Anglia Ruskin University
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Lord Ashcroft International Business School
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Module MOD000921:
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Introduction to People, Organisations & Management
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Patchwork Text
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SID (1437809/1)
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Academic Year 2014/2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS
After completing your assignment, you can update the table of contents below to correct the page numbers clicking on it with the right button (update field > update page numbers only).

PATCH 1: PERSONALITY SELF-ASSESSMENT AND CAREER CHOICE 3 PATCH 2: LEARNING DIARY 7 PATCH 3: CASE STUDY REPORT 10 REFERENCES 11 APPENDIX 12

When the file is ready for submission, please delete al l instructions in red.
PATCH 1: PERSONALITY SELF-ASSESSMENT AND CAREER CHOICE
(1,000 words)
The Big-5 Traits | Your score | Self-assessment | Openness to experience | 14 | The student is moderately open to experience.According to Costa and McCrae(1992) theory, she prefer to focus on more practical pursuits where she is interested in novelty when necessity commands, but not for too long because she does not stand out as either particularly imaginative, nor a conservative person, she has average drive and discipline and probably do not consider her- self to be well organised in planning her jobs, but has some leadership skills and is average on longevity. | Conscientiousness | 13 | The student ability to exercise self- discipline and control in order to pursue her goals is at fair average indicating that her tendency to respond to impulses is in the moderate range. According to Goldberg (1992) theory, she may have some long- term goals and are fairly successful in pursuing them, but can be side tracked sometimes when a particularly attractive diversions presents itself. She may avoid trouble and achieve high levels of success through purposeful planning and persistence. | Extraversion | 08 | The student is low on extraversion, based on the Eysenck (1992) theory, the student is seen as reflective or reserved, she gets her energy from dealing with the ideas, pictures, memories, and reactions that are inside her head, in her inner world. She often prefers doing things alone or with one or two people she feels comfortable with. She sometimes spends too much time reflecting and do not move into action quickly enough. Sometime she likes the idea of something better than the real thing. | Agreeableness | 15 | The student score high on agreeableness. She tend to be involved in her work when she view career achievement as means for the maintenance and enhancement of her feelings of personal worth and esteem. she cooperate rather than compete with others, she is a good predictor of the quality of relationships as she is very much agreeable to people initiative. She does what the organization wants and do what is required suggest Judge et al (1999). | Emotional Stability | 9 | The student is medium on emotional stability. Her response to others in expressing herself is at moderate range, according to Judge and llies (2002), she may have some excellent leadership skills in the workplace but at times, she is somewhat prone to these negative emotions including fear, anxiety, guilt, and shame. She is generally calm, but, at times, may get upset by behaviour of others, feel depressed or guilty. She can handle situations well but at times get panicked. She is moderately adaptable to her surroundings. |

Holland’s interest profile Interest profile | Your score | Self-assessment SEC | Realistic | 05 | The student personal Holland code then became SEC. In the social type the student is responsible and concerned with the welfare of others. She enjoys participating in group activities where she can counsel, train, help, heal and develop others. She is generally focused on human relationships and enjoy social activities, she communicates in a warm and tactful manner and can be persuasive. She views herself as understanding, helpful, cheerful and skilled in teaching. She seek opportunities to work as part of a team, solve problems through discussions and utilize interpersonal skills suggest Holland (1997). In the enterprising type, the student is an energetic, ambitious, adventurous sociable and self- confident individual who enjoys activities that require her to persuade others, such as sales and seek out leadership roles. She is invigorated by using her interpersonal leadership and persuasive abilities to obtain organizational or economic gain but may avoid routine. According to Holland (1997), she is often effective in public speaking and is generally sociable, she view herself as assertive, self-confident and skilled in leadership and speaking. Nevertheless in the conventional type, she is an efficient, careful, conforming, organized and conscientious individual who is comfortable working within an established chain of command. She is reliable and persistent in carrying out tasks and enjoys maintaining and manipulating data, she prefer organized, systematic activities and have an aversion for ambiguity. Conversely, she preferred work as record keeping and data management in a structured operation and places high value on conformity and dependability states Holland (1997). | Investigative | 09 | | Artistic | 04 | | Social | 14 | | Enterprising | 13 | | Conventional | 10 | |

Commentary on person-job fit (600 - 750 words)
As I come to know a lot more of my personality after applying the Big – 5 and the Hollands self-assessment test, I am capable of knowing where my career choice would lead me too which I already had known but to be sure and precise.

