ASSESSMENT BRIEF AND MARKING RUBRIC

Module title: Managing strategy, operations and partnerships (SG7001) Assessment point: Resit Assessment point 1 (Week 6)

Assessment task: Report

Word count limit: 4500 words +/- 10% (excluding references and appendices)

Procedure in the event of illness or other valid cause (extenuating circumstances)

If you believe that:

• your performance in assessment or reassessment has been impaired, or;
• you were unable to attend for an assessment or reassessment, or;
• you were unable to submit assessed or reassessed work by the scheduled date due to illness or other valid cause (as defined in the Procedures Governing Extenuating Circumstances), may submit an application for extenuation for the relevant component(s) to Unicaf Extenuating Circumstances team (extenuating.circumstances@unicaf.org). *Once a component has been capped, extenuation does not uncap it.

Academic misconduct including plagiarism

Ensure that you are familiar with the relevant regulations regarding academic misconduct. By submitting the assignment, you declare that it is your own work and that the material and sources of information used, including internet sources, have been fully identified and properly acknowledged. In addition, you confirm that the presented work has not been submitted for any other assessment. You also acknowledge that the faculty reserves the right to investigate allegations of plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct which, if proven and dependent on the severity level of the offence, may result in a penalty that could affect your progress.

By submitting your work, you acknowledge that you have read and agreed with the above statements.

General Guidance

Your assignment should be MS Word processed (handwritten assignments are not accepted), using Times New Roman size 12 font, double spaced, with numbered pages and your student number printed as a footer on every page. Note this is a report supported by academic research so you should adhere to the appropriate referencing guidance. The word limit stated for this assignment excludes the list of references at the end of the assignment but includes all text in the main body of the assignment (including direct quotations, in-text citations, footnotes, tables, diagrams and graphs). Please be aware that exceeding the word limit will affect the academic judgement of the piece of work and may result in the award of a lower mark. Appendices are not considered a supplement and will not be assessed as part of the content of the assignment. As such, they will not contribute to the grade awarded; however, it may be appropriate to use an Appendices section for any material which is a useful reference for the reader. Please note that appendices are not included in the word count. The majority of references should come from primary sources (e.g. journal articles, conference papers, reports, etc.) although you can also utilise area specific textbooks. You must ensure that you use the Harvard style of referencing. Please indicate the word count length at the end of your assignment.

Marking and assessment

This assignment will be marked out of 100% The pass mark is 50%. Coursework submitted up to 24 hours late will be accepted, but the component mark will be subject to a deduction of 5 marks from the mark awarded or a mark of 50% whichever is the greater unless there are valid extenuating circumstances.

The marking rubric is attached, which offers guidance on the assessment criteria and weighting.

However, it is important to note that resit students must take into consideration the feedback they received from the previous submission/s of this assessment point, in order to enhance their work, which will enable them to get a passing grade.

Learning outcomes applied in this assessment

• [critically] Evaluate the impact of current and emerging trends on organizations
• Demonstrate an ability to effectively analyse problems and issues employing a range of appropriate concepts, theories and approaches.

6. Apply tools and techniques of strategic and operations analysis.

8. Develop succinct business reports.

Assessment guidelines

Produce a 4500-word report (+/- 10%) (excluding the list of references) which offers students the ability to demonstrate their developing knowledge and application of the teaching and learning material covered in weeks 1 to 5. It also encourages students to develop their thoughts and perspectives on contemporary business issues, and be intellectually creative (underpinned by credible resources).

Task

Students are required to produce a report (LO8) on one international organization of their choosing and address the following issues:

Task 1:

Brief introduction to the organisation and sector it operates in, including a summary of the past 3 years’ revenue, operating profits and general overview of the business’s operational activities (LO2).

Task 2:

An outline of one strategic business issue they are, or have recently, faced; contextualised within the organisational setting, including an overview of relevant strategic decisions that led to their current position (discussed through relevant literature, tools and techniques) (LO2/3).

Task 3:

Critical analysis of why the issue has strategic implications and its impact on its stakeholders (discussed through relevant literature and supported by other contemporary examples) (LO2/6).

In selecting the company to analyse, students will want to spend time identifying an international organization which has experienced, or is experiencing, major issues as a result of current and emerging global trends, and satisfy themselves that there are a number of credible resources from which to refer. Well established media (e.g. BBC, Financial Times, New York Times, etc) may be used to develop the context of the discussion, but the material used to underpin the research and analysis should be from academic books and/or peer reviewed academic journals.

***

Report Format What is a report?

