Assignment Brief
You are asked to write a single, individual essay in response to ONE of the following questions exploring the opportunities for organisational behaviour at a time when several economies are facing challenges.

Assignment Questions
1. In 1926, Henry Ford introduced a “five-day” working week. In most of the world, the Monday to Friday workweek hasn’t been questioned since. Now, however, work is changing. Increased use of new technology and methods of communication means more opportunities for a “24–7” work environment for many managers and professional employees.
What are the implications of using digital and information technologies for the control, location, timing and performance of work in the future?

2. In today’s challenging times, organisations may try to have a clear and consistent collection of values, expectations and practices that guide and inform the actions of all employees. Can a uniform organisational culture that ensures company rules are rigorously adhered to help a firm withstand the next crisis, or should it expect staff to evaluate and explore multiple viewpoints when making difficult decisions?

3. Whether it’s a pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine or faltering economies, organisations may need “far-sighted leaders” to negotiate periods of disruption. When facing challenges, should organisations put their faith in strong leaders or leader roles to reduce the feelings of stress or helplessness in the workplace and to create a competitive advantage?

Further guidance

a) At its most rudimental, each question is asking you to display a strong grasp of the theoretical underpinning on the main topic areas or themes outlined by the title.

b) Most importantly, each question is telling you to do something:
 Q1 is telling you to critically evaluate (weigh arguments for and against) the main topic, assessing the strength of the evidence on both sides;
 Q2 wants you to compare and contrast (identify and show the relevance of the differences between) two arguments, giving reasons why one is preferable;
 Q3 emphasises that you should investigate or analyse the topic by argument.

c) Remember, stronger essays will also demonstrate awareness of the connectivity between different perspectives and theories, especially when these closely relate to the main topic areas or themes.

d) Be careful not to spend too much of your assignment simply describing concepts, models or frameworks. You should wear your thinking hat and provide evidence of critically evaluating, comparing or contrasting and analysing.

e) You should demonstrate in your writing that you can make application of relevant literature to construct valid and strong arguments and provide sound reasoning for what you argue, and also demonstrate logical progression of thoughts. Don’t become so engaged in describing prior studies without using them to illustrate your own argument

f) It is important that you start searching for literature (relevant, reliable and recent) to address the assignment task well ahead of time and in case you have any queries or want to discuss the structure of your essay, feel free to check with me during online office hours.

g) Please do follow the Harvard referencing format correctly to cite sources both in-text and in the reference list.

h) Assignment Submission: It is your responsibility to ensure that your work is submitted successfully and on time. Do not leave submission until just before the deadline, as this doesn’t leave time to sort out any problems with the submission.

i) Make sure you are submitting the correct file, as you usually only get one attempt.

j) Check the guidance for the assessment to make sure you are submitting the correct file type.

k) The essay should have an introduction, main body (made up of connected paragraphs and sub- sections) and conclusion. The paragraphs in the main body should start with a topic sentence which states the point of the paragraph clearly.