Assessment Strategy

This module will be assessed in the following way:
 
Individual Assignment (100%)
 
Question:
Please select and elaborate on one of the weekly themes, discuss and critically evaluate why it may be an important aspect in management and organizational context. Illustrate your ideas with an empirical case from contemporary organizations.
 
N.B. This question is written in such a way as to give you a wide degree of choice over how it is to be answered. Your empirical case can be an actual organization; or an organizational setting; or a specific management problem to be solved; or a specific industry. Your choice of empirical case will be assessed by how well it helps illustrations of theories.
 
N.N.B. You will have opportunity to discuss your chosen approach with the module leader in person and there will also be a designated assignment preparation tutorial.
 
Word count: 3,000 words
Type(s) of assessment: See module specification: Section 4, Assessments
 
Submission deadlines and date of return of work to students:
 
Submission Deadline: 12 noon on 20th/April/2020
Date of feedback return: 12 noon on 11^th/May/2020
 
How to submit your work:
 
This coursework requires online submission only.  You do not need to submit a hard copy of the coursework. You should submit your coursework via Turnitin, which is a plagiarism and collusion detection system. If you do not submit to Turnitin your work will not be marked.
 
To submit via Turnitin, you go to the assessment area for the module on VITAL and you will find a link for the coursework. Click on View/Complete and then on the “submit” icon for the paper. You are then prompted to submit a title for the paper. Use the “browse” button to locate the file you want to submit, then click “submit”. You will then be asked to confirm that you want to submit by clicking the “Yes, submit” button.”
Maximum length of coursework elements: See module specification: Section 4, Assessments
 
Students are asked to note that the word count is the absolute upper limit. There is no leeway over this, i.e. you will be penalised if you submit work that exceeds the word limit (the suggestion that you may exceed the word count by 10% is a myth!)
The following are not included in word counts:
 
Reference lists/bibliographies and question titles
Appendices/footnotes – provided these have been used only when necessary. If appendices or footnotes are used excessively, or contain material which should clearly be included in the main body of the essay/report, it is at the markers’ discretion to include these in the word count.
Tables/graphs – provided these have been imported from elsewhere (correctly referenced) and not produced by the student.
Contents pages and front pages of reports
As well as the essay/report itself, the following are included in word counts:
Citations/quotations – this includes the material paraphrased/quoted itself as well as the name, date and page information.
Tables and graphs – if they have been produced by the student.
Executive summaries in reports – unless otherwise stated.
 
Will feedback on draft coursework be given?
 
Feedback on draft assignment should be less than 2 pages and the turnaround time for feedback is 5 working days.
 
Weighting of the assessment components: See module specification: Section 4, Assessments
 
 
Policies for the below can be found via:
 
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/intranet/management-school/assessment/
 
Re-sits
Penalties – presentation, use of Wikipedia, late submission
Referencing work
Marking criteria
ULMS group work policy
Requests for extensions
 
 

Feedback to Students

Assignment feedback will be provided as follows:
Within three weeks of submission; individual feedback on coursework provided online through the Turnitin Grademark facility; face-to-face feedback available by appointment

How can I feed back my views on this module?

 
Your feedback on the module is welcome at any time. You will be given an opportunity to provide early module feedback informally, and then formally at the end of the module via the formal module evaluation process. The sooner you alert us to any issues you might have the quicker we can resolve them. Please don’t leave it to the end of the module to tell us if you are struggling!
Please be reminded of the ULMS Guidance on Providing Feedback (see your student handbook). Giving constructive feedback is a skill that you will need to develop in the workplace. We welcome feedback that is constructive and specific (it helps us improve), but please remain polite and be aware of the right of every staff member to Dignity at Work. There is lots of evidence of unconscious bias in module evaluation – based on gender, age, race, etc. – so please be aware of this and try to be fair to all staff.

Lecture Programme:

 
*The titles for each topic are working titles and, as such, they may vary, and may be subject to change due to guest speaker availability
 

Seminar Sessions:

 
Your seminar leaders for the ULMS863 will be Scott Baker and Thomas Davis. They are very experienced, supportive and approachable Graduate Teaching Assistants with extensive knowledge of organisation theory. The seminars will be managed in an innovative, flexible way. We are pleased to say that the exact format will likely vary each session because the lectures are delivered by invited expert speakers who will decide on the most appropriate seminar format for their session. Having a degree of variation in approach will help keep things fresh, interesting and stimulating.
 
 

Core and Recommended Reading

 
Core: King, D. and Lawley, S. (2017) Organisational Behaviour (2nd Edition). Oxford: OUP.
 
 
Please take your time to read a wide selection of articles on organisation theory. The list below is a very small snapshot of the relevant literature and, therefore, should not be considered definitive. Also, each session delivered by the guest speakers will likely include additional reading suggestions. It is important that you explore this material, and the wide variety of other literature available, because doing so will aid your learning generally, increasing your confidence, and help you prepare well for the assessments.
 
An important feature of the module is the focus on original texts setting out the key arguments considered. Reading a generic text (such as King and Lawley, 2017 – details below) summarising those ideas can be very helpful but considering ideas in the original is usually much more illuminating, not least because there is more detail and also because the original includes the author’s own articulation of ideas and her/his choice of illustrative examples.
 
