Making Sense of Organisations

This assignment requires you to address the following question in the form of an essay;
To what extent is our understanding of organisations and management over the last
100 years applicable to the 21st century?
Given that organisations are an inescapable part of all our lives it becomes important that we develop
an understanding of what they are and how they work (or do not work). The lecture programme has
emphasized the idea that organisations are not a single entity and that making sense of them requires
us to examine them through a variety of theoretical perspectives as well as our own perceptual lens.
This postmodern understanding argues that organisations are socially constructed phenomena, so
questions like; ‘what the organisation is’, ‘why it is there’ and ‘how it works (or doesn’t)’, ‘why’,
‘who should manage’ and ‘how’ should be addressed from these different, but interrelated theoretical
constructs. This is quite different from the views of scientific management theorists.
The various perspectives offered during the lectures can all be employed to help you make sense of
organisations and the management of them. These may include the following but you are not confined
to these;
Historical
Sociological
Rational technical
Political
Psychological
Cultural (organisational and national)
Symbolic
An additional implication of the postmodern understanding is that the person making sense, (you),
must acknowledge their own influence on the sense making process, that is, you are also involved in
socially constructing the organisation even as an analyst, and are not examining it from a distance.
This will involve you in a consideration of your own background and life experience. You are
encouraged to offer insights of your own, and given that we are understanding organisations as any
community of people, large or small and with whatever purpose, you should use your own
experience. This may include any organisations of which you have experience, for example; part
time or full time work, schools and other educational establishments, leisure time organisations,
political organisations.
Finally, you are also required to use examples from contemporary organisations to support and
illustrate your points. These might come from your reading of contemporary events, from news
sources or television documentaries.
Summary
To summarise, you are required to write an essay which explores the notion of organisation and
management using a variety of theoretical perspectives and supported by examples from your own
experience as well as from your reading of academic work and from contemporary organisations.
This will require you to use the lecture material, books and articles, and contemporary news sources.
The emphasis is on writing a persuasive essay which builds a case for a particular point of view and
which is drawn together in the conclusion. Your account should be analytical and critically
informed, and not simply a description of an organisation.
You must use the Harvard referencing system and reference all authors and dates referred to in the
text.
Length: 3000 words
Module Title Making Sense of Organisations
Assessment title Making Sense of Organisations
Weighting and
marking
This assessment contributes 100% to the overall marks for the module.
Deadline 04th September 2020
Submission
Method
Please submit the hard copy of your assignment into the Europe Universities’
assignment drop box at Level 2 Wilkie Edge to the right of the Reception
Counter (when facing the counter) at the same level.
Please tap your Kaplan Student Card when submitting your assignment.
Please note that submissions up to 5 (five) working days after this date will have their marks capped
at 40%. The only exceptions to this are:
• If you have a disability statement granting you extra time to complete the assessment.
• If you consider that you have exceptional extenuating circumstances that prevent you
submitting your assessment on time you may either:
o Request deferral of your assessment attempt until the next time the module is
assessed, which will probably be at the resit or next time the module is taught
o Request a coursework extension.
• For either of these cases you must follow the University procedures for submitting a claim
for Exceptional Extenuating Circumstances and make this claim seven working days before
the assessment deadline.
You are advised to make yourself familiar with the Standard Undergraduate Assessment Regulations
if you need to use this process.
Note on Plagiarism, Collusion and Cheating
When you submit the assignment you declare that you:
• Have read and understand that university’s guidance on plagiarism and cheating.
• You confirm that it is solely your own work or, in the case of a group submission, that it is the result of
joint work by members of the group that you represent.
• That it contains no unreferenced material from another source.
• That you keep a copy of the assignment.
Failure to abide by the rules will result in disciplinary action against you.
Advice
• Do not copy tracts of work from printed material, the internet or another student.
• Do not share an electronic copy of your work with anyone not concerned in its production.
• Use the Business School standard for Harvard Referencing
http://www.bcu.ac.uk/essential/harvard.htmlA Viva Voce examination is a live oral examination in real
time between student and examiners. A viva may be required as appropriate and in line with university
policy.
Assessment Criteria
The following assessment criteria give a general indication of the required standard at each specific
classification. Shortcomings in some aspects of the examination may be balanced by better
performance in others.
1st Class
The student will demonstrate a clear, in-depth and critical understanding of relevant theories and
concepts relating to organisation studies. He or she will correctly apply this knowledge to the
question set. He or she will effectively evaluate evidence and arguments, making wellreasoned
judgements to present appropriate and well-supported conclusions.
2:1
The student will demonstrate a clear and critical understanding of relevant theories and concepts relating
to organisation studies. He or she will apply this knowledge to the question set. He or she will evaluate
evidence and arguments, making well-reasoned judgements to present appropriate and well-supported
conclusions.
2:2
The student will demonstrate a reasonable understanding of relevant theories and concepts relating to
organisation studies. He or she will apply this knowledge to the question set. He or she will evaluate
evidence and arguments, making well-reasoned judgements to present appropriate conclusions.
3rd Class
The student will demonstrate a reasonable, though at times limited, understanding of relevant
theories and concepts relating to organisation studies. He or she will demonstrate a limited ability to
apply this knowledge to the question set. He or she will only present limited evaluation of evidence
and arguments relevant to his or her conclusions.
Fail
The student will fail to demonstrate a reasonable understanding of relevant theories and concepts
relating to organisation studies. He or she will be unable to apply this knowledge to the question set.
He or she will be unable to evaluate evidence and arguments relevant to his or her conclusions.