Cover letter (250 - 400 words)

London Norways Washington

25th, April 2015

HR Manager
OCS Group
North West England

Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to apply for the Business Analyst position at OCS Group as advertised on the prospect website. I am very interested in the full- time Analyst position at your Company in which I believe I would be a perfect fit for this role as the job description that you have provided aligns well with my skills and professional experience. I am a recent graduate of Walden university with a bachelors degree in Business Administration as well as a minor in both marketing and economics. Also i am currently a student of Anglia Ruskin University where i am pursuing my Bachelors in Accounts and Finance, i believe that my long-standing interest in business strategy economics and my strong quantitative skills make me a competitive candidate for this position and found it to be very interested in what i have learnt and to put into practice.
Currently, I have been working with BHP Financial Services as a Business Administative for the past 4 years where I work with the business owners, system developers and IT managers, researching new developments and enhancements of business processes.
During these four years I have gained enormous experience in gathering information and integrating it into the IT system, documenting business requirements, processng improvement, quality assurance and providing technical support to the firm and its clients. However, I wish to move to a larger organisation in order to make use of the skills I have acquired.
I am a dedicated team player who enjoys the company and support of my peers while being able to manage my priorities and work with minimal supervision. I have strong communication skills, my day-to-day job involves communicating complex data with the technical team and breaking down this information for clients and stakeholders.

Furthermore,I am very analytical and am very passionate of mining through data and taking core information to come up with the best alternatives for business challenges. I would appreciate the opportunity to come to Engalnd to meet with you and explore the company environment.

I would like to end by mentioning that I have attached my most current CV with this letter for your consideration, and by saying that I sincerely hope you will look favorably upon my application and invite me to an interview.

Yours sincerely,
1437809/1

PATCH 2: LEARNING DIARY (1,000 words)
The diary needs to have a minimum of 10 entries, 5 of which are specified below based on seminar activities. If wanted, you can add rows to include more entries. Please specify the dates in dd/mm format, and then order the table by ascending date. The words in the table don’t count for the final word count. Date | What was the activity? | What have I learned? | How will I apply this learning? | 14/02/15 | The activity on week 3 was based on work design, what is it, how scientific management relates to work design and to explain the deskilling vs. upskilling debate. Also the group I was in, we had to explain how the organisation structure and architecture at Valve is formed. | | | 21/02/15 | (Part B seminar on careers and career management on week 4Was to provide the opportunity for students to acquire career management skills that will assist them in implementing career decisions. We had to do up a application form from the prospect website guiding us on how we see ourselves into a particular job of our liking. | The Prospects Planner is a computer-aided guidance website in which it allows me to explore independently issues related to all the main areas of careers education these include: (self awareness, opportunity awareness, decision learning and transition learning.) These Activities lead to an understanding of how to present myself effectively in writing and in person including a CV workshop, application and a completion of a targeted application form in which it guides me on a particular job that fits with my personality and vocational job fit. | When applying for a job I definitely know that I must research the company background and look into the job description of what is require of me to do, in that way I will know what the company is looking for, so when I go into the interview I must know be on point. | | On week 6 seminar we look into the meaning of learning, how behaviourist approach exercise on the effect of positive and negative reinforcement on behaviour change. | I have learnt that learning frequently occurs when an individual has to deal with a new situation. It is about developing new skills, competencies and attitude to meet new situations. It is a change in behaviour that occurs as a result of one’s interaction with the environment. Huczynski and Buchanan (2010) suggest that changes in behaviour can be measured or quantified using learning curves. I also learnt that positive reinforcement leads to positive consequences and negative reinforcement leads to negative consequences for example, if you do not study you get low grades which leads to negative outcomes, when you study you get good grades which leads to positive outcomes. | I would know what the organisation wants me to do and also know what is not acceptable. When going into an interview, I would ask what is required of me to do and do it in the workplace as this would bring positive outcomes. | | Week 7 seminar indicates what is Power and Politics. | I learnt that Power can influence the behaviour of other people with or without their consent (mullins 2010 p.675). Also I learn that there are 5 bases of power, and they are split into two parts which are called, 1) Formal power that is based on organisational position these include: coercive, reward, and legitimate. 2) Personal power, this stems from individual characteristics and these include, expert and referent power. | In doing my assignments I have the power to control how much hours I may spent behind my work. When someone ask me to do something I have the power to either say yes or no. | | Part A seminar on week 11 is a feedback on the formative assessment | After my class and I took the personality and vocational test, we have all discussed it in class and i learn that people express themselves differently to the same situations and this is all because of their personality traits. In taking the Big 5 personality test, it was very accurate on how I scored and I definitely know a lot more of my self. | I would like to share what I read about the big 5 personality test to and use it to my advantage by knowing the type of job I can fit into. | | Tutor feedback on a draft of my patchwork assignment (Part A seminar on week 11) | I learn how important objective feedback can be and to apply it better. The importance of referencing. How to systematically structure my paper. How to use university guidelines and keep the standards. Also how to understand my learning style using a Honey and Mumford questionierre, where I was said to be a pragmatist in which I am keen on trying out ideas, theories and techniques to see if they work in practice. | I should try my best to reference properly, I must do what is required of me to do in order to achieve good grades. | | You choose | | |

