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Key elements of professional competence are strategic awareness, a business orientation and a concern with adding value through human resource (HR) practice. Qualified professionals should be able to research relevant topics and write reports that can persuade key stakeholders in the organisation to change or adopt a particular policy and practice. This module provides the opportunity for students to demonstrate the ability to diagnose and investigate a live, complex business issue from an HR perspective, to locate the work within the body of contemporary knowledge, to collect and analyse data, to derive supportable conclusions and to make practical and actionable recommendations for change, improvement or enhancement of current practice. The applied nature of the report requires a critical evaluative approach, empirical investigation and analysis and a combination of academic research and business report writing skills. It requires reflection on the implications for professional practice from an ethical, professional and continuous professional development standpoint.

1. Identify a suitable topic for the project. Potential sources might include critical incidents, significant external or internal influence, change management initiatives, risk assessment, internal or external diagnostic, and a chronic or acute problem. Plan and design a project that has strategic relevance and the potential to add value to the organisation.
2. Knowledge of literature and contemporary HR practice; information search and retrieval; analysing sources of data; writing a critical literature review; academic referencing.
3. Research methods: understanding different methods of data collection (for example interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, participant observation), the strengths and weaknesses of each and the circumstances in which they might be used; ethical considerations.
4. Data analysis: the use and value of different analytical tools for interpreting data; systematic data analysis; identification and explanation of emerging patterns and how to deal with conflicting evidence; effective interpretation and presentation of data.
5. Drawing reasoned conclusions from data collected and presented; production of realistic, timely and effectively justified recommendations and costed implementation plans; awareness of potential resistance to recommendations and how this might be overcome.
6. Developing and presenting a report: the importance of clear aims, objectives and appropriate terms of reference; awareness of time management and project development; potential barriers and how they might be overcome; the structure and content of a management report; principal techniques of communication and persuasion appropriate to a business report; presentation skills.
7. Developing the skills of critical reflection.

On completion of this module, students will be able to:

1. Identify and justify a business issue that is of strategic relevance to the organisation.
2. Critically analyse and discuss existing literature, contemporary HR policy and practice relevant to the chosen issue.
3. Compare and contrast the relative merits of different research methods and their relevance to different situations.
4. Undertake a systematic analysis of quantitative and/or qualitative information and present the results in a clear and consistent format.
5. Draw realistic and appropriate conclusions and make recommendations based on costed options.
6. Develop and present a persuasive business report.
7. Write a reflective account of what has been learned during the project and how this can be applied in the future.

Staff/student contact 20 hours plus 5 hours supervision and individual support – research methods workshops and tutorials
Student directed learning – 125 hours

The Library Catalogue contains full details of the current reading list for this module. Further details may also be found in the Module Guide.