College of Graduate School of Management

Assessment Brief: HRM7053 Strategic Human Resource Management

2023-2024

COLLEGE OF GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

POSTGRADUATE DEGREES

ASSESSMENT BRIEF – FIRST ATTEMPT

MODULE TITLE: Strategic Human Resource Management

MODULE CODE: HRM7053

LECTURER: Cristina Chirita

ISSUE DATE: w/c 22nd January 2024

ASSESSMENT DATE: Tuesday 7th May 2024 before 12h00 (noon)

FEEDBACK DATE: 20 working days after submission deadline

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of the assignment, students should be able to demonstrate their ability to:
1. Critically review contemporary issues, challenges and complexities of managing
organisations in a diverse and multicultural global environment and their impact on
the HR function and strategic plans.
2. Critically assess the characteristics of strategic models of HRM, HR plans, policies
and systems and evaluate their effectiveness and alignment to organisational goals
and strategic objectives.
3. Critically evaluate contemporary HR and employment-related issues regarding their
impact on employees. These issues can be legal, organisational frameworks and/ or
cultural issues in which international organisations operate in.
4. Collaborate with diverse teams to meet organisational objectives and performance
goals.
5. Critically reflect on the skills and knowledge acquired in the module as an aspiring
manager in contemporary management or HR function and on the experience you
had in working with a diverse work team to complete tasks of your module.

Transferable skills

This assessment will assist in development of the following transferable skills:

Transferable Skill 1: Independence

 You will be engaging with independent learning throughout the module in organising
your own learning schedule. For example, seminar preparation, watching online
videos and taking notes, completing online tasks, readings and locating external
College of Graduate School of Management
Assessment Brief: HRM7053 Strategic Human Resource Management
2023-2024
information relating to the course content. In addition, your assessment requires
independently researching, presenting and answering questions about an
organisation through the lens of theoretical models studied.

Transferable Skill 2: Critical thinking and problem solving

 As an applied human resource management module, you will learn to think critically
about multiple contexts of a business including scenarios which you may face as a
manager which will require you to solve strategic problems within the workplace.

Transferable Skill 3: Self-awareness

 In this module you will naturally develop your sense of self-awareness and self-
assessment as you reflect on your own learning experiences and how they have
impacted you.

Transferable Skill 4: Teamwork

 Each session you will take part in small group discussions and activities during the
seminars. This will help you develop further the teamwork skills you have acquired
throughout your course.

Transferable Skill 5: Communication

 Each session you will be involved in small group discussions and make independent
contributions to in-class discussions during the seminars. In addition, the assessment
is a coursework and involves written communication, so the skills will be developed
and used in this module.

Transferable Skill 6: Ability to work under pressure

 You will have deadlines for formative and summative assessment, and you will need
to work consistently throughout the module to do well. This will mean you having to
set your own schedule of work and keep to your own deadlines to meet the
objectives of the module. As this is a wholly applied module, there is a pressure on
you to develop a high standard of understanding as well as knowledge to meet the
learning objectives of the module to a high standard.

Transferable Skill 7: Planning and time management

 You will need to set your own schedule of independent work within your own
timetable to enable you to fully engage with all elements of this module. You will do
this via ensuring that you engage with the necessary readings, research and
preparing for seminars, watching provided videos and external online resources,
taking notes and organising your thoughts, and organising and scheduling your time.

Transferable Skill 8: Leadership

 Each session you will be offered the opportunity to take the lead in small group
discussions, as well as being encouraged to make contributions to the class
discussions through a critical lens. We will engage with topics that will challenge
some views, and through debates you will learn to reflect on your own views and
appreciate those of others, a key skill in good leadership.

Summative Assessment Overview:

Rationale:
The module presents a comprehensive and thematic overview of strategic human resource
management thinking and research evidence. Hopefully, this will enable you to understand
the field and inform your practice from an HR professional perspective. This module will help

2
College of Graduate School of Management
Assessment Brief: HRM7053 Strategic Human Resource Management
2023-2024
develop your strategic knowledge and its link with the operational perspectives. This takes a
view of strategic human resource management across various organisational structures,
industries and cultures from a global perspective. Students will self-manage their studies to
develop the skills needed to enhance their management practice. The module assessment is
100% individually based. The module needs the student to do extensive reading and
teamwork that will be set at frequent intervals.

Type of assessment:
The assessment is a coursework and consists of a 3,000 words essay weighting 100% of
the final mark.

To pass this module, you must achieve a final overall mark of at least 50%. If your
mark is less than 50%, you will be required to retake the assessment.

