Instructions on Assessment:

Background of the subject topic

It can be argued that organisations can generate greater effectiveness in a diverse, rapidly changing global environment by encouraging agreement on shared values and by jointly creating visions, goals, and strategies. Organisations can foster trust, collaboration, equality, participation, shared values, visions, and goals which can be perceived as core strategic elements of organisational activity in a global field of action. Agreement and commitment can be maintained through dialogue by;

· focusing on common concerns, identifying shared needs, and conflict resolution

· encouraging self-reliance, problem solving and united action and

· sharing important experiences and producing a synergy of perception, intellect and emotion.

In this way organisations can represent a more flexible, inclusive, human way of working, with increased opportunity for leading more satisfying working lives amongst their own employees. Strategic changes of various types and nature have been introduced in this regard and implemented extensively in business organisations in recent times

Assignment Tasks

You have already been asked to complete a range of seminar-based research and reflections on the strategic change practices/problems at British Airways. This particular assignment takes the format of an assessment portfolio, comprising three main parts:

PART 1: A research report with a word limit of 1,500 on the British Airways (BA) change program which resulted in long-running industrial disputes between its management and crew members in 2009-2011. (40%)

More specifically, you need to provide accounts in this report on the following:

· Internal and external contextual factors which influenced the introduction of strategic changes at BA.

· An evaluation of the nature of these strategic changes, detailing the actual changes which went ahead at BA.

· An outline of the change management strategy used to execute these strategic changes.

· The challenges and difficulties experienced by the BA management team in managing these changes.

PART 2: An academic report of a 2000 word limit evaluating the implementation and resistance of the change management approach, from one of the three stakeholders’ perspectives: BA management team, BA cabin crew or the British public/Government (60%)

This report needs to clearly identify:

· Core issues relating to the strategic changes and change management strategy at BA. (These should be outlined against appropriate theoretical frameworks or conceptual discussions, with linkages between theoretical explanation and the practical BA events made explicit).

· Specific concerns and problems drawing from a particular stakeholder’s point of view. (You must demonstrate your awareness of the practical change management issues at BA based on your chosen context).

· Advised approaches/recommendations for overcoming resistance to change, relating to your chosen stakeholder’s and other's anxieties.

Part 3: Seminar-based portfolio evidences

As integral parts of this module learning, four learning documents need to be produced throughout the semester to help you learn and prepare for this assessment task. They are to be attached as appendixes in this part:

Please note that there is in general no maximum word limit applies to your personal learning and research documents, yet it is expected that each evidence shall be of at least 1 A4 page, type processed.

1. Reflection on behaviour and emotional reactions to change experiences, due on week 4

(you are to write a summary on how you personally have reacted towards an imposed change on your life, that is unexpected but have to follow somehow on your part)

2. Managerial challenges in implementing changes and management skills required for dealing with such issues, due on week 8

(this should be a writing outlining your literature understanding in this subject so far)

3. A summary report on the change management process in BA 2009-11, due on week 10

(to outline in details on BA’s change programme and management practices in a comprehensive and concise way)

4. A slide set about BA’s change management practice from one of the stakeholders viewpoint, per the group research findings/presentations, with clear indication about your own contributions, due on week 10

(this is to assess the impacts or implementations of the change management from a specific point of view, as specified by the tutor in the preparatory seminar sessions)

All the above portfolio evidences need to be completed on the weeks specified, as they need to be acknowledged by your seminar tutor with his signature in the respective seminar weeks. They are to be assessed at the end of the semester together with the other two parts, and will not be awarded marks by themselves.

However, failing to produce or incompletely presenting those required portfolio evidences will affect your overall marks in a negative way. Missing each of them will be awarded a - 5, with a total of - 20 if you did not include part 3 at all in the final submission.

For example, if the portfolio work has been awarded a 65 mark for part 1 and 2, but you did not include part 3 in it, your final mark will then be 45 (65-20) only. If you have achieved 70 for your work on part 1 and 2, but only presented 3 out of the 4 required evidences in part 3, then your overall mark will be 65 (70-5).

Assignment Deadline

An electronic version of this assignment must be submitted via Turnitin.

(Some basic instruction if required here)

Important note about ARNA regulations

The regulations specify that students must complete every assessment component contributing to the modules on their programme. This applies to all forms of assessment as defined in the module descriptor. Please note that:

· if any assessment component is not completed, students will be failed in the module even if the module pass mark has been achieved;

· if the requirements for referral specified in section 5 of ARNA1 are met, a resit opportunity will be given;

· if unable to complete an assessment component because of extenuating circumstances, students should follow the procedure described in the Student Guide to Extenuating Circumstances1.

