Investigative Management
You should speculate on your own future career path. Please include a paragraph on your reflections. Include here anything interesting and / or relevant to your career that you discovered in the course of undertaking this assignment. Write a report (1500 words +/- 10%) on your findings. Include two appendices:
- Interview Schedule
- Interviewees’ contact details
Assessment title:
Examine the extent to which the career paths of two managers conform, or do not conform, to the pattern of the Managerial Escalator. Reflect on the potential implications of the
Managerial Escalator model and the findings of your interviews for your own career.
Abstract:
1. Introduction
2. The Theory
3. Findings
3.1 Findings Manager 1
3.2 Findings Manager 2
4. Discussion
4.1 Discussion Manager 1
4.2 Discussion Manager 2
5. Reflections & Conclusion
6. References
7. Appendices
- Appendix 1. Interview Schedule
- Appendix 2. Interviewees’ contact details
Task
- Interview two managers or people with supervisory responsibilities.
- Identify your interviewees’ career paths into management.
- Identify the problems that your interviewees have faced related to the Managerial Escalator
- Word count: 1,500 words +/- 10% (excluding material in the title page, abstract, table of content, reference list at the end of the report and appendices).
Assessment task:
For the first assignment you are asked to interview two people with supervisory or managerial responsibility and write a report on:
The extent to which the career paths of both people you have interviewed conform, or do not conform, to the pattern of the managerial escalator. Reflect on the implications of the Managerial
Escalator model and the findings of your interviews for your own career.
In order to carry out this assignment you are asked to: Study the content of Chapter One in the book: Skills of Management and Leadership (Rees & Porter, 2015).
Find two managers to interview – these could be relatives, friends, acquaintances, or managers that you come across in the course of your daily life.
Work out from doing the above reading, what questions you need to ask. Devise a questionnaire based on your reading and check the questions out with your class, seminar or workshop tutor.
When you have carried out your two interviews, write a report on your findings, bearing in mind the advice given in the Lecture Week 2, and the reading on Blackboard.
Please remember that your report is an academic piece of work and that an academic reader will be reading it. We are interested in how well you understand the concept of the Managerial Escalator
and its relevance to the two managers you have interviewed, as well as yourself.
Supporting documents relating to the Interview:
• Appendix 1 – Please attach the questionnaire schedule you have drawn up as an Appendix to the report. You do not need to include the actual interview responses.
• Appendix 2 – You are asked to submit the names and contact details of the two managers you have interviewed. We reserve the right to contact the managers in the event of suspected plagiarism.
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Coursework assessment marking criteria
The mark you receive will be influenced by the following:
- Criterion
- Weighting
Has the task been carried out as specified i.e. two interviews with managers & the theory of the Managerial Escalator tested on them; reflections on implications for your own career.20% - Quality of the questionnaire
20% - Use of evidence to underpin any points that are being made
15% - Quality of the discussion: is the argument coherent and does it follow a logical structure?
20% - Has the Westminster Harvard referencing system been used correctly?
10% - Use of correct spelling, punctuation and grammar
15%
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Detailed guidance notes
Title page: Include the word count, your name, your ID number, the coursework title, the University of Westminster, the date, your seminar leader name, the module code and title.
Abstract: Include an Abstract, which in practice is the same as an Executive Summary. It should not be too long but should concentrate on what you found out rather than what you planned to do. It
is not the same as an Introduction because an Abstract should include a brief summary of the findings of the report.
Table of content: Include a table of content at the beginning of your report with page numbers.
Introduction: A short introduction should introduce the whole report and not just the topic. i.e. introduce the purpose, the structure of the report (“say what you are going to say”) and the topic
briefly.
Report structure: This can vary from one paper to another. You will need to include several headings and / or subheadings. Please discuss your report draft with your seminar leader or lecturers.
Briefing on the possible structure of the report can be found on Blackboard or in Cottrell, S. (2013). The Study Skills Handbook. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Analysis: You are required to find that one or both people you interviewed career path to date conform to the concept of the Managerial Escalator. In some cases they may not. You need to find out
in the interview whether they do or not. The example of the Managerial Escalator in the book is indicative only. In particular the time scale or over which people accumulate managerial responsibilities will to vary from person to person.
You will need to explain the concept of the Managerial Escalator at the start of your report.
One way of representing your findings, which can be very effective, is to draw diagrams of the actual progression of the two people you have interviewed.
There is no bar on interviewing two people from the same organization and/or family members.
