QUESTION
Assessment #2: Individual assessment, worth 20% – Literature review, due week 6
Aim: The aim of this assessment is to enable students to examine and critically analyse one aspect of recruitment and selection in depth, to understand some of the activities that make up scholarly research and to see the way in which knowledge is built gradually.
Topic selection: Students are required to write a literature review based on the scholarly peer-review literature on a single topic within recruitment and selection, choosing from:
1. Realistic job previews 3. Faking in selection assessments 2. The psychological contract 4. Assessment centre exercises
Due: The review is due to your tutor and Turnitin in the tutorial in Week 6 but may be submitted earlier. Submissions will have 2% deducted per day late, including weekend days. Late assignments should be submitted to BESS in building E4B to be date stamped and forwarded to your tutor for marking. Electronic assignments will NOT be marked.
Note on extensions: Because all the information you require is available from the first day of this unit, it is highly unlikely that an extension will be granted to any student for this assignment. Students are strongly advised to commence work on this assignment early in the semester.
Length and presentation: The maximum report length is 1800 words, excluding references. Include the word count at the end of report. Use 1.5 line spacing, 2.5 cm margins on top, bottom and each side, Times New Roman font size 12. Do not use colour printing, formatting templates, plastic, fancy or bound covers when submitting your report. Do not include an executive summary, abstract, footnotes or endnotes. From http://www.businessandeconomics.mq.edu.au/current/undergraduate/bess download and complete an MQ cover sheet, including your Turnitin receipt and tutor name. Marks will be deducted for violations of these presentation rules.
Turnitin: In addition to hard copy submission, students must also submit an electronic copy of the report to the university’s plagiarism checking software, Turnitin. Title your document with your surname and student number, e.g., Smith20062007. Turnitin can be found on the subject’s iLearn website under “Assignments”. Note: In the submitted copy to Turnitin, please do not include the reference list. Turnitin currently accepts MS Word(xxx.doc) format. (i.e. not PDF, PowerPoint, etc). For more information see: http://www.turnitin.com/static/training.html and Student Quickstart Guide http://www.turnitin.com/resources/documentation/turnitin/training/tii_student_qs.pdf.
Turnitin will check your assignment against over a billion internet articles, academic articles and previously submitted assignments in order to identify cases which should be checked for plagiarism. Note that the penalties for plagiarism can be severe and a case of plagiarism which is detected by other means will still be brought, even if the Turnitin program fails to detect it. You must ensure that you submit only your own work, with all sources properly acknowledged.
Writing style: The literature review should be written in formal academic narrative style. The review will be evaluated for discriminatory language, clarity of expression and overall presentation including grammar, spelling and punctuation. Do not use bullet points, casual language (or bracketed comments). Use headings sparingly. Reports must be fully and appropriately referenced using a formal academic style (APA or Harvard are examples of acceptable styles). Substantial marks will be deducted for inadequate or incorrect referencing.
Feedback and marking criteria: Marks and feedback, using the sheet towards the end of this assessment outline, will be given in class in Week 8. The marking criteria are:
1. Quality of the research i.e., relevance of your references as they relate to the topic 2. Quantity of the research – was there evidence of a review of enough literature? 3. How clearly the review identified the major themes and issues in the literature 4. The report’s critical analysis of the literature
5. The overall structure and logical development of the review 6. Citations and referencing 7. Writing clarity and grammar 8. Presentation
9. Tertiary standard: Is there a high standard of research, analysis and writing?
2General standards applied to this assessment:
High Distinction
85-100%
The student demonstrates the competencies in Distinction standard and in addition demonstrates: Insightful and comprehensive identification and discussion of key scholarly literature
concerning the specialist HR topic. Advanced understanding of the relevant theory
leading to defensible generalisations Demonstrates capacity to use new insights to critically appraise literature, ideas and
arguments, draws well-supported conclusions, and applies relevant theory. Uses creative examples, possible extensions, and applications of theory. The work has been written, referenced and presented to an exemplary, publishable,
academic standard, and presents a compelling and effective argument/discussion.
Distinction 75-84%
The student demonstrates the competencies in Credit standard and in addition: Demonstrates selectivity and uses judgement in determining the importance of readings
and ideas. Develops a progressive, convincing, and clear argument throughout the work. Shows evidence of wide reading and synthesis of ideas. Demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of the relevant theory. Demonstrates capacity to evaluate and critically appraise literature, ideas and
arguments, draws appropriate conclusions and apply relevant theory. The work has been written and presented to a high academic standard, and presents a
coherent argument.