Books
If you want a general text examining many of the themes discussed during the module, please start with King and Lawley (2017). Multiple copies of this book are held in the Sydney Jones library. However, you should keep in mind that no single book can cover everything required and, therefore, you will need to read beyond this text.
 
Casey, C. (1996) Work, Self and Society: After Industrialism. London: Routledge.

Giddens, A. (1991) Modernity and Self-Identity: self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Goffman, E. (1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. London: Penguin
Hofsetede, G. (2003) Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviours, Institutions and Organisations across Nations. London: Sage.
Knights, D. and Willmott, H. (1999) Management Lives: Power and Identity in Work Organisations. London: Sage.
Morgan, G. (2006) Images of Organisation. London: Sage.
Parker, M. (2000) Organisational Culture and Identity. London: Sage.
Rose, N. (1990). Governing the soul: the shaping of the private self. Taylor & Frances/Routledge.
Scott, J. C. (1998) Seeing like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition have Failed. Yale: Yale University Press.
Sennett, R. (1998) The Corrosion of Character: Personal Consequences of Work in the new Capitalism. New York: W.W. Norton and Co.
 
Journal Articles

 
The library aims to provide a minimum ratio of one book per ten students for essential texts. But if more copies are needed and funds permit, it can purchase extra copies. The Library needs to find out which books are in greatest demand and you can help by taking these steps:
1) Place a reservation on the book. Once you have the book details on the library catalogue screen, click Request. This means as soon as a copy is returned, you will be notified and can borrow it. It also means that library staff are notified of the demand on the book.
2) Fill in a book suggestion form, talk to staff at the library’s information support desks or contact your Liaison Librarian to let us know more copies are needed. The current Liaison Librarian for the Management School is Nicola Gregory, nicola.gregory@liverpool.ac.uk
 

Electronic Resources

The University website at http://www.liv.ac.uk/library/ provides you with access to a number of relevant electronic journals and databases. A helpful first step is to search on a topic of interest using the library’s ‘Discover’ search facility.
 
Journals
Academy of Management Journal
Academy of Management Perspectives
Academic of Management Proceedings
Human Relations
International Journal of Management Reviews
Journal of Management Studies
Organizational Studies
Organization
Sociology
Work, Employment and Society
 
 

Sign-off

Document last revised on 30^th December 2019 by Dr. Yihan Liu
 
 
 

THE ULMS GRADUATE – LEARNING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

 
 
The ULMS Graduate is:
 
Flexible and adaptable
Our graduates understand that the business world develops and changes quickly, and ULMS will provide them with opportunities to develop the skills needed to be open to the challenges this brings.
 
A problem solver
Our graduates are provided with opportunities to develop their critical and analytical skills from the day they join the School. By learning to think creatively, to persevere with an issue and to draw on the resources available to them, our graduates approach difficult situations confident that they can reach a successful outcome and make a difference.
 
Numerate
Maths is an essential element of all of our programmes and our graduates are confident and competent when using numbers to analyse situations, solve problems and make decisions.
 
Commercially aware
The teaching at ULMS is drawn from the latest business and management research, ensuring that our graduates understand the environment in which they begin their careers.
 
A team player
Our graduates understand the importance of contributing to a team. By contributing to group work our students understand the dynamics of a team and the importance of individual roles and how each can make a difference to achieving a result.
 
Organised and able to work under pressure
ULMS graduates learn to manage their time carefully during their studies. Our graduates are motivated to learn outside the classroom and are adept at managing deadlines and dealing with conflicting demands upon their time.
 
An excellent communicator
The ULMS syllabus requires students to demonstrate their aptitude for communicating throughout their studies. Their skills include writing essays, business reports and case studies, giving presentations, listening to and questioning guest speakers and using negotiating and persuasion skills to argue a point during a class debate. Our graduates understand the difference that effective communication can make to a situation.
 
IT literate
Our graduates understand the importance of IT in the modern business environment and ensure that their digital literacy skills are up-to-date in order to use it successfully. They understand how to prepare and analyse spreadsheets, can write reports and use IT to enhance presentations. They are confident users of electronic databases and are skilled at finding and evaluating appropriate and relevant information from electronic sources.
 
Internationally aware
The ULMS teaching and research community is drawn from around the world and our students are exposed to business ideas and cultures from beyond the UK. Many graduates make the most of international opportunities available to them, from participating in overseas exchanges to participating in international inter-university business games.
 
A lifelong learner
ULMS graduates understand that the end of their degree programme does not mean the end of their learning journey. Our students understand the importance of continually building skills and knowledge in order to maintain commercial awareness, to be able to follow a flexible career path and to continue to make a difference throughout their working lives.
 
Ethically aware
The ULMS teaching, learning and assessment strategy ensures that all graduates are exposed to ideas of business ethics whilst studying and that they have an understanding of the difference business can make in the wider community and across the world.
 
A leader
We instil our graduates with the confidence to lead others by providing opportunities within the curriculum to debate ideas, present research, solve problems and make difficult decisions.
 
 
           
 
 

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