MGMT20144 - Management and Business Context Assessment Item 1 – Individual work: Business Analysis Essay

Specifics Written assessment 1500 words (+ - 10%) Essay format Due 11:55 pm, Friday 6 April 2018 Weight 30% (30 marks) Uploaded through the unit Moodle site Submitted through TurnItIn Submit as a word document or pdf only Spell check and proof read prior to submission

Task This assignment is a precursor to Assessment Item 2. In Assessment Item 2 you will choose an organisation and a contextual factor from those provided in a list; you must explore the assigned contextual factor in relation to the specific organisation. PLEASE NOTE you do not choose your own organisation; you MUST choose from the list provided. Prior to discussing the specific contextual factor of interest in Assessment Item 2, Assessment Item 1 requires you to discuss the assigned business organisation.

The organisations and contextual factors are: BDO and Governance OR Victoria Taxi and Innovation OR Specialty Fashion Group and eCommerce Issues OR Simcoa and Regionalisation OR Seimens and Globalisation OR Inpex and Cross-Cultural Management

Task Describe the organisational structure of the business. Discuss the external and internal environmental forces that impact the business. Analyse the risks that currently confront the business organisation. Describe the business practices decisions that the business should make to enhance organisational performance. Discuss the most important functions within the business organisation that will assist it to achieve its strategy.

Meaning of words Organisational structure: is the structure of the business that of a sole trader, partnership, company, trust, or association, for example? External and internal environmental forces: what environmental trends, industry and market levels, strategy, skills or threats affect the organisation? Impact: what is the effect or influence of the environmental forces on the organisation? Risks: what are the common, global economic, societal, or financial risks that the business needs to consider? Business practices: in what way would high performing work practices, benchmarking, best practices, or employee engagement be important? Important functions: what does the organisation need to consider in relation to the operational, financial, human resource, marketing, or sales functions of the business?

Assessment criteria and rubric = 30 marks Defining key terms and utilising the theories and concepts presented in Topics 1-5 (8 marks). Explaining major internal and external contextual factors and how they affect business structures and strategy (8 marks). Explaining major internal and external contextual factors and how they affect business decision making (7 marks). Demonstrating a breadth and quality of research by using a minimum of 12-16 academic sources (3 marks). Correctly using the APA referencing system to cite academic sources in-text and in the reference list (2 marks). Correctly using the essay structure and using appropriate conventions of academic writing (2 marks).

Meanings of words Key terms: words that are being used in this unit such as sole trader, structure, SWOT analysis, benchmarking etc. Theory: is a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something. For example, increasing employee engagement will increase performance, customer satisfaction, profitability and productivity, and reduce employee turnover. Concept: this is an abstract idea that someone has named and defined. For example, in Reading 1, Topic 3 the concept of employee engagement is discussed. It is defined as the extent to which employees feel passionate about their jobs, are committed to the organisation, and put discretionary effort into their work. It has a cognitive, affective and behavioural component.

Meaning of words Contextual factors: are characteristics of the internal and external environment, such as structure, functions, environmental forces, risks, etc. Minimum: if you only use 12-16 references you will receive 1.5 out of 3 marks. Academic: refers to peer reviewed journal articles and university level texts; it does not refer to Wikipedia or general websites and magazines. APA referencing system: you must only use this referencing system in the body of the essay and in the reference list at the end. Ensure you familiarise yourself with it! Essay structure: discussed on the next slides. Appropriate conventions of academic writing: this is quite a formal style of writing discussed later.

Essays Have an introduction, body and conclusion. Must be written in paragraph form with full sentences. Generally do not have headings other than the title of the essay. If you do use a heading to delineate the introduction, body and conclusion make these headings creative! Do not contain tables or figures, these can be placed in the appendix but must be briefly discussed in the body. Your essay must be clearly referenced in-text to indicate the sources of information. It must also include an alphabetical reference list with full publication details that exactly match the in-text citations.

Essay structure Title page Introduction (10-15%) Discussion (70-80%) Background Aims/ objectives Scope Discussion (70-80%) Contextual factor/s and their impact Conclusion (10-15%) Reference list

Appropriate writing conventions Must be within the word limit (first word of introduction to last word of the conclusion). Write in paragraph form with full sentences. A paragraph is more than one sentence. Introduce a new topic in a new paragraph, don’t write overly long paragraphs. Make the first or last sentence the topic sentence. Write using formal academic language and specific Management and Business Context words, theories, concepts and terms. Avoid using casual conversational language. For example, instead of writing “it’s a good idea to think about . . .” write “an important consideration is . . ” Write in the third person not using “I”, “we”, “one”, “he/she”.

APA citation author prominent Direct quote example: Unterhalter (2007, p. 5) argues that “gender equality in schooling is an aspiration of global social justice.” Paraphrase example: Unterhalter (2007) suggests that equal treatment of the genders in education should be an issue of justice for every society. When paraphrasing, providing a page number is optional.

APA citation information prominent Direct quote example: It has been argued that “gender equality in schooling is an aspiration of global social justice” (Unterhalter, 2007, p. 5). Paraphrase example: Equal treatment of gender in education should be an aim of every society (Unterhalter, 2007).

APA page numbers Always give the page number for a direct quotation, or when referring to a specific diagram, table or chart. Again, when paraphrasing, providing a page number is optional. The word “page” is abbreviated to p. If there are two or more pages, use pp. For example: (Smith, 2012, p. 6), or (Smith, 2012, pp. 12-15). Always write the beginning and end page of the document in the reference list. But note that in the reference list this is written 12-15; there is no pp.

APA use of et al. For references with two authors, give both authors’ names in every in-text reference. For references with three, four or five authors, list all the authors’ names in your first in-text reference. In second and subsequent references to the same work, give only the first author’s name followed by ‘et al.’ For references with six or more authors, give only the first author’s name followed by ‘et al.’ in every in-text reference. Use “&” inside the brackets and “and” outside the brackets in a citation.

APA Journal article in reference list

APA books in reference list Russell-Bowie, D. (2005). MMADD about the arts! An introduction to primary arts education. South Melbourne, Vic: Pearson Education Australia. Wyn, J., & White, R. (2008). Youth and society (2nd ed.). Sydney, NSW: Oxford University Press. or more authors Carmona, M., Heath, T., Oc, T., & Tiesdell, S. (2003). Public spaces - urban spaces: The dimensions of urban design. Oxford, UK: Architectural Press. Note all capitals, font styles, punctuation and brackets in the format of the references.

Plagiarism Plagiarism is the intentional use of someone else’s ideas, words or concepts in your assignment work without appropriate acknowledgment. It is considered serious misconduct at university and should be avoided at all times. Committing plagiarism can carry very serious penalties for students, including expulsion from the university. Past penalties include zero marks or a reduction of marks for an assignment. This reduction of marks on one assessment item has even lead to failure of the entire unit! TurnItIn is the first place that we look for when assessing plagiarism. This score may increase even after you submit your assignment as more comparisons are made between your work and other students’ work, journal articles or information on the www.

Plagiarism CQUniversity has a policy on plagiarism and you are strongly encouraged to familiarise yourself with it. Not having read the policy is no excuse when you are reported for plagiarism. The following URL will lead you to CQUniversity’s policy repository where you can search for plagiarism procedures and policy. https://www.cqu.edu.au/policy

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