2018 ABS Course Pack Module 3 LA2124

Aston UniversityBirmingham Centre for English Language and Communication at Aston (CELCA) Aston Pre-sessional Programme in English for Academic Purposes COURSE PACK Module 3 LA2124 ABS 2018 0

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Contents Page 4Week 12 5Leadership and Entrepreneurship 9 12 Reading: Leadership that gets results 20 Poster Presentations The process of writing 26 Listening- Steve Jobs 27 30Week 11 32Organisational Culture and Change 36 38 Listening Strategies 42 Listening Task: LSBF Global MBA 43 Case Studies: Introduction 45 Case Study Task 3 Writing: Connecting Paragraphs 54 Lecture on Referencing: note-taking 55 Writing: Referencing Skills Practice 60 Synthesis and referencing 61Week 10 72Organisations and Operations 73 76 Case Study Reading: Forestry Commission 78 Essay Writing Practice 82 Contributing in Seminars 86Week 9 87Budgets, Decisions and Risk 88 92 Language for analysing case studies 98 Review- preparing for case studies 105 Wispa Case study 111 Reading: Risk Management 116Week 8 117Management Information Systems 124 Mock Class Test Introduction to Critical Thinking Skills Reading – working with Text: Tesco PLC Group Project; Supermarket Comparison Presentation Pronunciation Practice Paired Speaking PracticeWeek 7Assessment Week Additional Resources Copyright Declarations 2

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Aston Pre-sessional Week 12Theme: Leadership and Entrepreneurship 4

Reading TaskArticle: Leadership That Gets Results by Daniel GolemanReading for a purposeAs part of this module you will be focusing on the topic of leadership. The assigned articleprovides some background information.Look carefully at the title. Do you think that the text would be useful for writing an essay onthe topic? If so, why?Read page 1 of the text. As you read, make up your mind how useful this text might be foryour purpose. Highlight any key words which help you make your decision.Reading selectivelySkim the introduction to the article (pp.2 and 3 up to ‘…different components of emotionalintelligence.’). What does it tell you about the contents of the article? 5

Summarising information from the textFrom pp. 3 to 11 the article looks at different leadership styles in detail and providesexamples of each style in use. Read the section entitled, ‘The Coercive Style’ on page 4.Using your own words, make notes summarising the key points of the section.Comparing and contrastingNow select a second leadership style. Read the section carefully and compare and contrastit to coercive leadership style. Make notes below and compare work with a partner in class. 6

VocabularyReading gives you an opportunity to expand your vocabulary. Select ten new words orphrases that you have learnt whilst reading this article and note them down. Share whatyou have learnt with a partner in class. 7

Read to Write = Using every text you read as an example for your own writing. Find two examples of reporting verbs: Find one example of a complex sentence: What is its structure? Why is it used? Find an example of a short sentence. Why is it used? 8

Poster PresentationsPoster presentations are a popular way of presenting the findings and conclusions of your work orresearch. They are often an important part of seminars, exhibitions and academic and professionalconferences.Video task:The following video gives you useful tips on what makes a good poster. As you watch, notedown the key points that will be useful to you when you come to do your posterpresentation task.Follow the link below to access the video entitled “Effective Poster Presentations: AnIntroduction”:As a follow- up, check your ideas with the document on Blackboard. 9

Poster Example:Business From: ealta.eu.orgAdditional resources:Follow this link find more useful information on poster presentations:http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/index.htmlYou will also find examples of research posters around the university. Try and find examples ofdifferent subject-specific posters displayed. Take photos of them and analyse their strengths andweaknesses based on what you have learnt. Compare your results with your team.Adapted from: Hess, G.R., K. Tosney, and L. Liegel. 2010. Creating Effective Poster Presentations. URL=http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters, accessed on 17 June2013. 10

