ASSIGNMENT 2 – TASK AND GUIDANCE
Stimulus Article The article on which this assignment is based,
‘WA Police documents reveal bullying, corruption, discrimination’, can
be found at http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/westernaustralia/
documents-reveal-bullying-corruption-discrimination-in-wapolice/
story-e6frg13u-1225969425509.
Scenario You work for a consulting firm that has been contracted by the WA
Police Commissioner to advise on how they would establish a more
positive culture.
Task The Commissioner wants you to complete a report that outline:
1. What needs to change in the culture to make it more positive, i.e.,
what must be done to address the concerns detailed in the
stimulus article, and
2. How the Commissioner should manage the change process to
give the organisation the best chance of changing in the desired
fashion
Purpose The reason for conducting this assignment as a case study is to give
you the opportunity to apply the theories to a real organisation in a
scenario that is realistic and therefore, complex. There is no easy
solution to identifying how to change a culture or how to manage that
change to a successful conclusion. This assignment lets you
experience that complexity and challenge without the additional
pressure of actually working for the organisation.
It is meant to test your ability to consider how best to apply the theory,
but it is not meant to be impossible. With appropriate research of the
relevant unit topics (see below), you should be able to develop a range
of options for recommendation. The task is then to figure out which
might be suitable for the WA Police and how to implement those
changes.
Guidance You have 2500 words in which to address those two issues for the
Commissioner. You should aim for a split of that word count of about
50% for each issue, but must not make the split more than 60-40, i.e.,
your discussion of either issue cannot take more than 1500 words.
You will not be able to address all of the issues raised in the article and
so pick one or some that either interest you or that you think are most
critical. Focus on those, e.g., claims of bullying or corruption might be
something you wish to address. If you can address a single issue in
sufficient depth without repetition and/or reliance on insignificant
discussion, then addressing only one issue is fine. Otherwise, address
as many as you like, as long as you are doing so in a substantial
fashion. [The marker will be provided with this guidance and will know
that you are not expected to address all of the issues]
PRMB022 Organisational Behaviour Assignment #2 Case Study
Page 2 PRBM022 Organisational Behaviour
As you have a scenario from which to work, I would not expect to see
much use of examples from other situations or workplaces to illustrate
your points. The exception to this would be, where applicable, you are
using an example of where a cultural change you are recommending
has been successfully made elsewhere (and this should come from a
scholarly resource, not your own experience or anecdotal sources).
Also on the scenario, I do not expect you to know anything special about
the WA Police to be able to complete the task. You can obviously get
information from their website and/or news articles, but where you need
additional information you can make reasonable assumptions,
remembering the type of organisation that you are looking at. You must
indicate such assumptions in a brief footnote so that the marker is
aware that you are relying on the assumption rather than confirmed
information (for which you would have to cite a source).
The two areas of the unit that are most directly relevant to your task are
organisational culture and organisational change, but the rest of the unit
is also relevant. For example, you might make suggestions of
organisational structure changes to influence the culture. You will be
marked down if your recommendations and discussion ignore other
areas of the unit, e.g., if you make a range of recommendations that will
have an impact on individual motivation but fail to address that impact.
The focus for the assignment is definitely on culture and change, but
you will not be demonstrating a sufficient integration of the unit materials
if you overlook the consequences of those recommended cultural
changes.
Don’t take up space reciting the theory relating to culture and change –
you don’t have sufficient space to do more than introduce the theories
before you apply them to help address the scenario. Assignments with
lengthy theoretical discussions will be closely scrutinised to ensure there
is adequate engagement with the set task.
Preparation The case study in Weeks 11 and 12 is an identical task, only for a
different organisation with a different set of problems. The practice case
study will help you to identify ways in which to frame your discussion
and recommendations. Research the WA Police, the cultural issue/s
that you wish to change and the management of organisational change.
Having prepared that information before you start your case study will
help you to apply the learning from the practice case study.
Note – Read this document with the ‘PRBM022 Assignment 2 Brief’, ‘Assessments’ that is
available from the unit information on the CDU Learnline site