Credit 65-74%
The student demonstrates the competencies in Pass standard and in addition: Demonstrates the understanding of key HR concepts, theories, and issues. Key
literature identified and discussed. Demonstrates a sound understanding of relevant
theory. Demonstrates a sound capacity to appraise literature, ideas and arguments, to draw
limited conclusions and apply relevant theory May sometimes lapse into description rather than providing analysis and evaluation. Provides a satisfactorily structured, sourced, and referenced work which is clearly
written and grammatically accurate in terms of spelling. Some significant improvements needed to meet a standard suitable for publication. Argument/discussion credible.
Pass 50-64%
Conceded Pass
45-49%
The student demonstrates the following Most of the key concepts, theories, and issues in the specialist topic are identified and
discussed. Conveys a basic understanding of the relevant theory. The work demonstrates a limited capacity to appraise literature, ideas and arguments,
draw appropriate conclusions and apply relevant theory. The work provides little or no evidence of critical analysis and may simply restate or
describe. The work is not synthesises or integrated and lacks depth of analysis. Relies extensively on text, or limited readings providing little evidence of research. May
demonstrate a narrow focus. The work is presented with sufficient coherence and clarity fir the reader to understand
the ideas and arguments being proposed. Improvements to writing such as structure, grammar and referencing are required to meet academic writing standards. Argument/discussion has some flaws.
Fail 0-44%
The student may demonstrate some or all of the following; Has not identified key scholarly literature concerning the specialist topic. Conveys little
evidence of understanding of relevant theory. The work conveys little evidence of the capacity to appraise literature, ideas, and
arguments, to draw appropriate conclusions and apply relevant theory. Demonstrates a failure to identify the issues. Demonstrates a failure to answer the question or misinterprets the question. Does not provide evidence of the minimum scholarly reading requirements (6). The work demonstrates little understanding or appreciation of standards required for
academic writing. Improvements in terms of clarity, grammar, spelling, quotations,
referencing or presentation are required to achieve an acceptable standard. Assessment not handed in on time.
3
Literature review hints: The tutorial in week three will focus on how to write a literature review. Some additional guidelines on preparing your literature review: 1. Students need to research the topic. This means searching the library databases for relevant peer-
reviewed literature, perhaps across a few databases and certainly across a variety of journals. 2. Please note there is no room for textbooks, newspapers, popular press (e.g., Business Review
Weekly, HR Monthly), web-based or other external (non-refereed) material in this scholarly
literature review. Research books may be used but are rarely available online at this time. 3. There will be many journal papers on most topics and you will need to make judgements on what
is relevant to your topic. You may need to narrow the scope of your chosen topic. Given the word
limit, students will need to use their problem solving skills to determine which papers to include. 4. Students need to then review the most relevant literature. Look at which researchers have
conducted what studies, on what populations or samples, under what conditions, using what methods, in what contexts and so on. Note that your review will probably be improved by the use of older studies that provided a foundation for later studies as well as more recent studies.
5. The better submissions will be critical in their analysis. Be ready to be impressed with the level of detail reported but also be prepared to be critical – in a scientific way – of some studies you read.
6. Do not be concerned by any statistics you do not follow – they are not at issue in this assessment. 7. Determine to what level of detail which papers will be included in your final submission. Your
communication skills will be tested as you try different ways of expressing important ideas within the word count. A sentence that took 25 words the first time may also be clearly articulated in 12 or 18 words if you allow time for revisions.
8. As a guide, a minimum of eight references are required. A better literature review will probably NOT include every reference that a student has come across. Be prepared to not use some papers that are not appropriate for your paper.
SOLUTION
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
An organization required lot of resources in order to work efficiently. Out of all the resources like finance, accessories, technologies and human, the Human Resource is the most important and is the main force behind the success or the failure of the organization. It is the human resource who is ultimately going to make the proper use of all the other resource in order to achieve the goal of the organization. Thus, every organization main task is to choose best human beings (Armstrong, 2006). In order to select best human beings every organization has a Human Resource Department. The department consists of an experienced Human Resource Manager and other team members whose main task is to manage the people working in the organization. The Human Resource Department carries out various functions like selecting and recruiting people, providing salary to the employees, arranging trainings in order to improve the skills of the employees, managing the employees need and helping them to come out of their problems. Thus, the Human Resource Management handles a very important job. In this paper we are going to discuss Selection and Recruitment (Thomas & Feldman, 2009).
