Group Report and Reflective Account - International Human Resource Management

Learning Outcomes: Knowledge and Understanding tested in this assignment:

·the theoretical and empirical work of key writers, both classical and contemporary, on different aspects of international human resource management as a distinctive field of study and practice;

·the strategic orientations of multinational corporations (MNCs) and related HR  policy/employment considerations;

·comparative and diverse contexts impacting HRM and its related practices in various regions.

Learning Outcomes: Skills and Attributes tested in this assignment:

·demonstrate an ability to critically appraise, evaluate and synthesise different  writers' theoretical and empirical contributions to the study of international  human resource management

·critically evaluate and apply relevant theory to practice to the complex  interrelationship of human resource factors within multinational corporations

·communicate effectively, verbally and in writing, and work effectively in diverse  groups

Assignment Title: Group Report and Reflective Account

The assessment will require students to work as a group to produce a research-based report plus a 500-word Reflective Account. This assessment allows you to demonstrate your ability to research a topic and also engage in cross-cultural team working.

Description of the assignment: A group report on either of the following topics:

Topic A

A multinational corporation is planning to implement a common set of performance management (PM) practices throughout its global subsidiaries. Critically appraise the extent to which national culture can impact PM systems using specific country examples. What advice would you offer to the HRM director of the firm in relation to this plan; and why?

Topic B

Identify and critically discuss the equal opportunity law(s) in different countries. For each country, discuss the implications for the multinational corporation. What advice would you offer to the HRM director in considering operations in each country?

Individual Element. EACH student in each group must choose ONE different country. Individual contributions each constitute one section in the report. Hence 4 countries will be covered by each group report. Each country section MUST start on a separate page.

Topic A: For the country you have chosen the title is: The impact of national culture on PM practices: [name of country].

Topic B: For the country you have chosen the title is: Equal opportunity legislation in [name of country]: Implications for the MNC.

The author of the section must be clearly identified at the beginning of the section.  

Then, for this country you must:

• Introduce the topic: State briefly the purpose and structure of the discussion in your own section of the report.  

Topics

Arguments (descriptions, explanations) should be presented as short coherent paragraphs dealing with one aspect of the argument. Do not use bullet points, notes or single sentence fragments.

Individual sections must be properly referenced in the text. Any quotations must be shown in quotation marks (“ “) with referencing.  

The individual discussions must be combined into a fully integrated report (see below). The group is responsible for:

• The Introduction to the whole report. This should briefly state the overall purpose of the report and its structure in terms of the different countries covered. This section must be no more than 400 words.

• The Conclusion must draw material from (integrate) the whole report and identify general issues covered in the countries examined, together with the potential challenges.

• The report must be presented in standard report format with: i) a title page (including list of contributors), contents page with page numbers for the sections (individual reports), Introduction, numbered sections (1, 2, 3 etc.) and sub-sections (1.1, 1.2, 1.3 etc.), ii) Conclusion; iii) a combined list of references (all the references used in the report must be in this combined alphabetical list at the end and not in the individual sections). Do not include any appendices. The report must be paginated. Hence you must decide the order in which the sections are going to come.

• Only ONE ELECTRONIC copy should be produced per group, submitted through Canvas by the deadline set.

Word length is subject to a tolerance of plus or minus 10 per cent (with cumulative 10 per cent penalties being applied for every 10 per cent outside this range). The contents page, list of references do not account towards the word totals. As normal, plagiarism will be penalised.

You will work in groups of four (maximum). You will be randomly assigned to groups. Your report should draw upon published academic literature, academically approved websites (e.g. government websites) and your own experiences.

Submitting your report

Students are required to submit reports electronically via Canvas. Please ensure you include your Group Number and student IDs of all group members on your coursework (cover page and individual sections).

This ‘Personal Reflection’ is your own reflection on the process of working in a cross-cultural group; you might wish to discuss, for example: the strengths and weaknesses of cross-cultural groups; what you enjoyed or disliked about working in a cross-cultural group; how you managed the process; what you have learned from this and what you would do differently in future. Your reflection should be written in the first person (use me / I) and should be no more than in total.

This ‘Reflective Account’ is not given a mark but will be awarded a Pass or a Fail. Penalties will be applied for non-submission:- if your assignment is submitted without the reflective account then you will receive a zero for this element of the assignment.