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