One of the most important and crucial task of Human Resource Manager is to select and recruit people for the organization. The task is important because as discussed the human beings are the biggest resources for an organization and crucial because the human resource manager need to select the best from a large number of applicants. Thus, the thing that is required is that the human resource manager needs to have that sharp brain to read the attitude of the person and then make the selection. The recruitment and selection process differ in different organizations and it is the management of the organization who decide the process of making recruitments. In order to carry out selection for a particular post the organization first spread the news of its vacancy through various channels like employment websites, newspaper, company’s website and placement agencies. It provides a detail of its recruitment criteria and asks the people of those criteria to submit their resume (Armstrong, 2006). After the last date of resume collection, a team of HR people scan those resume and select some of the best resume based on their qualification and experience. All these selected resume are then call to the organizations for interview. In order to test the skills and attitude of the selected people the human resource department carry out various selection steps like group discussion and personal interviews with Human Resource Manager and the department head in which vacancy is there. During these process the managers and department heads study each and every person very carefully and when they feel that the person have right attitude and can help in bringing success to the organization they ultimately select the person. Thus, Selection and Recruitment is the most tedious task.
Once the selections is completed, the employee selected are made to understand their role in the organization and also required to sign contracts based in order to maintain code of conduct and follow the organization rules and regulations strictly (Llyod & Restubog, 2008). One such contract is known as Psychological Contract and this is going to be discussed in this paper.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE:
Psychological contract is defined as a contract which is based on the trust and belief of the employer and the employee. Unlike other contracts it is not something that an employee sign rather he perceives it and decides to work mutually with his employer. In normal contracts only roles and responsibilities are mentioned whereas in the psychological contract something beyond fulfilling just role and responsibilities is expected from the employee by his employer (George & Patterson, 2006). The term Psychological is used because in this case the agreement is not done on pen and paper but rather done through minds and attitude. The contract mainly defines the relation between an employee and his employer, where an employer expects trust, loyalty and hard work from his employee and at the same time the employee expect respect and understanding from his employer. These are something that an employee and the employer clear with each other when the process of recruitment and selection is going on. The employer always ask the person what as an employee the person can contribute to the organization and what as an employee the person expects from his employer. The contract is basically a promise that is done from both the sides.
The theory of Psychological contract was first developed in the year 1960 when some of the renowned behavioural theorists bought it into the lime light. Even before 1960 the Psychological contract was being followed but it did not have a proper name (Robinson, 1996). In a lay man term the theorists like Chris Argyris and Edgar Schein described Psychological contract as the way the employer treats the employee and the things the employee can contribute to his jobs. But as easy the definition sounds the real meaning of Psychological contract is very much complicated. Many theorists believe that it’s difficult to draw the real meaning of Psychological contract as still lot more research is left to be done on it. Psychological contract is not just restricted to the organizations; it can also be applied in other parts of the society (Guest, 1998).
In reality Psychological contract is not some sort of a rule or a formula or process but rather its philosophy. And because it is a philosophy with time it will change and its meaning will also differ from organization to organization and people to people.
Various Definitions of Psychological Contract:
Michael Armstrong (2006) in his book “Excellent Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice”, have pointed various definition of Psychological contracts given by different theorists and some of them are like
a) According to Armstrong “The employment relationship consists of a unique combination of beliefs held by an individual and his employer about what they expect of one another”.
b) According to Edgar Schein’s “There is an unwritten set of expectations operating at all times between every member of an organization and the various managers and others in that organization.”
c) According to Rousseau and Benzoni “Because psychological contracts represent how people interpret promises and commitments, both parties in the same employment relationship can have different views”
d) According to Sparrow “A dynamic and reciprocal deal… New expectations are added over time as perceptions about the employer’s commitment evolve… concerned with the social and emotional aspects of the exchange.”
So many different definitions from different theorists clearly prove the fact that Psychological Contract is a complex subject and there is no fixed definition of it. The definitions vary from organization and also differ in relation to society. So, in order to understand Psychological contract one need to understand the reason behind forming the contract.
