Description
Managing People
2018/19
Individual Coursework – 60% weighting
Choose any one of the suggested topic and conduct a research. You are expected to analyse one
problem area in light of appropriate organisation theory/principles and perspectives introduced in
this module.
Suggested Topics
Workforce Diversity
Organizational Culture
Work Motivation and Job Satisfaction
Groups and Teams in Organizations
Leadership Styles and Organizational Effectiveness
Organizational structure and Design
Organizational Change
Human Resource Management/Talent Management
Note: Student is expected to formulate his/her own topic based on the key words provided above.
You may discuss with the module convener.
Requirements
The topic should be addressed in 2 500 words structured essay.
Please do not go beyond the word limit excluding References.
The essay should be based on
(a) The concepts and ideas presented in the lectures and recommended readings;
(b) The concepts and ideas contained in the further readings in the module outline;
(c) The concepts and ideas contained in any other additional sources (namely, academic
journal articles, books or book chapters) that you deem relevant for the chosen topic.
The purpose of the assignment
To test your knowledge of Managing People and issues presented in the module – as you need
to discuss their contribution to our understanding of organisations;
To help you better understand these theories and issues and their application to practical
problems – as you need to apply relevant theories to management practices.
To develop basic research skills – as you need to integrate different knowledge sources into
your essay;
To develop the skills of writing a convincing essay.
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Essay Format
SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION (about 150-200 words)
This section provides the positioning for your essay (scope and objectives, nature of the problem).
It should include an introduction to the overall theme of your essay as well as a justification for
your chosen topic (why is it relevant, important, interesting, etc.?)
SECTION TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW (about 600-700 words)
This section offers a critical review of the literature relevant to your chosen topic. You should try
to answer these questions: what do we know about this topic in terms of theory or principles? If
the topic has been established for some time, what researchers have done on this topic? A few
themes may emerge from the literature on the topic. Therefore, you should describe and evaluate
them accordingly. If necessary, subtitles may be used for structure. If appropriate, you may extend
the literature review into a (theoretical) framework that will guide your analysis (section 4 below).
SECTION THREE: A CHOSEN EMPIRICAL CASE (about 700- 800 words)
Your study can rely on primary data or/and secondary data. If you choose primary data case study
then you may collect data using interview or questionnaire method. However, if you plan to use
secondary data, you may get information from business newspapers or magazines; academic
journal articles, Harvard Business Review etc. (refer to module outline).
Please note that the research aims are, firstly, for you to collect information regarding a case from
various sources, and secondly, that you learn to compose and analyse a particular management or
organisational problem in an academically disciplined way. A word of caution: you should not
take a short cut by simply reporting others’ study on the topic from one single source.
SECTION FOUR: DISCUSSION & RECOMMNEDATIONS (about 500- 600 words)
You should apply the theoretical concepts reviewed in the literature to analyse and interpret the
material presented in section 3 above. You may address the following. To what extent the
concepts or theory/issues introduced (section 2) help diagnose problems, offer an explanation,
and/or provide ideas for a solution. Having conducted your analysis, would you be able to add
something of value in terms of insight, perspective, scope and/or depth to the topic?
SECTION FIVE: CONCLUSION (about 150-200 words)
You should summarise the key points of your essay and briefly discuss the main theoretical and
practical implications of your findings. Highlight the main contributions of your study.
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REFERENCES
This section often reveals how your study is framed (relevant theoretical debate) and how far and
in-depth your study may develop by the following: textbooks sources (primarily of an
introductory nature); relevant research to date; relevant contributions from other social science
disciplines (e.g. from sociology, anthropology, psychology, political economy, and other
academic sources, for instance, dissertations and PhD theses). Please note that the strength of
academic journal contributions lies in its rigorous scrutiny by peers through the referee system
and in its systematic analysis, whereas information from websites, albeit timely, must be treated
with due caution. For instance, information from company websites often serves a PR purpose
and, therefore, cannot be taken at face value. You must ask: how much of this is of information
and/or analysis?