Required task, LOs assessed and structure of the assignment:

Below is the list of selected 20 companies from Fortune 500 companies (Global 500) for
the year 2023, their ranking and industries. You are to choose one or more companies
from this list to answer the questions that follow (You MUST NOT choose any
company not listed below):

Ranking Company Name Industry

1 Walmart General Merchandisers
8 Volkswagen Motor Vehicles & Parts
17 Alphabet Internet Services and Retailing
24 China Construction Bank Banks: Commercial and Savings
31 Sinochem Holdings Chemicals
36 Cardinal Health Wholesalers: Health Care
45 Walgreens Boots Alliance Food & Drug Stores
54 Verizon Communications Telecommunications
86 Dell Technologies Computers, Office Equipment
88 Mitsui Trading
97 United Parcel Service Mail, Package and Freight Delivery
103 Nestlé Food Consumer Products
107 Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals
112 E.ON Energy
154 Procter & Gamble Household and Personal Products
156 Christian Dior Apparel
183 Walt Disney Entertainment
268 Accenture Information Technology Services
320 American Express Diversified Financials
478 Delta Air Lines Airlines

Below are the four questions you need to answer, each weighting 25% of your final grade:
1. Critically evaluate two contemporary Human Resource Management issues that any
of your chosen organisation(s) face. Discuss these challenges and how they have
impacted on the HRM process and practices of the organisation. (LO1: 25 marks –
approximately 750 words)

2. Apply any two strategic Human Resource Management models or theories to the
operations and functionality of your chosen organisation(s). Discuss the implications
of the models/theories on the organisation’s HR plans, policies and systems, and how
these align with the organisation’s strategic goals. (LO2: 25 Marks – approximately
750 words).

3
College of Graduate School of Management
Assessment Brief: HRM7053 Strategic Human Resource Management
2023-2024

3. Consider the significance and impact of Human Resource Management in two

processes of employment relations and employee engagement within your chosen
organisation(s) framework and practices. (LO3: 25 Marks – approximately 750
words).

4. Given your experiences and learning of this module during this semester, critically
reflect on your own individual learning as well as that from working in a cross-cultural
team during the seminars. What knowledge and skills have you acquired? How will
these experiences assist you in collaborating with a diverse team to meet
organisational objectives and performance goals in contemporary management or HR
functions? You must use a reflective model to structure this question. (LO4&5: 25
Marks – approximately 750 words).

Formatting and presentation:

 The assignment should be word-processed and double line spaced.
 Use of bullet points should be avoided or used sparingly.
 Use Arial size 11 point for your assignments, full justified.
 Each page should be numbered except for the contents pages (if any).
 Presentation must be formal in language and style and must adhere to the structure
given above.

Referencing:
 All work should be referenced using the Harvard format - there are handouts
available online at the library website and are available as hard copy in the library if
you are unsure of this.
 Do not use popular websites like Wikipedia, Google or Yahoo – the former is not peer
assessed and the work is not always reliable and the later are search engines.
 Use textbooks and journal articles (newspaper articles may at times be acceptable).
You should however, make more reliance on journal articles as these are peer
reviewed and are often more recent than text books. If you are to use text books,
these should be the latest so it is important to check whether you have the latest
edition.
 Citations should be used very minimally and in limited circumstances, you may
reference lecture material such as handouts and presentation slides.

Marking:
Marking is completed using the marking grid provided on page 7. For this module, each of
LO 1, 2 and 3, and LO4&5 combined contribute with 25% to the overall grade, and there is
one marking criteria contributing to the grade for each LO. To ensure clarity and
transparency about how each of the criteria for each class of grade can be achieved you
should read through the cells on the detailed mark scheme1. The marking criteria will be
discussed further in class to ensure transparency of the process.

Formative Assessment:
Formative assessment is given through feedback designed to help you improve your work as
agreed with the module tutor. This formative assessment does not contribute towards your
grade.

1
Please note that we use a 19-point marking scheme (as do the majority of HEI’s) and to avoid
confusion the grades across most have three points: a lower point mark ending in a “2”, a midpoint
mark ending in a “5” and an upper point mark ending in an “8”. The exception to this 3-point scale is
for fail grades and for first class grades (please see detailed mark scheme).

4
College of Graduate School of Management
Assessment Brief: HRM7053 Strategic Human Resource Management
2023-2024

Penalties for late submission:

At time of publication the rules regarding late submission of work are:
 Assessments submitted up to 1 hour after the published deadline will receive no penalty.
 Assessments submitted between one and 24 hours after the published deadline will be
reduced by 5% of the actual mark given by the tutor.
 Assessments submitted between 24 hours and five working days after the published
deadline will be reduced by 10% of the actual mark given by the tutor.
 Work submitted more than five working days after the published deadline will not be
marked and the student will be deemed to have failed an attempt at the assessment.

If a student has a support statement specifying additional time to complete coursework, the
penalties will only apply from the alternative deadline provided by the statement.

