MPM722: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
ASSESSMENT TASKS
Assessment Task 1 – Written research project
Due date: Monday (11:59pm), 9 September 2013
Value: 50%
Word length: 3,000 (min) – 3,500 words (max) by individual
5,000 (min) – 6,500 words (max) by group of 4 members
Choice of Options and Topics
You have the choice of 2 options and several research topics to complete this
Assessment Task. You must do one or the other, but NOT both! The assignment
can be completed either by groups (Option 1) or individually (Options 1 or 2).
OPTION 1 - WRITTEN RESEARCH REPORT – GROUP OR INVIVIDUAL WORK
This assignment requires you to conduct research based on an actual organisation
you can have access to. You are required to research and report what the chosen
organisation has done to achieve competitive advantages via its unique human
resource management strategies with reference to one or all of the following three
topics:
1. Effective performance management linked with organisational employee
development and career management;
2. Employee engagement strategies linked to global talent attraction and retention;
3. Work-life balance strategies linked to global employer branding as ‘employer of
choice’
This option of assignment task is designed to provide you with an opportunity to
apply the knowledge learnt and developed in the subject study to the practical case
analysis on key contemporary HR issues. You are encouraged to speak to HR
personnel and/or managers/employees in your own organisation or in the one you
are familiar with; or to be reflective on what you have been doing if you are in a HR
role. This is to ensure that you conduct a thorough analysis and that you are able to
draw out organisational strategies to address the specific HR issue.
This option can be taken both by a GROUP or individual.
© Deakin University MPM722 ASSESSMENT TASKS, TRIMESTER 2, 2013 2
Group work
You are encouraged to complete this task by GROUP. It is your responsibility to
form your own group. You must provide names of up to 4 members in your group to
the Unit Chair no later than Week 3 of Trimester 2. Please note: if you cannot pull a
team together in a short time (within two weeks), you will find it difficult to work
together within 8 weeks to complete your group project report as group work does
require much more effective time management and coordination.
The Group Report must be written in 5,000 (min) to 6,500 (max) words (exclusive of
title page, executive summary, figures/tables, appendices and references). Please
include the word count on the front page of your assignment.
Individual work
Given your special circumstance, you may decide to complete this task by yourself.
In such a case, you are still required to access to an actual organisation and speak
to HR personnel and/or managers/employees in your own organisation or in the one
you are familiar with; or to be reflective on what you have been doing if you are in the
HR or line managerial role. Based on your research outcomes, write a report within
3,000 to 3,500 words (exclusive of title page, executive summary, figures/tables,
appendices and references). Please include the word count on the front page of
your assignment.
Report Format – structure and presentation of your report
Please use a formal report style with headings and a clear logical numbering system.
You should also include a full list of references. Only include information in your
references and appendices that have been directly referred to in the body of your
document. Your report should include:
(i) Title page - containing the subject title and code, your name and student id
number (in case of group, all group members’ names and id numbers)
(ii) Table of contents
(iii) An executive summary less than 300 words covering the objectives, methods
and key findings of your report
(iv) Introduction – a brief introduction of the report less than 200 words
(v) An overview of the organisation – very brief, NO NEED to cover all aspects of
its HR policies and practices but type of organisation, industry, size, scope (i.e.
domestic or global company) and years of establishment (less than 200 words)
(vi) Literature review – this is an important part of your report as you need to draw
all relevant literature relating to the topic (s) of your choice (approx. 1000-2000
words depending on whether it is individual or group report)
(vii) Reflection of best practices or problems – this would be based on your
interviews and research about the chosen organisation (approx. 500-1000
words depending on whether it is individual or group report)
© Deakin University MPM722 ASSESSMENT TASKS, TRIMESTER 2, 2013 3
(viii) Discussion and analysis – this is another important part of the report whereby
you need to discuss and compare your findings about the organisation with
reference to the literature you have reviewed in Point (vi) (1000-2000 words
depending on whether it is individual or group report)
(ix) Conclusion – this would include recommendation for various options the
organisation could take to change or improve in their human resource
management practices (about 200-300 words)
(x) References – note the reference requirements in the assessment criteria
(xi) Appendices (eg. research questions asked in your interviews or organisational
chart or any useful information that could support your argument, but may be
too wordy to be included in the main report)
OPTION 2 - WRITTEN RESEARCH PAPER – INDIVIDUAL WORK ONLY
If you do not have access to any organisation, you may choose to write a research
paper to answer only ONE of the following three questions, which are similar to the
three topics mentioned in the Option 1.
1. How could the effective performance management assist employees to
develop their professional knowledge and skills and help with their career
progress as in line with achieving global organisation’s strategic objectives?
2. The engagement of employees has become an important factor for global
organisations to remain productive and competitive. What can organisations
do to more effectively engage their employees with the aim to attract and
retain global talents?
3. Employers worldwide have been increasingly offering work-life balance
initiatives to build their reputation as ‘employer of choice’. Critique the types
of work-life balance programs offered in Australia or in other parts of the world
and discuss their effectiveness in employer branding.
This option of assignment task is designed to provide you with an opportunity to
apply and synthesise the knowledge learnt and developed in the subject study and
critically discuss and analyse contemporary HR issues. You are required to conduct
a thorough research on the chosen question and write an essay (or discussion
paper) of 3000-3,500 words (exclusive of title page, figures/tables, appendices and
references).
Paper format - Structure and presentation of your research paper
Although a research paper, you may still use headings and a clear logical numbering
system. You should also include a full list of references. Only include information in
your references and appendices that have been directly referred to in the body of
your document. You do NOT need to include a table of contents or an executive
summary in your discussion paper.
