Final project Your Final Project in this module consists of 3 elements: • Critical Review of Literature (2000 words) • Evaluation and Critique of Organisational Practices (1500 words) • Recommendations for Change (1500 words) Completing your Final Project Use the instructions below to complete all required elements of your Final Project. Be sure to also review the assessment criteria (rubrics) for each of the graded elements of the Final Project by clicking the ‘Rubrics’ button at the top of the Module Home page. For your Final Project, consider the following scenario: The organisation for which you are human resource professional is going through a period of reflection and renewal among all of the departments in an effort to become a more effective high-performance work environment. As such, the leaders of your organisation have requested that you cast a critical eye on human resource management practices. They have asked you to focus on several areas that call for change: talent management, organisational design, organisational learning and development, performance management and creating communities of practice. It is their hope that your contributions will lead to transformational change throughout the organisation. Truly, this is a tremendous request. However, it is an opportunity to leave an indelible mark on your organisation. Therefore, it is important that you approach the task with as much background knowledge as you can collect. For your Final Project in this module, you will research ‘best practices’ in building high-performance work environments and use your findings to critically evaluate practices in your own organisation (or one with which you are familiar) and make recommendations for change. Your Final Project, a Critique of HR Practices, will be completed in three parts (5,000 words total). Your Critique of HR Practices report will follow this general outline: • Critical Review of Literature: Conduct a critical review of current, credible, scholarly resources on HR practices in high-performance organisations. These resources should add to your knowledge and/or understanding of human resource management in high-performance work environments. Organise your critical review by the topics covered in the Individual Assignments for the previous five units of the module: Talent Management, Organisational Design, Organisational Learning and Development, Performance Management and Creating Communities of Practice. • Evaluation and Critique of Organisational Practices: Briefly describe the organisation you have selected for your Final Project. Critically evaluate your selected organisation’s practices in the areas covered in the module: Talent Management, Organisational Design, Organisational Learning and Development, Performance Management and Creating Communities of Practice. Describe how the findings in your literature review might influence these areas and organisational performance. • Recommendations for Change: Based on your literature review and evaluation of organisational practices, make recommendations for change within your selected organisation to meet the goal of becoming a more effective high-performance work environment. Assessment and Grading The Final Project accounts for 80% of your grade for this module. This 80% is further broken down as follows: 1. Critical Review of Literature (40% of the Final Project grade) 2. Evaluation and Critique of Organisational Practices (30% of the Final Project grade) 3. Recommendations for Change (30% of the Final Project grade) References: Garavan, T. N., R. Carbery, & A. Rock, (2012) ‘Mapping Talent Development: Definition, Scope and Architecture’, European Journal of Training and Development, 36 (1) pp. 5-24 Hargis, M. B., & D. B. Bradley III, (2011) ‘Strategic Human Resource Management in Small and Growing Firms: Aligning Valuable Resources’, Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 10 (2) pp. 105-125 Lank, E., (1997) ‘Leveraging Invisible Assets: The Human Factor’, Long Range Planning, 30 pp. 406-412 Ployhart, R. E., & T. P. Moliterno, (2011) ‘Emergence of the Human Capital Resource: A Multilevel Model’, Academy of Management Review, 36 (1) pp. 127-150 Van Buren III, H. J., M. Greenwood, & C. Sheehan, (2011) ‘Strategic Human Resource Management and the Decline of Employee Focus’, Human Resource Management Review, 21 pp. 209-219 Anon., (2012) ‘Commission Assesses Changing Nature of Work in the UK’, Management Services, 56 (4) p. 10 Applebaum, A., (2002) ‘The Impact of New Forms of Work Organization on Workers’, in Murray, G., J. Belanger, A. Giles, & P. Lapointe (Eds.), Work and Employment Relations in the High Performance Workplace, London: Routledge Boxall, P., & K. Macky, (2009) ‘Research and Theory on High-Performance Work Systems: Progressing the High-Involvement