Poster Presentation TaskIn groups of 3 or 4, design a poster on an entrepreneur who has made an impression onyou.You should discuss and agree on a subject on Wednesday and source relevant informationand materials to bring along and use in the creation of your poster on Thursday afternoon.You will have 1 hour to work on your poster on Thursday. You can finish it if needed onFriday afternoon.Posters will then be displayed in your classroom on Friday afternoon and you will be giventime to view posters from other classes. One member of your team at a time should benominated to present the poster while the other team members view other posters.It’s also important to think about what the most effective way is to deliver your posterpresentation. Watch the video below and make a list of the do’s & don’ts according to theinformation provided. Compare your ideas with your team-mateshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMSaFUrk-FA&feature=share&list=PLQYPRVJgjEZZd9EAqwml53ziYOqIdQpJ3 11

The Process of Writing: Stages Planning ResearchWritingEssay writing is a process with clear and logical stages. Look at the stages below, (a) - (k),and put them in the table in the order which seems most appropriate to you. Compare youranswers with your partner(s). (a) Write an introduction (b) Proofread your work (c) Research the topic, making notes and recording sources (d) Write the main body (e) Brainstorm ideas (f) Edit your work (g) Organise your ideas into an outline (h) Analyse the assignment brief (essay question) (i) Compile a list of references (j) Write a conclusion (k) Take a position Stages in essay writing1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11. 12

Analysing the Essay QuestionThe question or title of the essay is the most important guidance you have to thetask; therefore, you must be able to interpret it accurately. This allows you to stay ontrack.There are 3 principal elements which you need to look for when interpreting anessay question/title:1) Instruction / Command tells you what to do2) Topic the general area of discussion; what the question is about3) Focus / Aspect the specific area of discussionExample:Critically analyse Hofstede’s Five Dimensions of Culture. As an HR manager of a UK-based company, you are required to regularly work and communicate with staff in yourcompany’s offices in Brazil, Japan and France. How does Hofstede’s contribution help HRmanagers to better manage such diverse workforce? Support your answers with suitableexamples and research evidence.Now look at the essay titles below and identify the three elements. 1. Outline the skills which a successful entrepreneur should possess drawing on relevant theories and real-life examples. To what extent can entrepreneurial skills be learned?2. Explain the “high-high” theory of leadership effectiveness and evaluate the research evidence for this theory.3. “Invention and entrepreneurship are at the heart of national advantage” (Porter 1990: 125). Discuss Michael Porter’s statement and account for the possible link between entrepreneurship and economic growth. 13

Instruction VerbsMatch the instruction verbs in the left-hand column with their definitions in the right-handcolumn.(a) Discuss To give an explanation or reasons for(b) Outline something(c) Account for To show that something is true, usually by giving examples(d) Illustrate To explain how valuable or significant(e) Evaluate something is, discussing evidence and supporting information To explain a concept, giving details with supporting information To give the main ideas without giving all the detailsIn your group, list at least four other instruction verbs you might encounter in assignmentquestions. Analyse vs. EvaluateAnalyse = Break an issue, process, topic, etc. into parts and explaining each oneEvaluate = Determine the worth or value of somethingBrainstormingOnce you have interpreted the essay question, you should brainstorm your initial ideas. Thiswill help you to identify relevant sources to research and organise the essay structure moreeffectively. It will also help you to stay within the word limit.Choose one of the essay titles from the exercise above. Brainstorm your initial ideas anddecide what ideas you would research. Use a mindmap like the one below to help you notedown your ideas. 14

Essay OutlinesLook at the types of essay outlines below. Decide which one you like best and arelikely to use.A)Specific support Main ideas (general) Thesis (key concept)B) C)I. Introduction Main a) background information idea b) thesis Main Thesis MainII. Main Body idea key idea 1. Main idea 1 concept a) support ) b) support Main Main 2. Main idea 2 idea idea a) support b) support 3. Main idea 3 a) support b) supportIII. Conclusion 1. Summary 2. Concluding comments 15

