The essay should be typed in Arial font, size 11 or 12. properly referenced Harvard style, i.e sources of
quotes from and citations of published work must br indicated clearly in the text of the essay and full details
of all references at the end of the essay. An essay is NOT a report, it should therefore not be written in point
form; one sentence cannot be a paragraph as this is a collection of sentences. Do not write in one sentence
paragraphs. An essay should offer a general introduction to the topic area, develop this discussion with
specific arguments offering an analysis of the area, ultimately drawing the arguments together in the
conclusion. A report describes, an essay offers analysis (where description determines how something
happened, analysis offers explanations as to why it happened). Do not make unsupported statements, for
example, ‘during the 1980s management became increasing powerful’ or ‘the majority of the labour force are
no longer interested in trade union membership’; these statements must be followed by a reference indicating
they came from a text or an actual study of workplace change, otherwise it is your opinion, unless of course
you have personally spoken to the majority of the UK workforce so you know they are not interested in trade
union membership! Your opinion should only ever be offered against a specific point when you have given
evidence for and against the issue and are drawing a measured conclusion. Arguments must be referenced
using the Harvard system of referencing that is:
‘the state remains a key player in shaping employment relations. It may be different from what is was in the
past with individual employee protections such as the national minimum wage, extended paternity leave,
statutory union representation and employee consultation, but it also supports an environment of free
enterprise and capitalism’ (Dundon and Rollinson, 2011: 184)