Reflection on your learning using theory (700 – 1,000 words)
As the table requires a lot of thinking and writing, you are allowed here to write 700 up to a maximum of 1,000 words. after doing the learning style questionierre and analysing the result i am a activist. according to some theory an activist is say what it is an use other theory. and then say what you do and how you apply it in life by giving examples.

referring to the learning activities you will talk about talkative approach what it is according to theory and behavioral approach as well and then say which one you are and give examples.

how would you describe your learning curve at university according to theory. whatever you learnt on theory point it out on what you learn. PATCH 3: CASE STUDY REPORT ON VALVE CORPORATION(2,000 words)

1.0 Introduction (minimum 200 – maximum 300 words)

Valve Corporation, also known as Valve Software or simply as Valve, is an American video game development and digital distribution company. It was founded in Kirkland, Washington, United States on August 24 1996 by long- time Microsoft employee Gabe Newell with no managerial responsibility and has approximately 300 employees. It is well known for its successful social-distribution network steam; and for developing the Source engine, which has been used in every Valve game since its introduction in 2004. After incorporation in April 2003, it moved from its original location to Bellevue, Washington, which its area is served worldwide. Imagine a company where everyone is equal and managers do not exist. A place where employees sit where they want, choose what to work on and decide each other's pay. Then, once a year, everyone goes on holiday together.

In order to understand Valve’s success as an organization, this report considers two important issues, these include: * Organisational culture and * Organisational structure and architecture.

This report focuses in an exploration of Valve’s organizational culture in how they do things around there ( Deal and kennedy,1982 cited in Buchanan and Huczynski, 2010, p.100) and how its entirely self-directed cross-functional work teams shows a number of advantages and disadvantages when compared to a more traditional hierarchy. It goes on to say how Valve organisational culture is formed and sustained by using theories to dicuss this further.

Also, whether Valve organisational structure and architecture is a mechanistic, boundryless or organic organisation and to describe the way Valve arranges employees and jobs to complete its goals provided with examples. In addition, this report will explain how the structure is form and how it can encourage productivity and a supportive working environment, as well, how it allow teams to work cooperatively and effectively together.

Analysis (can very between 1,100 – 1,400 words depending on the words used in the Introduction and Conclusions)
1.1 Organisatioanl Culture

This section seeks to conduct an analysis ot the organisational culture in Valve Corporation. The term organisational culture, refers to the shared values, beliefs and norms which influence the way employees think, feel and act towards others inside and outside the organisation (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2010, p.100). It also focuses the attention on the forces that shape behaviour in organisations. This shared feeling of comittment gives group members a reason to perfrom their tasks at their highest ability.

So, Valve Corporation, its successful game company amoung other things has its unusual corporate culture in which employees are free to move to whatever project they choose. There are no boundaries to go through when an employee decides to move to another team. They just move. This is symbolized by placing wheels under each desk. People are free to move as they are capable. Employees are trusted with their time and energy. And it works because Valve operate with no boss, even the President/ founder Gabe Newell has no authority over his employees to say who should do what, since 1996 they have been boss free according to their handbook for new employees. I am sure this can not work for larger companies, can it?

It is amazing what creative people can come up with when there is nobody there telling them what to do. Can you imagine working with super smart, super talented colleagues in a free-wheeling, innovative environment with no bosses, no middle management, no bureaucracy?, but just highly motivated peers coming together to make cool stuff.

Therefore, hiring the right people at Valve is the number one priority. Valve focuses on people who are highly collaborative because everyone is accountable primarily to themselves, and the skills of the individuals at Valve are many and varied. They do not have that traditional marketing or sales organisation, so each developer is responsible for thinking about how to measure and optimize customer satisfaction. Every employee is almost entirely autonomous to decide how each tasks can be perform in their workforce given that no one reports to anyone.

It is an organizational culture that encourages creativity, innovation, self-direction, careful consideration for the hiring of new employees and keeping a constant eye on the work being done. One of the worker state that hiring was the most frustrating process as she was struggling in the company to make a difference and to make the hardware group move forward. They were having a difficult time recruiting folks. They would interview very talented people but they would be rejected by the old timers at Valve as not fitting the culture.

