Assignment 2: Industry Project Essay 40%
1 OVERVIEW
You will use your Industry Project Plan (Assignment 1) and convenor feedback to structure this essay. Expanding on the first assignment, you will develop a logical argument about your topic/s in the industry, combining scholarly research and practical knowledge. You will demonstrate your ability to locate, comprehend and apply academic learnings to HRM and ER practice. You will detail implications for management and employees, and provide recommendations for improvement, drawing from personal experience or case studies.
2 DUE DATE
This assignment is due in WEEK 10 on 13 May 2017 at 22:00 submitted via Turnitin
3 WORD LIMIT
This assignment should be between 1500-2000 words, including your reference list.
4 KEY REQUIREMENTS
4.1 OUTLINE THE INDUSTRY AND TOPICS
In assignment two you are required to expand on the industry context and employment topic/s you have chosen in greater detail.
4.2 DEVELOP A LOGICAL ARGUMENT
You will research your chosen industry and topics. Combined with your personal experience (or if not applicable, some case study knowledge) you will develop an argument that you will convey to the reader about your topic/s in your industry.
• For instance, perhaps your experience suggests that gender diversity in the mining industry is restricted and your argument, supported by scholarly evidence, is that this lack of diversity limits business performance and should be addressed.
4.3 IDENTIFY IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Imagine yourself in the role of HR manager. There will be positive or negative implications associated with the employment topic/s that you have selected in your industry context. In your assignment, draw from theory and practice to identify implications and recommendations for change or improvement, if applicable.
• Referring to the previous example, I could draw on research that identifies the performance improvement effect associated with increased diversity in the workplace. I could also note that from my experience, although many mining companies have implemented recruitment guidelines for improving diversity (e.g. quotas for indigenous or female employees), more work needs to be done with senior and executive management to change the organizational culture, values and underlying philosophy.
4.4 PRESENTATION AND REFERENCING
You will be expected to strictly adopt an essay structure that flows logically and uses well-formed paragraphs. A high standard of spelling and grammar is expected and writing style should be appropriate. Please include the standardised cover sheet available on L@G.
You must use scholarly references in this assignment and marks will be awarded for use of quality, up-to-date sources. A range of quality sources is fine (i.e. governmental reports, books chapters, Australian Bureau of Statistics etc) but be sure to include some journal articles to demonstrate your ability to read and apply scholarly data.
For further assistance on locating quality academic sources please visit the GBS resources bank (see L@G) or consult your librarian. As with the first assignment – APA 6th is recommended but other referencing styles will be accepted provided they are applied consistently.
5 MARKING CRITERIA AND RUBRIC
Criteria Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Weight
Summary and synthesis of industry context and employment topic/s Concise outline of industry context and selected employment topic/s. Synthesis of topic/s and context evidences deep understanding of the issues and their application to the assessment. Concise outline of industry context and selected employment topic/s. Synthesis of topic/s and context evidences good understanding of the issues and their application to the assessment. Some outline of industry context and selected employment topic/s. Synthesis of topic/s and context evidences moderate understanding of the issues and their application to the assessment. Weak outline of industry context and selected employment topic/s. Synthesis of topic/s and context evidences limited understanding of the issues and their application to the assessment. Limited or no outline of industry context and selected employment topic/s. Synthesis of topic/s and context evidences minimal understanding of the issues and their application to the assessment.
8/40 marks
Development of argument and statement of position Logical development of a complete and convincing argument and implications. Clear and strong statement of position very well supported by quality research evidence and practical experience/ examples. Logical development of a convincing argument and implications. Clear statement of position well supported by relevant research evidence and practical experience/ examples. Logical development of moderately convincing argument and implications. Statement of position partially supported by research evidence and practical experience/ examples. Weaknesses apparent in argument and implications. Statement of position and limited support from research evidence and practical experience/ examples. Limited or no supporting argument and implications. Incomplete or inadequate statement of position and little or no support from research evidence and practical experience/ examples.
16/40 marks
Cohesion and structure including introduction, body and conclusion Polished and imaginative structure. Introduction and conclusions clearly and strongly support the arguments and evidence submitted. Very high standard of cohesion between sections. Carefully and logically structured. Introduction and conclusions generally support the arguments and evidence submitted. High standard of cohesion between sections. Reasonably well structured. Introduction and conclusions partially support the arguments and evidence submitted. Moderate standard of cohesion between sections. Weakly structured. Introduction and conclusions provide very limited support of the arguments and evidence submitted. Weak standard of cohesion between sections. Very weakly structured. Introduction and conclusions provide little or no support of the arguments and evidence submitted. Minimal or no cohesion between sections.
8/40 marks
Presentation including referencing, grammar and spelling Referencing consistently accurate. Very high standard of grammar and spelling. Attention to detail including appropriate font, page numbers, cover page and suitable layout. Referencing consistently accurate. High standard of grammar and spelling. Good attention to detail. Referencing mainly accurate. Reasonable standard of grammar and spelling. Some attempt at referencing. Weak standard of grammar, spelling and attention to detail. No referencing. Very weak standard of grammar, spelling and attention to detail
8/40 marks
Total: 40 marks