The second Research Project is an individual in-course assessment (50% of module marks). You are required to undertake a research assignment illustrating the role of information management (IM) in Social Media products and digital services. Part B requires you to focus on the social media products and or digital services. Tasks: For 40% an individual essay on the role of information management within Social Media products and digital services. Word Count: 2000 For 10%; write a short reflection to demonstrate your learning on this module. It should include an individual reflection. Word Count: 400 Discuss from a theoretical perspective how companies use the role of information management to build sustainable competitive advantages, in their social media product and or digital service. The theoretical perspective should be used to critically analyse the strategies developed by one organisation (individual analysis) or more companies (comparative analysis), for example; Google search engine, Google cloud services, Google plus, Amazon e-business platform, Amazon cloud services, eBay e-business platform, Microsoft 365 cloud computing, Apple iPhone, Apple Store application platform, Android platform, Android applications, Facebook social network and applications, SharePoint , Wikipedia, Huffington Post content platform, Netflix, Zynga game applications, Apache open source software platform, Linkedin free and premium services, PayPal payment system, Square payment system, Twitter, etc. Requirements: This assessment requires the student to critically analyse how an organisation is using information management through research and theoretical frameworks. The research is only to be conducted using secondary data. Research using primary data is not required. Your approach should be analytical and critical, applying the theoretical frameworks (as explained below), contrasting ideas from different authors, discussing perspectives, and elaborating your arguments with substantial information from relevance sources. As an author, you should assume that you are an academically oriented commercial consultant. Write a professional report for part A and an essay for part B, fully referenced, as if you were working in an international consultancy. Discuss from a theoretical perspective how companies use the role of information management to build sustainable competitive advantages, in their social media product and or digital service. The theoretical perspective should be used to critically analyse the strategies developed by one organisation (individual analysis) or more companies (comparative analysis), for example; Google search engine, Google cloud services, Google plus, Amazon e-business platform, Amazon cloud services, eBay e-business platform, Microsoft 365 cloud computing, Apple iPhone, Apple Store application platform, Android platform, Android applications, Facebook social network and applications, SharePoint , Wikipedia, Huffington Post content platform, Netflix, Zynga game applications, Apache open source software platform, Linkedin free and premium services, PayPal payment system, Square payment system, Twitter, etc. The cited organisation, products and/or services have many business areas that overlap, and have a domain of large global markets mainly through the strategic use of information management systems. Topics need to be applied from this module’s syllabus. Students are to search for academic papers and books that bring relevant information for the development of this Research Project. Students should use Library resources (books, journals, reports etc.) for searching for relevant data. You may also use http://scholar.google.co.uk/. Any peer-reviewed journal and book will be accepted as legitimate sources. However, observe that there are academic journals with greater reputation. Students may research academic journal quality in the Association of Business Schools (http://www.associationofbusinessschools.org/node/1000257). If you are in doubt about the quality of an academic journal, verify this list (journals that are 4 or 3 stars have more impact in the academic community than journals with fewer stars, although specific papers may have great impact in spite of the number of stars of the journal). Students may also use news material from legitimate sources (such as Financial Times, The Economist, BBC, The Guardian, New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Le Monde, and Spiegel, to cite a few). Avoid other sources that you are not sure of. These newspapers have more than enough material. Students can also use material published by companies in their websites, and serious research from top management consultancies (McKinsey, Bain, The Boston Consulting Group, Monitor, Arthur D. Little, Booz Allen & Hamilton, Deloitte, to cite some). As with any case based work, you may need to make assumptions, which you should state clearly. Style of Report/Essay Organisation and clarity are part of your grade, and help markers to understand your work. You should write in clear, concise and correct English . The report/essay should be single spaced, 12 point text, standard margins. If you use bullets, please use them sparingly, and explain them clearly. Put the name of your seminar leader on the cover of your course work. Students should be marked by their seminar leaders. Word Length You need to submit a report/essay with a maximum of 2,000 words each, excluding the executive summary/abstract, the references/bibliography and (optional) appendices. The word count must be stated on the title page. Assignments that are too long may be penalised and assignments that are too short may not be able to include the necessary detail to complete the work satisfactorily. Indicate in your coursework (title page) the number of words you have used in your Research Project. Referencing requirements for assignments Statements, assertions and ideas made in coursework should be supported by citing relevant sources. Sources cited in the text should be listed at the end of the assignment in a reference list. Any material that you read but do not cite in the report should go into a separate bibliography. Unless explicitly stated otherwise by the module teaching team, all referencing should be in Westminster Harvard format. If you are not sure about this, the library provides guidance (available via the library website pages). Mark allocation for Part A (Report) & Part B (Essay) Marks will be awarded as follows: 5% Executive Summary/Abstract (very short summary of your paper, around 200 words) 10% Introduction 15% Theoretical perspective 35% Findings / Analysis 20% Conclusions and recommendations 5% References 10% Presentation of written work (include organisation and language)