Assignment (40592/03) Business Issues and the Contexts of Human Resources (5BIC) When you have completed your assignment, please submit it via the Student Community (as explained in the ‘Get off to a Flyer’ guide) and remember to include a cover sheet with all information including the candidate declaration. Without this information your assignment cannot be marked. This assignment is designed to assess the following learning outcomes: 3. Understand the role of HR in the managing of contemporary business issues and external contexts 4. Understand how organisational and HR strategies and practices are shaped and developed 5. Know how to identify and respond to short-term changes in the business and external contexts. Assessment Brief You are required to carry out an investigation into the organisation where you work, or an organisation with which you are familiar. The investigation focuses on the role of the HR function in the activities of the organisation, and the link between business and HR strategies. Your report should have four sections, covering the following issues: • an identification and analysis of the major forces shaping the HR activities within the organisation • an examination of HR’s roles within the organisation and the extent to which HR contributes to sound business ethics, effective accountability and organisational effectiveness • a review of the organisation’s business and HR strategies, incorporating SWOT and STEEPLE analyses, and a commentary on the extent to which there is vertical and horizontal integration of strategies within the organisation • an assessment of how the organisation measures the effectiveness of these strategies and communicates them within the organisation, including the provision of costs where appropriate. Evidence to be Produced A report written for a Managing Director, that includes clear recommendations. It should be approximately 3000 words in length, together with a list of cited References and a separate Bibliography of sources consulted but not specifically mentioned (but these should be excluded from the word count). Unit Specifications Unit title Business issues and the contexts of human resources Level 5 Credit value 6 Unit code 5BIC Purpose and Aim of Unit Human resources (HR) professionals need to understand key developments in the business and external contexts within which HR operates. This unit enables learners to identify and review the business and external contextual factors affecting organisations and to assess the impacts of these factors on the HR function. The unit also examines HR’s role in strategy formulation and implementation. The unit is designed to encourage learners to adopt a critical perspective of these contexts and to provide workable organisational and HR solutions to address them. Unit Content Indicative content is provided for each of the learning outcomes of the unit. The content is neither prescriptive nor exhaustive but should enable achievement of the learning outcomes. 1. Understand key contemporary business issues affecting the HR function within private, public and third sector organisations. Types of organisation; the role of management within them; ways in which HR is delivered; the main functional areas of management; the search for sustained organisational performance, business profit and efficiency; analysing, evaluating and drawing conclusions from financial and non-financial data; balanced scorecard or similar performance measurement tools; managing the change agenda. 2. Understand the main external contextual factors impacting on organisations and the HR function. The market and competitive contexts of organisations; principal demographic, social and technological trends; globalisation and international factors; government policy and legal regulation; the European Union (EU) and other international bodies. 3. Understand the role of HR in the managing of contemporary business issues and external contexts. Forces shaping the HR agenda; models of the HR function; HR insights, strategies and solutions to support sustained organisational performance; relationships of HR with senior management and line management; basic issues of ethics, accountability and good governance. 4. Understand how organisational and HR strategies and practices are shaped and developed. How corporate and HR strategies are shaped by the business and external contexts; organisational insights and sustained organisational performance; strategy formulation and implementation; emergent strategies; techniques and tools to analyse organisational and business environment; vertical and horizontal integration. 5. Know how to identify and respond to short-term changes in the business and external contexts. HR’s role in business planning and review; environmental scanning; sources of data and business information; handling, analysing and reviewing complex business data; interpreting trends, patterns and metrics in the organisation, and identifying obstacles and risks; responding to change: short-term imperatives and long-term horizons; preparing position and policy papers; communicating with senior, middle managers and staff. Unit Assessment To achieve this unit, the evidence the learner presents for assessment must demonstrate that they have met all the learning outcomes and assessment criteria. Ensure that you have addressed all the assessment criteria relating to learning outcomes 3, 4 and 5 before you submit your work. Learning outcomes The learner will: Assessment criteria The learner can: 1 Understand key contemporary business issues affecting the HR function within private, public and third sector organisations. 1.1 Explain types of organisations and the roles of management in them. 1.2 Analyse how HR is delivered and describe the main functional areas of management. 1.3 Evaluate business performance and the change management agenda. 2 Understand the main external contextual factors impacting on organisations and the HR function. 2.1 Review the market and competitive contexts of organisations. 2.2 Evaluate the demographic, social and technological trends affecting organisations. 2.3 Explain the nature of globalisation and international factors affecting organisations. 2.4 Describe the impact of government and EU policy and regulations on organisations. 3 Understand the role of HR in the managing of contemporary business issues and external contexts. 3.1 Analyse the forces shaping the HR agenda. 3.2 Explain how HR contributes to organisational effectiveness. 3.3 Examine HR’s roles and functions in management structures. 3.4 Examine HR’s contribution to business ethics and accountability. 4 Understand how organisational and HR strategies and practices are shaped and developed. 4.1 Review the role of HR in strategy formulation and implementation. 4.2 Describe the techniques and tools used to analyse organisational and business environment. 4.3 Explain vertical and horizontal integration. 5 Know how to identify and respond to short-term changes in the business and external contexts. 5.1 Identify HR’s role in business planning. 5.2 Assess environmental planning and the sources of business data for planning purposes. 5.3 Evaluate how agreed strategies, policies and plans are actioned within organisations.