To what extent has our understanding of organisations and management progressed since the beginning of the 20th century in theory

  100% Pass and No Plagiarism Guaranteed

To what extent has our understanding of organisations and management progressed since the beginning of the 20th century in theory and in practice?

Making Sense of Organisations - Individual Module Assignment 2016/2017

This assignment requires you to address the following question in the form of an essay;

To what extent has our understanding of organisations and management progressed since the beginning of the 20^th century in theory and in practice?

Given that organisations are an inescapable part or all our lives it becomes important that we develop an understanding of what they are and how they work (or do not work).  The lecture programme has emphasized the idea that organisations are not a single entity and that making sense of them requires us to examine them through a variety of theoretical perspectives as well as our own perceptual lens.  This postmodern understanding argues that organisations are socially constructed phenomena, so questions like; ‘what the organisation is’, ‘why it is there’ and ‘how it works (or doesn’t)’, ‘why’, ‘who should manage’ and ‘how’ should be addressed from these different, but interrelated theoretical constructs.  This is quite different front eh views of scientific management theorists.

The various perspectives offered during the lectures can all be employed to help you make sense of organisations and the management of them.  These may include the following but you are not confined to these;

Historical

Sociological

Rational technical

Political

Psychological

Cultural (organisational and national)

Symbolic

An additional implication of the postmodern understanding is that the person making sense, (you), must acknowledge their own influence on the sense making process, that is, you are also involved in socially constructing the organisation even as an analyst, and are not examining it from a distance.  This will involve you in a consideration of your own background and life experience.  You are encouraged to offer insights of your own, and given that we are understanding organisations as any community of people, large or small and with whatever purpose, you should use your own experience.  This may include any organisations of which you have experience, for example; part time or full time work, schools and other educational establishments, leisure time organisations, political organisations.

Finally, you are also required to use examples from contemporary organisations to support and illustrate your points.  These might come from your reading of contemporary events, from news sources or television documentaries.

Summary

To summarise, you are required to write an essay which explores the notion of organisation using a variety of theoretical perspectives and supported by examples from your own experience as well as from your reading of academic work and from contemporary organisations.  This will require you to use the lecture material, books and articles, contemporary news sources.  The emphasis is on writing a persuasive essay which builds a case for a particular point of view and which is drawn together in the conclusion.  Your account should be analytical and critically informed, and not simply a description of an organisation.

You must use the Harvard referencing system and reference all authors and dates referred to in the text.

Length: 3000 words               

Assessment Criteria

The following assessment criteria give a general indication of the required standard at each specific classification. Shortcomings in some aspects of the examination may be balanced by better performance in others.

1st Class

The student will demonstrate a clear, in-depth and critical understanding of relevant theories and concepts relating to organisation studies. He or she will correctly apply this knowledge to the question set. He or she will effectively evaluate evidence and arguments, making well-reasoned judgements to present appropriate and well-supported conclusions. 

2:1

The student will demonstrate a clear and critical understanding of relevant theories and concepts relating to organisation studies. He or she will apply this knowledge to the question set. He or she will evaluate evidence and arguments, making well-reasoned judgements to present appropriate and well-supported conclusions.

2:2

The student will demonstrate a reasonable understanding of relevant theories and concepts relating to organisation studies. He or she will apply this knowledge to the question set. He or she will evaluate evidence and arguments, making well-reasoned judgements to present appropriate conclusions.

3rd Class

The student will demonstrate a reasonable, though at times limited, understanding of relevant theories and concepts relating to organisation studies. He or she will demonstrate a limited ability to apply this knowledge to the question set. He or she will only present limited evaluation of evidence and arguments relevant to his or her conclusions.

Fail

The student will fail to demonstrate a reasonable understanding of relevant theories and concepts relating to organisation studies. He or she will be unable to apply this knowledge to the question set. He or she will be unable to evaluate evidence and arguments relevant to his or her conclusions.

Making Sense of Organisations - Individual Module Assignment 2016/2017

This assignment requires you to address the following question in the form of an essay;

To what extent has our understanding of organisations and management progressed since the beginning of the 20^th century in theory and in practice?

Given that organisations are an inescapable part or all our lives it becomes important that we develop an understanding of what they are and how they work (or do not work).  The lecture programme has emphasized the idea that organisations are not a single entity and that making sense of them requires us to examine them through a variety of theoretical perspectives as well as our own perceptual lens.  This postmodern understanding argues that organisations are socially constructed phenomena, so questions like; ‘what the organisation is’, ‘why it is there’ and ‘how it works (or doesn’t)’, ‘why’, ‘who should manage’ and ‘how’ should be addressed from these different, but interrelated theoretical constructs.  This is quite different front eh views of scientific management theorists.

The various perspectives offered during the lectures can all be employed to help you make sense of organisations and the management of them.  These may include the following but you are not confined to these;

Historical

Sociological

Rational technical

Political

Psychological

Cultural (organisational and national)

Symbolic

An additional implication of the postmodern understanding is that the person making sense, (you), must acknowledge their own influence on the sense making process, that is, you are also involved in socially constructing the organisation even as an analyst, and are not examining it from a distance.  This will involve you in a consideration of your own background and life experience.  You are encouraged to offer insights of your own, and given that we are understanding organisations as any community of people, large or small and with whatever purpose, you should use your own experience.  This may include any organisations of which you have experience, for example; part time or full time work, schools and other educational establishments, leisure time organisations, political organisations.

Finally, you are also required to use examples from contemporary organisations to support and illustrate your points.  These might come from your reading of contemporary events, from news sources or television documentaries.

Summary

To summarise, you are required to write an essay which explores the notion of organisation using a variety of theoretical perspectives and supported by examples from your own experience as well as from your reading of academic work and from contemporary organisations.  This will require you to use the lecture material, books and articles, contemporary news sources.  The emphasis is on writing a persuasive essay which builds a case for a particular point of view and which is drawn together in the conclusion.  Your account should be analytical and critically informed, and not simply a description of an organisation.

You must use the Harvard referencing system and reference all authors and dates referred to in the text.

Length: 3000 words               

Assessment Criteria

The following assessment criteria give a general indication of the required standard at each specific classification. Shortcomings in some aspects of the examination may be balanced by better performance in others.

1st Class

The student will demonstrate a clear, in-depth and critical understanding of relevant theories and concepts relating to organisation studies. He or she will correctly apply this knowledge to the question set. He or she will effectively evaluate evidence and arguments, making well-reasoned judgements to present appropriate and well-supported conclusions. 

2:1

The student will demonstrate a clear and critical understanding of relevant theories and concepts relating to organisation studies. He or she will apply this knowledge to the question set. He or she will evaluate evidence and arguments, making well-reasoned judgements to present appropriate and well-supported conclusions.

2:2

The student will demonstrate a reasonable understanding of relevant theories and concepts relating to organisation studies. He or she will apply this knowledge to the question set. He or she will evaluate evidence and arguments, making well-reasoned judgements to present appropriate conclusions.

3rd Class

The student will demonstrate a reasonable, though at times limited, understanding of relevant theories and concepts relating to organisation studies. He or she will demonstrate a limited ability to apply this knowledge to the question set. He or she will only present limited evaluation of evidence and arguments relevant to his or her conclusions.

Fail

The student will fail to demonstrate a reasonable understanding of relevant theories and concepts relating to organisation studies. He or she will be unable to apply this knowledge to the question set. He or she will be unable to evaluate evidence and arguments relevant to his or her conclusions.