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HI6008 Business Research Project

Assessment 1: Research Project Development

Clearly identify your chosen topic, having carried out some basic review of available secondary data to secure your interest (e.g. at least 3 academic articles, plus a business report, plus a relevant current news item). Indicate the Research Problem, as you see it so far, and at least ONE research question at this stage (additional questions may be defined as you progress with this unit).

Unless you are a SOLO GROUP (i.e. one person working alone) this assignment also requires the addition of an appendix in which you list the student numbers and names of your team members and complete a Team Charter, indicating what role(s) each will contribute throughout the project.

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. Your tutor's main role will be to FACILITATE you through the process, week by week. The learning will be progressive, so for best results you will need to be listening to the weekly lectures as well as in contact with your tutor during the interactive tutorials.

Assignment 1 - the Topic Development - is to ensure you have given sufficient thought to the topic you are choosing to base your research project on. For this assignment the topic you choose must be a business problem relevant to the state in which you are based in Australia and must be specified as related to a particular industry that is relevant to that state.

You must select one of the 2 projects listed below.The one you select must hold your interest for the full 12 weeks. You do NOT need to request approval for your topic and DO NOT expect your tutor to allocate you a topic. You are required to develop your topic to ensure that it has relevance as a business-related problem and has a specific Research Question that you intend to try and resolve.Your research must be as current as what the relevant academic literature supports (typically post-2018)

Select ONE from this list:

• A case study of organisational behaviour in an Australian small business or owner-managed family business. This study must be grounded in the theories you learned in your Management, Leadership, or Organisational Behaviour MBA unit.
• An appreciation of the types of Ethicaldilemmas in an Australian business (must be grounded in ethical theory)
The title of your submission must contain the economic sector / industry / company, and the Australian state that you base it on.
You will work in a group consisting of 3students (i.e. the maximum size of an assignment group in this unit is 3 persons). Your respective contributions in this first assignment (as well as assignments 2 and 3) will be governed by your assignment group's Team Charter, which is an appendix you will submit at the same time as your Topic Development. The Team Charter appendix must indicatewhat roles will be undertaken by each member of the team. If you are working SOLO, the team charter appendix is NOT required.

Assignment Structure

Your Topic Development Report should be in accordance with the following structure:

1. Official Cover Sheet (see Blackboard site)

2. Project Title in full (must contain the actual business activity/problem that it relates to; and/or the economic sector or industry or company that you are focusing on; the Australian state that you base it on) and discuss in detail why this topic interests you (see Marking Rubric row 1)

3. Discuss your initial search for relevant literature and show that it has provided you with a good initial contextual understanding of the topic and its associated business-related problem(s). (see Marking Rubric row 2)

4. Define the Research Problemthat your team intends to address. (see Marking Rubric row 3)

5. Propose at least ONE specific Research Question that your team will be seeking to answer through your research project. (see Marking Rubric row 4)

6. Append a Team Charter (unless working Solo)and include the student numbers and names of your team members.

Here the team members must discuss their individual interests, strengths and weaknesses and contemplate who can best contribute what over the period of the business research project. For example, while all members of the team must contribute to the whole project, the team members may decide that a particular person will take the lead role in a certain section of the project, such as the sourcing of relevant literature. [If one member takes on the lead role it doesn't mean that others don't do any of the work, just that they will be guided by the one leading that section of the project]. It is recommended that each team member assumes a leading role for one aspect of the team effort. The result of your discussions should be documented as a five-point plan, as indicated below:

1. Explain the team's agreed goals and timeline for completion (Due dates, meetings, milestones, deliverables)

2. Who will be responsible for each activity? and/or What particular team-roles will each member contribute to the team?

3. What are your team's expectations regarding meeting attendance (being on time, leaving early, missing meetings, etc.)?

4. What process will team members follow if they have an emergency and cannot attend a team meeting or complete their individual work promised to the team (deliverable)?

5. How will your team ensure that members contribute as expected to the team and that the team performs as expected?

Assessment 2: Report on Literature Review

Literature Review

This assessment item seeks to ensure that all students enrolled in the Capstone Unit - Business Research Project - are competent 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). This assignment builds on and extends the topic that was selected for Assignment 1.

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 as secondary data to support a compelling discussion of factors central to the identified and specified research problem and crafting an‘argument' that brings the reader closer to a prospective answer to the specified research question(s).

Your tutor will FACILITATE the process, week by week, in the tutorials, BUT remember that this is a ‘learn-by-doing' unit, in which you will spend a significant amount of tutorial time discussing and practising research skills. The learning will be progressive, so for best results you will need to be listening to the weekly recorded lectures as well as participating in the interactive tutorials and using the discussion board to interact with other students in your cohort.

[note that you are not expected to solve the research problem entirely from secondary data, just to demonstrate sufficient context to be able to plan the methodology phase of your research, which is assignment 3]

Assignment Structure should be the following:

1. Cover Page

2. An opening statement of the Research Problem (RP) and Research Question(RQ) - your explanation of these should at this stage be more detailed than what you wrote in your Topic Approval and identification of appropriate body of existing knowledge. (see Marking Rubric row 1)

3. Discussion of major theories, models or streams of influence relevant to the RQ. This provides evidence that you are able to find literature relevant toa deeper understanding of your Research Question (RQ) as well as a model or theory that will support your quest to answer it. (see Marking Rubric row 2)

4. Quality of Literature cited, drawing 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.(see Marking Rubric row 3)

5. Discussion of current state of knowledge, with logical structure. (see Marking Rubric row 4)

6. Evidence of understanding, flow, and academic argument. (see Marking Rubric row 5)

7. Converge on how this literature review has brought you closer to an answer to your research question(s). (see Marking Rubric row 6)

8. Ensure all in text citations are correctly referenced. [10-12 academic sources are required]

9. Add a comprehensive List of References, in Holmes adapted Harvard referencing style.[Students please be warned that errors in referencing attract suspicion of plagiarism/academic misconduct and may require detailed investigation. Note: fake referencing is academic fraud and will result in a report of Academic MisconductIt is always essential that academic integrity is upheld. Don't take a chance!]

10. Append a statement indicating ‘who wrote which sections of this report'

Attachment:- Report on Literature Review.rar