HOLMES INSTITUTE
FACULTY OF
HIGHER EDUCATION
Assessment Details and Submission Guidelines
Trimester T1 2020
Unit Code HI6008
Unit Title Business Research Project
Assessment Type 2. Group* Report on Literature Review (including statement of ‘who wrote which sections)
Assessment Title Literature Review
Purpose of the assessment (with ULO
Mapping) This assessment item seeks to ensure that all students enrolled in the Capstone Unit – Business Research Project – are adept at sourcing relevant and current literature using academic search portals, such as Pro-Quest, and other places where high quality secondary data resides.
Furthermore, this assessment requires students to not only read and summarise what other authors have already established, but also to become skilful at weaving together complementary or contrasting arguments relevant to their approved topic, research problem, and research question(s).
Relates to Unit Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 5
Weight 30 % of the total assessments
Total Marks 30
Word limit At least 2500 words for the Literature Review
Due Date Friday of Week 8
Submission Guidelines • All work must be submitted on Blackboard by 12 midnight on the due date, along with a completed Assignment Cover Page. [If no cover page your mark will be reduced -20%]
• The assignment must be in MS Word format, single spacing, 12-pt Arial font and 2 cm margins on all four sides of your page with appropriate section headings, paragraphing, and page numbers.
• Reference sources must be cited in the text of the report, and listed appropriately at the end in a reference list, all using Harvard referencing style.
*Note: Students are required to form groups of 3 or 2 students per group and notify their lecturer in writing, indicating the students’ names and Holmes student numbers. You may request approval from your lecturer to undertake this assignment individually, i.e. to form a group of 1. You will not be able to submit your assignment unless you are in a designated group (whether 1, 2 or 3 persons).
HI6008 ASSIGNMENT 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW
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Assignment 2 Specifications Purpose:
This unit aims to give you an opportunity to combine many facets of your acquired MBA skills into the production of a high-quality research project.
Assignment 2 - the Literature Review - is designed to ensure that each team member masters the skills of searching, locating, reading, summarising, and using relevant academic literature and secondary data to create a compelling discussion and/or argument, thereby creating the context for their further research in pursuit of the answer to their research question(s).
Your lecturer will LEAD and FACILITATE you through the process, week by week. The learning will be progressive, so for best results you will need to be in weekly contact with your lecturer during class time at your campus.
Assignment Structure should be the following:
1. An opening statement of the Research Problem and research Question(s) – these should now be more detailed than what you had in your Topic Approval.
2. Discussion of major theories, models or streams of influence around this topic. This provides your lecturer with evidence that you have gone deeper than your initial search now to find literature that leads you toward answering your research question
3. Draw the reader’s attention to any contrasting views expressed in prior research in this area and give your view of how differing opinions can be brought together to help answer the research question and ultimately resolve the research problem. [the more comprehensive your literature review, the better. Whatever you do NOT find out in this literature review will leave you with more work to do when you move to the next part of the project, i.e. methodology]
4. Report how it has brought you closer to an answer to your research question(s).
5. Ensure all in text citations are correctly referenced.
6. Add a comprehensive List of References, in Harvard referencing style. [Students please be warned that errors in referencing attract suspicion of plagiarism/academic misconduct and may require detailed investigation, prompting a request for further information from you regarding your sources. It is always essential that academic integrity is upheld and any breach thereof may lead to a mark of ZERO and a report of academic misconduct. Don’t take a chance!]
7. Append a statement indicating ‘who wrote which sections of this report’
HI6008 BUSINESS RESEARCH PROJECT. ASSIGNMENT 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW
Page 3 of 3
HI6008 Assignment 2 – Literature Review - Marking Rubric
Excellent 4-5 marks Very Good 3-4 marks Good 2-3 marks Satisfactory 1-2 marks Unsatisfactory 0-1 mark
Identification of appropriate Body of
Knowledge
[Max 5 marks] Cited sources are all current and relevant Cited sources are mostly
current and relevant Cited sources are somewhat
current and relevant Cited sources
are marginally
current and relevant Irrelevant or poorly-selected sources
Depth of literature search
[Max 5 marks]
The sources provide an
excellent depth of contextual understanding The sources provide a very good depth of contextual understanding The sources provide a
good depth of contextual
understandin
g The sources provide a
satisfactory depth of
contextual understanding Insufficient depth
Quality of Literature
Sourced
[Max 5 marks]
At least 12 additional
sources of excellent quality At least 12 additional
sources of very high quality At least 10 additional
sources of high quality At least 8 additional
sources of
satisfactory quality Low quality literature, lack of
academic sources, or less than 8 relevant sources
Structure of the
Literature Review
[max 5 marks]
The literature review is
extremely well-
structured, with
sub-sections and logical paragraphing The literature review is very well-
structured, with sub-
sections and logical paragraphing The literature review is well-
structured, with sub-
sections and logical paragraphing The literature review is
sufficiently structured, with sub-
sections and logical paragraphing No or little logical structure
Design, content and flow of discussions or arguments
[Max 5 marks]
The literature review is
exceptionally
well-designed,
with interesting and well-
formulated
discussion or
argument that makes for
compelling reading The literature review is very
well-designed, with
interesting and well-
formulated
discussion or
argument that
makes for very good reading The literature review is welldesigned, with
interesting
discussion or argument
that makes
for good reading The literature review is
sufficiently
well-designed, with
discussion or argument at least worthy of reading Difficult to make sense of what is
written; significant grammatical or
spelling mistakes.
Not of a sufficiently high standard for an MBA Capstone
Project.
Referencing (in-text and reference list)
[Max 5 marks] Excellent in all respects, both intext and the reference list Very good in all respects, both in-text and the reference list Good in-text and the reference list Satisfactory in both in-text and the reference list Unsatisfactory referencing
Total (30)
/30
Note to lecturer: No Cover Sheet -20%. No statement of ‘Who Wrote What’ -20%
HI6008 BUSINESS RESEARCH PROJECT. ASSIGNMENT 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW