This is an individual assignment and it represents 50% of your module grade.
The assignment must be your OWN work. Copyright of all materials used must be respected and acknowledged.
This means that you must not copy work from friends, journal articles or texts and pass it off as your own work.
All sources must be properly referenced in your work using the Harvard referencing system (the references
section of your assignment is outside of the word count). Plagiarism is a serious academic offence.
Please refer to the University’s guidelines on the Harvard referencing system and plagiarism which can be
obtained from the library.
This coursework assesses learning outcome two:
Discuss and evaluate the effectiveness of organisational relationships and strategies for leading, managing,
motivating and developing teams and individuals.
The assessment details in the module specification are:
You will be required to apply knowledge/theory from this module to various scenarios
Sensitivity: Internal
(Everyone now has a late submission request approved so the final date is the 20th May. You cannot ask for an
extension for an LSR as everyone already has it. Support plans work from the 20th May)
Reference all relevant theory. The use of theory is expected to support your argument. No marks will be awarded
for the insertion of a generic tool or theory, these will need to be adapted and applied to the scenario. You do not
have to include all the theory in the module. Choose carefully and go into detail. Make sure you give a
balanced argument. Reports with no referencing will be capped at 40%.
Feedback will be given on blackboard within three weeks of the submission date.
Sensitivity: Internal
The Scenario: Regal Solutions
Elizabeth took a deep breath, stood up straight and entered the room.
She knew it was going to be tough. She would be the fourth boss this team had had in three years.
Elizabeth was a senior manager in an accounting company before joining Regal Solutions. She liked the idea of
going into industry to manage a team of accountants and also non-accountants. Regal Solutions provided
computer solutions for over 1,000 clients. Some of the engineers would go onto their clients sites and others
would access their systems remotely from the office.
The profitability of the company had slowly been declining. The previous manager to Elizabeth, Stephen, had
decided that the way forward was to cut the staff. He had felt that the staff were not working hard enough.
Stephen had carried out a time and motion study and had asked everyone in the team to write down what they
did and how long it took them to do it. He then sat down and did their job for a day and assessed the time they
had estimated. He reduced many of the estimated times and this caused several people to be cut from the
workforce. It then transpired that he had forgotten about giving the staff breaks or accounting for the fact that not
everyone can work at full speed for all of the time. The performance of the company in fulfilling their customers
requirements declined and Regal Solutions were starting to find that customers were not renewing their annual
support plans.
All of the staff including the engineers, administration staff, sales-people etc. were all in one team and there are
currently 60 people employed by Regal Solutions. There is no hierarchy as the owner of the business, Henry,
takes a very laissez-faire approach to leadership and leaves everyone to get on with their jobs. He dislikes
hierarchy and always attempts to employ the right people for the job. He does not like to be in the office very
often so employed the manager to run things for him. This is the role that Elizabeth is about to start. He has
however begun to realise that this is not working and he now needs to create a management team. Henry has
asked Elizabeth for advice as to who should be in this team.
Sensitivity: Internal
Required:
You are required to produce a 2,000 word report to Elizabeth. You are an experienced consultant and she has
asked for your help and advice.
1. How would you advise Elizabeth to approach her new team. Include in your advice theory to support her
chosen method of communication to her team.
(20% weighting)
2. Stephen has viewed this organisation like a machine. Machines work at a standard rate and the jobs and
departments are carefully designed to work smoothly together and to perform certain functions effectively.
This is the view that is implicit in the early theories such as classical and scientific management. Critically
evaluate this point of view and suggest an alternative way that Elizabeth can look at this organisation.
(40% weighting)
3. Advise what types of people should be included in the new management team. Also provide advice on
what is likely to happen during the process of setting up the new team. Include in your advice a critical
evaluation of the theories presented by Belbin and Tuckman.
(30% Weighting)
4. Conclude your report with a clear plan of what you believe would be the best way forward for Elizabeth at
her new company (You are not allowed to suggest she leaves and finds another job).
(10% Weighting)