Essay Structure From: Writing Academic English (Pearson Longman), pp 127Study the essay on the following page and address the following.Underline the thesis statement.What is the main idea of each paragraph?1)2)3)4)Locate the main sentence in the concluding paragraph. What is its purpose?Vocabulary encountered: met unexpectedlyindebted: owing gratitude adopted: took and used as their ownsophisticated: highly developed tribes: groups of native peopleautonomous: independent 16

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Essay OutlinesBecause an essay is long, it is important to organise and plan before you begin to write. Thebest way to do this is to make an outline. An outline not only organises your thoughts, but italso keeps you on track once you begin to write.A formal outline has a system of numbers and letters such as the following. In other fields ofstudy, different systems are used.I. Roman numerals I, II, III number the major sections of a text (introduction, body, conclusion). A. Capital letters A, B, C label the body paragraphs. 1. Arabic numbers 1,2,3 number the subpoints in each paragraph. a. Small letters a, b, c label the specific supporting details.On the next page is an incomplete outline of the example essay “Native American Influenceson Modern American Culture”. Complete the outline by filling in the missing parts. 18

Native American Influences on Modern American CultureI. Introduction A. Thesis Statement: Native Americans have made many valuable contributions to modern American culture, particularly in the areas of language, art, food, and government.II. Body A. Native Americans left a permanent mark on the English language. 1. Names of places – cities, towns, rivers, and states a. States: Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Alabama b. Cities: Chicago, Miami, Spokane 2. Names of animals and plants a. Animals: Chipmunk, moose, raccoon, skunk b. Plants: Tobacco, squash B. _____________________________________________________________________ 1. Navajo rugs 2. Silver and turquoise jewellery 3. ______________________________________________________________ a. Pottery b. ________________________________________________________ c. ________________________________________________________ C. _____________________________________________________________________ 1. Farming techniques a. ________________________________________________________ b. ________________________________________________________ 2. ______________________________________________________________ a. ________________________________________________________ b. ________________________________________________________ D. _____________________________________________________________________ 1. Iroquois – large tribe with many branches (“nations”) a. Needed to settle disputes among various branches 2. Five nations formed League of Iroquois a. ________________________________________________________ b. Acted together when dealing with outsiders 3. After independence, 13 colonies adopted similar system. a. Each colony (future state) was autonomous in managing own affairs. b. ________________________________________________________III. Conclusion We can easily see from these few examples the extent of Native American influence on our language, our art forms, our eating habits, and our government. 19

_Listening Task_Steve Jobs’ commencement address at Stanford UniversityA commencement address is a speech given to students graduating from Americanuniversities during a graduation ceremony (commencement). It is common for colleges anduniversities to invite notable figures such as politicians, entrepreneurs and other importantcitizens to deliver the address. A) You will hear a speech which Steve Jobs, the late CEO of Apple, delivered in June 2005 to students of Stanford University during their commencement ceremony. What do you expect Steve to talk about? Write down a few ideas. B) Listen to the beginning of the speech. What will it be about? Were your predictions correct? C) Before you listen on, look at the phrases below and ensure you know what they mean. If you are not sure, look them up in a good English-English dictionary.  connecting the dots  drop out  put someone up for adoption D) Listen to the first part of the speech (the first ‘story’) and answer the following questions: 1. Why did Steve’s biological parents put him up for adoption? 2. What did Steve’s adoptive parents have to promise? 3. Why did Steve drop out of college? E) Do you think Steve did the right thing to drop out of college? Discuss your opinions with your friends. F) Now listen to the rest of the speech. Take notes using one of the methods used in unit 1 of your course book. G) Does anything he says inspire you? What? Why?Link to the video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc 20

