Example Questions for a

Management Essay
SAMPLE QUESTIONS

1. Aid hinders development rather than enhances it.

2. Analyze the Intel organization. Use appropriate examples and theories.
3. Write an investigative report on a well-known organization (e.g. British Telecom or
the BBC) embarked on significant change such as expansion, downsizing, or
something similar. Indicate whether the organization’s endeavors are likely to be
successful or not.
4. A client wants you to use your post-graduate qualifications in advanced
professional development to undertake a SWOT analysis within their company.
Present your analysis in essay form.
5. Choose an organization for evaluation to determine whether it deserves
investment.
6. Describe and explain current research on leadership and say how this helps a
business better understand the relationship between leadership and
organizational change. Explain how a good understanding of leadership theories
can reduce employee resistence when an organization is undergoing change.
7. Critically evaluate the David Ulrich business model and whether the concept of
partnering in business can result in better value to an organization.
8. Show that you are able to analyse the different complexities that exist within
various organisations and business environments.
9. Analyze how industrial relations are practiced in Australia and the UK using a
compare and contrast style of evaluation.
10. Study the statement provided and critically analzye it in terms of its application in
international human resource management.
11. Select a development project in your local community and critically analyze it in
the context of its impact on project stakeholders and their businesses/networks.
12. Critically analyze the sophisticated e-marketing strategy employed by Dell (i.e.
the technology company) and say how effective this is as an e-business tool i.e.
whether this strategy helps the company remain competitive in its marketplace.
13. Identify the main challenges faced by modern-day organizations in the areas of

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 learning and professional development. Analyze these in light of contantly
changing work environments.
14. Consider the product lifecycle as it goes through its various stages and discuss
how these can impact a business’s performance in terms of cost recovery.
15. Select a multinational organization that appeals to or interests you and describe
the business model it uses. Choose a particular prolem this organization is
currently experiencing. Describe any relevant intervention measures that could
resolve the issue. Say why these measures could or should work and justify your
choice. Write an intervention proposal and use available literature to support your
reasoning and/or arguments.
16. Continuing on from above, compare the solutions you have suggested in terms
of the strategic advantage they could generate in the context of helping the
organization remain competitive. Say how much of a strategic advantage your
solution(s) could result in.
17. Discuss the statement provided and illustrate your point(s) with one or more
examples from a corporation or organization of your own choosing.
18. Discuss the concept that the development of human resources is an ethical
enterprise.
19. Explain which method of research (Philosophy or Paradigm) is the most
appropriate for researching and understanding social sciences i.e. interpretivism
or positivism?
20. What are the implications for an organization if the product lifecyle were to be
shortened?
21. Critically evaluate the primary problems surrounding ongoing learning and
professional development in modern workplaces. Present your answer in a
coherent and logical manner and support your views with relevant research and
theories.
22. Critically examine a range of empirical and theoretical research and discuss the
best way to understand the part that leadership plays when an organization is
embarked on a program of change.
23. Consider Larry Greiner’s proposed organization i.e. the development viewpoint.
Critically analyze this approach in terms of its limitations and usefulness and
compare it to other organization types such as American-style organizations.
24. In your opinion, should a multinational organization run its operation as a
closely-integrateted global business or would it be better to allow the individual

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 national subsidiaries to operate in an autonomous manner?
25. Your tutor has given you the opportunity to select any idea, theme, or theory from
your course seminars and/or lectures to begin your own research or
investigation into a specific and relevant topic.
26. Examine how and to what extent public sector polices are influenced by user
demand with specific reference to the selection procedures used for entry into
primary schools.
27. Evaluate the different political, industrial, economic, and internal factors that have
caused fluctuations in trade union power over the decades. In your opinion, is
membership of trade union organizations likely to increase or decrease in Britain
over the next few years?
28. Critically review two related and refereed journal articles on the subject of
managing information in business.
29. Management practices transformed productivity rates in the British
manufacturing industry during the 80s and early into the 90s. However, output
did not increase after it peaked in the 80s. Your task is to compare and contrast
the experience in Britain against a major international competitor.
30. Discuss the competition in monopolistic markets.
31. Consider two major airlines – Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic – in respect of
psychological contract. Discusss the various challenges that the managers of
both companies face in their efforts to achieve operational effectiveness while
sustaining the psychological contracts of both company’s employees.
32. Describe how businesses use PESTEL analysis to measure the general external
marketing environment and how they use Porters 5 Forces for measuring
competitive factors in order to plan and make business decisions. Choose any
organization you like to illustrate your explanation and indicate which factors are
of the greatest importance to an organization, and explain why.
33. How secure is the future of the tourism industry? List five main factors you think
will have an impact on this industry’s future to support your argument.
34. Imagine you have been asked to write a proposal for an event that involves a play
touring three different venues in a large London university – you are free to
choose a university.
35. The Salvation Army is a charitable organization. Say what stakeholder problems
this organization might face and how should it go about resolving these
problems.

