Reference no: EM132365237

Summary of Assignment Requirements

You will be an IS/Business Analyst/Business Analytics/eBusiness/SCM consultant for a real organisation. You will find an organisation as an individual, and submit an individual assignment. The two parts of this individual assignment are as follows:

Part A - a Case Study Report comprising a text word limit of 2,500 addressing the requirements in the table below, plus a minimum of three (3) complex diagrams (each diagram can be broken up into smaller diagrams so that it is readable). The limit of 2,500 words in total for Part A is very strict, and cannot be exceeded by even one (1) word. You can decide how to split these words for Part A sections. Table 1 gives an optional guide.

Part B - a Feedback Reflection Report (text word limit of 500, no diagrams) on how you sought and utilised feedback to produce and improve your Case Study Report.

Part A - Case Study Report
Table 1 below summarises the structure and requirements for the Case Study Report. We provide this structure because the assignment is complex and challenging, and feedback from past students suggests a given structure balances broad guidance (i.e. high-level section headings) with flexibility (e.g. the content written specifically about the chosen organisation). Further, many organisations have a "house-style" for reports, so this structure is consistent such an industry practice.
Most organisation analysis and literature research for this assignment will focus on a product you
(and owner/manager) select which the organisation sources from a supplier, meeting these criteria:
1. They buy the product from suppliers regularly (daily, weekly, but at least monthly).
2. The product and/or component(s) are manufactured from hazardous materials/chemicals.
The product selection criteria means students and organisations have some flexibility, but ensures:
• Assignment requirements below can be completed (e.g. if a product is bought infrequently it will be difficult to meet many requirements below, including Diagram 1).
• Deakin policy states that assignments must differ each trimester, which is achieved in part by specifying different product characteristics. This is more flexible than other alternatives, including students picking organisations from different industries each trimester.
• Feedback given to students relating to a different organisation will be more relevant to all students due to specifying the product selection criteria that is identical for all students.
• The second product selection criterion ensures the product will have direct relevance to GLO8 Global Citizenship (i.e. environmental responsibility issues).
The owner/manager may not know any sourced products that meet the second selection criterion. You should therefore research products that are often sourced by organisations in their industry before the interview, so that you have a list of products from which you and they can select.

The aim of the Case Study Report is to complete a thorough analysis relating to CSR issues (GLO8 Global Citizenship), the organisation's source and make tasks (GLO1 Discipline-specific knowledge), and the implications of a proposed new metric (GLO5 Problem Solving). The latter analysis is expected to be at the industry standard to get HDs and Ds. Note that Section 9 will include all the detailed positive and negative implications which can be used to make a recommendation (except an analysis of financial feasibility), but you will not state the final recommendation.

You will write the report about the organisation for the marker. If the owner is interested in the ideas in the report, they can get independent advice and recommendations (which may contradict, confirm or extend the findings in your report) and make a decision themselves. Please provide the owner/manager with a copy of the report as a "thank you" for their time and help. You can tailor the report for the owner/manager if you feel it is necessary (e.g. removing parts only relevant for assessment). You should not criticise the owner, organisation, etc in the report! Owners of small organisations often feel the business is part of them, so criticising the business will be like criticising them personally. Instead, write in a positive manner such as "An opportunity to enhance..."

Part B - Feedback Reflection Report
Business professionals (e.g. Business Analysts, Consultants) must obtain continual feedback from clients to verify that they understand client needs by asking questions and showing the client what they have done to align their understanding with client needs. Professionals cannot say it was the client's fault if a report/solution does not meet the client's needs. In this unit, you will follow these same principles. You must take active steps to ensure the Case Study Report meets the client (i.e. marker) needs (i.e. the assignment requirements).

You are expected to seek, interpret accurately and respond constructively to feedback/clarifications on your understanding of the assignment requirements to improve your assignment before it is submitted. You are required to write a 500 word Feedback Reflection Report summarising how you sought, interpreted and utilised feedback opportunities. Further details on the Feedback Reflection Report can be found in the Feedback Reflection Report section below.

Part A - Selecting an organisation
Each individual must find a real organisation. The organisation can be part of another business (e.g. franchise, group), so long as the owner/manager or staff are responsible for all tasks relating to ordering products from suppliers and handling sourced products. Students will find it difficult to complete the assignment successfully if the organisation does not handle these tasks themselves.
Students cannot be owners or managers of the organisation because GLO5 Problem Solving involves students interviewing the owner/manager, and students cannot interview themselves.

Only one student can do the assignment on the one organisation, otherwise the assignments of both students will be too similar and at increased risk of collusion (i.e. Academic Misconduct).
Students must obtain written permission from the owner (or CEO, General Manager, Director).
• Initially, give the owner a copy of the Information for owner/CEO/director/GM (see under Resources tab and then Assessment Resources) so they understand what is expected. You can show them these assignment requirements if they are interested in further information.
• If the owner agrees, they must fill out and sign the Letter of Consent form (see Assessment Resources). You must submit a copy of the consent form signed by the owner/manager (which can be scanned or electronically signed) via the assignment box by the due date stated at the top of these assignment instructions. If the owner/manager wishes for their name and/or their organisation to remain anonymous, the consent form states that the owner/manager can send the completed consent form directly to the Unit Chair so that assignment drafts and final report do not reveal these names. Either way, a completed and signed consent form is required with the names of the owner/manager and organisation.
• Keep a copy (e.g. electronic or scanned) of the form for your own records.
• Give a copy of the signed form to the owner for their records.

