This document is for Coventry University students for their own use in completing their assessed work for this module and should not be passed to third parties or posted on any website. Any infringements of this rule should be reported to [email protected] Assignment Brief Template Page 1 of 6 Faculty of Business and Law Assignment Brief Module Title: Be your own Boss Assignment Number 1 of 1 Module Code: A201IAE Assignment Title Feasibility Study Release Date: 20th February 2017 Module Leader Dr Cherisse Hoyte Submission Date: 26/04/2017 23:55:00 Assignment weighting 100% Submission Time and Place: PDF Submission through Turnitin ONLY Assessment Information This assignment is designed to assess learning outcomes: 1. Reflect on your employability competencies and career management skills and plan your future development; 2. Undertake a feasibility study to establish the potential viability of a business or social enterprise 3. Use a range of market research tools and techniques to develop a marketing plan This assignment is an individual assignment. Brief & Criteria for Assessment: Feasibility Study In 1,750 words undertake a feasibility study to explore the potential viability of a business idea or social enterprise and present your findings. You are only allowed to go above or below this word count by 10% otherwise marks may be deducted. Marks will be awarded as follows:  Introduction to the business idea: origins and structure (10%)  Market research: competitor analysis (15%)  Market research: is there a demand for your product/service? (10%)  Financing an enterprise – how much do you need and where will finance come from? (10%)  Getting your product/service to market (10%)  Pricing strategy (10%)  Business Model Canvas (10%)  Summary and Recommendations (5%)  Use of resources and research (10%)  Structure, style, language and presentation of work (10%)This document is for Coventry University students for their own use in completing their assessed work for this module and should not be passed to third parties or posted on any website. Any infringements of this rule should be reported to [email protected] Assignment Brief Template Page 2 of 6 Please refer to the Marking Scheme below for information on how work is assessed and graded. How to submit your assessment The assessment must be submitted by 23.55 on 26th April 2017 via Turnitin. No paper copies are required. You can access the submission link through the module web.  Your coursework will be given a zero mark if you do not submit a copy through Turnitin. Please take care to ensure that you have fully submitted your work. Further guidance can be found here: How to submit your assignment. Should you submit work on time but fail the assignment, you may be offered a resit opportunity, the resit mark will be capped at 40%. Resit information will be made available by the Module Leader via the course web.  All work submitted after the submission deadline without a valid and approved reason (see below) will be given a mark of zero.  Short deferrals (extensions) of up to two calendar weeks can only be given for genuine "force majeure" and medical reasons, not for bad planning of your time. Please note that theft, loss, or failure to keep a back-up file, are not valid reasons. The short deferral must be applied for on or before the submission date. You can apply for a short deferral by submitting an Examination/ Coursework Deferral Application Form. Application Forms along with the supporting evidence should go to the relevant Student Support Office. For a longer delay in submission a student may apply for a long deferral.  The University wants you to do your best. However we know that sometimes events happen which mean that you can’t submit your coursework by the deadline – these events should be beyond your control and not easy to predict. If this happens, you can apply for an extension to your deadline for up to two weeks, or if you need longer, you can apply for a deferral, which takes you to the next assessment period (for example, to the resit period following the main Assessment Boards). You must apply before the deadline. You will find information about the process and what is or is not considered to be an event beyond your control at https://share.coventry.ac.uk/students/Registry/Pages/Deferrals-and-Extension.aspx  Students MUST keep a copy and/or an electronic file of their assignment.  Checks will be made on your work using anti-plagiarism software and approved plagiarism checking websites. GUIDELINES AND BACKGROUND TO THIS ASSIGNMENT Plagiarism As part of your study you will be involved in carrying out research and using this when writing up your coursework. It is important that you correctly acknowledge someone else’s writing, thoughts or ideas and that you do not attempt to pass this off as your own work. Doing so is known as plagiarism. It is not acceptable to copy from another source without acknowledging that it is someone else’s writing or thinking. This includes using paraphrasing as well as direct quotations. You are expected to correctly cite and reference the works of others. The Centre for Academic Writing provides documents to help you get this right. If you are unsure, please visit www.coventry.ac.uk/caw. Moodle includes a plagiarism detection system and assessors are experienced enough to recognise plagiarism when it occurs. Copying another student’s work, using previous work of your own orThis document is for Coventry University students for their own use in completing their assessed work for this module and should not be passed to third parties or posted on any website. Any infringements of this rule should be reported to [email protected] Assignment Brief Template Page 3 of 6 copying large sections from a book or the internet are examples of plagiarism and carry serious consequences. Please familiarise yourself with the CU Harvard Reference Style (on Moodle) and use it correctly to avoid a case of plagiarism or cheating being brought. Again, if you are unsure, please contact the Centre for Academic Writing, your Academic Personal Tutor or a member of the course team. Return of Marked Work You can expect to have marked work returned to you by 18th May 2017. Marks and feedback will be provided online. As always, marks will have been internally moderated only, and will therefore be provisional; your mark will be formally agreed later in the year once the external examiner has completed his / her review. Marking and Assessment Scheme Mark range Guidelines 70 – 100% In order to secure a mark in this range, a candidate must submit an outstanding answer that could hardly be bettered. In addition to the criteria identified below for a mark between 70-85%, an answer scoring a mark of 85-100% would show an excellent level of understanding and critical/analytic skills and originality. For example, such an answer would include new