Question: Project: The purpose of the project is to provide students the opportunity to apply HRM principles and concepts covered over the course of the semester to the comprehensive analysis of a relevant move taken by an organization. The project is designed to develop students' skills and abilities in assessing, analyzing and evaluating a move relevant to HRM in their focal company. In conducting the analyses students will use the tools and techniques learned in class and propose implementable plans designed to facilitate sustainable competitive advantage. This team project is structured around the following activities:
1. You will be required to organize yourselves in teams of 2-3 students. From the start of the semester you will have a couple of weeks to identify and choose the students with whom you would like to work. Once you have made a decision you will be asked to respect and adhere to your choice. The choice of team is entirely your responsibility. Furthermore, it will be your responsibility to manage any sociopolitical issues that arise over the course of the semester with the guidance of your instructor. Given the demands of the project, team selection will be your most critical task. Choose your teammates wisely! In other words, build your teams on the basis of ensuring functional diversity. If you cannot find a team by the specified deadline inform the instructor who will then appoint you to a team.
2. Each team of students will be required to identify an issue of relevance to HRM in their chosen company. The team will then be required to identify two articles from a reputable business media outlet (e.g. Wall Street Journal, Gulf News, Financial Times, Newsweek, The Economist, etc.) that discusses the issue in detail. Examples of the types of HRM moves that you may study are announcements of a large recruitment campaign, news of a restructure or reorganization with HR implications, announcements of a downsizing exercise, news of a training and development initiative or one linked to compensation or performance management.
3. Once you have decided on your topic, each team member will separately write an annotated bibliography for 2 sources of information that will be useful in compiling the overall report. A separate note is available on how to produce the annotation and each annotated bibliography will be marked separately. These sources and annotations may be used for the production of the overall report along with any other relevant information the team finds through their research.
4. Using the analytical tools learned throughout the course, two overarching questions should be addressed by your team: (1) Given your analysis, did the organization adopt a professional approach taking into account the likely HRM impact of their course of action? and, (2) What alternatives would you recommend to their approach bearing in mind contemporary developments in the field? In assessing the efficacy of the approach taken, you will be required to describe, analyze and assess the current policies and practices of your focal company.
Generally, you should expect that the final written project will include the following parts:
• A description and analysis of your organization, including
• A brief history, a discussion of the growth of the organization and a description of its activities and businesses; its competitive position on the relevant market.
• A description and analysis of the organization's vision, mission, strategic choices, objectives, and performance,
• A comprehensive analysis of the company's external environment, with a focus on relevant market conditions
• A comprehensive analysis of the company's internal environment, including its strategic approach to management
• A detailed description and analysis of your TOPIC in your organisation, including the issues leading to the need for the intervention and a description and analysis of the appropriateness of the approach taken (HRD strategies, policies, practices, interventions).
MGT 302 S18- Course Project Description. Marie-France Waxin
• Your recommendations on how, using HRD concepts and theories discussed on the course, the approach could be improved focusing on alternative action(s) that could have been taken.
• A comprehensive bibliography (note citations should appear throughout the text).
5. The information used to conduct the work can be collected directly from the company that you are studying (if present in the UAE) by visiting the company itself and arranging interviews with relevant managers. If you are unable to do this, acquiring the data through secondary sources, e.g. company websites, business press discussions and commentary, published articles and reports is also satisfactory.
6. The written project has no page limitation, although the typical length is 20 typewritten pages using 1.5 spacing and 12 point Times New Roman font. The writing and presentation styles should be clear, accurate and consistent throughout the text.
Please ensure that you approach this task professionally! The grading of the project will be based on the following criteria:
• The clarity of the report's objectives
• Content, quality of the information presented
• The extent to which theoretical concepts are used appropriately to describe and analyze the policies and practices of the chosen company
• Depth of critical analysis of the current situation
• Pertinence of the proposed recommendations to improving competitive advantage
• Bibliographical richness and the quality of the sources used
• Structure and coherence of the report and the general quality of the written project