The assessment consists of one written assignment, which will involve a critical evaluation of leadership and/or management theory in a contemporary setting of 6,000 words (+/- 10 per cent). The assessment set does vary so please consult the assignment guidance for further details on your assessment.

Further Guidance

Whatever form your assignment takes, you will be asked to critically evaluate theory and apply it to contemporary practice in relationship to leadership and/or management. The following is generic guidance which relates to all the assignments set in this module.

A. Your (brief) introduction to:

1. Introduction to your assignment (scope, focus, methodology)
2. your leader/organisation (general information to set the context, organisational structure, culture etc. (here you may wish to use theoretical constructs to support your discussion));

B. Contextual discussion of the broader development of leadership or management theory as appropriate to the chosen topic for critical evaluation;

C. Your critical evaluation of your chosen leadership or management theory but you should constantly “funnel down” so that you can show your ability to be critically evaluative in your approach. Remember to try and show that you understand the theory as it has developed from seminal work over time.

D. The practice in relation to your organisation (specific, precise examples not generalisations);

E. Your commentary on the fit between theory and practice. This should be explicit.

As with any assignment, this will drive your learning and you will be working on this independently for several weeks. You will become an expert in this area so find something in which you are interested. Also, in developing your theoretical understanding, you will also develop your own personal paradigm in relation to this area which is likely to underpin your practice as a manager in the future (essentially this is the whole point of doing a masters’ as a practising professional).

• Do you have enough information to apply this particular theoretical topic to your leader, manager or organisation?
• Are you able to place your topic within the broader context of the development of leadership or management theory?
• Do you understand the origins of this particular theoretical topic? What seminal works relate to this topic and are you able to show your understanding of its origin and development over time?
• Are you aware of the contemporary theoretical debates and which key authors are writing in this area (note that this will be usually found in journal articles)?
• Are there different perspectives on this theoretical topic? You need to synthesise the literature and show that you understand the different perspectives?
• Which aspects of the theoretical topic are you actually going to apply to the organisation you have chosen? Have you “funnelled down” to look at a particular area in detail to give you a rich theoretical basis for your report? You need to start off broadly but funnel down in particular areas to give you the scope to be critically evaluative. A broad based approach will lead to description which will not give you a good mark.
• Have you critiqued the theory i.e. compared and contrasted the views of different authors in relation to your topic, noted the different strengths and weaknesses etc.? (see the Open University Ladder to Criticality” (2013) and ask yourself which stages of the ladder are represented in your work. Remember that description (i.e. understanding) will only achieve low marks;
• Have you produced a rich, detailed conceptual framework which is appropriately focused to apply to practice? Remember, that the richer the framework, the more scope you have for in-depth the application and commentary.
• Do you have sufficient depth of understanding in this theoretical area to apply it to practice and then comment on the fit between theory and practice?
• Have you fully referenced your academic sources using the Harvard referencing style as stipulated by the University?
• Have you summarised your work effectively so that your key messages are effectively communicated in a critically evaluative but succinct way?
• Have you submitted your report to Turnitin and checked the originality score to ensure that you are writing in an appropriate academic style and not unintentionally plagiarising?

You will be (normally) deriving your account of the practice in your organisation from secondary sources only. It is important that you choose a focus for your work where there is a rich source of information available.

Have you searched for information using rich sources of information using company sources and triangulated this with external sources where appropriate?

Sometimes you might also find information in academic articles but this should not be your primary source?

• Are you providing tangible, detailed evidence (e.g. something your leader has said, quotations from policy documents, extract from the company website? Do not fall into the trap of simply making assertions based on your opinion or that of others particularly if you are focusing on your own organisation. If at times you are giving your opinion as a member of staff then make it clear that it is your opinion but this should be the exception and not the rule;
• Have you appropriately referenced your sources of information?
• Do you have sufficient information about organisational practice in relation to your focused theoretical area?
• Do you have a richness of information so that you can effectively apply your theory to practice and comment on the fit between theory and practice?
• Remember you should be looking for nuanced practice to fit with your nuanced discussion of theory.

Your Commentary on the Fit Between Theory and Practice

This is a key element of your work as it shows your critical ability to understand where and how theory does or does not meet practice. As a practising leader or manager you may seek formal guidance for how to approach a particular issue as well as using your experience and your intuition/judgement. However, it is also important that you understand that theory can be useful but also limited and that the approach adopted will usually have to be adapted to the particular context faced.

• Does the practice fit with the theory (note that this is likely to be the case for the majority of time as you have selected the topic and practice so that they do fit);
• Do elements of practice not fit in a nuanced way?
• Do elements of practice contradict the theory?
• Remember that you are NOT making recommendations to your leader or your organisation about how to improve practice you are simply carrying out a theoretical exercise to ascertain where/how theory does/does not meet practice.