MGMT.7001 APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH SEMESTER 1, 2017
ASSESSMENT 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
Word limit – 2000 Assessment Weighting ‐ 40% Due – 4pm, 19 May 2017 Learning Outcome 5 (Critique Published Research Reports) The objective of this assessment is to demonstrate your ability and skills in researching a businessrelated topic (Health Science topics as, for example, “Effective ways to control aggressive behaviour in psychiatric settings” will not be considered). Based on this literature review, you are expected to develop two research questions of your study. What is a Literature Review? A literature review tells a reader that the researcher knows the research in an area of his/her interest. A good review points out areas where prior studies agree, where they disagree, and where major questions remain. It collects what is known up to a point in time and indicates the direction for future research. Some points to remember as the writer of a literature review: ‐ the review is not a descriptive list of the information gathered; ‐ the review must be defined by your research objectives/questions; ‐ your purpose is to convey to the reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic and “weave these contributions together in a logical, systematic way, to develop an argument or tell a story” (Jesson et.al, 2011, p.15). A literature review should help you to identify gaps for further research or those aspects of the topic that have not been studied yet. These gaps should be addressed by your research questions. Topics You can select any contemporary business‐related topic you like. General discussion of any of the topics selected should be narrowed down to the discussion of a problem/opportunity of applied character (dealing with a specific business decision for a specific organisation). In other words, you may start with the discussion of the topic at as general level as possible, but later you need to connect this discussion with a specific entity and/or phenomenon (e.g. an organisation, industry, country and/or region; high staff turnover in an organisation). You can discuss an organisation that you are currently working for or have worked for in the past. It could be an organisation in which you are interested and may wish to approach, or you may know someone who works in an organisation with whom you can discuss issues of this organisation. This assignment is done individually. It is your responsibility to ensure you submit work that is your own and that any work/idea that is not your own is correctly paraphrased and/or cited.
Plagiarism and copying from others without proper referencing/citation is considered a prohibited practice and will be penalised severely (see page 7 of Course Outline for details). Submission You must submit your literature review electronically through Turnitin (www.turnitin.com) before the deadline, and its hard copy to the submissions box (BITA reception) at your earliest convenience. Class ID: 14774070 Password: MGMT7001 Please see Turnitin guidelines on eCampus. Assessment Structure Correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, and paragraph construction are important. Avoid writing incomplete sentences. Edit your paper for readability. Research Title Introduction (up to 500 words) In this section, you need to ‐ Briefly present the organisation considered. ‐ Introduce the general problem/opportunity. ‐ Explain why your topic is important and why you have selected it. ‐ Identify the scope of the review — what aspects of the topic will be discussed/excluded from discussion. Literature review (up to 1200 words) In the literature review, you need to ‐ Proceed from the general, wider view of the research under review to the specific problem: a) Identify major concepts and influential studies in relation to your topic. b) Discuss at least five sources relevant to your topic. When discussing these sources, focus on areas of agreement, disagreements, tensions and contentious issues related to your topic. c) Provide insight into the relation between the studies discussed and your topic. For example, among several types of management discussed in the literature you need to identify (and justify your choice) the one that is more appropriate/relevant to the particular organisation you are considering. ‐ Develop two research questions taking into account your literature review findings and the situational analysis of the organisation discussed. Conclusion (up to 300 words) ‐ Point out major findings of your literature review and explain how these findings can help the organisation address problems/opportunities identified.
‐ Indicate who the potential users of the study findings could be, and how the study might be used to improve the organisation(s), group(s), or sector. References
Information sources For this literature review, you need to include justifications which are based on academically recognised articles. Your main source of information will be in: Academic Books Journal Publications Business Magazines Industry reports Statistics NZ reports For guidance on report writing see: Emerson, L. (2005). Writing guidelines for business students (3rd ed.). Victoria, Australia: Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited. Professional appearance guidelines Use APA 6.0 referencing style; Print on only one side of the page; Be consistent in your formatting for things such as headings, subheadings, numbering, and in the way graphs and tables are presented; Text should be 1.5 spacing; 12 point font.
MGMT.7001 Assessment 2 (Literature review)
Student Name: ____________________
Category Unacceptable (Below Standards)
Acceptable (Meets Standards)
Good (Occasionally Exceeds)
Excellent (Exceeds Standards)
Mark
Introduction (10%) Literature review (55%) Conclusion (5%) (70 % of the mark)
Very limited background information Limited review of the literature. Limited analysis of a range of research papers and reports. Limited and convoluted discussion of the review findings.
Poorly presented background information Provides a review of the literature and some analysis of a range of research papers and reports. Conclusion is very short and loosely connected to the review findings.
Good presentation of the background information Provides a good review of the literature and analysis of a range of research papers and reports. Good summary of the review findings.
Excellent presentation of the background information. Provides an extensive review of the literature and analysis of a range of research papers and reports. Meaningful conclusion logically connected to the review findings.
Grammar & Style (20% of the mark)
Grammatical errors or spelling & punctuation substantially detract from the paper.
Very few grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors interfere with reading the paper.
Grammaticalerrors or spelling & punctuation are rare and do not detract from the paper.
The paper is free of grammatical errors and spelling & punctuation.
Citations & References (10% of the mark)
Reference and citation errors detract significantly from paper.
Some references or citations missing or incorrectly written.
A few references or citations missing or incorrectly written.
All references and citations are correctly written and present.
OVERALL SCORE