Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Remote Work and Future Workplace Practices

Topic:
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns have forced millions of workers around the world to work from home. The impact of this unplanned experiment on workers, organisations and societies can be seen at three different levels; individual, organisational and society-wide.

Using relevant academic theory / research, write an essay on ONE of the following questions: 1. What has been the impact of working from home on worker productivity, job design and individual motivation? (Text chapters 5 & 6).

2. What has been the impact of working from home on organisational performance practices, teamwork and team effectiveness and organisational culture? (Text chapters 6, 8 and 14).

3. What has been the impact of working from home on family and social structures and practices, economics, globalisation and the environment? (Your text does not cover any of these issues, but if you are interested in the question and confident you can find helpful readings and research on your own, feel free to choose this topic).

In your answer, conclude by discussing whether you think working from home will become more common in the future, or whether employees/organisations/societies (depending which question you answer) will prefer to return back to pre-pandemic workplace habits and practices, once this is possible?

Instructions:
Choose ONE question and write an essay which includes an: Introduction, Discussion, Conclusion. Each section should be clearly written and contain relevant information. to follow the correct essay structure. Please refer to the OWLL site for information on how to structure and write an essay. Information on how to write an essay will be recorded and posted to stream. 

Evidence of Research  Reading
For questions 1 & 2 you need to include at least three relevant academic/scholarly sources as well as theory from the textbook. If you choose to answer Q3 you will need to include at least six relevant academic / scholarly sources.

A recorded session from the Business Librarians will be available on stream to help you identify academic/scholarly sources.

Format:
Maximum 2000 words (+ / 10%), to be submitted via Stream by 11.59pm Friday 25th September. More details will be made available in class.
• The essay must be written, saved and submitted as an editable Word (docx) document. No pdf documents.
• The file name must be “Family-name First-name” (e.g., Barnett, Shirley.docx).
• Use 1.5 line spacing and insert page numbers.
• Include a cover page with your name, student number, and word count. You do NOT need to attach an honesty declaration; as part of the Stream submission you will be prompted to confirm that you have read and abided by the student integrity policy. If you have any doubts about what constitutes a breach of integrity or plagiarism, you must seek clarification before submission.
• Material referred to in your essay must be referenced using APA style; this includes any material you wish to use from assignments you have written for other subjects (or for this subject in previous semesters).
• Do not add unnecessary references in an effort to make your essay look more /impressive, and only cite material which you have actually looked at. Copying citations from other articles is not acceptable. If you cannot locate an original article, and wish to refer to someone else’s summary of it, then use APA secondary citation format. (An internet search for ‘APA secondary citation’ will give you necessary information). 
• You must upload your assignment to the course Stream site before the due time and date.
• All assignments will be checked for plagiarism and other dishonest practices

Assignment Submission
You must submit your assignment electronically on the course Stream site. We aim to mark assignments submitted on time within 15 working days from the official due date.