Each student shall submit an Individual Report of 2,000 words, excluding reference list and appendices,

Details of the Individual Report, including submission, Turnitin, marking standards, referencing requirements and presentation requirements are available in the Individual Report documentation posted on iLearn and summaried below.  

You will be individually allocated a tutorial exercise for your report, selected from the text book (Newth), between weeks 1 and 5.

As an analyst, you are required to complete the specified exercise, answer the associated questions and make relevant, justified recommendations.  Students are expected to develop coherent arguments, founded on thorough research, and provide insight into the topic area in answering the questons and presenting recommendations. 

Your report answers and recommendations must be supported by relevant references. You must incorporate at least 12 different references.  These can be sourced from the following:

·       Academic articles

·       Relevant textbooks

·       Periodicals

·       Newspapers

·       Relevant online sources

The 12 references should be evenly balanced between these five resource options. Examples of some of these reference options are listed below.

References – Academic Journals

There is a range of journals in the fields of business, management, strategic management and organisation structure. Most are available on the library databases:

•      Academy of Management Executive

•      Academy of Management Review

•      Journal of Strategic Marketing

•      Sloan Management Review

•      Harvard Business Review

•      Long Range Planning

References – Periodicals.

There is a range of periodicals and web page in the fields of business, management and strategic management. We will visit these materials in tutorials as part of our discussion of the subject. 

·       Business Week

·       The Economist

·       Fortune

·       The Asian Wall Street Journal

·       Far Eastern Economic Review

Students are expected to maintain an appropriate standard in presenting their essay. Remember to acknowledge your sources throughout the report using the Harvard referencing system (http://library.leeds.ac.uk/skills-referencing-harvard). 

Report Submission: The Individual Report shall be submitted by 09.00 on Wednesday, 9th April, 2014 (Week 6), to BESS at E4B 106.  The required format for the assignment is a REPORT.  Include the word count at the end of report. The report must be submitted to Turnitin prior to submission. The Report is to be typed single sided, 1.5 spaced and a standard 12 point font should be used.  It should be checked for spelling, consistency and clarity of expression. 

There is no extension of time for submission of the Individual Report.  Late submissions will be penalised 10% per day (or part thereof) of the maximum marks for 5 days, and then zero marks.  Late assignments should be submitted to BESS at E4B 106 to be date stamped and forwarded to your tutor for marking. Note: electronic assignments will NOT be marked.  This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for special consideration is made and approved 

Each student group is required to participate in a business simulation exercise.  The group will assume the role of a company board in setting business strategies and models.  The group will then compete in the “market” against other companies (other groups) in a time limited business simulation.  One practice simulation will be allowed.

The report is to be completed in groups, which will be organised in your tutorial class. Groups of 3-4 max. will be formed and they will complete a Team Agreement Form and Confirm Group Project organisation (listed on iLearn).  Each team member is required to complete a peer participation assessment (listed on iLearn).

Details of the Group Report, including submission, Turnitin requirements, marking standards, referencing requirements and presentation requirements are summarised below and available in the Group Report documentation posted on iLearn.

If you do not attend and join a group you will be unable to receive marks for this assessment. Any student not in a group by week 4 will find it very difficult to successfully complete the unit.

The aim of the Group Report is to integrate your knowledge of strategy and business models and using skills developed in tutorials, to operate a company in a dynamic competitive market to achieve financial success.

The group will then report on their financial success with particular emphasis on the strategies and business models, their development and implementation. 

Students’ research, communication, analytical, integrative and critical thinking skills will be developed by this exercise.

Further briefing on this activity and specific assignments will be given as the course progresses.

As a minimum the report should:

 ·     identify and justify the intended purpose of the strategy/policy and the business model techniques which follow from them

·     explain and justify the rationale for the strategy/policy

·     explain and justify the way that the strategy/policy is influenced by internal (organisational) and external (environmental) factors.

·     evaluate the extent to which the business model strategy/policy and related techniques contribute to organisational performance  connect to the ideas in the course via the academic literature. 

Your report must be supported by relevant references.  You must incorporate at least 20 different references.  These can be sourced from the following:

·       Academic articles

·       Relevant textbooks

·       Periodicals

·       Newspapers

·       Relevant online sources

The 20 references should be evenly balanced between these five resource options. Examples of some of these reference options are listed above (in the Individual Report section).

Students are expected to maintain an appropriate standard in presenting their essay. Remember to acknowledge your sources throughout the report using the Harvard referencing system (http://library.leeds.ac.uk/skills-referencing-harvard). 

Report Submission: The maximum report length is 3000 words, excluding reference list and appendices. Include the word count at the end of report. The report must be submitted to Turnitin prior to submission. The Report is to be typed single sided, 1.5 spaced and a standard 12 point font should be used.  It should be checked for spelling, consistency and clarity of expression.  

Reports shall be submitted to the box at BESS at E4B 106 by 09.00 on Wednesday 21st May 2014 (Week 10).

There is no extension of time for submission of the Group Report.  Late submissions will be penalised 10% per day (or part thereof) of the maximum marks for 5 days, and then zero marks.  Late assignments should be submitted to BESS at E4B 106 to be date stamped and forwarded to your tutor for marking. Note: electronic assignments will NOT be marked.  This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for special consideration is made and approved

Details of the Final Examination will be posted on iLearn.

A compulsory three hour final exam will be set during the exam period.  The examination will be ‘closed book’. The format of the final exam will be long essay questions.

You are expected to present yourself for examination at the time and place designated in the University Examination Timetable. The timetable will be available in Draft form approximately eight weeks before the commencement of the examinations and in Final form approximately four weeks before the commencement of the examinations.    Refer to http://www.timetables.mq.edu.au/exam

The only exception to not sitting an examination at the designated time is because of documented illness or unavoidable disruption. In these circumstances you may wish to consider applying for Special Consideration. The University’s policy on special consideration process is available at http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/special_consideration/policy.html

If a Supplementary Examination is granted as a result of the Special Consideration process the examination will be scheduled after the conclusion of the official examination period. 

The Macquarie university examination policy details the principles and conduct of examinations at the University.  The policy is available at: http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/examination/policy.htm