insights into the subject area which are not drawn from the literature but from the student's own critical thinking, and which add something to the existing literature. An essay in this range will demonstrate a strong understanding of theories, concepts and issues relating to the subject area. There will be evidence of wide-ranging reading from a variety of valid sources (as described and presented in the marking criteria for 60- 69%). The assignment must be written in a clear, well-structured way with a coherent and seamless flow and show evidence of independent, critical thought. It must show extensive relevant reading on the subject and intelligent use of the material to present a well-balanced and well-argued assignment. For example, the student will have considered a range of relevant issues and be able to assess the strength and weaknesses of various approaches/arguments and put forward a confident and articulate view of their own. 60 – 69% An essay in this mark range will demonstrate a good understanding of the requirements of the assignment and of theories, concepts and issues relating to the subject area. An assignment in this percentage range will include a balanced discussion of issues central to the question, how these areThis document is for Coventry University students for their own use in completing their assessed work for this module and should not be passed to third parties or posted on any website. Any infringements of this rule should be reported to [email protected] Assignment Brief Template Page 4 of 6 Mark range Guidelines addressed by different authors or sources and some critical thinking into their relative merits or shortcomings. The answer will be contain few errors and little, if any, irrelevant material. It will show evidence of reading from a variety of sources (i.e. more than 3 or 4) but not so many sources that the discussion loses focus and becomes unclear or irrelevant. All sources should be of some academic merit (e.g. books, journals, reports, media publications). Unreferenced material from noncredible internet sources MUST be avoided. All sources must be included and properly referenced in the references. The assignment will be well-organised and clearly written/presented overall. 50 – 59% The answer will demonstrate some reasonable understanding of relevant theories, concepts and issues relating to the subject area but also some minor errors of fact or understanding. The assignment will not be based on an extensive range of sources (for example few references are included), or much evidence that they have been read closely or well-understood. For example, the assignment will retell sources rather than analyse them. The assignment may be quite general in part. Some errors may be present and some irrelevant material may be included. The essay may not be particularly well-structured, and/or clearly presented and contain some spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. A few sentences may be unclear. 40 - 49% A mark within this percentage range will be given to an essay which: - shows some limited basic understanding of the subject but is incomplete. For example, if it answers one part of a question but not the rest. - makes only very general statements - includes some factual errors or misunderstandings e.g. confusion between different companies or misuse of certain key terms. - shows limited use of material with limited reading/research on the topic and includes only a very small number of references, not all of which are included in the references - includes spelling mistakes, is poorly structured with no clearThis document is for Coventry University students for their own use in completing their assessed work for this module and should not be passed to third parties or posted on any website. Any infringements of this rule should be reported to [email protected] Assignment Brief Template Page 5 of 6 Mark range Guidelines argument and grammar mistakes making it difficult to understand. - includes some irrelevant material. 35 – 39% A mark within this percentage range will be given to an assignment which: - includes only a limited amount of relevant material. - shows little evidence of reading/research on the topic. For example, the essay includes only very few references, and relies only on material or case studies used during the course. - shows only a very basic understanding of the subject. - is poorly presented with bad grammar, some spelling mistakes and an incomplete reference list. - has a poor structure and does not flow e.g. if there is no conclusion or new facts are introduced in the conclusion rather than introduction or main discussion. - contains some fundamental errors. 20 – 34% 0 - 19% A poor fail on this assignment means the assignment submitted: - is poor and suggests that the student has spent very little time on it e.g. if the answer is considerably under the word requirement and/or presented in note form rather than as a fully written up essay. - bears little relation to the assignment topic. - shows a poor understanding of theories, concepts and issues relating to the subject area and to the learning outcomes detailed in this document. - contains some or many fundamental errors and misunderstandings of the academic or other material used. For example many of the facts cited are incorrect. - uses literature or other material which is largely irrelevant or has no academic value - is poorly structured and poorly presented. For example, sentences may be hard to understand and contain many spelling or grammatical mistakes. - contains no references. Work within this mark range shows a complete failure to meet the requirements of the assignment. A mark in this range will be given for an essay which:This document is for Coventry University students for their own use in completing their assessed work for this module and should not be passed to third parties or posted on any website. Any infringements of this rule should be reported to [email protected] Assignment Brief Template Page 6 of 6 Mark range Guidelines - is below 500 words in length. - bears no link to the question chosen and shows very little or no knowledge or understanding of any of the theories, concepts and issues relating to the subject area. The answer may be fundamentally wrong or trivial. - contains no references and/or evidence of relevant reading. - shows little understanding of the requirements of the assignment and only a vague knowledge of the subject area. - includes numerous fundamental errors in the understanding or presentation of the material discussed. There is a general lack of facts/evidence and what is provided is mostly incorrect and/or irrelevant. - is poorly structured and poorly presented. Spelling and grammar are poor. Many sentences are incomprehensible. - the examiners do not feel could be described as a serious attempt by any reasonable standards.