Stream’, Human Resource Management Journal, 19 (1) pp. 3-23 Csaszar, F. A., (2012) ‘Organizational Structure as a Determinant of Performance: Evidence From Mutual Funds’, Strategic Management Journal, 33 (6) pp. 611-632 Gittell, J. H., R. Seidner, & J. Wimbush, (2010) ‘A Relational Model of How High-Performance Work Systems Work’, Organization Science, 21 (2) pp. 490-506 Holbeche, L., (2004) ‘How to Make Work More Meaningful’, Personnel Today, 26, Available at: http://www.personneltoday.com/hr/how-to-make-work-more-meaningful/, (accessed: 23/07/14) Holbeche, L., (2004) ‘HR and the High Performance Organization’, Strategic HR Review, 3 (2) pp. 32-35 People Management Editorial Staff, (2008) ‘Great Performance Occurs When People Know What Is Expected and Why That Matters’, People Management, 14 (22) pp. 24-27 Armstrong, M., (2006) A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 10th edition, London: Kogan Page • Chapter 36: ‘Organizational Learning and the Learning Organization’ (pp. 539-548) Bingham, C. B., & J. P. Davis, (2012) ‘Learning Sequences: Their Existence, Effect, and Evolution’, Academy Of Management Journal, 55 (3) pp. 611-641 Brueller, D., & A. Carmeli, (2011) ‘Linking Capacities of High-Quality Relationships to Team Learning and Performance in Service Organizations’, Human Resource Management, 50 (4) pp. 455-477 Ellis, S., D. Margalit, & E. Segev, (2012) ‘Effects of Organizational Learning Mechanisms on Organizational Performance and Shared Mental Models During Planned Change’, Knowledge and Process Management, 19 (2) pp. 91-102 Martinette, L. A., & A. Obenchain-Leeson, (2012) ‘The Relationship Between Learning Orientation and Business Performance and the Moderating Effect of Competitive Advantage: A Service Organization Perspective’, Journal Of Service Science, 5 (1) pp. 43-58 Armstrong, M., (2009) Armstrong's Handbook of Performance Management: An Evidence-Based Guide to Delivering High Performance, London: Kogan Page • Chapter 11: ‘Analysing and Assessing Performance’ (pp. 142-165) • Chapter 17: ‘Managing Organizational Performance’ (pp. 219-231) Armstrong, M., D. Brown, & P. Reilly, (2011) ‘Increasing the Effectiveness of Reward Management: An Evidence-Based Approach’, Employee Relations, 33 (2) pp. 106-120 Buller, P. F., & G. M. McEvoy, (2012) ‘Strategy, Human Resource Management and Performance: Sharpening Line of Sight’, Human Resource Management Review, 22 (1) pp. 43-56 Galang, M. C., (2008) ‘Best Practices in HRM: Convergence in Beliefs Across Nine Countries?’, International Journal Of Organisational Behaviour, 13 (1) pp. 1-15 Homburg, C., M. Artz, & J. Wieseke, (2012) ‘Marketing Performance Measurement Systems: Does Comprehensiveness Really Improve Performance?’, Journal of Marketing, 76 (3) pp. 56-77 Fitz-enz, J., (2010) The New HR Analytics: Predicting The Economic Value of Your Company's Human Capital Investments, New York: American Management Association Lawler, E. E., (2013) Performance Appraisals Are Dead, Long Live Performance Management, Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardlawler/2012/07/12/performance-appraisals-are-dead-long-live-performance-management/, (accessed: 21/03/14) Warren, T., (2013) Microsoft Axes Its Controversial Employee-Ranking System, Available at: http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/12/5094864/microsoft-kills-stack-ranking-internal-structure, (accessed: 21/03/14) Ardichvili, A., M. Maurer, L. Wei, T. Wentling, & R. Studemann, (2006) ‘Cultural Influences on Knowledge Sharing Through Online Communities of Practice’, Journal of Knowledge Management, 10 (1) pp. 94-107 Dulipovici, A., & D. Robey, (2013) ‘Strategic Alignment and Misalignment of Knowledge Management Systems: A Social Representation Perspective’, Journal of Management Information Systems, 29 (4) pp. 103-126 Evans, C., (2003) Managing for Knowledge: HR’s Strategic Role, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann • Chapter 8: ‘Working and Learning in Communities of Practice’ (pp. 148-162) Lank, E., J. Randell-Khan, S. Rosenbaum, & O. Tate, (2008) ‘Herding Cats: Choosing a Governance Structure for Your Communities of Practise’, Journal of Change Management, 8 (2) pp. 101-109 Malerba, F., & R. Nelson, (2011) ‘Learning and Catching Up in Different Sectoral Systems: Evidence From Six Industries’, Industrial and Corporate Change, 20 (6) pp. 1645-1675 Taylor, G., (2013) ‘Implementing and Maintaining a Knowledge Sharing Culture via Knowledge Management Teams: A Shared Leadership Approach’, Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict, 17 (1) pp. 69-91 Toulabi, Z., M. Dehghani, & H. R. Al Taha, (2013) ‘A Survey of the Relationship between Organizational Memory and Organizational Learning in Public Organizations of Kerman’, International Business Research, 6 (1) pp. 90-96