ALLOWED to simply read out any part of the presentation from palm-notes/slides or other reference material as you are being assessed on your presentation skills and not your reading abilities. Importantly presentation skills are an important aspect of the management and leadertship role as is the ability to think on your feet and answer questions from clients. In addition, you are to distribute a one page (double sided) handout of the solutions to each individual in the class. Classroom discussion is deeply encouraged after the presentation to facilitate understanding of the case study. You could either use PowerPoint, be professional, engaged and suitably dressed. The standards that apply in the business world will apply in this class generally and the business world specifically.

It is your responsibility as a group that the workload is distributed evenly among the presenters. I expect you as a team to deal with intra-team issues. Only if they become impossible should you move to the next level, which is me.

Feedback on the presentations: Students are required to attend ALL presentations (and not just their own) and participate in the discussions that ensue from the presentations. Please inform your unit coordinator/lecturer/tutor via email if you are unable to attend a presentation and provide reasons for the same. Students, as part of the audience, will participate in the marking and feedback process. On the day, you will be provided with the marking criteria for you to provide marks and any comments. These will be taken in account by the Unit Coordinator/Lecturer when finalising the feedback and your group’s mark.

Part B (15%): Another team in the class will act as the client panel. Your task is to question the consulting team on the presentation of the situation and their recommendations. As a consequence the panel team must also have thoroughly prepared the case study. You will be assessed on your ability to act as a client, engage with the role-play, and ask critical questions of the presenting team of consultants.

Pass requirements

Students must FULLY attempt all assessments and achieve a Final Mark of 50 or greater to pass this unit.

Fair assessment through moderation

Moderation describes a quality assurance process to ensure that assessments are appropriate to the learning outcomes, and that student work is evaluated consistently by assessors. Minimum standards for the moderation of assessment are described in the Assessment and Student Progression Manual, available from policies.curtin.edu.au/policies/teachingandlearning.cfm

? Curtin Business School (CBS) School of Management

? MGMT5007 Management and Organisational Behaviour Bentley Campus 25 Jul 2016 School of Management, Curtin Business School (CBS)

Page: 7 of 11 CRICOS Provider Code 00301J The only authoritative version of this Unit Outline is to be found online in OASIS

Late assessment policy

This ensures that the requirements for submission of assignments and other work to be assessed are fair, transparent, equitable, and that penalties are consistently applied.

1. All assessments students are required to submit will have a due date and time specified on this Unit Outline. 2. Students will be penalised by a deduction of ten percent per calendar day for a late assessment submission

Assessment extension

A student unable to complete an assessment task by/on the original published date/time (eg examinations, tests) or due date/time (eg assignments) must apply for an assessment extension using the Assessment Extension form (available from the Forms page at students.curtin.edu.au/administration/) as prescribed by the Academic Registrar. It is the responsibility of the student to demonstrate and provide evidence for exceptional circumstances beyond the student's control that prevent them from completing/submitting the assessment task.

The student will be expected to lodge the form and supporting documentation with the unit coordinator before the assessment date/time or due date/time. An application may be accepted up to five working days after the date or due date of the assessment task where the student is able to provide an acceptable explanation as to why he or she was not able to submit the application prior to the assessment date. An application for an assessment extension will not be accepted after the date of the Board of Examiners' meeting.

Deferred assessments If your results show that you have been granted a deferred assessment you should immediately check OASIS for details.

Deferred examinations/tests will be held from 06/02/2017 to 17/02/2017 . Notification to students will be made after the Board of Examiners’ meeting via the Official Communications Channel (OCC) in OASIS.

Supplementary assessments

Supplementary assessments are not available in this unit.

Reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities/health circumstances likely to impact on studies

A Curtin Access Plan (CAP) is a document that outlines the type and level of support required by a student with a disability or health condition to have equitable access to their studies at Curtin. This support can include alternative exam or test arrangements, study materials in accessible formats, access to Curtin’s facilities and services or other support as discussed with an advisor from Disability Services (disability.curtin.edu.au). Documentation is required from your treating Health Professional to confirm your health circumstances.

If you think you may be eligible for a CAP, please contact Disability Services. If you already have a CAP please provide it to the Unit Coordinator at the beginning of each semester.

Introduction

Human beings across the world have had the need for an efficient management system that ensures the smooth running of all activities undertaken by them. In a bid to enforce this efficiency, various organizations have employed within their structures the technical expertise of managers who take charge of all activities carried out in respective departments as well as the organization as a whole. An efficient management mechanism is critical for the development of a healthy business environment thus ensure success for businesses around the world. The study will provide a brief insight into two scholarly articles outlining different scenarios within which various decisions are made and the effects of those decisions and actions taken are manifested to the full glare of the public.

The first article is based on the journal, Organizational Dynamics Vol. 37 titled On Being a Knowledge Worker. The article explains on how human beings should utilize knowledge acquired by them in order to create a better environment and society within which they co-exist. The authors begin by indicating the need for knowledge within a society and as such how we as human beings can utilize the much acquired knowledge for our benefit both economically and socially. They emphasize on the need to improve on the available knowledge within a particular society individually by utilizing the available knowledge and communicating it to others in an understandable manner. According to them, an individual may be deemed as a knowledge worker if he or she has the ability to utilize the available knowledge within their scope and merge with ideas from other sections of the society in a bid to come up with new innovative ideas that is fundamental to the improvement of societal welfare.

