Dear MN1705 Students.

This document gives you some hints and tips on how to approach your first assignment. As a reminder, the
question is below:

Question

Q1: Based on your reading, give two reasons why leaders and managers need strong critical thinking skills.
Q2: Describe two ways in which you will use this module, Organisation Studies, to help you develop your critical
thinking skills.
The wordcount for this essay is 700 words excluding references. Each question is worth 50% of the total mark
and you should therefore devote about 350 words to each.
Deadline
The deadline is 12pm on the 3rd March.
Structure
This essay is very short. Therefore you do not need to write it in the typical essay structure – in other words, you
do not need an introduction or conclusion. You will need to write short, sharp, clear and concise sentences which
get straight to the point. There is very little room for additional words which do not contribute to your answer.
Writing a short piece of work is often more challenging than writing a longer one! You will need to edit drafts
carefully to convey your points as clearly as possible. You can also write in the first person in this essay.
Content – Part I
There are several ways in which you can answer the questions set and in fact, we will be looking for evidence of
independent thinking. We want to see that you have engaged throughout the term with the content taught in
this module and that you have thought carefully about it.
This assignment is – obviously – about critical thinking. You might want to find a definition of what we mean by
critical thinking. In short though, for academics, being critical does not mean that we think all ideas are ‘bad’
and that we are setting out to criticise them. Instead, it means that we aim to develop sufficient knowledge and
in-depth understanding to weigh up the pros and cons of particular ideas, in order to assess whether they are
‘good’ or ‘bad’, and if so, for whom?
Remember that throughout this term during pre-records, workshops and in our on-campus / classroom lectures,
I have constantly reminded you that we are taking a critical approach to management theory and to
management itself. We have thought about early management ideas provided to us by Weber, Taylor and Mayo,
for example, and have been critical about them. We have considered whether Taylor’s methods were really
scientific, and we have questioned the methodology used in the Hawthorne experiments. We have critiqued the
legacy of these ideas as evident in modern organisations, and we have considered the relationship between
ethics and efficiency, especially thinking about Weber’s notions of formal and substantive rationality.
Building from this, in your assessment you could consider the benefits (or otherwise) of managers being able to
think critically about the management ideas they might be expected to implement today. Is it helpful if mangers
can distinguish between good and bad ideas? And if so, in what way is it helpful? Is it helpful in relation to ethics
and/or efficiency?
You could think more broadly than this though. For example, considering the work of Fayol and later mid-century
theorists, you could think briefly about what managers do, or the functions of management, and whether and
why critical thinking might enable these functions to be carried out more effectively.
The questions asks you to base this answer on your reading and you should be up to date with core reading in
the module guide – but you must also show familiarity with content delivered in workshops, classroom sessions
and in pre-recorded videos on Moodle.
Content – Part II
The second question asks you to consider the development of your own critical thinking skills. Have you become
a (more) critical thinker since studying this module? If so, how? Can you give examples of ideas you are
considering from a more critical perspective? Have you already become more critical about management ideas?
Are you more likely to consider the political purpose behind ideas which seem to be in some sense ‘neutral?’ Do
you expect your studies to help you to continue to develop these skills? If so, how? How can you use the module
to help you develop your skills? Is it through wider reading to develop your knowledge or understanding? Is it
through engagement and discussions with your peers? These are the kinds of questions you could consider here,
but again, there are a number of ways you can approach this question and the most important thing is to
demonstrate your own independent thinking here, which in turn will be based on careful engagement with the
themes we have covered so far.
Reading and References
Although you are not expected to provide a long list of references in this assignment you are expected to conduct
relevant reading. Indicative reading is provided in the module guide – and there is also a book on that list about
critical thinking for managers. You might wish to have a look at that.
You must provide a reference list and you must use in-text citations. If you are not sure how to do this, please
contact Zohreh Moghimi at CeDAS who should be able to help.
You must not use or reference internet sites such as mindtools.com; study.com; Wikipedia; etc. If you use and
cite sources such as these, you will low marks.
In this assignment, please do not cite lectures or workshops. These should provide the foundation for your
learning but you should demonstrate that you have built from this via your own reading.
Rubric
I have uploaded the rubric to Moodle. You will see that a portion of the marks are awarded for strong academic
writing. Again, you are strongly advised to seek help with this as all of us can improve in this area. Again, CeDAS
is a good place to start. Zohreh Moghimi offers one-to-one appointments and you can contact her on this email
address: zohreh.moghimi@rhul.ac.uk
Additional Questions about the Assignment
If you have any additional questions, please post them on the forum on Moodle. I will answer them there.
Good luck!
Louise