A report is written for a clear purpose and to a particular audience. Specific information and evidence are presented, analysed and applied to a particular problem or issue. The information is presented in a clearly structured format making use of sections and headings so that the information is easy to locate and follow.

When you are asked to write a report, you will usually be given a report brief which provides you with instructions and guidelines. The report brief may outline the purpose, audience and problem or issue that your report must address, together with any specific requirements for format or structure. This guide offers a general introduction to report writing.

What makes a good report?

Two of the reasons why reports are used as forms of written assessment are:

• to find out what you have learned from your reading, research or experience;
• to give you experience of an important skill that is widely used in the work place.

An effective report presents and analyses facts and evidence that are relevant to the specific problem or issue of the report brief. All sources used should be acknowledged and referenced throughout, in accordance with the preferred method of your department.

The style of writing in a report is usually less discursive than in an essay, with a more direct and economic use of language. A well written report will demonstrate your ability to:

• understand the purpose of the report brief and adhere to its specifications;
• gather, evaluate and analyse relevant information;
• structure material in a logical and coherent order;
• present your report in a consistent manner according to the instructions of the report brief;
• make appropriate conclusions that are supported by the evidence and analysis of the report;
• make thoughtful and practical recommendations where required.

The structure of a report

The main features of a report are described below to provide a general guide. These should be used in conjunction with the instructions or guidelines provided by your department.

Title Page

This should briefly but explicitly describe the purpose of the report (if this is not obvious from the title of the work); remember to add your name and student number/assessment number, and which assessment it pertains to.

Summary (Abstract)

The summary should briefly describe the content of the report. It should cover the aims of the report, what was found and a brief review of the conclusions. Aim for about 1/2 a page in length and avoid detail or discussion; just outline the main points. Remember that the summary is the first thing that is read. It should provide the reader with a clear, helpful overview of the content of the report.

Contents (Table of Contents)

The contents page should list the different chapters and/or headings together with the page numbers. Your contents page should be presented in such a way that the reader can quickly scan the list of headings and locate a particular part of the report. You may want to number chapter headings and subheadings in addition to providing page references. Whatever numbering system you use, be sure that it is clear and consistent throughout.

Introduction

The introduction sets the scene for the main body of the report. The aims and objectives of the report should be explained in detail. Any problems or limitations in the scope of the report should be identified, and a description of research methods, the parameters of the research and any necessary background history should be included.

Methods

Information under this heading may include: a list of research methods used (e.g. literature review using ProQuest resources and the filter criteria applied for each search) and other sources of information and details of selection/rejection; reference to any problems encountered and subsequent changes in procedure.

Discussion

The main body of the report is where you discuss your material. The literature and evidence you have gathered should be summarised, analysed and discussed with specific reference to the problem or issue. If your discussion section is lengthy you might divide it into section headings. Your points should be grouped and arranged in an order that is logical and easy to follow. Use headings and subheadings to create a clear structure for your material. Use bullet points to present a series of points in an easy-to-follow list. As with the whole report, all sources used should be acknowledged and correctly referenced (remember to use the most credible resources available).

Conclusion

In the conclusion you should show the overall significance of what has been covered. You may want to remind the reader of the most important points that have been made in the report or highlight what you consider to be the most central issues or findings. However, no new material should be introduced in the conclusion. Remember to specifically answer the initial questions posed.

Appendices

Under this heading you should include all the supporting information you have used that is not published. This might include tables, graphs, questionnaires, surveys or transcripts. Refer to the appendices in the body of your report.

List of References

A key feature of academic writing, the list of references should list – in alphabetical order by author – all published sources referred to in your report. There are different styles of using references so be sure to refer to the study guide and check your departmental handbook for guidelines.

Note the suggested structure for your essay:

Section/aspect	Content to cover	Marks available
Introduction	General background on the	10 Marks
500 words	topic you are going to discuss.
	Possible definitions for terms
	relating to the question.
	What the essay will include
	and/or leave out (scope).
	What themes the essay will
	discuss and the order they are
	presented.
	What the essay will argue /
	demonstrate (thesis statement).

