Individual Research Report on Managing People and Organisational Behaviour

Specific Instructions for Assessment 1 - Individual Assignment (70%)

1. To demonstrate your understanding of LOs 1, 2, and 3, you need to select a large or medium size organisation in New Zealand to conduct secondary research and answer ALL questions relevant to Managing People and Organisational Behaviour in this assessment. These questions are listed in:

1. Abano Healthcare Group

2. AFT Pharmaceuticals

3. Auckland International Airport

4. Air New Zealand

5. Allied Farmers

6. Aorere Resources

7. The Asia Pacific Trust

Task 1 (Due in Week 4) and

Task 2 (Due in Week 7)

2. This Individual Research Report consists of 3 main stages: Data collection, data analysis, and report writing.

(Weeks 1-3 for Task 1; Weeks 3-6 for Task 2)

1. Upon obtaining the approval from your lecturer the organisation in New Zealand for your study, you should collect secondary data relevant to this project.

2. Given limited time to conduct this research, you are advised to choose an organisation that has assessable secondary sources (e.g., company reports) for study. However, if primary data is needed to supplement your secondary data, you are required to obtain:

• the Research Ethics Approval and Research Concern Form (see Appendix A, below) and

• the Interview Request Letter (see Appendix B, below) from your lecturer to conduct an interview with a senior manager in your selected organisation. In this case:

• You will need to present your Interview Request Letter to your interviewee(s) and let them sign the Research Concern Form prior to conducting the interview and attach the letter and signed form as Appendix A in your report. This Research Concern Form will clearly show the contact details of the senior manager you have interviewed.

• This analysis will involve compiling an Interview Question Template to use in your company of choice to assist you in the strategic analysis of the organisation. Refer to Interview Template provided by your lecturer for more details. It is very important to take note/record the interview (if possible) for your analysis.

• Your lecturer will supervise your primary data collection and analysis closely.

(Weeks 1-3 for Task 1; Weeks 3-6 for Task 2)

1. You are expected to use the tools and techniques taught on the course as well as such readings that will showcase their knowledge and familiarity with the academic literature and course materials.

2. Based on the data collected from the following sources, your analysis of the company’s business operations and the inter-relationship of strategic organisational planning and human resource planning practices relevant to the requirements stated in this assessment:

• relevant change management models, tools, techniques, and strategies

• the findings from secondary resources. E.g.,

• Company website

• Annual reports

• Academic literature written on the specific industry sector of your company of choice /business organisation

• In-house publications from the organisation e.g. standard operation procedures, newsletters, policies

• journals

• editorials

• the findings and responses from your interviews (if any)

3. Based on the analysis of the strategic perspectives of your selected company, you are required to use the data collected to analyse the challenges in managing change, people and behaviors in your selected organisation and recommend ways to improve their practices.

(Weeks 1-3 for Task 1; Weeks 3-6 for Task 2)

1. This research report must be written as a paper, in the depth and style of a Human Resource Specialist aimed at the General Manager or Chief Executive Officer as the target audience.

2. It must contain an Executive Summary that outlines the structure of the research and the outcome/results of the research as well as recommendations. This Executive Summary is excluded from the word count of this assessment.

3. Students are expected to use the theories/ models, tools and techniques as well as such readings that will showcase their knowledge and familiarity with the academic literature and course materials.

4. It is understood that there will always be gaps or insufficiency in the amount of information made available to you in your research. Hence, an awareness of this research limitation would help you in analysing the data collected more critically.

5. Students are expected to make intelligent assumptions and theories to supplement the information they have to formulate for the research report.

6. The research report must be original i.e. your own work. Your own views, opinions and ideas are aspects of critical thinking, and these can be supported with relevant academic literature sources.

7. Ensure that any academic sources (websites included) that you used in your report are correctly referenced using the APA reference style (6th Edition) for in-text citation and reference list. Failure to reference sources indicates that you have plagiarised the work as your own, and this will result in a fail mark for this assessment. If you are ever unsure – then reference it.

8. Please complete the details on the cover page and ensure that attach this whole set of Assessment document to the front of your research report.

9. Research reports must be submitted via Turnitin along with the hard copy to your lecturer by week 5 Late submission policy applies.

4. Based on your research, answer the given questions in a report format, following the key sections in this assessment.

• Be a total of 3500-5000 words, excluding the supplementary sections (cover page, table of content, executive summary (300-500 words), reference list, and appendices).
• Demonstrate the evidence of applying concepts/theories learned from a wide range of materials, including a total of at least TWELVE (12) reputable, academic/ research based and updated sources (e.g., the given case, textbooks, journals, newspapers, company or government’s documents such as reports and officialwebsites)
• Show your tutor your draft work on a weekly basis for their feedback