BUSM069 Exam Guidelines

Essential Reading List

1. Brown and Duguid, 1991

2. Argyris, 1977
3. Senge, 1990
4. Fox, 2000
5. Vickers and Fox, 2010
6. Carlile, 2002
7. Swan et al., 2002
8. Whittington, et al., 2006
9. Samra-Fredericks, 2003

Please NOTE: depending on the questions you answer, some of the above will
matter more or less. You are not expected to cite or discuss all of them in every
question. However, most of these articles provide relevant contexts, theories,
arguments and illustrations. The better you know them the better prepared you will
be.

Exam Structure

24 hour take home exam bearing 60% of your overall mark for the module.
Date : 6 September
Submission deadline: 24 hours
You will have 4 Questions to choose from. You must answer 2 questions only.
Each question bears 50% each.
We suggest the total word count is 1,800. So the maximum word limit for each question is
900 (excluding your list of references’ word count).

Expect aspects of the topics covered in class to be in the exam (Sessions 6-10 in week 2)

6 12/07/2021 Organisational Structure and Culture

7 13/07/2021 Organisational Learning
8 14/07/2021 Strategy as Practice
9 15/07/2021 Organisational Change
10 16/07/2021 Innovation in Organisations

Exam preparation advice

Please read your questions carefully before answering them. There will be several
elements to each question. You are required to discuss all elements.

You may find it useful to define a concept or explain the characteristics of a concept,
explain a theory or a framework. You are expected to use illustrative examples where
possible (e.g. from case studies and other articles) to explain key debates, findings or
evaluate a concept.

You are also expected to give your critical thoughts which means explaining and/or
evaluating the strengths and weaknesses, pros and cons of
concepts/illustrations/arguments/findings relevant to the question or task.

When asked to explain or outline concepts or theories, you are expected to

demonstrate your understanding of the concept and key definitions. You may cite and
summarise key authors who formulated the concept and other theorists who
contributed to its development over the years. We expect you to demonstrate your
knowledge of theory and reference essential readings in your discussion - see above.

When you are asked to use theories and case studies, we expect you to use the key
literature and case studies discussed in class in week 2. All questions are based on
our teachings in class and readings provided.

You are also invited to give your objective thoughts and be creative but provide your
reasoning, not just an opinion. In addition to the case studies discussed in class, you
can also illustrate examples from industry, etc.

This is not an essay, it is an exam. The introduction and conclusion can be short. The
knowledge you use and arguments you make with it, in answering your two chosen
questions, are key. Your arguments should be clear. We do not expect you to cite a
long list of references. However, any cited references relevant to the question should
be included.

Quotations must be within quotation marks. You are encouraged not to waste your
word count on long quotations. You are expected to demonstrate your knowledge. We
strongly recommend that you paraphrase ideas and summarise in your own words
along with appropriate citations.

Typical mistakes candidates make in exams

- not answering the question

- mis-interpreting the question
- not demonstrating your understanding of discussions in class
- not citing relevant literature that has been used in class discussions
- not writing clearly
- writing very long convoluted sentences
- being too descriptive
- writing everything you know around the question without paying attention to what
the question is asking you to do
- not paying attention to the school’s plagiarism guidelines
- not putting quotes in quote marks and not giving the page number of the quote in
the text itself