BSS007-3 Assessment 2 Individual Advances Report (60%) Instructions You are expected to write a 5,000 words individual report on one of the business topics distributed to you through the Assessments tab on the course BREO shell. In this report you need to critically analyse the issues presented in this business topic and support your arguments with various secondary data or information. You may chose to use one of the example questions provided on the brief but we recommend formulating your own question based around the overall topic to fully display your research skills. The list of bullet points in the briefs are not to be worked through in full rather you are to focus on one of the examples or formulate your own question. As you will see the bullet points all cover different sub-questions. Depending upon the business problem in hand you may choose to write from the perspective of a business consultant, independent analyst, academic researcher, etc. You will need to do some wider reading to address this assessment adequately. Various sources of information should be considered, such as academic journals, books, newspapers, and magazines. Digital libraries should also be considered as important source of information and data. Your report should be logical, balanced, concise, focused and well structured with no more than a maximum of 5,000 words in length. It should be word-processed (12 points times new roman, 1.5 space) and the highest levels of presentation are expected. See unit handbook appendix 3 for the marking grid and criteria of the Advances Report. One electronic copy of this report should be submitted through BREO. Don’t forget you need to bring an interim report to your tutor for use during your tutorial. The Assignment deadline is Friday 7th April 2017 (10:00am) Appendix 2: Marking Grid and Criteria – Assignment #2 Individual Advances Report Possible Mark 1 – 34% (F – F-) 35 – 39% (E) 40 – 49% (D- – D+) 50 – 59% (C- – C+) 60 – 69% (B- – B+) 70 – 100% (A- – A+) Problem Definition and Structure The questions provided are open ended and different approaches to answering them are discussed in the groups but ultimately it is the responsibility of each individual to decide how to structure the response. F - A failing answer will not demonstrate an understanding of the issues posed in the question E- A referral answer will not consider the issues posed in the question in a coherent or detailed way, D – A poor response will take a very narrow view and consider a limited range of issues C- An average answer will show consideration of some of the issues in a reasonably coherent way B – A good answer will structure the problem in a logical way demonstrating a breadth of understanding of the issues A – An excellent answer will demonstrate a comprehensive consideration of the issues and configure the response to enable different arguments to be presented in a logical order. Information Identification, Retrieval and Analysis This is measured by the amount of data the student has found, its relevance to the topic and the student’s judgement in terms of its reliability – how old is it, who produced it, is it based on personal opinion or well conducted research etc. It is not appropriate to suggest a minimum number of references as some areas are better documented than others but a good piece of work is unlikely to have less than 8 references including work from academic journals. Poor or failing pieces of work may rely on one textbook and/or some ‘google’ articles. Appropriate, accurate and consistent style of referencing should also be taken into account under this heading F –Very little or no use of published work. Poorly referenced if at all E – Some attempt to use secondary data. Poor referencing D- Heavy reliance on very limited sources. Little evidence of any attempt to collect a broader range of information. Poor referencing C- An adequate use of available sources. Correct referencing for the most part B – A good range of literature used. The answer demonstrates appreciation of its appropriateness. Full and accurate referencing A – The answer demonstrates comprehensive data gathering from a variety of sources with a clear understanding of its relative value. Full and accurate referencing Critical reasoning/justification This section is concerned with the way the student actually uses the information they have collected in producing the essay. Is the student able to evaluate critically the data they have collected? Are the points well made? Are they based on the evidence presented? Is evidence used well to support the opinion being expressed? Is the information presented in a logical way? Can the student synthesise an argument? F - A random collection of statements based on the student’s own point of view with no attempt to use evidence to support the arguments. E – Some evidence of an attempt to provide an answer to the question but insufficient detail to pass. D – A limited number of points made. Poor use of any external data to support the points. Poor structure C – A range of appropriate points made but more as a list then as a unified piece of work. Secondary sources usually provided to support the points made B – A well constructed piece of work. Literature critically evaluated not merely a précis. Good use of secondary data sources. A – A well constructed piece of work which clearly demonstrates the student’s ability to synthesise complex arguments. It has a logical flow and all the points made follow from and are supported by the evidence. Persuasion and influence We will not penalise students whose first language is not English so this heading is not about the ability to write completely grammatical English although facility in the language is an undeniable advantage. It is about the way in which the whole piece of work is constructed and is the sum of the parts mentioned above. It is unlikely that a badly constructed poorly referenced and argued piece of work will persuade and influence. F- Little or no argument and very poor conclusions. E- Poorly argued and with conclusions that just do not follow from the evidence presented. D- Poorly argued with rather unconvincing conclusions. The reader may well doubt that the conclusions are valid. C- The work will be reasonably argued but the conclusions will not be entirely convincing from the evidence presented. The reader will have some doubt as to their validity. B- The work will be soundly argued and the conclusions will be largely convincing but some doubt could remain in the reader’s mind as to their validity. A- The work will be well argued and the conclusions will follow naturally from the evidence presented. No doubt will be left in the reader’s mind as to their validity. A conclusion that contradicts perceived wisdom and is well justified will be particularly welcomed. .