It is best to have face-to-face interviews and encourage people to enlarge on what they have to say – they may bring up relevant points that you had not thought to ask. Additionally you will have
to evaluate what they say in terms of how accurate you think their responses may be.
Reflection: You should speculate on your own future career path. Please include a paragraph on your reflections. Include here anything interesting and / or relevant to your career that you
discovered in the course of undertaking this assignment.
Conclusion: Tie up your arguments in the conclusion – but this is not the place to include fresh evidence. Be sure to answer the question contained in the assignment title. You may want to add
recommendations about what the parties need to do or what the organization could do to make them more effective.
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Referencing: When you make direct quotes you should put them in inverted comas and give brief details of the source, including the page number e.g. (Rees and Porter, 2015, p.5). The full reference
should appear in the list of references. You can cross check with examples from Rees and Porter (2016) on how to layout references.
General references to e.g. a book or article do not have to appear in inverted commas.
A bibliography is used for any general works you have used.
Report format: Insert page numbers in your repot, use double spacing between the lines, use a bigger margin on the right, Use font Arial 12 or similar, use formal language, British English
spelling.
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Questions and Answers of two Managers
1) What is your specialism ?
first manager: I don’t have any specialism, me and my family we have been working in restaurant for our whole life, and I decided to be involved in it
second manager: I got a international business with economics degree at regents university
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2) How were you selected for your current position ?
first manager: I have been selected for my long experience in the industry plus my university skills second manager: I wasn’t selected, I started it on my own with my family, I started working for my parents as a waiter, day by day experience by experience I got more responsibilities and my managerial positions
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3) why were you selected ?
second manager : I have been working in nightlife for 8 years, while I was studying and I was involved in the opening of a club for my experience in the industry and for my degree
4) Did you get any managerial trainings? if yes what kind of training and for how long ? how effective it was ?
first manager: yes I did many managerial course, but the best training to learn how to manage people is to work as much as them, if you want to sucesfuly manage a group of people, you have to show
them that you are not only giving order but you hace to show that you are working as much as them or even more. In my experience talking about restaurant, strating as a waiter I learned how to deal
with people and how to deal with the staff, because at first I was part of the staff on my own.
second manager : I didn’t get any managerial trainings, I got to know how to deal with people and how to manage them with my long experience in the industry
5) Why did you accept the managerial jobs ?
first manager : I accepted it, because after 1 year of working as a waiter, I thought that manage a restaurant was the new step to understand and prove my abilities.
second manager: I accepted to be involved, cause it was a new milestone in my life and a new situation to prove my skills
6) What motivates you to do this job ?
first manager: is my own restaurant, is my chance to make something great out of my experience, I’m deeply involved in it.
second manager: is the best way I can prove my self what I learned during these years,running my own club, I have this opportunity and this motivates me to work hard on it.
7) How do you manage your specialist and managerial responsibilities ?
first manager : day by day, I got in to more responsibilities, manage them take 60-70 % of my time, but even if sometimes I miss some of them, I’m always doing my best to attend everything.
second manager: manage responsibilities is not always easy, it is all about timetable, time management, you need to perfect plan your day, to be sure you will attend all your commitments
8) What are your managerial responsibilities ?
first manager: as manager of restaurants, everyday I have to look after the staff, sale, marketing, stock, everyday I have to check the igienic situation of the restaurant, order fresh food. I have
to be sure that everything is running correctly.
second manager: I manage a huge team of promoter every night , staff, bouncer, I look after the inventories and stock for the club, dancers. I have to make the floor plan every night and promoters payments every week. I’m always looking to hire new promoter in order to spread better the name of the club
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9) how does the organization support you ?
first manager: the organization support me, when I say organization I mean the staff, cause as I do they believe in what we are making everyday.
second manager: the club financially support all my initiatives regarding the club
10) were you managerial responsibilities explained to you before you started the job?
First manager : they were not that clear, when I started honestly I thought it was easier, month by month, client by client I had to deal with more responsibilities everyday.
Second manager: Yes they were more then clear, and I decided to take the place cause I thought I was able to attend the request.
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11) How many people do you manage ?
first manager: at the moment, I manage a team of more then 60 people divided in 4 restaurant all in London.
second manager: I manage a team of more then 30 people
12) Are you comfortable to take over more responsibilities ?
first manager: I have to deal with that, while the organization is growing I will always have to deal with more responsibilities, but yes I’m happy to spend my self in to it
second manager: take over responsibilities means always more time and effort, take responsibilities is not a fast decision you need to be sure you can actually deal with them. Before to take more responsibilities