Steve Jobs Commencement Address at Stanford UniversityFrom: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html, accessed on 9 June2017Stanford Report, June 14, 2005This is a prepared text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO ofApple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.(Video of the Commencement address.)I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universitiesin the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gottento a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No bigdeal. Just three stories.The first story is about connecting the dots.I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-infor another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduatestudent, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should beadopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by alawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that theyreally wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of thenight asking: \"We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?\" They said: \"Of course.\"My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college andthat my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoptionpapers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I wouldsomeday go to college.And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost asexpensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on mycollege tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted todo with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I wasspending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop outand trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it wasone of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking therequired classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that lookedinteresting.It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, Ireturned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 milesacross town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. Iloved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned outto be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country.Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully handcalligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, Idecided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif 21

typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, aboutwhat makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a waythat science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, whenwe were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed itall into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped inon that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces orproportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that nopersonal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never droppedin on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderfultypography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forwardwhen I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them lookingbackwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You haveto trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never letme down, and it has made all the difference in my life.My second story is about love and loss.I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parentsgarage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the twoof us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just releasedour finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I gotfired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hiredsomeone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first yearor so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually wehad a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out.And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it wasdevastating.I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation ofentrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met withDavid Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a verypublic failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowlybegan to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changedthat one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that couldhave ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by thelightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one ofthe most creative periods of my life.During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company namedPixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on tocreate the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the mostsuccessful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT,I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple'scurrent renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It wasawful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the headwith a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that Iloved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for 22

your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be trulysatisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to lovewhat you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of theheart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better andbetter as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.My third story is about death.When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: \"If you live each day as if it was yourlast, someday you'll most certainly be right.\" It made an impression on me, and since then,for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: \"If todaywere the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?\" And wheneverthe answer has been \"No\" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to helpme make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, allpride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death,leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way Iknow to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. Thereis no reason not to follow your heart.About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and itclearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. Thedoctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I shouldexpect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and getmy affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kidseverything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. Itmeans to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for yourfamily. It means to say your goodbyes.I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck anendoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle intomy pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there,told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started cryingbecause it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery.I had the surgery and I'm fine now.This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few moredecades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty thanwhen death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there.And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as itshould be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's changeagent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but somedaynot too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to beso dramatic, but it is quite true.Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma— which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others'opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to followyour heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.Everything else is secondary. 23

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog,which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named StewartBrand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. Thiswas in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was allmade with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google inpaperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing withneat tools and great notions.Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when ithad run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. Onthe back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, thekind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were thewords: \"Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.\" It was their farewell message as they signed off. StayHungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduateto begin anew, I wish that for you.Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.Thank you all very much. Writing TaskWrite an outline of the structure of the talk:Now use your outline to summarise the talk 24

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Aston Pre-sessional Week 11Theme: Organisational Culture and Change 26

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Try to link this to your study plan. Adapted from: Salehzadeh, J. 2006. Academic Listening Strategies: University of Michigan. 29

Listening Task 1_LSBF Global MBA - Lecture: Introduction to Organisational Culture and Valuesby Dean Davey, London School of Business and Financehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8iEL2yaLFw&feature=relatedA. Introduction to Organisational Culture and Values 1. Before you listen to the lecture, discuss the following questions in groups or pairs: a) What values are important in your culture? Make a list. b) What values would you like your organisation to hold? c) Evaluate the values of an organisation you are familiar with. d) Does an organisation’s culture and values play a part in an organisation’s performance? 2. Look at the words and phrases below. What do they mean? a) Bottom line (of an organisation’s performance) b) tacit c) align 3. Now listen and listen to the lecture and make notes of the main ideas the lecture discusses. When you have finished listening, compare your notes with your partner. 4. Listen again and add example, explanation and detail to your main ideas. You will have to decide how detailed your notes will be and what information can be omitted. 5. In pairs or small groups: a) use your notes to recreate the structure of the lecture. b) talk about one aspect that you found interesting or worth remembering from the lecture. c) discuss the following: The lecturer uses some very uncommon terms, e.g. “espoused values”. What strategies can you use to deal with such specialised terminology when you hear it for the first time? 6. Share your thoughts with the rest of the class. 30

