This assignment requires you to produce an initial proposal of 1000 words (Formative) about a topic you will like to write about in your final report. Please note that, the formative (proposal) element does not go into your final grading but it is a requirement before you can submit your final report (summative) as the final report will be based on the proposal.
FORMATIVE (1000 words)
Produce a formative assessment of 1000 words identifying an issue or problem in corporate governance or strategy in an organisation of your choice.
You are recommended to use your own organisation but you may use any organisation that is well known to you.
The proposal should explain why the issue or problem you have identified is important. There should also be a brief literature review about the area of proposed research as well as details of the methods to be used for both primary and secondary research.
The proposal will include a Gantt chart showing the projected start and finish of the finalsummative project.
SUMMATIVE (6,000 words)
Based on the feedback you will receive from the formative assignment; you are to produce a 6000-word report which should include the following:
An introduction that reviews the background of the organisation and the issues or problems faced. A literature review that discusses the key areas of theory applicable in this case.
A discussion of the secondary and primary research undertaken to analyse the problem or issue. A critical review of the results of the secondary and primary research.
A recommendation and action plan that proposes solutions to the problem of issue based on your findings.
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The summative assessment should include the following:
Introduction, background of organisation and review of the problem faced. 500 words. (10%) Literature review. 2000 words (30%)
Discussion of the secondary and primary research undertaken. 1000 word (15%) Critical review of the results of the research. 1500 words (25%)
Recommendation and action plan. 1000 words (15%)
5% of the remaining marks will be allocated to general assignment parameters including but not restricted to structure, synthesis, referencing etc.
This assignment has been designed to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your achievement of the following module learning outcomes:
LO 1 LO1. Critically evaluate the industry life cycle of a chosen organisation and reflect on the existing
corporate strategy
LO 2 Compare and contrast the board’s corporate governance structure and effectiveness.
LO 3 Prepare a board crisis action plan for a natural disaster of unforeseen event of catastrophic
proportions.
LO 4 Critically analyse a corporate governance failure and suggest actions that can be taken to reduce
or eliminate any similar such occurrences from happening in the future
LO 5 Critically analyse the various methods of data collection in order to conduct research into complex
organisational issues using both primary and secondary research techniques.
Task requirements
Use Times New Roman font size 11 with 1.5-line spacing.
Insert page numbers at the bottom of each page
You must have a cover sheet with your student ID, Name and word count
The aim of the assignment is to produce an individual written report with action plan.
The assessment consists of two parts. There will be one formative assessment and onesummative assessment.
The formative assessment will consist of a proposal comprising a 1000-word report. This report will include a brief introduction to the issue or problem in corporate governance and strategy in a specific organisation along with a discussion of why the issue is important. Students will be required to produce a brief literature review about the area of proposed research as well as the details of the methods they will use for both primary and secondary data collections. As part of the formative assessment, students will be required to produce a Gantt chart showing the projected start and finish dates of the final summative project.
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Feedback from the formative assignment will prepare students for the summative assessment. A full individual report of 6000 words will be required for the summative assessment. This will
include an action plan and recommendations to the management within the organisation of how the problems are to be resolved.
This assessment will be used to assess the research skills and ability of the students to develop detailed action plans to address real life scenarios based on earlier research and analysis.
This assessment method is used to develop and assess research skills, independent working and critical thinking to evaluate the strategic and corporate governance capabilities of an organisation (LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5)
All assessment is undertaken through application of the criteria and weightings outlined on the Module Descriptors.
Feedback is written and provided via Turn-it-in in accordance with University Regulations. Students are given an opportunity to reflect on feedback. Self-assessment becomes an important part of the student’s development during the course and is implicit throughout the tutorial and critique system.
The opportunity for disagreement and reasoned justification of student work is present throughout the assessment method.
Referencing and research requirements
Please reference your work according to the Harvard referencing style as defined in Cite Them Right Online (http://www.citethemrightonline.com). This information is also available in book form: Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2016) Cite them right: the essential reference guide. 10th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Copies are available via the university library.
There are also documents on Harvard referencing on VLE which students can read. Students must use acceptable academic sources including peer-reviewed journal articles, Books, Company websites etc.
How your work will be assessed
Your work will be assessed on the extent to which it demonstrates your achievement of the stated learning outcomes for this assignment (see above) and against other key criteria, as defined in the University’s institutional grading descriptors. If it is appropriate to the format of your assignment and your subject area, a proportion of your marks will also depend upon your use of academic referencing conventions.
This assignment will be marked according to the grading descriptors for Level 6
Submission details
You are reminded of the University’s regulations on academic misconduct, which can be viewed on
the University website: https://bucks.ac.uk/ data/assets/pdf_file/0024/9546/Academic-Misconduct-Policy.pdf. In submitting your assignment, you are acknowledging that you have read and understood these regulations
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This assignment should be submitted electronically. Please use the relevant Turn-it-in submission point in the Submit your work area in your VLE module shell.
Please ensure that your work has been saved in an appropriate file format. Turn-it-in will only accept the following file types: Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint, PostScript, PDF, HTML, RTF, OpenOffice (ODT), Hangul (HWP), Google Docs, or plain text. Your file must also contain at least 20 words of text, consist of fewer than 400 pages and be less than 40MB in size.
You can submit your work as many times as you like before the submission date. If you do submit your work more than once, your earlier submission will be replaced by the most recent version.
Once you have submitted your work, you will receive a digital receipt as proof of submission, which will be sent to your forwarded e-mail address (provided you have set this up). Please keep this receipt for future reference, along with the original electronic copy of your assignment
Submission date and time
This assignment should be submitted before 14.00 UK time on 19th May 2021 on to the submission point on VLE.
Work that is submitted up to 10 working days beyond the submission date will be accepted as a late submission. Late submissions will be marked and the actual mark recorded, but will be capped at the pass mark (typically 40%), provided that the work is of a passing standard. Work submitted after this period will not be marked and will be treated as a non-submission.
Feedback and marks for this assignment will be available 3 Weeks after deadline date.
