Summative essay of 2,500 words (70%)

There will be 2 essay questions that you will choose from. These will centre around the main theories and
topics covered on the course. Essays will be focused on in semester 2, and will be completed on an
individual basis with full essay structure and referencing expected. We will have sessions on essay writing
and referencing in order to support students in their work. Essays will be expected to cover the main
ideas and theories on the course, and to bring some original insight to the question in the form of some
brief empirical research.

Some preliminary information:

- To be submitted to student office by May 3rd 2018 by 5pm
- To be uploaded onto MyLearning ‘Turnitin’
- Choose only one of the following topics
- Use the reading material from the workshops.
- Do not put your name on coursework; student number is sufficient
- Deviation from word limit is accepted at level of +/- 10%
- Support will be given for the essay throughout the year.
- Worth 70% of final mark

Question 1

You are the HR director of a London-based general hospital. How can you ensure that your staff are able
to carry out their high pressure roles well, and at the same time protect themselves from any detriment to
their emotional wellbeing?

Question 2

You are a senior manager for a low budget airline (Ryanair, Easyjet). How can ensure that your staff are
able to meet the needs of your customers, without incurring any harm to themselves in terms of burn out
and sickness?

Middlesex University 20-point assessment scale

The overall grade is made up of a weighted average of the presentation mark, the report mark and the
Forum Theatre mark. To create the weighted average, each element is marked as a percentage and
combined to create an overall percentage grade. This grade is then converted to the 20-point scale
according to the following conversion:

Percentage 20 point scale Degree class

Missed assessment 20
0 – 29 19
Fail
30 – 34 18
35 – 39 17
40 16
41 – 43 15
44 – 46 14
47 – 49 13 Third class
50 12
51 – 53 11
Lower second class
54 – 56 10
57 – 59 9
60 8
61 – 63 7
Upper second class
64 – 66 6
67 – 69 5
70 4
71 – 74 3
First class
75 – 79 2
80 – 100 1
 Module narrative
Module Code: HRM 3013
Module Title: The Service Encounter
Level: 3
Credit points: 30
Owning Subject: Human Resource Management
Module Leader: Dr Aylin Kunter

Aims
This module builds upon knowledge and skills gained about general business functions, organisational
behaviour and the marketing function and explores, in more depth and on a critical basis, the
interrelationship of these disciplines in the organisation of services.

Syllabus
1) The importance of services to the UK economy
2) The political economy of the service sector
3) Defining the service encounter: relationship marketing
4) People management and service work
5) Operations management and service work
6) The nature of service work and the labour process debate
7) Emotional labour and aesthetic labour
8) Contemporary issues: call centre work
9) Contemporary issues: reforming public service work
10) Forum Theatre Workshops: enacting and resolving service work dilemmas
11) Performative Analysis of the Service Encounter
12) Organisational Behaviour influencing the Service sector
13) Effective communication strategies: NLP, Transactional Analysis, Non-violent communication

Learning outcomes
Knowledge
On completion of this module, the successful student will be able to:
1) Compare and contrast differing definitions of service work and its role in contemporary business and
society
2) Critically evaluate marketing, operational and human resource considerations in managing service work
3) Critically evaluate contemporary debates relating to private services
4) Critically evaluate contemporary debates relating to public services
5) Identify different learning and personality styles
6) Identify political stances and power relations
7) Define conflict resolution strategies
8) Manage group dynamics and group processes
9) Solve people-problems creatively using Forum Theatre

Skills
This module will call for the successful student to:
1) Research contemporary topics and subject them to theoretical and empirical analysis
2) Enact, analyse and resolve dilemmas in a service work context
3) Develop self and others individually and in groups to manage the encounters
4) Motivate employees
5) Skilfully negotiate and handle conflict
6) Manage time, stress and change
7) Plan, organise and co-ordinate effectively
8) Handle service encounter knowledgeable and creatively problem-solve
9) Write a work-based report and give a presentation in the Forum theatre style