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36. What is measured by mystery dining?
37. A particular company in the oil and gas business is quoted on AIM (Alternative
Investment Market) at a value of approximately £300 million. The company
issued 150 million worth of capital in the form of ordinary 10p shares. As this
company’s CEO, your task is to grow it into a top international independent
company in its field. Set out your stategy for achieving this goal.
38. Your task is to come up with an event and create a comprehensive operating
plan, which you will present to your colleagues in a seminar. You will respond to
any comments or criticisms they have and they will award you marks based on
the content of your presentation.
39. Explain the facors – both short and long term - that primarily influence the
planning of human resource policies.
40. Write a report on Change and Leadership Management.
41. Using materials from your course i.e. seminars, classes, lectures, etc., explain
how recent research has highlighted a number of changes in human resource
management practices. Describe the extent of these changes and the
implications of these on existing theories in this field.
42. Critically evaluate whether the “soft system” methodological approach is an
appropriate tool for managing quality in various types of projects.
43. A particular international enterprise was able to expand during the economic
downturn and now this company is looking at new ways to optimize its
operations. Your task is to look specifically at MIS (Management Information
Systems), the role of these systems, and how the implementation of such a
system could be used to manage a remotely located workforce.
44. Imagine you are the boss of a software-writing company catering for the rapidly
growing markets emerging from smartphone and tablet usage and from the use
of almost any electronic gadget in offices, homes, and virtually everywhere you
can name. Now say what tools, techniques, processes and strategies your
organization would use to differentiate it from any standard or conventional
factory.
45. Your task here is to evaluate the four operational strategy perspectives outlined
in the provided text with specific reference to a small to medium-sized enterprise
(SME) in a country that is a member of the Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD).
46. Discuss the notion that, ultimately, women are not strong enough for management
positions in terms of the attitudes to gender within an organization.

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47. Using literature covered in your course, critically analyze how the UK’s National
Health Service (NHS) attempts to use human resources efficiently and
effectively to gain and maintain a competitive edge.
48. In recent times, ERM (Enterprise Risk Management) has become a common and
popular practice within the financial sector. This is increasingly being encrypted
and codified into the blueprints for enterprise management as well as corporate
and regulatory governance. Discuss the benefits of ERM.
49. Write an essay that incorporates an interview on how a company selects various
suppliers and manages supplier relationships. Choose a company on which to
base your essay.
50. Choose any theory or case study you feel is relevant to anayze how employee
motivation is influenced by the style of leadership in an organization. Discuss in
a critical manner the developments required in the theory or case study you have
chosen to ensure the organization is successful.
51. Explain how individual groups can be made more effective and the well-being of
its members preserved. Use arguments and existing theories to justify your view
as well as evidence and empirical data from research. Your analysis needs to be
founded on concepts, models and theories from studying organizational
behavior and it shoud be specifically linked to data collected from observing a
group at work.
52. Evaluate the main issues faced by operators in the mobile communications and
devices industry but only those related to a case study you have chosen i.e. Apple
with its iPhone, IPad and iPod devices or one of its competitors e.g. RIM, Nokia,
Samsung or a similar enterprise. Your evaluation should not include the personal
computer industry but should focus exclusively on the communiations and
mobile industry.
53. Write an investigative report that critically analyses and evaluates some area of
business of your own choosing and discuss it in the context of learning and
personal development at both the organizational and personal level.
54. Discuss the dilemma facing an organization in terms of whether it should change
or not change.
55. Critically evaluate your own personal skills, experience, practice, and what you
need to do to develop professionally.
56. Evaluate the unique relationships that exist between the marketing and
operational aspects of a business. Choose one problem to focus on, which can
be either the operational or marketing side but one that shows how this is

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 influenced by both functions.
57. Write a report that critically examines and evaluates the design and operational
aspects of an MIS (management information system).
58. Write an essay that reflects on how a group of five individuals from different
countries might be able to work together successfully.
59. Would you agree that a fast-growing product marketplace is an essential
prerequisite to achieving a superior level of productivity and, if so, to what extent?
60. Disscuss business management in the aviation industry.
61. This task requires you to write a 3,000-word report (approximately) for the
management team of a company of your own choosing on how you think
complaints should be investigated. Your report should also propose an
appropriate strategy for the management team to protect the health of its
workforce.
62. Explain one management process covered during your course.
63. This task requires you to research value management and demonstrate how it is
applicable to a property management or development business. Your resulting
report should be a critical, concise and professional evaluation of your findings.
64. According to Preston C Bottger and Jean-Louis Barsoux (Wall Street Journal,
November 2009), it is necessary for a leader to gain and retain power and
exercise it, whatever else they do. Explain what this means and whether and why
you agree or not with this statement.
65. Name the trade-related theories that help us better understand how car
production is distributed in the global economy.
66. Investigate and write a report on any issue(s) you experienced in respect of a
significant change within your business or organization.
67. Critically access any research that suggests the quest for an aviation industry
that is sustainable is still a pipe dream.
68. Consider the term “bureaucracy,” and list its key features.
69. Write a report evaluating the management theory evident in Ford - the
world-famous car-manufacturing company.
70. Critically assess how drug error is calculated and managed by hospital nurses.
71. Organizations that are successful are guided and characterized by a strong
vision and strong values. It is this vision and values that determines what