The article sites an example whereby a film director named Peter Jackson had a dream of creating a fantastic production based on a Trilogy book by an author named Tolkien. Jackson conceptualized the idea and partnered with like-minded organizations and together they created a spectacular production by the name Lord of the Rings. In light of the foregoing, it is clear that through the knowledge that one possesses, many ideas can be conceptualized but they require collaboration with ideas from other individuals or organizations in a bid to guarantee success. According to them, an individual must have prior knowledge on a particular concept before introducing it to other people within the society. After introducing the concept, the individual must be ready to listen to opinions without undue bias in a bid to make corrections and adjustments to his or her original ideas or concepts.

Michael, Robert and Valerie clearly outline the purpose for which we acquire and invest in knowledge and that this process can be explained by use of three assertions “ways of knowing”; knowing-why, knowing-how and knowing-whom. Knowing why is based on the fundamental reason as to the interests and the drive behind working hard by an individual. This may be because of family, having a sense of identity and the experience gained because of the work done. Knowing-how outlines the application of the acquired skills and expertise in actualizing our desires and goals within a particular societal setting. Examples may include in filmmaking, professional athletics among others. It also enables an individual to acquire new skills. The third assertion is knowing-whom, it involves creating a network among other individuals in a bid to ensure the development and actualization of new ideas, new concepts and combine with the inherent knowledge to guarantee success. It is based on the premise that all individuals have different talents thus one can learn from other people and it is only by working together that desired results are achieved.

The article also explains of various entities within which collaborations may take place namely among individuals, communities, organizations and industries. Individual’s exhibit collaborations by investing in knowledge to conceptualize new ideas and acquire new knowledge thus improve on various activities within which they may be undertaking. Communities involve a number of individuals who may come together, share knowledge and ideas on a number of issues and learn from each other to develop a better society for all. Each individual assumes responsibility for a particular part of the community based on the inherent knowledge acquired. Organizations also come together and form specialized temporary working groups in a bid to achieve a particular objective. They achieve these objectives through working together with other organizations based on one’s specialty. Industries also come together whereby they may be within the same geographical setting but are specialized in different fields such as Economic Planning and Information Communication and Technology. These four forms of collaborations are illustrated as a knowledge diamond that indicates the association that exists between all the forms of collaborations in a particular society.

In conclusion, the article outlined the benefits of having knowledge workers within the society as a lot of knowledge is acquired by individuals who are then able to learn from other people in a bid to make improvements whether in business or other sectors of society. (Eric Matson 2010)Through the learning process, new ideas are innovated and as such, the whole world becomes well organized through established structures that ensure networking and association between all nations of the world.

The second article is based on the Journal, Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 38 No. 2, How Inappropriate Attachments can Drive Good Leaders to Make Bad Decisions. The article begins by making the assertion that not all leaders are deemed to have made rational and critically scrutinized decisions but are also susceptible to bias especially through holding an attachment to other individuals or objects. It then goes on to explain how individuals holding high positions within international organizations have been brought down due to attachments held by them. Case in point is the story of Paul Wolfowitz, an individual who had been appointed to head the World Bank but due to an attachment he had developed to another individual, it proved to be detrimental and damning to his career as he ended up resigning from the position of World Bank head.

The authors explained that attachments might take various forms as outlined below; attachments that form an astonishing range, sinister or sunny attachments and attachments that have subtle power. On the assertion that attachments form an astonishing range, the authors dwelt on the fact that individuals within society are attached to different entity such as family and friends, community members and objects that are of sentimental value among others. (Bartone 2011) The attachment towards these entities often leads to the detriment of the individual involved as they lose focus on the tasks at hand and make poor judgement and decisions which may later yield negative results. An example is provided of the CEO of an Electronics whose attachment to cars drove him to the point of authorizing the establishment of an automobile plant within the country without a careful analysis of the market dynamics underlying the automobile industry. Because of the poor decision-making, the automobile company was declared under receivership after incurring huge losses and was eventually sold at a lower fair value.

An attachment between two individuals or an individual to an object may be negative because of the underlying factors within which the two individuals operate in. The existence of hate among different parties in a particular society may end up influencing decisions made by top management in a bid to out-weigh the other. Hatred may arise because of previous occurrences between the conflicting parties and is thus perpetuated into the current situation leading to bad decisions. An example is provided whereby two rival companies pitted in a brutal court battle over a take-over bid had arisen because the leaders of the two companies had an inclined tendency of harbouring ill feelings towards each other. This behaviour is also exhibited among members of different gangs whereby allegiance is pledged to the gang and any outsiders who are not privy to the gang’s activities may be expunged accordingly.

The article also highlights other forms of attachments as being beguiling whereby an individual who is attached to a particular object becomes oblivious to his or her immediate surrounding environment and may end up making bad decisions. (Ainsworth 1978) An individual may not be aware of how the attachments affect the decision-making process until after the poor decisions have been made. The authors indicate that because of these attachments, an individual attains a sense of goodness and satisfaction emanating from the attachment. (Shah 2015) The article concludes by identifying various forms of attachment that may hinder an individual holding a position of authority from discharging his or her duties diligently and making rational decisions. However, the authors assert the fact that attachments are not easily understood within society and can prove to be difficult especially while leading to the influence of certain decisions. People in authority or leaders are urged to remain steadfast and carefully assess themselves for any form of attachments that they may develop especially while discharging their duties within society. (Saunders, Kraus and Barone 2015, Vol 28)

Conclusion

In light of the foregoing, it is clear that the two articles have shed light on various aspects of the society and how rational human beings should conduct themselves. The first article explains on how individuals should utilize their acquired knowledge in combination to that from others sources in order to create a better society. The second article acts as a yardstick within which guides us on how to avoid various attachments in society that may prove to be detrimental for our well-being.