All references in your essay should appear in References. Please make sure that a full reference
list is presented in alphabetic order. Please consult coursework style guide (below) for correct
referencing.
Key assessment criteria
1. knowledge of the subject matter, including
(a) understanding: good understanding of the concepts and ideas introduced in the
module and presented in the materials used in the preparation of the coursework
(b) analysis and interpretation: demonstrated ability to appropriately apply theoretical
concepts to organisational or business practices
2. structure and organisation: logical clarity in presenting the arguments, consistency, and
completeness
3. originality and critical reflection (in contrast to regurgitation)
4. proper citation of the literature: You are expected to show reading beyond that given for the
lectures and reference additional articles that are relevant to your essay. Keep in mind that you
should not present as your own the words, the work, or the opinions of someone else without
proper acknowledgement. You also should not borrow the sequence of ideas, the arrangement
of material, or the pattern of thought of someone else without proper acknowledgement. All
direct quotes from the textbook or any other source must be identified by quotation marks and
referenced. Plagiarism, cheating or any other form of academic malpractice is unacceptable
and will be penalised. Thus, cite your sources, use accurate (but sparing) direct quotations and
set up a full list of references.
YOU MAY WISH TO CONSULT THE FOLLOWING TO IMPROVE YOUR WRITING
SKILLS:
Redman, P. (2001) Good essay writing: a social sciences guide. London: The Open University
and Sage.
Turley, R. M. (2004) Writing essays: a guide for students in English and the humanities. London:
Routledge. (Chapters 1-4, and 10)
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COURSEWORK STYLE GUIDE
Please follow closely
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
The manuscript should be printed in 12-point font (preferably Times New Roman), on white
standard size (A4) paper, single-sided, double-spaced throughout, and with at least a one-inch
(2.5 cm) wide margin at top, bottom, and both sides of each page. All pages (except the cover)
should be numbered consecutively.
PARTS OF THE MANUSCRIPT
Parts of the manuscript should be arranged in the following order: (1) title page, (2) main text,
(3) references, (4) appendixes, (5) tables, and (6) figures. (Please, note that parts 4, 5, and 6 are
optional.) Do not use footnotes or endnotes, but incorporate all the relevant information into the
text.
1. Title page
This page should look as follows
COURSEWORK TITLE
Student’s Last Name and First Name
MBA … [degree programme]
Word count: [insert your exact word count]
BUSI425) Managing People
Module convenor:
[date of submission]
2. Main text
The text should be left-justified, with the first line of each paragraph beginning with the
tab. It should be structured into sections (and subsections, if necessary), with each
section/subsection beginning with a heading. Keep the heading on the same page as the
first paragraph of the section/subsection it belongs to.
3. Headings
The sections should follow the format specified for the assignment and contain the following
headings:
- Introduction
- Literature review
- A chosen study
- Discussion
- Conclusion
- References
4. Citations in the text
Citations to references should be designated throughout the text by enclosing the authors'
names and year of the reference in parentheses.
If the author's name is in the text, follow it with the year in parentheses
Example:
5
Perrow (1986) described…
If the author's name is not in the text, insert it and the year in parentheses
Example:
...institutional theory (Tolbert and Zucker 1996)....
Page numbers, to indicate a passage of special relevance or to give the source of a
quotation, follow the year and are preceded by a colon.
Example:
Zbaracki (1998: 615) explained....
Tolerance for ambiguity has been defined as "the tendency to perceive ambiguous
situations as desirable" (Budner 1962: 29).
Multiple citations are listed in alphabetical order and separated by semicolons.
Example:
Several studies (Adams 1974; Brown and Hales 1975, 1980; Collins 1976a,b)
support this conclusion.
If the work has two authors, cite both names every time the work is cited in the text. If the
work has more than two authors, cite all authors the first time the reference occurs; in
subsequent citations of the same work, include only the surname of the first author
followed by "et al." and the year.
Example:
Few field studies use random assignment (Franz, Johnson, and Schmidt 1976).
