Discuss whether contemporary businesses should completely do away with outdated classical approaches in favour of more people-centric structures outlined by human relations and/or post-bureaucratic perspectives..
A 1500 word individual report which addresses the brief: Discuss whether contemporary businesses should completely do away with outdated classical approaches in favour of more people-centric structures outlined by human relations and/or post-bureaucratic perspectives. The report should be divided into appropriate sections where you discuss and apply academic literature. It will also highlight examples from empirical research and real-world examples to support the debate presented. A range of academic references should be drawn on to evidence your report. Your work should conform to the conventions of academic writing and be fully referenced in UWE Harvard style. Suggested structure: Introduction (approx. 10-15%) Outline the scope of your report and the area you’ve chosen to focus on. Signpost the broad debates that you have identified in your research. Treat this like an abstract – tell the reader exactly what you will include and conclude, so that they know what to expect. Do you agree or disagree with the statement in the question? Main body (approx. 65-70%) Divided into appropriate sections –arguing both for and against the question to form a balanced argument. Should avoid simply describing each approach, and seek to discuss them using the literature and by comparing and contrasting their principle differences. Additional nuance to the discussion should be provided by considering if any of the listed perspectives in the question provide the ‘one best way’ of organising, or if there may be an alternative answer. Support this discussion with evidence from the research and examples from real world organisations where possible, but remember that the focus of the piece is on academic sources. Discussion and Conclusion (approx. 20-25%) Give a thoughtful and considered evaluation of the most important points that have been presented. Link back to the title and what you outline in your introduction, and make sure that you have a solid answer to the question – agree / disagree / to some extent? Whatever it is, make sure that you justify your response and relate back to the second part of the question. Do not simply recap what you’ve said in your report. It is fine to bring in some new information / references / sources at this point – perhaps related to an alternative approach. Reference List Only include sources that you’ve referenced within your assignment. This assessment assesses the following modular learning outcomes: Contextualise the purpose and process of Management in contemporary contexts (A & B) Have a thorough understanding of contemporary business and organisations, and an overview of the main disciplines & functions of business (B). Be able to describe and understand the nature of contemporary organisations and business activities, i.e. their management structures and challenges; and the changing environment in which these organisations operate (A & B) The first stage of this is deciding what your stance is. This may be that you simply ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ with the idea of classical approaches being less suitable in modern society, or that you agree partially. You should state this in your introduction. The second stage is to appropriately justify your stance. This will happen through the main body and the discussion. Here, imagine that you are writing for a real-life person who does not necessarily share your opinion. How would you convince them in an academic way? The extent to which you justify your argument will have a large impact on your overall mark. It is expected that you would have a balanced argument in the main body. That is, if you agree with the main point of the question, you still need to offer the other side of the story to make for a convincing argument, rather than it being one-sided. If you disagree with the statement – you also need to explore the counter-argument. Providing evidence both for and against the statement is therefore a very important part of this piece. In the final part of the essay, you should come to an overall conclusion and clearly state what your answer to the question is. Do you agree that classical approaches should be done away with? Or do you think that bureaucratic approaches are here to stay? Or is there a mid-ground position on this, or an alternative way forward? What does ‘discuss’ mean? Do I have to agree with the statement in the question? This wording is deliberate – it is there to show you that you need to give both sides of the argument rather than only agreeing OR disagreeing with the statement. To discuss is to think from multiple perspectives, and we would like to see this on show here. This might catch you off-guard to start with, as the question is written in such a way that makes it appear like you only have to agree with it. In fact this is only one of the possible options that you have. To reiterate: In a ‘discuss’ question for this module, you do not have to agree with the statement in the brief (although you might), and what it most important is that you offer a balanced argument, with an interesting discussion.