Importance of Taking Assessments:

It is important that you complete your assessment, otherwise it is classed as a failed attempt
(unless you have made a successful EC claim relating to Extenuating Circumstances).

If you fail any of your modules you will have to re-take it, although there are limits on the
number of times that you can re-take and you may even have to re-study a module you have
failed. Having to re-sit or re-study modules means that your workload will be increased and
you will be putting yourself under more pressure. You may even be liable to incur more fees
if you are required to re-study a module.

The university does appreciate that there are times when you may be unable to take an
assessment due to circumstances outside your control such as illness. If this is the case you
need to make a formal claim for an extension or deferral, as without this you are expected to
submit within the standard guidelines.

No tutor, module leader or course leader can grant any form of extension to the published
deadlines - this is done by a separate team within the university to ensure consistency and
fairness for all. For full guidance on what constitutes an exceptional circumstance and how
to make a claim, please visit the Extenuating Circumstances page on iCity; you can also
contact the Student Support Team for help.

Plagiarism:
· You are reminded of the University’s Disciplinary Procedures that refer to plagiarism. A
copy of the Disciplinary Procedure is available from iCity. Except where the assessment
of an assignment is group based, the final piece of work that is submitted must be your
own work. Close similarity between assignments is likely to lead to an investigation for
cheating. You must also ensure that you acknowledge all sources you have used.
Submissions that are considered to be the result of collusion or plagiarism will be dealt
with under the University’s Disciplinary Procedures, and the penalty may involve the loss
of academic credits. If you have any doubts about the extent to which you are allowed to
collaborate with your colleagues, or the conventions for acknowledging the sources you
have used, you should first of all consult module documentation and, if still unclear, your
tutor.

· Please note that submissions are run through Turnitin to check for plagiarism, this
includes a ChatGP and AI detection software.

5
College of Graduate School of Management
Assessment Brief: HRM7053 Strategic Human Resource Management
2023-2024

· If you have a Support Summary that tutors must take account of when marking your work,
please check the appropriate box on the coversheet. Contact the Enablement and
Wellbeing team for further advice if required:
https://icity.bcu.ac.uk/student-affairs/health-and-wellbeing/mental-health-and-wellbeing

· If there is something outside your control that is affecting your ability to complete an
assessment or has affected your performance in an assessment, then you can make a
claim for extenuating circumstances:
https://icity.bcu.ac.uk/student-affairs/appeals-and-resolutions/extenuating-circumstances-
procedure

· If you are experiencing problems, you should contact Student Affairs staff via:
https://icity.bcu.ac.uk/essentials/support

Additional information about electronic submission:

All work submitted electronically needs to be submitted in accordance with the following
guidelines:

· Submission means that a correctly formatted electronic copy has been submitted in the
correct method via Moodle, by the deadline set. Failure to do so may result in a mark of
zero being awarded.

· Your work must be submitted via Moodle - please refer to the Module Moodle site for
further details on where to upload your work.

· It is your responsibility to ensure that your work is successfully submitted. You will
receive an email receipt confirming your submission. Please check this and keep it for
your reference.

· Submissions using file formats other than those listed via Moodle may affect your
work being marked, and the feedback you may receive.

· The work you submit must not be password protected.

· You must retain an electronic copy of your work. Failure to produce a copy on request
will result in a mark of zero for the assessment task.

· You can use the Turnitin at BCU Moodle page to learn more about software that assists
in detecting collusion, AI and plagiarism. On this page you can upload a draft of your work
to view a Turnitin Originality Report.

6
College of Graduate School of Management
Assessment Brief: HRM7053 Strategic Human Resource Management
2023-2024

Marking Scheme:
This is the marking scheme your tutors will use when marking your assessment.
This assessment addresses the following learning outcomes.

