Assessment Structure • Individual Report (5000 words) – Cover page with project title, client’s name and student’s name – Disclaimer • “This material is based upon work carried out by postgraduate students of University of West London as part of their MSc International Business Management course. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of University of West London, its employees or its administration.” – Table of Contents – Executive summary – Introduction • Company background • Business problem • Aim and objectives of the consultancy project – Brief discussion of analytical frameworks employed in the project with rationale for using them – Research design and data collection process – Analysis – Recommendations – Conclusion and limitations – References – Appendices (if any) • Please note that the above is a guidance to the structure. The actual structure could vary depending on the specific project, and as long as the above elements are included in the report, they don’t necessarily need to be in the above order or with the above headings • Meeting and Managing the Clients Key contact points with clients: – Initial meeting to explore and discuss client’s business problem in order to help define project aim and objectives, and scope • – Email correspondence with client to send the man outline of the project aim and objectives, and scope; and timescale/milestones in order to get their agreement before going any further • – Meeting or email correspondence to discuss research design and hence what information/data or resources are required from the client • – Data collection from client if/ when data is required from the • – A brief mid-project progress report to client, either verbally at a meeting, or through email correspondence, around/immediately after the end of data collection • – Presentation(would invite client to attend) – A hard copy, professionally bound, of report will be sent to client *Students should always contact clients as a group. They normally should not need to contact clients individually. Meeting and Managing the Clients • Professionalism • Confidentiality – Confidentiality agreement – Submission on Turnitin will have to be an anonymised version • Ethical Issues/Consideration • Conflict of interest • Difficulty with clients (such as client’s not responding, not providing data originally agreed, not cooperative, unreasonable demands.) Communication • It is crucial to have regular, clear communication among: – The student group – The client – The supervisor – Be mindful of confidentiality issues when choosing your communication means among group members • Any difficulty/conflicts among group members in doing the projects, or any difficulty with the client should be notified to the supervisor as soon as it arises Keeping Record • Record/minutes for each meeting with client • Record/minutes for each meeting among the student group members • Record of each supervision meeting • Record of all raw data collected Advice for Students for Their 1 Meeting with Clients • Go well prepared • Read about the company beforehand • Think clear questions to ask • Verity any issues and finalise the objective if able to (if not, do it later) • Propose methodology and try to get an agreement if able to (again, if not, do it later) Final Remarks • First meeting with supervisor BEFORE students should meet their clients • Students and expected to take ownership of the project and arrange meetings at mutually agreed time with both clients and supervisors • Supervisors are there to guide students on the project but they are not part of the consultant team • See marking criteria for presentation and report on Blackboard