Main Body	The following structure can be	60 Marks
3500 words	used for discussion of the themes
	that you have identified:
	T – topic (sentence to introduce
	the theme or topic of the
	paragraph)
	E – example (you could mention
	an example  here to focus the
	topic)
	S – support (bring in supporting
	information from your research /
	eg.	theory,	research	studies,
	statistics,		legislation,
	professional		guidelines,
	examples from practice)
	T	–	talk	about	the	ideas
	(strengths,		weaknesses,
	importance,		relevance,
	usefulness, comparison to other
	ideas). Evaluation and critical
	discussion of the	supporting
	materials and how they relate to
	the question under scrutiny –
	keep the discussion focused on
	answering the question in the
	essay title.
Conclusions	Links	back	to	the	themes	15 Marks
500 words	identified in the introduction.
	A reminder of what the essay has
	argued.
	A recap of the main themes that
	have been discussed.
Formatting and	High quality presentation of the	15 Marks
Referencing	material that conforms to
(list of references not	principles of academic writing
included in word	and contains minimal errors in
count)	sentence construction, grammar
	and punctuation. The
	assignment followed
	appropriate academic
	conventions regarding in-text
	citations and referencing.
Total: 4500 words		100
Marks

Masters Grading Scale

Grade	Grade Range
Distinction	70-100 %
Merit	60-69 %
Pass	50-59 %
Not passed	0-49 %

	Module Title:		Managing strategy, operations and partnerships (SG7001)
Assessment Title:			Resit Assessment Point 1		Weighted: 75% 4500-word
report
Criteria and	90-100%		80 – 90%		70 – 79%	60 – 69%	50 – 59%		40 – 49%	20 – 39%	0-19%
weighting	Highly	Outstanding	Excellent	Very Good	Good Quality	Acceptable	Work does not	Work fails to
	Exceptional	Work	Work	Quality Work	Work	work with some	satisfy	meet the
	Work					good aspects	assessment	assessment
							criteria	criteria
25%
Selection and	Exceptional and		Excellent		Very good	Good	Adequate		Some	Poor quality of	No
application of a	outstanding		integration of		integration of	integration of	integration of		integration of	integration of	integration of
relevant case	integration of		the appropriate		the	the appropriate	the appropriate		the appropriate	the appropriate	the
study subject	the appropriate		data,		appropriate	data,	data,		data,	data,	appropriate
and the	data,		contextualised		data,	contextualised	contextualised		contextualised	contextualised	data,
identification of	contextualised		with good		contextualise	with good	with good		with limited	with very	contextualise
the strategic	with commercial		evidence to		d with	evidence to	evidence to		evidence to	limited evidence	d with very
issues,	awareness,		show		evidence to	show overall	show overall		show awareness,	to show	poor
underpinned by	business		commercial		show	awareness,	awareness,		business	awareness,	evidence to
resources to	maturity and		awareness,		commercial	business	business		maturity and	business	show
inform	skill.		business		awareness,	maturity and	maturity and		skill.	maturity and	awareness,
discussions			maturity and		business	skill.	skill.			skill.	business
(LO2/3)			skill.		maturity and						maturity and
					skill.						skill.

50%
Demonstration	All relevant	All relevant	Virtually all	Most of the	Some of the	Omissions and	Many	Major
of knowledge	theories/concept	theories/conce	relevant	relevant	relevant	inaccuracies in	deficiencies and	deficiencies
and application	ual models	ptual models	theories/conc	theories/conce	theories/conce	the presented of	omissions in	and
of relevant	accurately and	accurately and	eptual models	ptual models	ptual models	theories/concept	theories/concept	omissions in
theories,	extensively	extensively	accurately	accurately	accurately	ual models.	ual models.	theories/conc
concepts and	presented.	presented.	and	presented.	presented. A	Some level of	Delivery of	eptual
other supporting	Exceptional	Excellent	extensively	Good level	reasonable	delivery of	applied theory is	models.
material (LO6)	application of	delivery of	presented.	delivery of	applied theory.	inadequate or	Delivery of
delivery of
	theory and	applied theory.	High level	applied theory.		wholly absent.	applied
	applied theory.
	supporting		delivery of				theory is
	materials.		applied					wholly
			theory.					absent.
25%
Use of the	Exceptionally	Highly	Very	High standard	Good standard	Reasonable	Low quality of	No
prescribed	innovative.	innovative.	innovative.	of innovation.	of innovation.	standard of	innovation. Poor	reasonable
format and	Outstanding	Very	Strongly	Professional	Appropriate	innovation.	and inadequate	attempt at
derived	professional and	professional	professional	and	delivery and	Reasonably	delivery and	innovation.
conclusions, and	appropriate	and	and	appropriate	language.	appropriate	language.	Poor and
overall quality	delivery and	appropriate	appropriate	delivery and	Many	delivery and	Referencing	inadequate
of the answer:	language.	delivery and	delivery and	language.	referencing	language.	very poor.	delivery and
development of	Accurate	language. Very	language.	Referencing	errors.	Referencing was		language.
the paper, the	referencing	well referenced	Well	most accurate.		inaccurate		Referencing
resources	throughout.	throughout.	referenced			and/or		absent.
applied and			throughout.			inconsistent.
referencing
(LO8)

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