HR9610 Critical Organisational Analysis: Lecture 6: Assignment

HR9610 Critical Organisational Analysis
Lecture 6: Assignment
Dr Rima Hussein
Session intentions
1. To introduce assessment format;
2. To explore approaches to writing the
assignment.
3. To clarify expectations and practicalities.
Assignment Brief
Submit a 3000 word structured essay,
which critically evaluates the
practices/behaviours in an organisation
of your choice, from the symbolic or
contemporary theoretical perspectives,
using Organisation Theory from the most
relevant theme taught in the module.
Key Choices
• Organisation
• Perspective
• Theme
Organisation
Perspective and Theme
THEMES
Structure and design

Symbolic
Identity
Culture
Aesthetics
Contemporary Organisational
learning and KM
Power and control
Gender
Symbolic Perspective Reminder
• Interpretations are facts of social life and warrant

exploration – context and understanding
• Subjective - interpretive phenomena; meaning,
symbols and culture lead to better understanding
• Qualitative methods – up close and personal
• Resonance, rich data, triangulation
• Critique – speaking for others and not recognising
power in that position
Examples
• The symbolic perspective looks at “interpretive phenomena
using meanings, symbols and culture relevant to organisation
theory” (Hatch, 2018, p. 11).
• Hatch also says that the symbolic perspective means you must
put yourself into “situations experienced by those whose
organisations you want to understand” (Hatch, 2018, p.11).
• It focuses on employee experiences from all levels of the
company, therefore, I have chosen to write this essay from a
symbolic perspective. This perspective is all about
understanding different people's points of view and having
empathy and intellectual insight into what they do (Hatch,
2018, p. 12).
• When looking at an organisation symbolically, we need to
look at views from different people in the organisation from
all levels in the business, not just managers. To do this we
need to use qualitative data in the form of interviews and
employee's own experiences to come to a symbolic
conclusion of what is going on within that organisation.
• An advantage of the symbolic perspective is that it does not
look at a theory of society but instead focusses on individuals
and what happens between them (Chaiklin, 1979). This helps
us get a wider view of the organisation and not just base our
thoughts around theories, unlike other perspectives. This will
help in terms of Google as I can base my outcomes solely on
employee’s experiences.
Contemporary Perspective Reminder
• Critical approach – reframing, reflexivity
• Foundations floating – speech and text
• Awareness of power relations and modernist
practices
• Reflexivity – ethical implications of managing
• Looking at disempowerment in systems
• Not being reflexive about themselves
• Appreciating/deconstructing discourse
Examples
• I have chosen to write from the contemporary
perspective as it focuses on those who influence
organisational phenomena, and its purpose is to
question and reveal their intentions and motivations
(Hatch, 2018).
• Writing from a contemporary perspective will therefore
question the motivation of organisations and focus on
the suppression of critical voices (Hatch, 2018). This
could potentially destabilise the public persona that is
presented by the Police and uncover issues with
information sharing and the silencing of experiences.
• With this is in mind, we will explore aspects like
organisational discourse. Management in a modernist
discourse works on the basis of power and control
(Alvesson & Deets, 2006), however, there are limitations to
this.
• The contemporary perspective doesn’t just listen to
storytelling, it looks for the subtext behind the stories and
what is actually happening within the organisation, rather
than taking everything at face value like a modernist.
Consequently, I believe the contemporary perspective is the
right choice for the UK Police Force as I can analyse the
people who influence the organisation and their intentions,
whether they are suppressed or not.
• Introduction to the
Assessment essay and rationale for
Structure the choice of
organisation [10%]
• A brief section justifying
your choice of
theoretical perspective:
either the symbolic or
the contemporary
[20%]
• A critical literature review
on the one theme that you
consider to have the
greatest importance for
that organisation, using
either the symbolic or the
contemporary theoretical
perspective [20%]
Literature • Critical evaluation of the
and Analysis practices/behaviours of the
case organisation in relation
to the selected theme
through critical application
of the reviewed theories
[30%]
• Conclusions [10%]
• Reference list: Cite no fewer
than 5 contemporary
academic journal articles
that are discussed in the
essay. You should also cite
additional references from
books, textbooks, credible
news outlets and
professional journals [10%]
• You are reminded that
Referencing plagiarism, collusion and
other forms of academic
misconduct are taken very
seriously. Assignments in
which evidence of
plagiarism or other forms of
academic misconduct is
found may receive a mark of
zero.
Please note, in text citations [e.g.
(Smith, 2011)] and direct secondary
quotations [e.g. “dib-dab nonsense
analysis” (Smith, 2011 p.123)] are
INCLUDED in the word count.
If this word count is falsified,
Word students are reminded that under
Count ARTA this will be regarded as
academic misconduct .
If the word limit of the full assignment exceeds

the +10% limit, 10% of the mark provisionally
awarded to the assignment will be deducted.
For example: if the assignment is worth 70
marks but is above the word limit by more than
10%, a penalty of 7 marks will be imposed,
giving a final mark of 63.
Date – JAN 2021
Electronic Submission – make sure to

do a practice run in the draft folder.
Assessments are marked
electronically.
Hand-in Penalties for late hand-in – 10 mark
deduction if submitted within 24
checklist hours of the deadline.
Assessment criteria: Every script

which fails will be second marked. A
random sample of scripts from each
tutor will be moderated internally to
assure consistency of marking.
References
Hatch, M. (2018) Organization Theory: Modern,
Symbolic and Postmodern perspectives: Oxford
University Press.

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HR9610 Critical Organisational Analysis

Structure and design

Power and control

• Interpretations are facts of social life and warrant

If the word limit of the full assignment exceeds

Electronic Submission – make sure to

Assessment criteria: Every script

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