Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Course Handbook
201617
BUSI1475 Contemporary
Issues in Management
(Partners)
Level 6: 15 Credits
Contents
1. WELCOME..................................................................................................................................... 4
2. INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE......................................................................................... 5
2.1 AIMS............................................................................................................................................. 5
3. CONTACT DETAILS..................................................................................................................... 9
3.1 EXTERNAL EXAMINING OF YOUR COURSE AND PROGRAMMES OF STUDY..........................................9
5. ASSESSMENT DETAILS........................................................................................................... 14
5.1 SUMMARY OF ASSESSMENT........................................................................................................... 14
6. OTHER DETAILS........................................................................................................................ 17
This course does not claim to have all the answers to the problems facing the
contemporary manager; no course possibly could. However, what it will do is instil
a critical awareness of the challenges faced by business leaders in the 21st
century and lay the foundations of the means whereby they might prosper.
Aims
Course Leader:
Graham Symon
Course Tutors:
External examiner reports for your programme of study can be located on the
portal electronically in the Quality Management and reporting channel inside the
My Learning tab.
If you have any questions about the reports, or a report you are
interested in isnt available, please email your local Academic Quality
Unit Quality Manager, who is: Nikki Makinwa,
I.Makinwa@greenwich.ac.uk
Mullins (2007) 18
Ackers et al (1996)
Gladwell (2001)
Exam period
Lectures and seminars are vital components of this course but you cannot achieve
the aims and expected outcomes of the course unless you maintain a constant
level of reading from the available literature on management and organization.
We have provided this list of sources that we think will be useful to you.
However, the list is by no means exhaustive and you will be required to
undertake your own literature searches in the Learning Resources Centre and
elsewhere. We also recommend a core text which you may find useful to buy.
Supplementary reading
The following texts are original contributions to the field and others that may be
useful for wider and alternative perspectives:
Ackers, P., Smith, C., & Smith, P. (1996) The New Workplace and Trade Unionism,
London: Routledge
Alvesson, M. & Willmott, H. (eds.) (1992) Critical Management Studies, London:
Sage
Corby, S. & Symon, G. (eds.) (2012) Working for the State, Basingstoke: Palgrave
Fincham, R. & Rhodes, P. (2005) Principles of Organizational Behaviour, Oxford:
Oxford University Press
Giddens, A. (1990) The Consequences of Modernity, Cambridge: Polity
Giddens, A. (2002) The Runaway World: How Globalisation is Reshaping Our Lives,
London: Profile
Gladwell, M. (2001) The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference, London: Abacus
Hatch, M. J. (2006) Organization Theory: Modern, Symbolic and Postmodern
Perspectives, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Jackson, N. & Carter, P. (2007) Rethinking Organisational Behaviour: A
Poststructuralist Framework, Harlow: FT Prentice Hall
Linstead, S., Fulop, L. and Lilley, S. (2008) Management and Organization,
Basingstoke: Palgrave
Mullins, L. (2007) Management and Organisational Behaviour, Harlow: FT Prentice
Hall
Peters, T. (1992) Liberation Management: Necessary Disorganization for the
Nanosecond Nineties, London: Macmillan
Peters, T. (2006) Re-Imagine!, London: DK
Redman, T. & Wilkinson, A. (eds.) (2006) Contemporary Human Resource
Management: Text and Cases, Harlow: FT Prentice Hall
Thompson, P. & McHugh, D. (2002) Work Organizations: A Critical Introduction,
Basingstoke: Palgrave
Thompson, P. & Warhurst, C. (1998) Workplaces of the Future, Basingstoke:
Macmillan
Journals
Textbooks can be very useful for reference and explanatory purposes. However, for
the more cutting edge knowledge that is necessary for a higher level of
learning, you should consult academic journals. These journals contain articles
by leading scholars which use up-to-date research to make a contribution to
what we know about people, organization and management. These articles
have often been assessed by other leading scholars through a process of peer
review. Most of the journals that you will find useful are available in electronic
format and are therefore searchable using the appropriate databases (see
Learning Resources Staff for details). The journals cover a range of specialisms
that constitute the discipline of organizational and management studies.
For hundreds of other sources of information, you are advised to consult the
Library & Information Services (ICT) WebPages:
http://www.gre.ac.uk/offices/ils/ls
News media
As is implied by the title of this course, we will seek to engage with very current
issues and debates in the management domain. As such it is crucial that you
keep up to date with current affairs. Indeed, this is a fundamental aspect of the
assessment for this course. You are advised to make regular use of reputable
news media sources (e.g. quality newspapers the Financial Times, the
Guardian, the Economist; websites; broadcast media etc.). This will help build a
critical understanding of the issues investigated in the course.
See also a useful selection of online videos at the FTs Business School pages:
Your task is to identify and select a contemporary management issue from current
affairs. In particular, you should find a new item on the BBC News Website
(news.bbc.co.uk). Examples could be business ethics, globalisation, off-shoring,
quality of working life, industrial conflict, regulation and/or deregulation of
business or indeed any substantive issue that impacts on managerial decision
making. You should then write an essay on your chosen issue (sanctioned by
your tutor) using the concepts, themes and issues explored in the course. You are
required to have developed your idea by week xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and have it
signed off by your tutor at the seminar (see the pro forma in the appendix of this
document and on Moodle). You must supply this form as an appendix to your
submitted assignment. Please note also that there is a space on the pro
forma for the full URL of the story you have chosen which you must also
supply.
Please be aware that the University of Greenwich operates a very strict policy on
plagiarism and any student who breaches academic regulations will be subject to
the strongest disciplinary sanction. Regulations relating to plagiarism can be found
at the following link:
http://www.gre.ac.uk/students/regs/plagiarism
http://www.gre.ac.uk/studyskills/referencing
Marks Criteria
allocated to
criteria:
20% Focus
Does the essay set up a clear essay question to address? Does
the essay stay within and fulfil the topic parameters?
30% Synthesis
Does the essay bring together the literature in a significant
manner that addresses an essay question?
30% Soundness
Does the essay indicate a comprehensive understanding of the
topic area and literature discussed?
5.2.2 Examination
The examination consists of a choice of two essay questions from a total of four
(two sections with two questions in each). It is closed-book, unseen and lasts for
two hours. The examination will take place during the examination period
We are anxious that you receive constructive feedback from your essay. As such,
we aim to mark your essay and return it as quickly as possible in order to aid your
preparation for the exam. In addition to feedback for formal assessment, tutors
can provide feedback on performance in seminars and also on the development of
your idea for your essay.
Your coursework and exam results will be reviewed by a Subject Assessment Panel
(which looks at the course) and a Progression and Award Board (which reviews
your progress) and the deliberations of these two committees will determine
whether you have failed any coursework or exams and whether you will be offered
the chance to complete resits. Please note that there is no automatic right to
resits; whether these are offered depends on your overall progress.
Resits will usually take place in August and will usually involve a new coursework
topic or exam being completed. Where you have been deemed to have failed a
piece of group work, or a presentation or a test, any resit of these will normally
involve you undertaking an equivalent piece of individual coursework.
Proposed
title
Summary
of
proposed
content
200 words
max.
Relationshi
p to course
content
(e.g. topics /
issues
featured)
URL from
BBC News
Website
Name of
student
Signature
of student
Name of
tutor
Signature
of tutor
Date