Listening Task 2_Stanford Business Lecture: Organizational Culture by Joel Peterson, StanfordGraduate School of Businesshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXxeWqlq2TwB. Exploring different lecture styles: Listen to the first 5 minutes of the lecture: 1. How does Joel Peterson begin his lecture? 2. Do you find the lecture easy to follow? Why/Why not? If you find it difficult to follow, think what strategies you could use to make the listening easier. 3. Is the style of the lecture similar or different to what you are used to in your country? In what way is it similar/different? 31

Business Case Studies – An Introduction_Task_Work in groups and discuss the following questions: 1. What are business case studies? 2. Why are they used in business schools? 3. What shape and form do business case studies often take? 4. What are students supposed to do with business case studies? 5. What is being assessed through business case studies? 6. Do business case studies have right and wrong answers? 7. What stages are involved when working with a business case study? 8. What kind of ‘outputs’ might a student have to produce for a business case study assessment?Now review and check your ideas overleaf. 32

Case StudiesCase studies are written descriptions of realistic situations and problems, faced byreal organisations. They are tools which help students develop skills in problemidentification, analysis and decision making. Depending on your specialism, you willencounter case studies in a variety of areas, such as operations management,accounting and finance, human resource management or marketing. Your casestudies will focus on areas linked to your specialism; for example, if you study amodule in marketing management, the main emphasis might be on identifyingcustomer needs, segmenting markets or developing products. However, it is alsoimportant to remember that the main focus is usually accompanied by other aspectsof the management of organisations. Your case studies might throw up interestingissues relating to the management of operations, people or money and although itmight not be appropriate to analyse these issues in depth, you will be expected toshow your understanding of the wider business context.The underlying problem in the case studies will not be defined and it will be up to youto identify it. The case study will describe the situation and give a certain amount ofinformation about the problem. The information will probably be incomplete in certainareas and irrelevant or excessive in others. You might also find it ambiguous andopen to more than one way of interpretation. The case study might not be organisedchronologically, with events following each other logically, and it will be up to you toorganise the information in an analytical way, separating fact from opinion.Case studies might or might not have one single answer, depending on the areadiscussed. While working on a case study, your tutor will encourage discussion andevaluation of different proposals, but s/he might not provide ‘the right answer’ in theend as there might not be one. If that is the case with your specialism (e.g.marketing), with time you will learn to tolerate this and you will get used to presentingyour solution with conviction even though other students might arrive at differentconclusions using the same data. 33

What you will learn from case studies: - Analytical skills - Tolerating ambiguity - Developing a feasible solution, making decisions based on available data - Developing an argument - Presenting your solution to an audience in a professional way - Defending your solutionThe role of your tutor: - Identifying appropriate case studies - Encouraging participation in discussion - Providing guidance, but not necessarily answers - Facilitating the evaluation of the whole processThe role of the student: - Preparing in advance by reading, analysing the case study and preparing written notes - Sharing the results of the analysis - Listening to others and ask questions - Adapting your analysis on the basis of other students’ contributions - Participating actively in summarising the discussion at the end and identifying what can be learned for the futureCommunicating the results of your analysis:You will usually be asked to present your findings and recommendations through a writtenreport and/or an oral presentation. Case study exams are also very common.Analysing case studies:It is useful to think of a case analysis as digging deeper and deeper into the layers of a case. 1. You start at the surface, Getting Oriented and examining the overall case landscape. 2. Then you begin to dig, Identifying Problems, as well as possible alternative solutions. 3. Digging deeper, Performing Analyses you identify information that exposes the issues, gather data, perform calculations that might provide insight. 4. Finally, you begin Action Planning to outline short-, medium-, and long-term well- defined steps.Typically, you will need to repeat this process multiple times, and as you do, you willdiscover new analytical directions, evolving your assessment of the case and conclusion.The process of analysing case studies can be summarised in 6 steps which are shown in thediagram overleaf. Adapted from: Newman, K. & Brennan, R. 2006. The analysis of marketing case studies. BMM600 Marketing Management Course Pack, Aston Business School. 34

