Summative Assessment 1: Business Solutions Report (90%)
Aim: For students to conduct an individual in-depth investigation into a business problem and produce actionable recommendations
Learning Outcomes Assessed
Design and apply appropriate research methodologies and methods to investigate an important business problem.
Critically evaluate theoretical concepts and apply these to an important business problem.
Demonstrate expertise in research skills by generating appropriate data and undertaking systematic data analysis in order to address the research objectives or questions.
Synthesise arguments, draw conclusions and articulate practical and actionable solutions and evaluate the strategic impact of these.
Submission Requirements:
A 5,000 word Business Solutions Report (+/- 10%)
A Turnitin Similarity Report
The assessment for this course builds on the previous two Summative Assessments: your critical literature review and your research proposal from the preceding courses. This first part of the assessment involves producing an analytical piece of written work that is based upon empirical data collection and the application of theory to an important workbased problem. From your critical data analysis you will be expected to draw conclusion which result in actionable recommendations.
Please not that the word count for your final submission is larger than for previous assessments on the MBA (Global) programme. This is to enable you to effectively incorporate the necessary elements from the work you submitted for Making Sense of Research and Research in Practice. The assessments for these earlier courses will provide the foundation for your business solutions research and as such, they should form a significant element of your final essay.
It is however important that you do not copy your work verbatim, and you must appropriately rework the relevant information from previous assessments to suit your final project report. You will still be expected to submit a Turnitin Similarity Report alongside your final submission, but the given the nature of the research project, a higher Similarity Index is to be expected.
This report is an independent piece of work, so you will be expected to generate your own data and work individually to address your business problem. However, your research process will be supported by Action Learning Set discussions, through which you will have the opportunity to explore your ideas with your peers to enhance your work.
This research project is the culmination of the MBA (Global) assessments, for which you are required to produce a business solutions report. Whilst the research needs to identify a degree of complexity, it is vital that you identify a problem that is realistically achievable within the bounds of an eight-week course.
It is important to provide structure for your business solutions report and we offer a series of heading which you might wish to follow, and which parallel the Marking Criteria for the assessment:
Introduction Provides contextual setting.
Indicative Literature Relevant literature that identifies key debates and concepts.
Methodology Philosophical approach and methods used to gather data.
Analysis Analyse data to produce viable outcomes.
Discussion Discuss how the analysed data and themes relate to the academic literature.
Conclusion Conclude in relation to research projects aims.
Recommendations and Action Plan Provide actionable solutions.
We recommend that, before embarking on the writing itself and to avoid drowning in data, you devise a coherent plan that parallels your research design.
Your work will be assessed in a holistic manner, similar to a peer-review process. Within the masters level remit, we will focus on the extent to which your business solutions report achieves the relevant Learning Outcomes. However, whilst we will evaluate the quality of the writing overall, for example being analytical, rather than descriptive, we will also use the Marking Criteria given below to inform the feedback and mark allocation for the assessment.
Key Specifications and Requirements
You may refer to any of the materials and tools introduced on the course but must:
Ensure a high quality of argument is present in your work.
Provide evidence to support any arguments made.
Maintain the framework for a report style.
Write in a way that is suitable for the academic perspective you adopt, which means you may use first or third person as is appropriate within your article.
Label any diagrams used (e.g. Figure 1), give it a title, and credit the source.
Use Harvard referencing accurately.
Remember, the report/essay should be written in your own words. If you use a quote or directly insert words used by others then these must be placed in speech marks () and be followed by the author(s) family name, year and page number(s). If you are just using an idea then you should still acknowledge (reference)the source, but no page numbers are needed.
Ultimately, remember, you are navigating the reader through ideas/thinking and evidence and you are coming to a position. As such, there must be considerable you in the work. The work cannot simply be a collection of others peoples commentary. You should be comparing, contrasting, evaluating and then ultimately proposing a conclusion.
Write 5,000 words (+/- 10% not including references) and include a word count at the end of the assignment.
Marking Criteria
Your work will be assessed based on the following criteria:
Introduction Provides contextual setting; clearly explains problem and why, from an organisational perspective, it is strategically important. Provide precisely written research question and objective or research questions.
Indicative Literature Demonstrates critical knowledge of relevant literature by identifying key debates, concepts, frameworks and theories. Clarifies how the literature informs and supports the research.
Methodology Explains and justifies the approaches used to select, gather and organise relevant data.
Analysis Uses relevant approach in analysing data and produces sophisticated, in-depth outcomes. Presents results in user-friendly and informative format.
Discussion Discusses how the analysed data and themes relate to the academic literature. Identifies trends and patterns in theories and authors, and alerts the reader to criticisms. Develops the main arguments and makes explicit how the research objectives or questions have been achieved. Takes the reader on a logical journey and presents well-developed sub-sections that focus on a coherent story or theme.
Conclusion Provides conclusions that relate to the research projects aims and which flow from the discussion.
Recommendations and Action Plan Draws together key areas to provide actionable solutions that flow from the analysis; are related to the overall purpose of the project and are persuasive, realistic, timely and cost-effective. Produces a credible action plan to include a cost-benefit analysis and measurement, relevant to the organisation.
Submit your material by Friday 12pm (midday UK time) of Week 8 of this course.
You should first upload any written materials to Turnitin and download your Similarity Report.
Upload your final submission documents along with your Turnitin Similarity Report to the assessment area.
When uploading your work, make sure it is to the correct section of the Assessment area, either Summative Assessment 1 or Summative Assessment 2.
Please note that if a Turnitin report is requested as part of the assessment specification, failure to complete and submit the Similarity Report to the assessment area will result in an assessment grade of zero. If you are unable to access Turnitin please alert your Programme Coordinator.
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