organization development

WARNING:

• The University has a strict policy on plagiarism.  Unacknowledged copying of another person’s work will result in the automatic failure of the assignment and may lead to disciplinary action being taken against the study fellow.  Your answer must be fully referenced where appropriate.  For guidance on how to make sure you avoid plagiarism and other forms of academic malpractice, please consult your programme handbook.

• Any student who submits a piece of assessed coursework after the submission deadline, without being granted an extension, will be subject to penalties. Please see your programme handbook for further details. Where required, extensions should be requested before the submission deadline date.

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Assignment

(Please turn over the page)

WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO

You are required to submit a piece of work in two sections i.e. you must address section a) and section b) of the assignment.

Section a) is worth 2/3rds of the total marks available for the assignment

Section b) is worth 1/3rd of the total marks available for the assignment

Section a)

Please provide a critical written review of one of the following articles:

Bareil, C. (2014) Two paradigms about resistance to change. Organization Development Journal, 31(3): 59-71

Buono, A.F. (2014) Internal consultants as change agents: roles responsibilities and organizational change capacity. Organizational Development Journal, 32(2): 35-53

Elam, D. & Brands, K. (2013) Planned change in a Chinese company: a participatory action research approach. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 14(5): 101-112

Gohil, S. & Deshpande, P. (2014) A framework to map a practice as Organization Development. Procedia Economics and Finance, 11: 218-229

(2000 words)

Section b)

Discuss the issues you would consider before deciding whether to use an internal or external consultant to undertake an OD intervention in an organisation with which you are familiar. Please note: you must link your discussion to specific aspects of this organisation.

(1000 words)

(Please turn over the page)

Advisory Notes

Marking Criteria

The assignment will be marked against the following criteria:

1.    Your ability to explain the nature of OD, with specific reference to the defining characteristics of OD including its aims and limitations.

2.    Your ability to assess critically OD theory.

3.    Your ability to identify and discuss relevant value-related issues when planning and conducting OD activities.
Guidance

Section a): This section is primarily focussed on Marking Criteria numbers 1 and 2.  In order to write a ‘good’ review, you will need to:

Produce a concise summary of the article;
Explore the themes/arguments contained in the article;
Identify what you see as the relative strengths and weaknesses of the article;
Draw a conclusion about the overall contribution made by the article;
Draw on, and cite, relevant literature to support your arguments;

A relatively poor review will be characterised by features such as: a descriptive approach (that is, a tendency to simply repeat/rephrase text); a lack of referencing to academic work on the subject of OD; and a general failure to convey understanding of the arguments/themes contained in the article.

Section b): This section is primarily focussed on Marking Criteria numbers 1 and 3.  While you may need to refer to relevant literature to support your arguments, you will find that this section of the assignment is more ‘applied’ than the first section of the assignment. In section b), you are encouraged to provide some short, concise examples of organisationally-relevant factors/issues in order to support your arguments.  The organisational context you choose should be one with which you have first hand experience. For example, you should not use a published case study to undertake this task, neither should you download a case study from the internet. Rather, you should address section b) using your first-hand knowledge of a specific organisation. You are advised to provide some background to the organisation and discuss assignment-relevant issues relating to, for example, the nature, policies, and workplace practices of the organisation.  Please note that the actual nature of the organisation is not important for assessment/grading purposes. Thus, while some students may address the task using their knowledge of, for example, a small NGO or a large Public Sector Department, other students are quite free to make use of their knowledge of, for example, a family business or a social/religious organisation.
Referencing

The marking criteria indicate that your assignment should be grounded in relevant academic theory.  It is anticipated that assignments will contain a minimum of 12 primary references to sources such as textbooks and journal articles.  A full listing of these references should be presented, using a standard referencing format, at the end of the assignment.  It is recommended that you produce just one list of references for the assignment, that is, you do not have to produce separate lists of references for Section a) and Section b).  Please remember, if you use somebody else’s work, you must clearly indicate, at the point where you discuss this work, that you have used it.  You must also include the details of this work in your list of references.

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