The course assessment will be based on a 4,000 word individual assignment. ‘Knowledge is power' Francis Bacon. Critically appraise Bacon's claim and illustrate using examples what kinds of powers does knowledge have and what may be the impact of knowledge if it is employed as a source of power. Strategic Learning, Training and Development Some pointers as to how you might want to structure your essay:
(i) Start with an introduction in which you provide a statement of what it is that you are looking at (i.e. draw the boundaries around the topic you are going to focus on and identify the issues you are going to cover in the subsequent sections). Then outline the structure of the essay and provide a summary of the themes to follow.
(ii) Offer a literature review of the relevant material on change, focusing in particular on those aspects that are connected with the topic you are discussing. Provide a synthesis and critique of the literature. Don't merely reproduce whatever the textbooks say but try to probe deeper and wider in a reflective manner. The more "value" you add to the literature via critical synthesis and commentary the higher a mark you will get.
(iii) If you are using personal examples describe your case study as lucidly as you can. Describe the content, the context and the process of HRD issues, and provide whatever evidence is necessary in order to convey a rich picture of the issues you are dealing with to a lay reader. Be descriptive yet concise, analytical but coherent.
(iv) Offer an analysis of the case drawing on the relevant concepts outlined earlier in your literature review. This is perhaps the most crucial and "value-adding" section of your essay. Use the concepts, models, frameworks and theories you discussed earlier in order to illuminate what you take to be the key and significant aspects of the case material. If, for example, your analysis is based on mere common sense, it means that your literature section was virtually redundant.
Ideally, the concepts you earlier discussed should be used in this section to make sense of the case phenomena. Substantiate your claims with appropriate evidence from the case.
(v) Conclude your essay by drawing out the key general lessons derived from your particular case and, if you can, relate these lessons to similar examples published in the literature. Reflective comments on the dynamics of HRD/HRM more generally will also be welcome and will be rewarded appropriately.
(vi) Don't forget to list all the major references used in the essay at the end of it.
(vii) Good English is extremely appreciated! Please pay attention to the structure of your essay, check the logical flow of your arguments, and use concepts from the literature (where appropriate) instead of lay language; get soon to the point without long-winded introductions!