Essay A

“Co-operatives owned and controlled by the people who use their services, represent a radically different way of running the business of the world”.
(Briscoe & Ward, 2005)
Critically evaluate the values and principles that shape co-operative businesses and comment, giving examples, on the contribution of co-operatives to rural communities.

Essay B

“Enterprising communities can eliminate poverty, unemployment, emigration, health, housing, and homelessness problems. New knowledge emerges from increasing capacity and economic and social progress.”

Dr. Senan Cooke(2018, p189) in his book The Enterprising Community: A Bottom Perspective on the Capacity within Communities to Regenerate
Critically evaluate this statement, giving at least five examples of how communities have gone about dealing with some of the issues identified by Cooke.

Essay C

“Planning, in the context of area/local development can be defined as a continuous process that involves the decisions or choices about alternative ways of using available resources, with the aim of achieving particular goals in the future”.
(Conyers and Hill, 1984, p.3)
You are requested to critically evaluate, giving examples, any one of the three models of planning approaches covered in the module that you believe is appropriate for a local area with which you are familiar.

Assignment Overview:

Option one:  A review of PRM at your own organization (or one with which you are familiar or chose to research) and associated questions. This is recommended if students have sufficient access to PRM information on an organization.
Option two: The module also provides an alternative assessment for those students who do not feel they have sufficient access to PRM at an organization.  This alternative coursework is a case study Review of PRM@Blenheim Spa Hotels.  This is a fictitious case study of a fictitious spa hotel chain.  The assessment requires you to read the case study and write an assignment that answers the questions set for the case study.  Details of this case study option can be found later in this module guide and on the module Blackboard site under Assessment.

Assessment task one brief – detail

The learning outcomes for this module are assessed by one piece of coursework worth 100% of the module marks.  Please select from ONE of the coursework options below:

Option 1  –

1. Critically evaluate the Performance and Reward offering at your organization* and identify the current main challenges
2. How might your organization* improve on their offering and meet these challenges?

*Or another organization with which you are familiar

Option 2 – Review of PRM@Blenheim Spa Hotels

This assessed case study is based on Blenheim Spa Hotels, a fictitious spa hotel chain based in the South of England.   They are a multi-award-winning UK-based firm that is considering focused expansion to France, Germany, and other international locations.  They currently have an interesting Performance and Reward offering and for this case study, you will be evaluating this and formulating ideas to improve it.
Below, you will find information about this fictitious company.  The information is written as if it has been taken off the company web pages to make the case study seem more real to life.   Please look at the information with an academic and critical eye.
We hope you enjoy this case study, learn via your research, and formulating your answers and reach your full potential in this assessment…
Anne and Katherine
Anne Paterson and Katherine Gardiner (PRM Teaching Team).

Blenheim Spa Hotels: our story…

Blenheim Spa Hotels is a small chain of luxury hotels with a strong focus on the luxury spa facilities provided at each hotel and also on offering luxury active family breaks during the school holidays.  The hotels are owned by the Hamilton family and are located in the south of England in Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Cambridgeshire, and Hertfordshire.

Blenheim Spa Hotels and business

The company started 40 years ago with the Blenheim Spa Hotel in Brockenhurst in the New Forest and has since expanded to a total of 8 hotels.  Although it remains privately owned and the Hamilton family’s involvement in the company is still very high, they are now supported by a professional senior executive team and middle management structure.  There is a head office facility in Southampton that creates centralized policies and strategies and each hotel has its own professional and management team to manage the day-to-day business.

QUESTIONS (in italics and bold)

Part 1: Review of current practice

• Provide a critical review of current Performance and Reward practice at Blenheim Spa Hotels:

Ensure you use theories, concepts, and models and literature as an evidence base and to assist you in your analysis. Take the range of information the case provides you with as the basis of your review, e.g. how does the current PRM package help the company in what they are trying to achieve (business plans, vision, values, etc)

Part 2: Analysis of potential challenges and issues

• Discuss the cultural and PEST (political, economic, social, and technological) challenges and factors that need to be considered when developing the new PRM Strategy and its implementation.

You should use a PEST analysis tool to help you with this section.  The actual PEST analysis should go into the assignment appendix but key points raised in the PEST should be discussed in the main body of the text.  Make sure your PEST is related to the PRM issues affecting Blenheim Spa Hotels and not just a general business-related PEST with no PRM implications.  The PEST should be applicable to the region or country you have chosen to focus on in your assignment.
Your critical analysis in part 1 and your cultural and PEST analysis in part 2 should provide you with some key PRM related issues which will then feed into part 3…

Part 2: Development of a Total Rewards Strategy and Performance and Reward Policies, Tools & Procedures

• Create a new Performance and Total Rewards Strategy that supports Blenheim Spa Hotels’ expansion plans, organizational culture, and values. Ensure you discuss the rationale for your strategy in addition to providing the wording for the actual strategy.
• Provide justified and well-argued recommendations and solutions for the suggested PRM approach. These should include:
  • A suitable reward package i.e. tangible and intangible; pay, benefits, and intangible rewards; what rewards are suitable given the current climate?
  • An appropriate performance management system and associated practices, procedures, and tools i.e. how will performance be measured, managed, evaluated, and rewarded? Think of organizational and individual performance levels.
• Provide a rationale for your choices and justification for them via a mixture of theory, models, literature, and comparisons with other organizations.