Assignment Question:
QUESTION:
Drawing on your expertise gained from the HRM part of the MPIO module
in essay format advise ARM how it can best acquire (attract
(employer branding) / recruit / select) great chip designer talent and
why it is important to get the very best chip designer talent. Roughly
70% of the literature you use should be from the course.
The majority
of your answer should make use of material from the module (in addition
to your own literature search). You are also required to write a one
page self-reflection on your class contribution NOTE: The word count is
2,500 words. (note the bibliography and the self- reflection are not
included).
The same assignment question will be used in the event of resubmission.
Please take careful note and act on the following:
Include a word count. Bibliography and self –reflection are not subject to the word count .
Do not exceed 2,500.
Harvard referencing must be used.
At the end of the assignment you must include a one page self-reflection on your class contribution
BEFORE WRITING YOUR ANSWER READ THE BACKGROUND CASE BELOW:
ASSIGNMENT BACKGROUND:
Assignment Background (read this before attempting the question)
On
July 18 2016 Japan’s Softbank announced that it had bought the UK’s ARM
Holdings (a FTSE 100 company) for $32 billion. As the technology
correspondent for Daily Telegraph (for article see link below)
points-out ARM is “the company that wants to put a computer in your
pocket, and a chip in everything” (see second video above). ARM builds
designs for microchips-the brains of computers-which it then licences to
chip making giants suchas Samsung and Qualcomm. ARM is so central to
the smartphone revolution that the current generation of mobile
computing is dubbed as Apple-Google-ARM axis replacing “Wintel”
(Windows and Intel) which dominated the 1990s early 2000s.
In the
video above the CEO of ARM Simon Segars stated that this takeover is
good news for ARM. It will allow ARM to remain dominant in the designing
micro-chips. ARM is currently the world-leader in designing micro-chips
for smart phones (practically every smart phone in the world makes use
of ARM technology) and its chip technology is also found in televisions,
cars, refrigerators. Segars states in the video that over the last 25
years ARM technology has found its way into over 90 billion chips- but
this is just the beginning: in the next few years there will be a huge
demand for the chips in the “internet of things” and fully automated
cars (and many other new technologies. To stay as the world leader will
require ARM to create more invention in chip technology.
This
invention will be financed by Softbank’s deep pockets and will require
more of the world’s brightest chip designers to work for ARM. In fact as
part of the acquisition Softbank has guaranteed that it will double
ARM’s workforce (currently 1,600) over the next 5 years. ARM doesn’t
make the chips- it creates and licences the intellectual property (most
of the employees are chip designers) . Following the sale of ARM to
Softbank, you have been recruited by ARM as Talent Manager with
responsibility for doubling the ARM workforce over the next 5 years. As
you can see from the Financial Times October 2017 ARM had increased the
workforce by 24% so there is still plenty to do over the next 3 years
for Softbank to keep its pledge doubling the workforce.
Assignment learning objectives/outcomes:
• to develop your learning in major themes of HRM
• to stimulate your analytical, critical, and evaluative faculties.
• to put topics into a particular context.
• to help prepare you for the kinds of situations you may face as a future manager.
• to encourage and develop your information gathering and processing skills (investigative skills)
• to be competent at applying relevant theory/literature/best practice to reality
• to encourage and develop your written presentation skills
• to apply literature to the real world of management.
The
marksheet and explanation of the marksheet are on Blackboard. Here are 4
pieces of advice from me based on nearly 25 years lecturing and marking
assignments:
BE INFORMED IN YOUR THINKING
• display capacity for objective thinking
• make use of course material for informed thinking
• Show some original thinking
• apply thoughtfully theory/literature to the question
• INFORMED THINKING demands wide reading
READ WIDELY AND DO JUSTICE TO THAT WIDE READING
• meaningful and relevant literature references in text
• make use of course reading-list and course material
• clear evidence of student making use of library and internet facilities
• some additional references through students own literature search
• detail beyond lecture/textbook
• it is essential that you read widely from the reading list provided
• find sources beyond the reading-list
• ensure you reference your sources clearly in the text of your answers and not just in the bibliography.
DEVELOP A COHERENT ARGUMENT
• strong attention grabbing
• articulate continuous prose developing relevant points
• incisive and without waffle
• comprehensiveness/relevant/punchy
PRESENTATION:
• clear unambiguous English
• essay format
• reader friendly
• Work hard on your tutorial presentation because it influences part of the presentation criterion (see marksheet).
The marksheet is on Blackboard. Here are 4 pieces of advice from me based on 25 years lecturing and marking assignments:
BE INFORMED IN YOUR THINKING
• display capacity for objective thinking
• make use of sources from the course reading-list
• alongside sources from the course find some additional academic sources.
• demonstrate original thinking
• apply thoughtfully theory/literature to the question
• INFORMED THINKING demands wide reading
READ WIDELY AND DO JUSTICE TO THAT WIDE READING
• meaningful and relevant literature references in text of response
•
it is essential that you read widely- make use of sources from the
module reading-list AND some additional references through students own
literature search but not at expense of ignoring the module literature.
• detail beyond lecture-your voice informed by the literature is required.
• ensure you reference your sources clearly in the text of your answers and not just in the bibliography.
DEVELOP A COHERENT ARGUMENT
• strong attention grabbing
• articulate continuous prose developing relevant points
• incisive and without waffle
• comprehensiveness/relevant/punchy
PRESENTATION:
• clear unambiguous English
• essay format
• reader friendly
•
make a big effort to contribute in class: for this assignment you are
required to add one page of self-reflection on your contribution in
seminars.