Criterion 0-39% 40-49% 50-59% 60-69% 70-79% 80-100%

Fail Fail Pass Merit Distinction Distinction
LO1: Critically Irrelevant No meaningful Some basic A good and critical A detailed critical A very detailed and
review material. review of review of review of review of comprehensive critical
contemporary Failed to look literature. contemporary contemporary contemporary review of contemporary
issues, challenges at the diverse Failed to literature and literature. literature and detailed literature. A
and complexities environment in review discussion on the Superficially discussion on various comprehensive review
of managing which contemporary contemporary reviewed issues and of the complexities
organisations in a organisations issues and issues. Some contemporary issues challenges. A detailed faced by the
diverse and operate. Failed changing basic review of and changing review of complexities management or HR
multicultural global to review patterns of the complexities patterns of work faced by, and the function. A critical
environment and contemporary work practices. faced by practices. Examples challenges of dealing review of contemporary
their impact on the issues and No link organisations. A will have been with, people issues and changing
HR function and changing between the superficial review drawn, and management. A patterns of work
strategic plans. patterns of changing of contemporary multicultural/diversit critical review of practices, including
work practices. nature of issues and y issues reviewed. A contemporary issues cultural/ international
(25% of grade) Lack of use of society and the changing patterns good academic and changing dimensions. Detailed
contemporary marketplace. of work practices. rigour. patterns of work examples.
literature and Referencing Some academic practices.
poor or no will be very rigour.
referencing. poor
LO2: Critically Lacks Little Some Good understanding Detailed Comprehensively and
assess the understanding. understanding. understanding of the selected understanding of the critically assessed the
characteristics of Too broad and Failed to and assessment. organisation’s selected selected organisation’s
strategic models of without any provide Rationale for the approach/policies. organisation’s approach/policies. Very
HRM, HR plans, focus. Too examples of chosen Drawn from the approach/policies and detailed supporting
policies and many the processes organisation. organisation’s actual critically assessed evidence of effective
systems and generalisations and Selection of policies. To some how they relate to the team working.
College of Graduate School of Management
Assessment Brief: HRM7053 Strategic Human Resource Management
2023-2024
evaluate their - very little procedures policies, extent, critically organisation’s Provided excellent
effectiveness and evidence of used. Lack of processes and assessed issues. strategic objectives. answers and/or
alignment to research critical procedures used. Use of practical Practical examples explanations.
organisational and/or evaluation – Presented examples to are used to illustrate
goals and strategic understanding. mainly coherently. Some illustrate understanding.
objectives. Very little, if descriptive. evidence of team understanding. Detailed supporting
any, evidence Little evidence working and Good evidence of evidence of team
(25% of grade) of team of team supporting team working with working. Detailed
working and working and evidence. supporting evidence. good explanations.
no supporting little supporting Reasonable Good explanations
evidence. evidence. attempts to
provide
explanations.
LO3: Critically Failed to Minimal and Basic description Good evaluation of Critically evaluated in Comprehensive critical
evaluate review insufficient of some contemporary issues detail contemporary evaluation of
contemporary HR contemporary review of contemporary that relate to the issues that relate to contemporary issues
and employment- issues related contemporary issues that relate selected the selected that relates to the
related issues to the selected issues related to the selected organisation. Some organisation. Critically selected organisation.
regarding their organisation. to the selected organisation. evaluation. Evidence and in-depth In-depth critical
impact on Failed to organisation. Basic evaluation. that work is current evaluation. Work will evaluation. Evidence
employees. These ensure work is Failed to Some currency in by research. Good be very current and from very recent cases
issues can be current by evaluate but the work by evidence of team up-to-date, as or research. Detailed
legal, researching only described research. Some working and evidenced by their supporting evidence of
organisational recent cases. some issues. evidence of team supporting evidence. use of recent cases effective team working.
frameworks and/ or Very little No current working and and research. Excellent explanations.
cultural issues in evidence of research. Little supporting Detailed supporting
which international team working evidence of evidence. evidence of team
organisations and no team working working. Provided
operate. supporting and little good explanations.
evidence. supporting
(25% of grade) evidence.
LO4: Collaborate Students are to prove their learning and recount their experiences during class activities, team works and participation. This will
with diverse teams be tied to the learning outcome five below.
in order to meet
organisational

8
College of Graduate School of Management
Assessment Brief: HRM7053 Strategic Human Resource Management
2023-2024
objectives and
performance goals.
LO5: Critically Failed to Some very Some critical Good critical Detailed critical Comprehensive critical
reflect on the skills provide a basic reflection with - reflection on the reflection on the skills reflection on the skills
and knowledge critical reflections - much being skills and knowledge and knowledge and knowledge
acquired in the reflection. may not be descriptive. Some acquired and how acquired and how acquired and how
module as an Stated in critical. generalisations. these could be used these could be these could be applied
aspiring manager general terms. Generalisation Some critical in a contemporary applied in the in the contemporary
in contemporary Lack of s without reflection on the role. Good critical contemporary organisation. Very
management or HR evidence of specific team working reflection on the organisation. Good good, detailed and
function and on learning on the reference. Little experience. Some team working and detailed critical comprehensive critical
the experience you module and/or evidence of discussion on the experience. Critically reflection on the reflection on the
had in working reflection on reflection on challenges and reflect on role and experience of working experience of working
with a diverse work the experience team working. opportunities contribution to the within a team with within a team with
team to complete of working in encountered. group activities and detailed analysis of detailed analysis of the
tasks of your the team or critically reflect the the challenges and challenges and
module. any lessons team’s performance opportunities opportunities. Very
drawn. and functioning. encountered. Detailed detailed critical
(25% of grade) critical reflection on reflection on role and
role and contribution contribution made,
made. critical reflection on
how the team
performed and
functioned, and
lessons drawn from
those experiences.