Case Study Task 1Read the example of a case study and follow the steps for analysing casestudies outlined.NOTE: This case study is a very simple illustration of the case study format. During the pre-sessional course and your postgraduate studies you will encounter much longer andcomplex case studies. The process of analysing case studies can be summarised in 6 stepswhich are shown in the diagram on the next page. Understand the case • Read through once to have a general understanding. • Read again, starting to identify key factors and making notes. Consider factors such as: decision makers, key facts, the symptoms of the problem, changes described. case questions (if there are any). Define the problem • Identify the problem • Test it: think about the symptoms and changes you listed, compare your problem with the case questions. Identify sub-problems • Break the problem into smaller bits. • Organise the bits in order of importance. Generate alternative solutions • Using the facts and data, identify the plausible solutions to each sub-problem. Evaluate alternative solutions • List the solutions and consider factor such as: effectiveness, cost, timescale, stakeholders. Adapted from: Newman, K. & Brennan, R. 2006. The analysis of marketing case studies. BMM600 Marketing Management Course Pack, Aston Business School 35

_Case study Task 3_1) Read the Case study on Toyota’s Organisational Structure Strategy Organizational Structure: The Case of ToyotaFigure 14.1 (Source: Photograph courtesy of Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc.)Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2009). Organizational behavior (1st ed.). New York: Flat World Knowledge.Toyota Motor Corporation (TYO: 7203) has often been referred to as the gold standard of theautomotive industry. In the first quarter of 2007, Toyota (NYSE: TM) overtook General MotorsCorporation in sales for the first time as the top automotive manufacturer in the world. Toyotareached success in part because of its exceptional reputation for quality and customer care. Despitethe global recession and the tough economic times that American auto companies such as GeneralMotors and Chrysler faced in 2009, Toyota enjoyed profits of $16.7 billion and sales growth of 6% thatyear. However, late 2009 and early 2010 witnessed Toyota’s recall of 8 million vehicles due tounintended acceleration. How could this happen to a company known for quality and structured tosolve problems as soon as they arise? To examine this further, one has to understand about the ToyotaProduction System (TPS).TPS is built on the principles of “just-in-time” production. In other words, raw materials and suppliesare delivered to the assembly line exactly at the time they are to be used. This system has little roomfor slack resources, emphasizes the importance of efficiency on the part of employees, and minimizeswasted resources. TPS gives power to the employees on the front lines. Assembly line workers areempowered to pull a cord and stop the manufacturing line when they see a problem.However, during the 1990s, Toyota began to experience rapid growth and expansion. With thissuccess, the organization became more defensive and protective of information. Expansion strainedresources across the organization and slowed response time. Toyota’s CEO, Akio Toyoda, thegrandson of its founder, has conceded, “Quite frankly, I fear the pace at which we have grown mayhave been too quick.”Vehicle recalls are not new to Toyota; after defects were found in the company’s Lexus model in 1989,Toyota created teams to solve the issues quickly, and in some cases the company went to customers’homes to collect the cars. The question on many people’s minds is, how could a company whosesuccess was built on its reputation for quality have had such failures? What is all the more puzzling isthat brake problems in vehicles became apparent in 2009, but only after being confronted by UnitedStates transportation secretary Ray LaHood did Toyota begin issuing recalls in the United States. Andduring the early months of the crisis, Toyota’s top leaders were all but missing from public sight.The organizational structure of Toyota may give us some insight into the handling of this crisis andideas for the most effective way for Toyota to move forward. A conflict such as this has the ability toparalyze productivity but if dealt with constructively and effectively, can present opportunities forlearning and improvement. Companies such as Toyota that have a rigid corporate culture and ahierarchy of seniority are at risk of reacting to external threats slowly. It is not uncommon thatindividuals feel reluctant to pass bad news up the chain within a family company such as Toyota.Toyota’s board of directors is composed of 29 Japanese men, all of whom are Toyota insiders. As aresult of its centralized power structure, authority is not generally delegated within the company; allU.S. executives are assigned a Japanese boss to mentor them, and no Toyota executive in the UnitedStates is authorized to issue a recall. Most information flow is one-way, back to Japan where decisionsare made. 36

