Reference no: EM132385483

HRM09103 Organisational Change Management
School of Management
Edinburgh Napier University

Assignment Brief:

Part One:
Critically evaluate the use of motivation theories in contemporary business to determinate their effectiveness in improving employee morale and efficiency.

Part Two:

Leadership is "a process in which leader and followers interact in a way that enables the leader to influence the actions of the followers in a non-coercive way, towards the achievement of certain aims or objectives" (Rollinson 2010).

Critically discuss the role of leadership in driving organisational change programmes. In particular, evaluate the how the leadership style a manager adopts can facilitate or hinder change.

General Considerations:

It can be good practice in your preparations for each part to undertake a number of activities. These include:
• Establishing key issues/areas raised by the question
• Defining fundamental terms
• Describing contextual information eg background to topic and its significance and/or interesting statistical data
• Identifying, explaining in detail and cross-comparing relevant concepts, models and theoretical approaches
• Applying concepts to contemporary issues within business settings
• Applying models/theories to workplace/organisation/industry examples and/or evaluating the practical application of models/theories
• Drawing parallels between theory and practice
• Evaluating relative merits and drawbacks of opposing academic viewpoints with a view to building independent opinions
• Formulating balanced, persuasive independent arguments based on academic evidence and judgement
• Stating a clear, overall answer to the question

Part One:
Particular consideration may be given to:
• Identifying the key issues influencing motivation
• Explaining and comparing theoretical approaches to motivation (content and process)
• Exemplifying theories as they relate to different work groups, places and/or industries
• Assessing the relationship between motivation and morale
• Evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of theories in improving organisational performance and effectiveness
• Analysing the practical applicability and usefulness of motivation theories for managers/leaders

Part Two:
Particular consideration may be given to:
• Defining the general role and functions of leadership
• Explaining and comparing theoretical approaches to leadership (trait, behavioural, situational)
• Explaining what organisational change and providing examples of organisational change programmes (successful and unsuccessful)
• Establishing the role leaders play in relation to organisational change
• Analysing how different theories/leadership styles might be applied in different organisational settings/change contexts
• Exploring the advantages and disadvantages of different leadership styles
• Identifying the wider factors that influence organisational change (external and internal)
• Evaluating the practical applicability of leadership theories