[First citation] … even when random assignment is not possible (Franz et al. 1976:
23). [Second citation]
5. References
References should begin on a new page, with the word “REFERENCES” centred in caps
and boldface above the section. References should be double-spaced, left-justified with
hanging indent.
Please cross-check your text with the reference list to make sure that every reference you
cite in one appears in the other and that each reference is complete; double-check the
spelling of authors' names.
List references in alphabetical order by the last name of the author (first author if more
than one) or the editor, or by the corporate author (e.g., U.S. Census Bureau), or periodical
name (e.g., Wall Street Journal) if there is no indication of individual authors or editors.
For two or more references by the same author(s), list them in order of the year of
publication. For two or more references by the same author(s) from the same year, list
them in alphabetical order by title, distinguishing each reference by adding letters (a, b, c,
etc.) to the year or to “Forthcoming” (e.g., “1992a” or “Forthcoming a”).
World Wide Web sources must be acknowledged following the basic rules for
conventional sources. A reference to a Web page should include the author(s)/editor(s)
name (if known), the last update or copyright date, the document (Web page) title, the site
title, the full URL, and the access date.
Examples:
Books
Geertz, C. (1973) The interpretation of cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Journal articles
Nahapiet, J. and Ghoshal, S. (1998) ‘Social capital, intellectual capital, and the
organizational advantage’, Academy of Management Review 23/2: 242–66.
Pettigrew, A. M. (1979) ‘On studying organizational cultures’, Administrative
Science Quarterly 24: 570–81.
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Chapters in books
Weick, K. E. (1977) ‘Enactment processes in organizations’ in B. M. Staw and G.
Salancik (eds.) New directions in organizational behavior, pp.267-300,
Chicago: St Clair.
Dissertations
Charles, M. (1990) ‘Occupational sex segregation: a log-linear analysis of patterns
in 25 industrial countries’. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Sociology.
Stanford University, Stanford, CA.
Magazine articles
Economist (1998) ‘Driven by Fiat’, April 25, pp.95–6.
World Wide Web sources
Department of Education (Victoria, Australia) (1996) ‘Using the internet for
research’, Learning with the internet.
http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/loti/page1.htm (accessed: 14 February, 1997).
Please note that in your list of references you need to include all the references in a single list, in
alphabetical order. Do not separate references into the lists of books, journal articles, etc. In the
above example, the references from different types of sources a

Explanation & Answer

Attached.
Managing People
Student’s Name
Degree Program
Word count [2,555 ]
BUSI425) Managing People
Module convener: Organizational Culture
Date of Submission
Organization Culture
Introduction
Culture surrounds people, and at the same time forms, the background of their work lives
in business organizations. Culture influences the manner in which people behave in a firm, and
as a result, it is considered a contingency factor in the company's programs used to enact policies
and practices. As such, it entails the totality of knowledge in a business enterprise. Far from it,
organizational culture can enhance employee's cooperation and performance, resulting in
competitive advantage. Therefore, an influential culture is bound to motivate workers, dispatch,
and minimize the conflict with the organization. Different organizations are established within a
wide range of cultural contexts, yet there are unique organizational cultures for various
organizations. Culture affects the behaviors of values and beliefs of an organization which results
in the acquisition and maintenance of worker's b behaviors and attitudes. With this regard,
organizational culture is associated with the creation of a friendly job environment that enhances
the effectiveness of a business organization. Thus, it is imperative to study organization specific
culture to shade light to the description and analysis of organizational influence.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Culture is an outcome of a group of people with similar attitudes and behaviors living in
the same area. Normally, people with the same culture exhibit common history, norms, religion,
and history, among others. In this light, there exist several cultures and subcultures that bear
different types of business organizations. However, the modern world culture is regarded as both
a tangible and intangible environment where people sharing common values live and work
together. In terms of organizations, culture refers to the unique corporate performance as a result
of interaction among workers and their respective business organizations. Therefore, the
functions of the modern business organizations ought to be studied and investigated owing to
their role of socializing people.