Will Toyota turn its recall into an opportunity for increased participation for its internationalmanufacturers? Will decentralization and increased transparency occur? Only time will tell.ReferencesAccelerating into trouble. (2010, February 11). Economist. Retrieved March 8, 2010,fromhttp://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15498249Atlman, A. (2010, February 24). Congress puts Toyota (and Toyoda) in the hot seat. Time. RetrievedMarch 11, 2010, from http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1967654,00.html.Dickson, D. (2010, February 10). Toyota’s bumps began with race for growth. Washington Times, p. 1Maynard, M., Tabuchi, H., Bradsher, K., & Parris, M. (2010, February 7). Toyota has a pattern of slowresponse on safety issues. New York Times, p. 1Simon, B. (2010, February 24). LaHood voices concerns over Toyota culture. Financial Times.Retrieved March 10, 2010, fromhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/11708d7c-20d7-11df-b920-00144feab49a.htmlWerhane, P., & Moriarty, B. (2009). Moral imagination and management decision making. BusinessRoundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics. Retrieved April 30, 2010, from http://www.corporate-ethics.org/pdf/moral_imagination.pdf2) Make an outline for a case study report on Toyota.3) Write one section in detail.4) Exchange your work to a classmate and write down your comments about it. Forexample, two positive aspects about it and two suggestions for improvement. 37

TASKCompare the following two extracts on the positive and negative issuesassociated with fast food taken from student work. Which extract signals tothe reader what information to expect in each paragraph? Why is this auseful writing tool? 38

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From: Gillet, A, Hammond, A & Martala, M. Successful Academic Writing. Pearson: Harlow 41

Referencing, Plagiarism & Collusion Lecture1) Listen to the lecture on referencing and plagiarism & take notes 42

Referencing Skills PracticeI. Citation PracticeWrite the correct references page citation for the following:Title: Leadership That Gets Results. Author: Daniel Goleman. Published in: Harvard BusinessReview. Date: March-April 2000. Found on: pages 78-90.Write the correct in-text citations for the following statements fromGoleman’s article:According to ________________, “it has been more than a decade since research first linkedaspects of emotional intelligence to business results”.The coercive style should be used with serious care and only in situations when it isabsolutely necessary ___________________. 43

II. Paraphrasing practiceParaphrase the following statements using correct citations. 1) Tesco is one of the leading retailers in the world and has been building a sustainable business model over the years through diversification into new geographies and value oriented retailing. (DataMonitor, 2011) 2) Strong economic growth, population expansion, increasing wealth of individuals and the rapid construction of organized retail infrastructure are key factors behind the expected growth. (DataMonitor, 2011) 3) And perhaps most important, the research indicates that leaders with the best results do not rely on only one leadership style; they use most of them in a given week – seamlessly and in different measure –depending on the business situation. (Goleman 2000) 4) The affiliative style’s generally positive impact makes it a good all-weather approach, but leaders should employ it particularly when trying to build team harmony, increase morale, improve communication, or repair broken trust. (Goleman 2000) 44

