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- QUESTION
Managing Organisations (MNG10247)
Assignment 2
Asmt 2 is very similar to Asmt 1, however there are several small variations. In particular, there is no part a and part b. Asmt 2 just involves the reflective essay on a MC (management campetencies)associated with the Internal Process model. Read the Asmt 2 Guidelines document carefully to identify other differences.
Title: Assignment 2 – Reflective Essay (Internal Process)
Marks: 25 (which is 25% of the unit grade)
Due: Prior to 5 April
Purpose:
This assignment aims to develop students’ understanding of the Internal Process management model through the integration of theory and practice. Additionally, it continues to further develop the skill of reflective practice, which students were introduced to in assignment 1.
Task
Students are to write a reflective essay (max 750 words[1]) which details how one of the Internal Process Management Competencies has been ‘experienced’ in the workplace.
Note: students need not have direct involvement with the management competency but simply observed its development, implementation or outcome in an organisational setting.
Students with no workplace experience on which to base their essay will need to identify and interview someone who can provide the required first-hand insight.
Formatting
The single document submitted for this assignment is to contain the following components and formatting features:
- Assignment ‘Coversheet’ (document is available in the Assignment file on Blackboard).
- Assignment ‘Coverpage’[2] identifying the unit name & code, assignment title, student name & ID, and the essay word count (note: Reference List content does not contribute to the word count).
- Content; i.e. your Reflective Essay.
- Both in-text and reference list skills must be demonstrated (use Harvard Referencing style Guide).
- The essay is to include at least three distinct references from academic journals. You may cite your textbook and sources identified in it but they do not contribute to the reference count. Quoting is not permitted. Paraphrase the information obtained from the various sources.
- Reference List
Structure and style of the Essay
The document ‘Reflective Writing – Quick Guide’ (available in the Assignment 1 folder on BlackBoard) highlights two different ways to structure the essay. Either approach is acceptable.
Develop a catchy title which highlights (surreptitiously) the focus of your Essay.
The aim is to write an interesting story which clearly illustrates a good example (positive or negative) of the way in which a particular Management Competency has been applied in an organisational context. It is important that the key concepts are presented in a logical manner so that the essay has good ‘flow’.
The essay should effectively blend your personal observation with support from academic publications (i.e. ideas or research findings). Focus on objectivity rather than subjectivity.
It is important that you use pseudonyms to protect the identity of the organisation and the individuals concerned.
This is not a Creative Writing exercise. The objective is not to write a dramatic script so avoid, as much as possible, using overly emotional language and tone.
Submit Process
All assignments are to be submitted through ‘Turn-it-in,’ which can be accessed from the ‘Assignment 2’ folder on Blackboard. The link will be activated in week 4 and you can submit the assignment at any time leading up to the due date.
The file you submit should be labelled in the following manner:
Surname, initial, student code, MNG10247, asmt 2
For example – Gillett, P, 012345, MNG10247, asmt 2
Feedback
Assignments submitted by the due date will be marked and feedback given within two weeks. Feedback will include a marking rubric and a copy of the assignment document with electronic comments from the marker.
[1] In the UIG it is stated that the maximum word limit for the assignment is 500 words. The minimum word limit is 500 and the maximum is 750.
[2] The assignment ‘Coversheet’ and ‘Coverpage’ contain similar information but they are separate documents and fulfil different purposes. The coverpage is something that each individual student develops themselves.
| Subject | Business | Pages | 4 | Style | APA |
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Answer
Innovation Management Competency
Competency is defined as an observable ability, knowledge, skill, trait, or motivation on the basis of the behaviours required for successful work performance (Pies, Beckmann, & Hielsher, 2009). Each company’s management should have certain distinctive competencies to give the company an edge over its competitors within the same industry. For this particular case the focus is innovation management. Innovation management is an integral management competency (Atkinson, 1999). It is the factor of management that ensures a business remains progressive and relevant in the market through the introduction of new ideas and concepts and consequently innovative products and services.
Personally, I have witnessed the conception of innovation management competency first-hand at a firm where I once did my internship program. For privacy reasons, I will conceal the actual name of the firm and refer to it as ABC Company. ABC Company deals in the fast-food service industry whereby it provides various snacks for people 24 hours every day. It is a competitively large company in its particular industry and has undergone various renovations in terms of the service operations over the years.
During my time there, I witnessed how management kept coming up with new ideas to improve various processes (Teese, 2010). Essentially, the managers demonstrated excellent competency in the area of idea generation whereby they also encouraged the employees to come up with new ways to make the business processes much more efficient (Webster, 2006). In addition, another competency skill I identified with the management is the skill of problem identification (Avolio, & Gardner, 2005).
Case in point, during one occasion the demand for the services in the company increased dramatically. The change happened so fast that nobody in the company had much time to prepare for it. The main reason for a sudden increase in the demand was the circus event, which had a much more massive turnout than anyone had previously anticipated. The situation in the company was hectic at best whereby the staffs were considerably inadequate in the face of the overwhelming demand. The food supply at the firm was insufficient to cater for everybody as well.
Impressively, it took management less than 24 hours to come up with a suitable resolution for the impossible situation. By engaging the competency of problem identification, management was able to denote that the company was facing a major crisis and that prompt action was needed to rectify the situation. Furthermore, through idea generation an optimal solution was found. In about two hours, management had managed to round up several suppliers from various parts of the region to deliver the most fundamental necessities to serve the customers in that particular moment. The second step was creating an orderly system which would allow each individual to be served according to the order of arrival. For this a computer system process was created in a couple of hours to incorporate the new customer numbers. There had never been need for such a system prior to the circus event since the demand for the company’s products had been manageable.
The circus event lasted a week. By the third day of the event the company’s management had found a way to maintain the amount of staff in the organization while serving a substantially large number of customers efficiently. The new computer system invented by management was in operation by the third day of the circus as well. Management came up with a way for customers to make orders in advance then allow the staff time to prepare their meals a short while before they arrived.
This was an adequate demonstration of innovation management competency and it provided me with sufficient insight on what it entails to be a manager of a large business.
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References
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Atkinson, R. (1999). Project management: cost, time and quality, two best guesses and a phenomenon, its time to accept other success criteria. International Journal of Project Management 17 (6) 337-342. Avolio, B. & Gardner, L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. USA: University of Nebraska. Pies, I., Beckmann, M., & Hielsher, S. (2009). Value Creation, Management Competencies, and Global Corporate Citizenship: An Ordonomic Approach to Business Ethics in the Age of Globalization. Journal of Business Ethics 94:265–278 Teese, D. (2010). Business Models, Business Strategy and Innovation. USA: Elsevier Ltd. Webster, B. (2006). Management competencies of women business owners. Entrepreneurship Mgt. 2: 495-508 |