Assessment 2– Business Report (in 3 Parts) Due Date 1. Brief Report Overview (5%) and Annotated Bibliography of 6 references (10%) due week 5 by midnight Sunday 26th March uploaded to vUWS = 15% 2. Draft Report due week 11 by midnight Sunday 7th May uploaded to vUWS = 10% 3. Edited Final Report due week 14 by midnight Sunday 28th May uploaded to vUWS = 15% Aims/Objectives • To research and investigate the impact of a communication issue to illustrate how theories and issues studied in the unit can be applied within a real context • To develop an understanding of argumentation, reasoning and persuasion as factors in written communication • To use primary and secondary academic research skills to gather material • To present the research and make conclusions and recommendations using professional business report format • To demonstrate professional writing, editing and written presentation skills in a professional document Assessment Description Background: You are the employee of a company who has been asked to evaluate the impact of a technology or issue on aspects of communication within the organization. You need to do this research and present your findings in a business report (please note, this is NOT an essay), justifying your proposal/outlining your research and decisions. In weeks 1-2, your tutor will discuss this assignment with you and ask you to consider selecting from list of possible topics which are set out below, all of which relate in some way to the themes of this course. The aim is to research how this issue impacts on a real organization, using some real research plus background reading on the subject. Part 1: Annotated Bibliography and Brief Project Overview = 15%: As an initial step, you need briefly describe the problem and the organisation that your report will address. What is the website/technology you will be evaluating? How is it used and what kinds of problems does it aim to address? How do you know there is a problem with the current system/website? How do you think you will go about investigating this: what method(s) will you use? You will write this up in half-three quarters of a page and include a screenshot of the website or graphic of the technology. In order to have some references to help you with your evaluation, you will be instructed on how to use the Western Sydney University library to gather these. You will complete an Annotated Bibliography of six (6) references that you could use (see separate details of this in a handout in Week 3). If your summary, selection of references, writing or bibliographic layout is not done well, you may be asked to revise and resubmit. Part 2: Draft Report = 10%. You must initially submit a Draft of your report that will be marked and returned to you with feedback. Part 3: Final Report = 15%. You must then revise your draft along the lines suggested and resubmit the edited version. Assessment Requirements NOTE 1: This report is not addressed to your tutor but to an appropriate Manager of the organisation NOTE 2: This is an individual assignment and cannot be done with another student. Plagiarism and collusion will be subject to academic misconduct action. NOTE 3: Both your draft and final reports must be uploaded into Turnitin before they are submitted.Failure to do this will result in your assignment not being marked. Choose from one of the two scenarios below and apply this to a real organisation. In each case, you will need to have read about the broader, background issues that relate to this problem. SCENARIO 1: You are considering introducing a new technology or implementing a major software upgrade for your company. Research the pros/cons, costs/benefits and compare a range of different product/system options. Also consider issues such as training, technical implementation etc. and any other factors that you feel are appropriate. Write a report to your manager outlining your findings and make a recommendation justifying your decision. SCENARIO 2: Your company website has been in place for several years now and the boss feels it needs a facelift. You have been asked to prepare a report examining its effectiveness. Do some background research on general principles of web design, aesthetics, usability etc. How effective is your company website? What is it mainly used for and for what audience. Look at its design, layout, functionality, cultural appropriateness, usability etc. What is good, what is poor, how might it be improved? Prepare a report to your manager, outlining your findings and making recommendations. You must do some background research from recent literature about what makes a good website and the particular elements that it should include. You must refer to this background research to support your analysis and findings. Your report must include the following parts: • Title page, • Table of contents • Executive summary • Page numbering • Headings, subheadings and a decimal numbering system e.g. Executive Summary 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Method 3.0 Discussion (with relevant sub sections) 4.0 Conclusions 5.0 Recommendations 6.0 References (or similar headings) • Text citation of quotations and paraphrases e.g. Smith (2012) • Bibliography using APA style (see APA Style Guide in both the website and vUWS homepage) • Properly referenced and annotated graphs, pictures and/or diagrams • Professionally formatted – assignments should be word processed and set out professionally Assessment Criteria • Depth and appropriateness of research – you must have at least six (6) references from a variety of sources – books, journals, newspapers, web, company publications etc. Those using only internet references will have marks deducted. All information must be properly referenced using APA conventions
 • Depth and appropriateness of analysis of the problem/issue. In your analysis/discussion, you must make reference to your background sources to support your conclusions and recommendations. 
 • Writing style – clarity, language choice, appropriateness, succinctness
 • Structure and layout – appropriate descriptive headings, professional layout, appropriate use of white space, readable font, numbering system, page numbers 
 • Appropriate use of the report writing conventions listed above
 • Editing – punctuation, grammar, spelling. You are encouraged to have someone read through your assignments before you submit them
 • Professional layout and formatting