Sample

Module Code: MAN00072M
Module Title: Human Resource Management in Context

Module Leader: Dr Chidozie Umeh
Open/Closed Assessment: Open Exam
Maximum Word Count: NA
Release Date: Spring Term Week 1
Submission Deadline: Spring Term Week 1
Weighting: 100%
Important information
A penalty of five marks will be deducted for late submissions that are made within
the first hour after the deadline. Submissions that are more than one hour late but
within the first 24 hours of the deadline will incur a penalty of ten marks. After the first
24 hours have passed, ten marks will be deducted for every 24 hours (or part
thereof) that the submission is late for a total of 5 days. After 5 days it is treated as a
non-submission and given a mark of zero. The consequences of non-submission are
serious and can include de-registration from the University.
If you are unable to complete your open assessment by the submission date
indicated above because of Exceptional Circumstances you can apply for an
extension. If unforeseeable and exceptional circumstances do occur, you must seek
support and provide evidence as soon as possible at the time of the occurrence.
Applications must be made before the deadline to be considered.
Full details of the Exceptional Circumstances Policy and claim form can be found
here: https://www.york.ac.uk/students/studying/progress/exceptional-circumstances
If you submit your open assessment on time but feel that your performance has been
affected by Exceptional Circumstances you may submit an Exceptional
Circumstances Affecting Assessment claim form by 7 days from the published
assessment submission deadline. If you do not submit by the deadline indicated
without good reason your claim will not be considered.
Please take proper precautions to safeguard your work and remember to make
backup copies of your data. The University provides all its students with
storage space on the University server and you should save and back up any
work in progress on this server on a regular basis. Computer failure and theft
of your equipment or storage media are not considered exceptional
circumstances and extensions cannot be granted for work lost for these
reasons.
Page 1 of 5
SECTION A
Answer ALL questions in section A, relating to the case study.
CASE STUDY

Changing structures in HRM: Downsizing at Walkers
Walkers is a service company based in Britain but with substantial overseas

investments. It has been through a radical and massive downsizing process
stretching across several years in order to cut costs. The company began with some
200,000 employees, mostly in Britain, but now only employs around half of that
number. In the process, it has lost many very experienced and well-trained people
with a lot of understanding about their complex industry. Now that the process is
nearing completion, there is very real pressure on the HRM department to downsize
and cut costs. The company’s HR function has long been very traditionally structured
and organised. Sub-departments within the HR department (recruitment, payroll,
employee relations, training and other sub-departments) all reported up to the top of
an organisational pyramid that ended with the Head Office HR department and
ultimately the HR director.
Decisions were taken at the board level drastically to reduce the size of the
department. Many HR functions were devolved to mid-level managers for the first
time. This enabled senior management to reduce the HR department and to focus
the remaining HR professionals on ‘lines of business’ (i.e. different key products and
services) rather than the HR functions (recruitment, training, etc.) to get HR
professionals reporting to the heads of these lines of business, not to Head Office
HR and also to co-ordinate HR through ‘centres of excellence’. These ‘centres of
excellence’ are loose electronically connected groups of experts in each HR area
who can respond creatively to difficult problems and come up with new ideas. All
relatively straightforward transactional work such as payroll, providing information on
rates of pay, pensions and so on was to be outsourced to consultants. To facilitate
all of this, the company bought expensive electronic information systems. Large
numbers of HR people left as a result, disliking the changes. In fact, very few
redundancies had to be made in the HR function because many left anyway.
There are now a number of problems as a result of this restructuring of the HR
function. Many of the middle-level line managers are not happy with what has
happened. They now have to deal with HR issues themselves, something they have
not been trained for, and they feel they have to learn by costly and stressful trial and
error. Meanwhile, the HRM department has the wrong skill set for the new roles it is
being asked to perform. Many people in the company make cynical jokes about the
‘centres of excellence’. In addition, it is widely rumoured in the company that
consultants are working quite hard to get into positions where they can win large new
contracts for advising middle-level managers.
Page 2 of 5
Questions begin on the next page.
SECTION A QUESTIONS
Answer ALL questions.
1) What are the risks associated with cost cutting the HR function at Walkers?
(10 marks)
2) What are the range of strategies that can be utilised to deliver cost-effective
solutions at Walkers?
(10 marks)
3) What would you consider the key benefits and challenges of line managers’
delivery of HR at Walkers?
(10 marks)
4) Consider and explain the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing the

HR function at Walkers to external experts and consultants?
(10 marks)
SECTION B BEGINS ON THE NEXT PAGE
Page 3 of 5
SECTION B QUESTIONS
Answer TWO of the five questions.
Question 5
Using theories/scholarly perspectives where applicable, critically discuss the link

between HRM and performance:
(30 marks)
Question 6
Drawing on theories of leadership, critically evaluate the concept of leadership and

identify what you consider to be effective forms of leadership in modern
organisations.
(30 marks)
Question 7
Critically examine Barker’s (1993) concept of ‘concertive control’ and why this
concept is relevant for managing teams and teamworking.
(30 marks)
Question 8
Critically discuss the view that an understanding of content and process theories of
motivation is fundamental to effective human resource management practice.
(30 marks)
Question 9
Critically discuss the view that the way the HR function is organised and located
varies according to local, regional, national and international context as well as
organisational size and sector.
(30 marks)
Page 4 of 5
Example Feedback Form
Module code: MAN00072M
Module Title: Human Resource Management in Context
Generic marking criteria
G1: Presentation
G2: Theory and literature review
G3: Analysis and problem solving
G4: Structure and argument
G5: Conclusions
G6: Accuracy of referencing
Module specific learning outcomes relevant to this assessment
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S1:
S2:
S3:
S4:
S5:
S6:
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specific learning outcomes.
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Module Code: MAN00072M

Module Title: Human Resource Management in Context

Answer ALL questions in section A, relating to the case study.

Walkers is a service company based in Britain but with substantial overseas

Answer ALL questions.

4) Consider and explain the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing the

SECTION B BEGINS ON THE NEXT PAGE

Answer TWO of the five questions.

Using theories/scholarly perspectives where applicable, critically discuss the link

Drawing on theories of leadership, critically evaluate the concept of leadership and

Module code: MAN00072M

Module Title: Human Resource Management in Context

Generic marking criteria

Comments on assessment criteria:

Suggestions for improvement:

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