The study of organizational culture has been instrumental in unraveling the difference
between the expectation of workers bearing diverse cultural background and values of the firm.
Several research studies have identified problems occurring during internal business activities
are mostly attributed to poor cultural values as opposed to professional incompetence (Belias &
Koustelios, 2014). In most cases, employees are reluctant to adapt and embrace the ideas and
attitudes of their colleagues. Concerning this, organizations have obliged to put systems in place
that enhances the interactions and co-existence of different groups of people. The rationale
behind this is that mutual trust and increased interacting among employees is associated with
positive business performance due to diverse sources of information.
Three different cultures influence the behaviors of employees in the workplace. In
particular, Kumari and Singh (2018) observe that these cultures are occupational, national, and
organizational culture. Kumari and Singh (2018) go ahead to the point that an individual's ideas
and values toward an occupation, acquired in the family context, can potentially impact attitudes
and beliefs. Besides, personal views, perceptions, and ambitions are molded during school and
professional life, which are part and parcel of organizational culture shared among employees.
Also, corporate culture is as a result of interaction among employees; not to mention between
customers and employees. It is for these reasons that internal cultures of organizations are worth
studying and measuring as a component of worker's national lifestyle.
The context of organizational culture
Despite a myriads definition surrounding corporate culture, scholars have agreed that it
constitutes a system of values, behaviors, and beliefs that e employees share. However, the most
proper definition seem to be one coined by Belias and Koustelios (2014) stating that
"Organizational culture is the pattern of basic assumptions that a group has invented, or
discovered in learning to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration,
and that have worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new
members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems." Going by
this definition, culture is a dynamic activity, developing from the interaction among employees
and enhanced by leadership practices. Simply put, culture is composed of systems, norms, and
routines that define employees' behaviors in an organization.
Some common feature in the definition of organizational culture abound. To start with,
Belias and Koustelios (2014) observe that most of the descriptions contain the concept of
sharing. This observation denotes that organizational culture is conceived based on sharing.
Similarly, organizational culture is hinged on social construction that is related to an
organization, work environment, and its employees. In the same fashion, most definitions portray
corporate culture as a multilevel as well as multidimensional, which entails many symbolic
facets. At the same time, many studies have identified distinct places where organizational
culture can be easily found. Expressly, the studies point at the observable artifacts, a basic
underlying assumption, and espoused values. When the management of an organization succeeds
in instilling their values and schemes to the staff, these values become enshrined and define the
way employee conduct themselves in the place of work.
An Empirical Case of Morgan Lewis &Bockius
Case overview
The case company Morgan Lewis &Bockius is one of the largest global law firms in the
United States. The company is dedicated to providing transactional, litigation legal, business, and
labor and employment services to a client of all sizes. The company headquarters is in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, with offices across North America, Asia, and Europe.
According to "Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP | Company Profile | Vault.com" (2019), the
estimated number of employees is 2355, with diverse working languages.
The partner conference is the highest authority since it is a partnership company. The
management committee follows in that order mandated with the executing role on behalf of the
partner conference. The committee is tasked with the day-to-day management as well. Besides,
there are other parallel departments which include the department of business management,
marketing, research, and training department, among others. This research study selected the
firm as the study case because of the effect of cultural influence at the firm.
The culture of the legal firm
There are several theories of corporate culture, resulting from the proposals of scholars.
For example, Acar and Acar, (2014) opine that organizational culture is made up of four
different factors, culture network, values, rituals, and heroes. On the other hand, Hoftede (2010)
gives the model of onion, which tackles the aspect of culture as portrayed in the literature review.
Scholars use both the theories' summaries to subdivide organizational culture into three
categories. The top most level is composed of the symbols. This section of the culture is easily
observable due to its visibility. Rituals form part of the middle level since they are unobservable
directly. However, the middle level portrays the organization's constraints and behavior as far as
practice is concerned. Values represent the core level, and this level is the side of a culture that is
invisible. Furthermore, this level incorporates interactions, beliefs, culture, and other hidden
features of culture.
Symbols
In any firm, a s...
