HRM203 Tutor-Marked Assignment (TMA01) – January 2025 Presentation

This assignment is worth 40% of the OCAS component for HRM203 Human Behaviour in Organisations. It is an individual assignment, submitted as a single report on Canvas.

Cut-off date: 9 March 2025 (Sunday), 11:55 pm

Formatting Instructions

• Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx)
• Times New Roman, 12 point, 1.5 line spacing
• 1-inch margins all round, justified paragraphs
• Maximum 2000 words; figures and tables are included in the word count
• APA referencing for all in-text citations, references, figures and tables
• Any use of generative AI must be declared and reported in an attribution table (Table A) in the references section

Details of Assignment

1. Background

According to your textbook, beyond the actual redesigning of jobs and the use of employee involvement, many organisations today are experimenting with a variety of flexible work arrangements. These arrangements are generally intended to enhance employee motivation and performance by giving workers more flexibility about how and when they work (Lim et al., 2019, p. 220).

Your boss has just come back from an HRM conference. A number of people management issues have surfaced during and since Covid-19, and he is keen to learn more about flexible work arrangements. Over lunch, he asked you to prepare a report on “Implications of flexible work arrangements on employee motivation and performance.”

2. Your Task

Select THREE (3) articles from the popular press (e.g., newspapers, magazines, reports, journals, the internet) that reflect themes relevant to the report topic. Insightfully analyse each article, using perspectives and information covered in classes, the textbook and the course notes.

• Each selected article must be at least 600 words long.
• Each article must not be published before 2020.
• Embed a direct link to each article in the report. If this is not feasible, provide web links or append copies of the articles as appendices.

Report Format

(a) Introduction – 300 to 350 words (10 marks)

Provide a brief review of flexible work arrangements. Explain why these arrangements are important to people management in organisations.

(b) Main Content – 900 to 1,000 words in total (60 marks)

Focus on one article at a time. For each article:

• Summarise the key points of the article that are relevant to flexible work arrangements.
• Examine the extent to which you agree and disagree with the writer’s viewpoint, drawing on concepts from the course (Chapter 6 of the textbook) and/or research.
• Discuss the implications of the article for people management and organisations.

(c) Conclusion – 600 to 650 words (20 marks)

Indicate the common theme(s) or insight(s) that integrate or relate to the three articles. Then propose ONE (1) human resource or management policy or practice based on what you have read and on the theories and concepts learnt in the course.

Language and Organisation (10 marks)

Use past tense to describe what has been done in the past, and present tense for general ideas not restricted to a single time period. Five marks are allocated to language and five marks to formatting.

Assessment Rubrics

The TMA will be assessed on:

• Explanation of the relevant concepts
• Depth of your analysis of the three articles
• Concluding section (integration of findings to generate common themes or insights, and your proposal)
• Language and organisation – is the paper easy to read and understand?

Checklist Before Submission

• Have you examined 3 articles of adequate length?
• Are the relevant concepts clearly explained and discussed in enough depth?
• Have you explained why flexible work arrangements are important to people management in organisations?
• Are the examples and illustrations relevant and insightful?
• Are the arguments logical, and are different points of view considered?
• Have you given credit where credit is due?
• Have you provided a strong and convincing conclusion?