21654 Socio-political Context of Management-Assessment task 1: Essay (Individual)

Objective(s): This addresses subject learning objective(s):

1, 3 and 4

Weight: 35%

Task: Write an essay of 1200 words (+/- 10%) arguing a position for or against one of the following

statements:

1. Management is about getting things done efficiently, political philosophy and social science

concepts have little to do with the reality of management practice.

2. The increasingly global, cultural and economically interdependent nature of society is irrelevant to

the actual business of managing an organisation.

3. Management is about more than just the facts of quantities and efficiencies, about more than just

doing things well. It is also about doing the right things, in the right ways. Accordingly literature and

philosophy can offer much insight to inform good management practice.

Length: 1200

Due: Saturday 10 September 2016

Further

information:

Introduction

Your essay will start with a 200 (+/- 10%) word introduction presenting your overall topic, take a

position and explain how you plan to use your selected references to demonstrate your overall

argument.

Body

(800 words +/- 10%)

In the body of the essay, discuss your argument within the context of the literature. Highlight specific

management practices and the underlying political, social and cultural assumptions of these

practices. Compare and contrast the arguments and assumptions embedded in your different source

materials (i.e. liberal, social, authoritarian, managerialist, democratic, ethical). Be sure to ensure that

each paragraph presents one main idea of your argument but links to the preceding and following

paragraphs with appropriate transitions.

Conclusion

Finish your essay with a 200 (+/- 10%) word conclusion summarising your overall argument and

explaining how your references have contributed to your position.

References

Select at least two primary sources from the tutorial readings. Supplement your argument with at

least six references from other, relevant, quality sources including academic books and journal

articles. Examples of quality journals include: Academy of Management Review, Academy of

22/07/2016 (Spring 2016) © University of Technology Sydney Page 5 of 10

Management Journal, Organization, Organization Science, Organization Studies, Administrative

Science Quarterly, Human Relations, Journal of Management Inquiry and Journal of Business Ethics.

Illustrate your arguments with cases from reputable media outlets as secondary sources. Finally,

provide a reference list of your references according to Harvard UTS referencing conventions. You

can refer to the following Harvard UTS referencing guide:

http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/help/referencing/harvard-uts-referencing-guide.

Layout

Double space your text and use standard (2.5 centimetre) margins. The text should be in a 12-point

Times New Roman font and left-aligned. Pages should be numbered, with the numbers appearing in

the bottom right-hand corner of the pages.