An organic organisational structure that distributes and manages various games directly to a community of players around the world Valve has approximately 300 employees in which they operates with no boss.

Include the name of the second topic 1. Conclusions (minimum 400 – maximum 500 words)

Valve is a very, very successful game company that doesn’t have a single person to tell anyone there what to do. But their success is not because of their autonomy. Their bosslessness works because of a combination of important factors. They encourage their employees to work together and select only projects the company sees as important by not putting one person above another. They hire not just good employees, but employees with a wide range of specialties outside the norm for a game company. They encourage creativity, innovation and enthusiasm in their employees but also monitor them closely. They are notorious for development delays and Valve Time, but they make up for it through quality products and a direct connection to their customers. No matter what projects Valve is working on, they always have the interests of their customers at heart and consider themselves to also be customers of their own products. Valve as a company with all of its disadvantages and counterintuitive approaches is a great study in how a company can hold even the most experimental business model by simply keeping an eye on quality and their customers.

WORD COUNT: include final word count

REFERENCES
Please cite your references in-text and compile here the full reference list following the ARU
Harvard referencing style available here: http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm
Buchanan, D. A. and Huczynski, A., 2010. Organizational Behaviour. 7th ed. Harlow: Pearson/ FT Prentice Hall.
Costa, P.T., Jr., McCrae, R.R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Goldberg. L. R. (1992). The development of markers for the Big-Five factor structure. Psychological Assessment. Ch 4, 26-42
Holland, J. L. (1997). Making vocational choices (3rd ed.). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment, Resources Inc.
Eysenck. H. J. (1992). Four ways five factors are not basic. Personality Individual differences ch 13 p.667-673
Judge, T.A. and Ilies, R. (2002), “Relationship of personality to performance motivation: a meta-analytic review”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 87, pp. 797-807.
Judge, T.A., Higgins, C.A., Thoresen, C.J. and Barrick, M.R. (1999), “The big five personality traits, general mental ability, and career success across the life span”, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 52, pp. 621-52
(2013, 02). Valve Corporation. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 04, 2015, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Valve-Corporation-1396498.html
APPENDIX

Business Development Analyst
OCS
Logo: OCS

Apply now
Salary
c.£30,000
Additional benefits
Plus benefits
Contract
Permanent
Working hours
Full-time
Number of vacancies
One
Closing date
01/05/2015
Location
Greater London, West Midlands, North West England
Full location details
Manchester, London or Birmingham

Job description

You’ll be working within our Sales team, one of OCS’ central functions, vital to delivering profitable and sustainable contract wins through which the business can achieve its strategic goals.

About the role

You’ll provide central support to the sales team including research, lead generation and general administrative support to ensure that enquiries are captured and managed professionally and efficiently.

Specifically you will:

Carry out research to qualify leads, improve market knowledge and allow the effective prioritisation of tasks.
Work with the marketing team to produce mail-shots and other collateral to develop visibility of the OCS brand.
Maintain the central prospect database, ensuring the accuracy of data.
Carry out site surveys to feed into bid production.
Conduct client surveys and correlate the resulting data into reports to guide the sales team.
Liaise with internal and external stakeholders to ensure that process, services and bids are effective.
Oversee and organise all conference and exhibition activity.
Support and maintain contract mobilisation data for provision to the business and particularly the Contract & Billing teams.
Compile and production of KPI figures and reports.
Maintain an accurate and up to date knowledge of the equipment and services provided by OCS and our supply chain in order to effectively support the sales process.

Person requirements
This is an excellent opportunity to join a high achieving team where you will make a real contribution to our future success. You will already have some experience of working in a Sales or similar environment.

You’ll also have:

Worked in a fast paced team where accuracy and quality is essential.
Outstanding communication skills, both verbal and written and be highly numerate.
A strong commercial acumen and the ability to define profitable solutions.
The ability to effectively organise and prioritise your workload, successfully engaging in multiple initiatives simultaneously and working independently where necessary.
Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to interact professionally with a diverse group including executives, managers, operatives, and subject matter experts.
Excellent IT skills with advanced knowledge of MS Office applications.

Company information
The OCS Group is one of the UK’s leading providers of facilities management and property support services, employing over 25,000 people in the UK. We have been at the forefront of developing integrated Facilities Management, becoming a seamless extension of our clients' businesses by delivering best in class services. How have we achieved such success? It is through our dedicated teams of industry experts who work in partnership with our clients to deliver innovative FM solutions.

Accepted degree subjects
Any

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