Models of Psychological Contracts:
As Psychological contract is understood in different manner by different theorists hence the models also varies. Here in this paper two models are taken into considerations which are Venn Diagram and The Iceberg Model.
a) Venn Diagram: This is a very basic model that tries to define the various factors that affects the Psychological contract. The model was proposed by Jhon Venn who was a British Philosopher and Logician. The diagram is shown in the following manner
In this diagram the PC is known as Psychological Contract, VC is the visible contract and r is the Reference which includes all the external factors. The diagram shows the interrelation between the Market, Employer and Employee (Raulapati & Vipparthi, 2010). The Visible contract is formed between the employer and employee with respect to the rules and regulations of the organizations. Whereas the Psychological contract takes into consideration all the references and factors including market in order to form a mutual relationship between the employee and the employer.
b) The Iceberg Model: This model is basically applicable to the higher authorities like the mangers or leaders. By applying this model they can clarify their needs with their employee. In this model the Psychological contract is compared with an Iceberg. As in case of Iceberg most of its portion is hidden within the sea similarly in Psychological contract most aspects are hidden and need to be understood. In olden days the employers were not that clear and specific about their needs and so the Psychological Contract was said to be 90% hidden Iceberg in which only 10% of the contract was being clarified with the employee (Conway & Briner, 2009). But in today’s generation the manager are more enlightened and they clarify their needs and requirements with the employee to a greater extent and so the Iceberg is said to be 75-80% submerged. The remaining hidden truth the employee needs to pursue during his stay and work in the company. It is to be noted that the percentage indicated can vary and these are just hypothetical. The iceberg is not limited to this as the iceberg is managed by the factors like sky and water; similarly the Psychological contract is managed by various internal and external factors. These Factors can either hamper the employee and employer relationship or can make it stronger (Thomas & Feldman, 2009). As with time Iceberg goes on rising similarly with proper relationship the employee can also rise and get the desired success and the success of the employee contributes to the success of the employer.
The diagram of the Ice berg Model is something where the input of the employee is compared to the Rewards of the employer. It can be represented in the following diagram
The blue line indicates above the water and below the water. Above the water shows work and pay which is usually found in the normal contracts which says all the employees would be paid according to their work. Below the water characters are present in the Psychological Contract which needs to be understood by the employee and the employer (Raulapati & Viparatthi, 2010). Like an employer expect the employee to be loyal, hard work, give good performance, should have leadership skills, should be patient and tolerance etc and by possessing all these character the employee expects his employer to provide him security, safety, good working environment, proper status and respect, balance his life etc.
CONCLUSION:
Like every relation the employee and employer relations is equally crucial and fragile and it is this bond that help in the progress of the organization. Psychological Contracts are all about the relationship between the employer and employee, one which they show to the entire world and second which they need to share secretly for each other’s satisfaction (George & Patterson, 1996). There are no legal issues or law involve in this contract but it is the duty of both the parties to work on this contract with full dedication. It is the coordination of both the party that can make both the parties successful.
REFERENCES:
- Armstrong, M. (2006). “A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice”. Kogan Page Publishers.
- Conway, N. and Briner, R.B. (2009). “Fifty years of Psychological Contract Research”. Review Literature and Arts of the America, Vol 24, 71, pp; 71-131.
- George, C. and Patterson, D.K. (2006). “The Psychological Contract”. Anglais Publishers.
- Guest, D.E. (1998). “Is Psychological Contract Worth Taking?” Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol 19, pp; 649-664.
- Lloyd, S. and Restubog, D. (2008). “Effect of Psychological Contract Breach on Organizational Citizenship Behavior”. Journal of Management Studies, Vol 45, 8, pp; 1377-1400
- Raulapati, M. and Vipparthi, M. (2010). “Managing Psychological Contract”. The IUP Journal of Soft Skills, Vol 4, 4, pp; 7-16.
- Robinson, S.L. (1996). “Trust and Breach of the Psychological Contract”. Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol 41, 4, pp; 574-599.
- Thomas, W.H and Feldman, D.C. (2009). “Age, Work Experience & Psychological Contract”. Journal of Organizational Behaviour, Vol 30, 8, pp; 1053-1075.
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