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 constitutes appropriate and inappropriate behaviour. Explain how a strong and
healthy culture can be instilled in an organization if it reflects upon and shares its
values on a daily basis with its employees.
72. In your opinion, does improved product quality and improved productivity flow
result in increased sales and higher profits? If so, to what extent? Provide
examples when critically analyzing the connections.
73. Discuss two important areas of HR management.
74. Select any college or university you are familiar with and apply the concept of
stakeholder mapping to it. Explain what your analysis says about the different
stakeholders and their levels of power and interest.
75. Write a report containing a critical analysis and summative evaluation of one
particular element of performance management. Your report should include
relevant research and a review of best industry practice as applied within the
setting of an organization. Provide also a summary (approximately 500 words)
of the business’s financial standing and performance.
76. Expalin the links (i.e. legal obligations and compliance issues) between the
requirements of the 1974 Health and Safety Act (the prevailing health and safety
laws) and the five key steps involved in successfully applying health and safety
in a workplace.
77. Discuss how employers might meet their legal responsibilities for protecting the
health, safety, and well-being of employees and/or other persons.
78. Describe the link or relationship that exists between employee performance and
motivation and any key factors that affect the latter.
79. Discuss the disastrous BP or Deepwater Horizon oil spillage that occurred in the
Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
80. Select a situation that is a problem in your place of work and say how you would
go about investigating and solving it.
81. Critically assess the management approaches employed in Apple Inc.
82. UK airports seem to keep on expanding. Analyze and discus the implications of
these expansions.
83. Describe how some individuals can be leaders but not managers, some
managers but not leaders, and others can be both.
84. Choose one or more organizations and look on their company’s websites or in
journals or newspapers for information about them. Then discuss each

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 organization’s management style.
85. Select a type of business from the following categories: a retail bank, hotel
franchise, or a provider of healthcare services and evaluate the characteristics
that influence their structure. Your analysis should describe how work is divided
and the traits that affect organizational hierarchies.
86. Are employees usually motivated by threats or incentives?
87. Discuss why organizations subscribe to social responsibility. Is it because
managers are pressurized by the media and various social movements/groups?
88. Critically examine a variety of empirical-type research and theory to establish
how the role of leaders can be properly understood when an organization is
undergoing change.
89. Evaluate how organizations use partnering or partnership agreeements and
other vital tools to both save money for their customers/clients and to increase
quality in construction and building projects.
90. Explain the concept of team working and what is required to create effective
teams in organizations. Your evaluation should include an overview of the key
factors that contribute to creating or preventing successful teamwork.
91. Are there any circumstances where it would be possible or feasible for an MNC
(multinational company) to completely relocate itself from its country of origin
and create a set of HR management policies and operational practices that are
truly “global.” Your argument(s) should include supporting examples.
92. Explain whether ownership by employees makes them more productive and
committed.
93. Analyze and discuss management skills and roles in the engineering and
construction industry.
94. Identify and understand a suitable cultural style for a manager or organization.
95. Critically evaluate the consequences of the physical capacity and design
limitations for a high to average volume airport.
96. Explain how a team functions. Your evaluation should make special reference to
an organization’s leadership style and how effective leadership should and can
contribut to ensuring team productivity and motivation levels.
97. As a managerial system, the unitarist account of staff relations suggests that
the principle of employment is based on structured or determined antagonism.
Would you agree that this view puts unitarists in a good position to provide

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 effective guidance on how to manage conflict in the workplace?
98. What impact has surveillance had on employee relations or an organization’s
relationship with its employees?
99. The structures in organizations are informal and, therefore, how a business
operates owes much more to group values and norms than to procedures and
structures. Disucss this theory and how it affects organisational change.
100. What is meant by innovation and how does the role of innovation apply in or
impact various parts of the hospitality sector?
101. Critically analyze the requirements and aspirations of customers and create a
practical framework that would help a local housing provider or association
develop sustainable strategies and good practices to satisfy the core
operational objectives of a business or organization.
102. What were the factors that made you decide to study for your Master’s degree
at a particular university?
103. Discuss the change management process with particular reference to the first
two parts of the process.
104. Analyze the impact of the different styles of leadership in the post-colonial
period. You could examine, for example, the private sector in a country such as
Jordan.
105. Use suitable examples to explain how the performance of managerial staff is
affected by inter-organization relationships, communication and interpersonal
skills.
106. Discuss how employees are represented in modern employment/workplace
relations.
107. What is your view of Taylorism and how do you think these ideas apply in
modern workplaces?
108. Suggest ways for improving product quality and productivity.
109. Recommend ways the product lifecycle could be improved to help with cost
recovery.
110. What are the factors that have most influenced pay and renumeration over the
past twenty to thirty years?