Human Resource Development Report
“If you want my opinion, human resource development (HRD) is an expensive and unnecessary luxury; I think it can be cut-back without there being any significant or long-lasting impact on the business, its performance and the ‘bottom line.”
It’s up to you whether you agree or disagree with this statement, however whatever opinion you put forward MUST be justified both logically and with reference to hard evidence (from the research literature and other relevant sources such as examples and case studies from business).
Your answer should be written in an academic essay (i.e. not report) style (see Criteria 1), and the views, opinions, and insights you offer (see Criteria 2 and 4 below) must justified by reference to key concepts, models, theories, and examples from the relevant literatures, i.e. research and other work that has been published in academic journal articles and professional magazines (see the list above for some suggested sources), as well as in books (see Criteria 2 and 3 below). Your ‘Summary and conclusion’ should not simply recapitulate what you have already said; it should build on what you’ve said in the earlier parts of your assignment and offer something interesting, new, and insightful (see Criterion 5 below).
You should use example(s) of HRD to illustrate your answer (you will be able to get these from journal articles, magazine stories, web sites (e.g. The Times 100, see page 2), company web sites and reports, text books, etc.) (see Criterion 3 below).
NOTE: In general weaker assignments tend to be those that fail to answer the question that has been asked and/or fail to address all of the criteria (see below). All the usual requirements regarding referencing, plagiarism, etc. apply. The word limit is 2000 words (excluding references, figures, tables and appendices), it should be single-spaced, use headings/sub-headings, and each page should be numbered. All references that you have cited should be listed alphabetically by author surname in a separate section called ‘References’ placed at the end of your assignment.
The assessment criteria and their weightings (%) are as follows:
1. Presentation and style 05
2. Evidence of reading and application of theory 30
3. Use of relevant examples in context 20
4. Logical and well-structured argument; evidence of depth of understanding 30
5. Summary and conclusion 15You are strongly advised to make sure that you cover all the criteria. For example, if you did not use any examples at all you would score 0/20 for Criterion 3, which would automatically limit your maximum mark to 80/100 (i.e. 32 % of the module total) – this would not be a wise thing to do.