Your paper should include:
© Deakin University MPM722 ASSESSMENT TASKS, TRIMESTER 2, 2013 4
1. A title page - contains the subject title and code, your name and student id
number;
2. Introduction - briefly outlines the topic and your argument (200-300 words);
3. Relevant literature review - synthesises key book chapters/journal papers
devoted to the discussion of chosen topic area, and identifies best practices or
issues and problems, that is: what issues and problems or best practices of
organisations in general have you found in your readings of various literatures
(this is the most important part of your paper, 1000-1500 words)
4. Discussion and analysis – addresses how the issues and problems could be
resolved by a set of HR solutions/strategies (another important part of your
paper, 1000-1500 words)
5. Conclusion – reviews your key points of learning/findings (200-300 words)
6. References
7. Appendices (eg. figures/tables you refer to in the paper can be included here).
Please include the word count on the front page of your assignment.

Assignment submission rules
All assignments for this unit are to be submitted online in an area provided in
CloudDeakin. They are counted as ‘on time’ if submitted by 11:59pm AEST or
AEDST on the due date. If necessary, you can look up your local time at
http://www.whitepages.com.au/wp/helpfulInfo.do?category=info&item=worldTime.
When submitting online, you must check that you have submitted work correctly by
following the instructions provided in CLOUDDEAKIN.
Please complete the Faculty Assignment Attachment Sheet for your CLOUDDEAKIN
submission. Only one member of each group need upload the assignment if
you complete the assignment in group. Please ensure, however, that the
names and student numbers of all members of your group are included on the
front page of your assignment.
Assignments are on time if they are submitted via CLOUDDEAKIN on the due date.
Students enrolled through partnership agreements must submit as required by the
unit coordinator at the partner institution on the due date.
No extensions will be considered for assignment submission due dates unless a
written request is submitted and negotiated with the designated Unit Chair.
Assignments submitted late without an extension being granted will not be marked.
Return of marked assignments and requests for reviews
Your assignment will be marked, commented upon and sent back to you via
CLOUDDEAKIN within 20 business days or less of the due date of the assignment.
Please note that before results are returned to you, the Unit Chair, together with the
teaching/marking team will have applied moderation methods to ensure that the
© Deakin University MPM722 ASSESSMENT TASKS, TRIMESTER 2, 2013 6
standards by which your work has been assessed are the same for all students
enrolled in the unit.
You may request additional information from assessors or checks on addition or
recording errors. You can contact the Unit Chair directly, or use the ‘Stage 1 Review’
form available from the Faculty office. However, no reviews or remarks of
assessment tasks are allowed unless you formally request such a review through the
Faculty Academic Progress and Disciplinary Committee. Such requests must be
submitted on the Administrative Review of Result form and may be submitted at any
time up to 10 days after the release of results for the unit.
Special consideration
If you consider that your assessment was or is likely to be adversely affected by
serious and exceptional circumstances beyond your control, you may apply for
special consideration. Grounds can be medical, compassionate or hardship/trauma.
A form is available from the Faculty office (also via the link
http://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students/study-support/special-consideration.php).
Special consideration is not normally intended for assignments and other forms of
continuous assessment during the semester – you should apply to the Unit Chair for
an extension in such cases.
Applications for special consideration must be made no later than three days after
the due date of the assessment task. They are referred to the Unit Chair or nominee
for determination and the outcome is notified within 10 working days of the
application or before publication of final results for the unit.
Plagiarism and other academic offences
Plagiarism is the copying of another person's ideas or expressions and presenting
them as your own without an explicit indication of the source of the material. It
includes copying written works such as books or journals, data or images that may
be presented in tables, diagrams, designs, plans, photographs, film, music, formulae,
web sites and computer programs. Plagiarism also includes the use of the work of
lecturers or other students as your own without acknowledgment.
Intention to cheat is irrelevant in determining whether plagiarism has occurred – if
you pass off the work of others as your own without acknowledgement, then you
have offended, whether you knew you were doing it or not. Even the ‘George
Harrison defence’ is irrelevant in determining if plagiarism has occurred. George’s
explanation for “My Sweet Lord” sounding like “He’s So Fine” as recorded by the
Chiffons in 1962 was “I did not knowingly copy another’s work – it was just in my
head so that I assumed it was original”. George still plagiarised.
The University regards plagiarism as an extremely serious academic offence. The
penalties associated with plagiarism may be severe and extend to cancelling all
marks for the specific assessment item or for the entire unit or even exclusion from
your course. These penalties are detailed in Part 2 of Regulation 4.1 (1) Student
Discipline.
© Deakin University MPM722 ASSESSMENT TASKS, TRIMESTER 2, 2013 7
It is important to realise, however, that it is certainly not an offence to use the work of
others in your work. On the contrary - a well-constructed essay or report should
normally refer to and build on the work of others for positioning, supporting and
strengthening your work and advancing knowledge. Plagiarism occurs when due
recognition and acknowledgement of the work of others is not provided. Therefore,
whenever you are using another person's research or ideas (whether by direct
quotation or by paraphrasing) you must appropriately cite the source. If you are ever
in doubt about the most appropriate form of referencing, you should consult your
lecturer or Student Life.
Teaching teams will use a variety of methods to detect plagiarism, and some units
may require that you submit your work to a system that can check your work for
possible plagiarism.
Unauthorised collaboration is a similar offence. Unauthorised collaboration involves
working with others with the intention of deceiving examiners about who actually
completed the work. If there has been any collaboration in preparing individual
assessment items, this must be disclosed. In the case of group project work,
lecturers provide guidelines on what level of collaboration is appropriate and how the
work of each participant in the project is to be assessed. If you have any doubt about
what constitutes authorised and unauthorised collaboration you should consult your
lecturer.