This change was approved by Academic Board on 12 October 2009 in consultation with the Students’ Union. Students should consult their Programme Leader or Guidance Tutor if they have any queries. Independent advice and support is also available from the Students’ Union Advice & Representation Centre ( [email protected] ) or from a student adviser in Student Services.

1ARNA and the Student Guide to Extenuating Circumstances Affecting Assessed Work are available from http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/central/ar/lts/assess/assproc/assdocstud/

Guidance on Assessment:

Word Count

The word count is to be declared on the front page of your assignment.  The word count does not include title page, contents page, glossary, tables, figures, illustrations, reference list, bibliography and appendices.

Summarising and compressing the information in your assignment into the word limit is one of the skills that students are expected to acquire, and demonstrate as part of the assignment process.

Word limits and penalties for assignments

If the assignment is within +10% of the stated word limit no penalty will apply. However, if the word limit exceeds the +10% limit, 10% of the mark provisionally awarded to the assignment will be deducted. For example: if the assignment is worth 70% but is above the word limit by more than 10%, a penalty of 7% will be imposed, giving a final mark of 63%.

Time limits and penalties for presentations

The time allocated for the presentation must be adhered to. At the end of this time, the presentation will be stopped and will be marked based on what has been delivered within the time limit.

Submission of Assessment:

All assignments must be submitted via the Undergraduate Programme Office. Each assignment must be accompanied by an Assessed Work Form which must be completed in full. The assignment will not be accepted by the Undergraduate Programme Office unless the form is completed correctly.

Marked assignments will be returned to students. It is advisable to retain a copy of your assignment for you own records. Your mark will be returned on the Assessed Work Form via the Undergraduate Programme Office.

Referencing your work

The APA method of referencing uses the author's name and the date of the publication. In-text citations give brief details of the work you are referring to in your text. References are listed at the end of the text in alphabetical order by the author's name. The general format of an electronic journal reference in the APA style is shown below:

Coutu , D. (2009). Why Teams Don't Work . Harvard Business Review, 87(5), 98-105. Retrieved 29th April 2012 from EBSCO http://searchebscohost.com

Author/s name and initials are listed first, followed by year of publication in brackets. Then there is the title of article and the journal where the article appears, which is in italics. Then state the volume and issue number (in brackets) along with the pages where article can be located. Finally add the date the article was retrieved and then the name of the database, followed by the web address. Wherever possible use the homepage URL rather than the full and extended web address.

For further information on why it is important to reference accurately go to the Referencing and Plagiarism topic in Skills Plus available from the Library website:

www.northumbria.ac.uk/skillsplus

You will find other useful help guides on Skills Plus to help you with the skills involved in writing your assessments and preparing for exams.

For further information on the APA style of referencing see the Concise Rules of the APA Style and the APA website http://www.apastyle.org/

Plagiarism and Cheating

Your attention is drawn to the University’s stated position on plagiarism. THE WORK OF OTHERS, WHICH IS INCLUDED IN THE ASSIGNMENT MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO ITS SOURCE (a full bibliography and/or a list of references must be submitted as prescribed in the assessment brief).

Please note that this is intended to be an individual piece of work. Action will be taken where a student is suspected of having cheated or engaged in any dishonest practice. Students are referred to the University regulations on plagiarism and other forms of academic irregularity. Students must not copy or collude with one another or present any information that they themselves have not generated.

(Some basic instruction if required here)

For further information on Plagiarism, see the Referencing and Plagiarism topic on Skills Plus.

www.northumbria.ac.uk/skillsplus

(Some basic instruction if required here)

Mapping to Program Goals and Objectives:

This assessment will contribute directly to the following Undergraduate programme goals and objectives. (Insert an ‘X’ in boxes where applicable)

1. Knowledgeable about the theory and practice of international business and management Students will be able to:

2. Skilful in the use of personal, professional and managerial techniques and processes

Students will be able to:

3. Employable as graduates Students will be able to:

4. Aware of ethical issues impacting on business and professional practice Students will be able to:

Assessment Criteria (NBS) --- HR0277 Change, Work and Diversity

General Assessment Criteria

Module Specific Assessment Criteria

Note: For those assessments or partial assessments based on calculation, multiple choice etc. Marks will be gained on an accumulative basis. In these cases, marks allocated to each section will be made clear.

Students must retain an electronic copy of this assignment and it must be made available within 24 hours of them requesting it be submitted.