Assessment Information
Subject Code: MBA600
Subject Name: MBA Capstone
Assessment Title: Solutions For a Real-Life Strategic Problem
Assessment Type: Presentation Slide Pack and Notes Pages
Time Limit: 20 Slides and 100 Words Per Notes Page
Weighting: 50%
Total Marks: 25
Due Date: Monday of Week 13, 11:55pm AEST
.
Assessment Description
. ..
This final assessment is your opportunity to demonstrate your ability to select the most relevant theory to then apply to a current real-world strategic problem. This assessment explores the practice of “Doing”. At the same time, you will need to identify the practical implementation of recommendations arising from primary research, and then reflect on what you have learned about strategy and leadership and your role as an effective manager as a result.
Your instructions are therefore as follows:
1. Choose an organisation that is presently featured in the Australian media in a negative light.
2. Identify a strategic problem that could be the cause of that negative media attention.
3. Conduct either:
a. primary qualitative or quantitative research of at least 20 participants to inform your hypothesis or
b. content analysis of a least 10 quality practical secondary sources, web forums and commentary or social media sites
c. quantitative analysis using a known data set such as ABS descriptive statistics
4. Develop a set of strategic recommendations arising from the findings your primary research.
5. Present your findings in a set of PowerPoint slides, each one accompanied by a narrative commentary using the notes page.
Some important considerations:
• Your slides must include an overview of the organisation and its strategic problem.
• The type of research you conduct – qualitative, quantitative, secondary source or mixed – is up to you. You must include a detailed methodology, justification for your choice and graphically represent your findings.
• You will not be assessed on the empirical rigour of your research but on the way in which you have explained the process you undertook, interpreted your findings and how it informed your recommendations.
• You can be creative with how you structure your slides, remembering the maxim that often
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969
This material has been reproduced and communicated to you by or on behalf of Kaplan Business School pursuant to Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968 (‘Act’). The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further reproduction or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Kaplan Business School is a part of Kaplan Inc., a leading global provider of educational services. Kaplan Business School Pty Ltd ABN 86 098 181 947 is a registered higher education provider CRICOS Provider Code 02426B.
Assessment Information
less is more so long as the notes pages contain the elaborated explanations.
• Make sure your identification of the strategic problem and your recommendations are supported by references, with each one annotated using the Harvard method.
• You are free to choose any theory, concept or model from any subject in your MBA studies. But since it is unlikely your Workshop Leader will be familiar with every possible theory, concept and model, it is essential that you dedicate at least one slide to explaining why you have chosen it and why it is relevant to your strategic problem.
• Save your slides as a PDF such that each page includes the slide and its associated notes.
Assessment Marking Rubric
. ..
Your slides and notes pages will be marked on the grounds of whether or not the following competencies are present. The sum of the evident competencies will then be divided by the total marks available in order to generate your grade for this assessment.
Slides Present?
The flow of one slide to the next reflects a logical order.
A majority of slides do not contain any spelling and grammatical errors.
Illustrative methods have been adopted that more-clearly communicate complex information.
Font size, slide layout, and text density are of a professionally acceptable quality.
The number of slides is within 10% of the specified limit.
Notes pages Present?
Each notes page contains information relevant to the content of the associated slide.
The notes pages do not leave questions unanswered in relation to the slide’s content.
There are fewer than two spelling and grammatical errors per notes page.
References, where necessary, are not only recorded but done so using the Harvard method.
The word count on each notes page is within 10% of the specified limit.
Primary research Present?
The research method is appropriate in better understanding the strategic problem.
The methodology has been outlined in sufficient detail.
The most relevant findings have been presented.
The relationship of those findings to the strategic problem have been clarified.
The connection between the findings and the recommendations is evident.
Integration of theory, application, practice, and reflection Present?
The selected theory has been accurately explained.
The selected theory is relevant to the organisational context and strategic problem.
The selected theory has been applied correctly to the organisation in question.
At least three relevant recommendations have been suggested.
The influence of those recommendations on the strategic problem has been identified.
The risks of acting upon – and not acting upon – those recommendations are noted and mitigated.
Implementation challenges have been acknowledged.
Suggestions on how those challenges can be overcome have been noted.
The student’s enriched understanding about strategy and influence has been articulated.
The student’s incorporation of that learning in his/her leadership style has been declared.
TOTAL
.
.
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969
This material has been reproduced and communicated to you by or on behalf of Kaplan Business School pursuant to Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968 (‘Act’). The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further reproduction or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Kaplan Business School is a part of Kaplan Inc., a leading global provider of educational services. Kaplan Business School Pty Ltd ABN 86 098 181 947 is a registered higher education provider CRICOS Provider Code 02426B.
Assessment Information