III. Synthesis practiceUse “Leadership that Gets Results” and the newspaper article “The boss, not the workload,causes workplace depression” to write a synthesis paragraph: a paragraph in which ideasfrom more than one source are combined to make or support a point.Remember to have a clear topic sentence and try to use at least one direct quote, oneparaphrase, and one summary statement. Be sure to use correct citations: (Goleman, 2000)or (Sjøgren, 2013).Note: Online newspaper articles do not employ paragraphs. They tend to start a new line for each sentence asit makes online reading easier, and allow readers to read at speed. The boss, not the workload, causes workplace depression October 27, 2013 - 06:47 It is not a big workload that causes depression at work. An unfair boss and an unfair work environment are what really bring employees down, new study shows. By: Kristian Sjøgren A huge pile of unfinished work is not the main reason why employees become depressed, concludes an extensive new Danish study. Surprisingly, the study indicates that a heavy workload has no effect on whether or not employees become depressed. Instead, it is the work environment and the feeling of being treated unfairly by the management that has the greatest effect on an employee’s mood. ”We may have a tendency to associate depression and stress with work pressure and workload; however, our study shows that the workload actually has no effect on workplace depression,” says one of the researchers behind the new study, psychologist Matias Brødsgaard Grynderup, PhD, of the Department of Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University. ”This suggests that the risk of workplace depression cannot be minimised by changing the workload. Other factors are involved, and it is these factors that we should focus on in the future.” The findings were recently published in three articles in the scientific journals Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Psychoneuroendocrinology and The Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health. 45

A study of 4,500 public employeesThe researchers handed out questionnaires to 4,500 public employees at Danishschools, hospitals, nurseries, offices, etc. They also conducted personal interviews withmost of the participants to determine who suffered from clinical depression.They also examined the concentrations of the stress hormone cortisol in the participants’saliva.From the questionnaires, the researchers could determine the sense of justice that theemployees felt in their workplaces. The feeling of justice in this context includes thefeeling of being heard by one’s manager and the feeling of everyone being treated onequal terms in the workplace.Asked why people still tend to associate work pressure with depression, Grynderup says:“When high levels of work pressure and depression appear to be linked in people’sconsciousness, it is not because a heavy workload increases the risk of depression. Orthat’s not what we found in our study. Instead, depression can make work assignmentsappear insurmountable, even though the depression was not caused by the workload.”High cortisol levels do not cause depressionThe study also looked at the link between cortisol levels and the risk of developingdepression.Previous studies have indicated a link between work pressure, high cortisol levels and therisk of developing clinical depression. The new study, however, points in the oppositedirection:Facts“Our results actually show that high cortisol levels are associated with a low risk ofdeveloping depression. This means that we may be able to use cortisol measurements asan indicator of the risk of developing depression.”How to avoid workplace depressionThe new findings can be used as a guide for future focus areas when stress anddepression become a part of the workplace.The study suggests that looking at the employees’ own assessment of the workenvironment and possible changes to the work environment has a much better preventiveeffect on depression than reducing the workload.”When the employees’ sense of justice plays such a central role in minimising the risk ofdepression, this is probably the area that the preventive work should focus on,” saysGrynderup.“I recommend a management style in which there is a clearly expressed wish to treatemployees properly – combined with a transparent organisational structure.” From: http://sciencenordic.com/boss-not-workload-causes-workplace-depression [Accessed 22 May 2018] 46

Example synthesis paragraph: Transformational leaders have great power and influence on their followers. They make personal sacrifices, take responsibility for their actions, and 'demonstrate extraordinary competence or other qualities subordinates admire' (Zaleznik, 1990, cited in Gemmill and Oakley, 1992: 118), which all results in a high degree of commitment, trust and confidence from employees. Yukl (1989, Podsakoff et al., 1990:108) wrote that 'followers feel trust and respect toward the transformational leader and they are motivated to do more than they are expected to do'. In addition, according to the social learning theory developed by Bandura (1977, cited in Bass at el., 1987a), followers are eager to emulate their charismatic leaders. As Bass at el. (1987a: 8) noted, self-reinforcement is 'the primary motivator of follower behaviour with a transformational leader, as opposed to external pay-offs'.Your synthesis paragraph: 47

2) Using the following three texts and correct referencing, write a paragraph that defines organisational structure and describes the benefits of one type of organizational structure. 48

Text 1Author: Nedal M. Elsaid, Ahmed R. Okasa & Abdalla A. AbdelghalyTitle: Defining and Solving the Organizational Structure Problems to Improve the Performance ofMinistry of State for Environmental Affairs - Egypt.Publication: International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 3, Issue 10Date: October 2013 49