Your assignment will not be marked until the form is submitted, and could result zero marks.
Staff of this unit will not assist you with finding an organisation, because promoting yourself to a business and securing their involvement is an important skill to develop and improve (e.g. for students with limited (Australian) experience wanting to apply for a job after graduation). Please see the document Securing a real organisation for useful tips and suggestions on finding an organisation. One organisation can only be studied by one student.

Part A text word count penalty and calculation
The "Part A text word count penalty" rubric criterion states that the text word count of the Case
Study Report must be less than or equal to the text word limit (not a single word more). See the

Assessment 1 Rubric document. The 10% leeway on the word count DOES NOT apply in this unit. Following the rubric, a penalty mark will be deducted from your final mark.

This strict requirement reflects industry requirements that, when you are asked to write a problem solving (or analysis) report of ‘X' words or ‘X' pages, exceeding this requirement is typically not acceptable. An important problem analysis skill, therefore, is convincing managers your problem analysis is thorough and complete within such restrictions. Further, a strict word limit ensures that you do not do more work than is required for the assessment.

The word count is determined by selecting everything from the Introduction section heading to theend of the Conclusion section in Table 1 above (i.e. excluding only the cover page, and company sources and research sources), and using MS Word's word count feature. The text word limit includes everything (e.g. headings, tables, citations). Nothing can be scanned, and no images can be used, to reduce the word count, except Diagrams 1-2 in the requirements table. The rubric specifiesa penalty if anything other than the required diagrams are scanned or are images in Part A.

Diagrams 1-2 (including a, b, etc) can be image files (e.g. GIF, JPEG) so they are not included in the text word count. Software used to create diagrams (e.g. Powerpoint) typically have options to save each diagram (e.g. Powerpoint slide) as an image, then the image file can be copied into the report. Each diagram must have a caption (e.g. "Diagram 1: title of the diagram"), which can be scanned with the diagram (i.e. in the image file) so that it does not increase the word count.

You can use numbered citations (optional) so the citations do not add to the text word limit (see below), because there are no spaces between citation numbers and punctuation/words. The example is not relevant to assignment, but it shows numbered citations and referencing.

Part A - Format of company/research sources

Each company source and research source must have a reference entry in the corresponding section in Table 1 above, formatted using the Harvard style

The interview with the owner/manager should be added to the list of company sources and formatted as follows:
Family name, given name(s) YEAR, personal communication, date interviewed, position, company name.
If you do not wish to use numbered citations, use the "Author, Year" in-text citation method outlined at the above web address. But still ensure number each references. If you are using numbered citations (e.g. to reduce the text word count):
• Number every company source and every research source and then use these numbers for the numbered in-text citations in the report.
• You are not required to list sources in alphabetical order, which will make it easier to extend your list with new sources without affecting the numbers assigned to each source. This can help if you are using software (e.g. Endnote) to automate the numbering, because scanned Diagrams must include citations and such software cannot handle this. You can then add any sources from the Diagrams to the end of your source list if needed.
• You can number company sources with a, b, c, etc and research sources as 1, 2, 3, etc if this makes it easier to differentiate and maintain numbering.

Part A - Synthesis of research sources for the report

Diagrams, tables or text copied (i.e. quotes) from any source (even with citations) is strictly not permitted in the assignment. This includes not copying material from company sources (e.g. from company websites). Further, you cannot include quotes, any summaries of any articles, nor paraphrasing of single sources. Note that the rubric ULO No. 2 criterion makes it clear that you willlose significant marks for including such material (see the Assessment 1 Rubric document).

Part A instead involves extensive research synthesis, mainly from academic sources (e.g. journal articles, conference papers - search via Google Scholar), and some credible/authoritative industry reports and research (e.g. Forrester Research, Gartner Group, industry association publications). The research sources should be relevant to the size and industry of the business. For example, CSR solution(s) used by large companies are unlikely to be relevant or achievable by a small business.

Synthesising research sources involves reading all the sources to find similarities and differences between what you read in the sources. You then write, in your own words, the similarities and differences you found. The numbered citation approach shown in the box above gives an example of research synthesis. For example, the citations in "This is because most studies1,2,4,5 did not state any maximum revenue to be an SME, or differentiate SME sizes on the basis of revenue." shows that the author has read sources 1, 2, 4 and 5 and written the results of their comparison of the sources. Since it is you who identifies the similarities and differences, everything you write will have nosimilarity to any text in any single research source (this will only occur if you quote, summarise or paraphrase a single article, which is not allowed in this assignment).

For each section of Part A that requires synthesis of research sources, you should use a similar approach by writing your comparison research sources (using multiple citations like shown here and the example above) for the sections.

The ability to synthesise research sources is critical in university studies, and also working in industry, because it enables you to demonstrate your ability to think critically and reach your own conclusions and interpretations. You are not permitted to quote, summarise or paraphraseresearch sources in this report because students using these techniques mostly create reports which cut-paste-modify or paraphrase from different articles, which does not show ability to think.

Attachment:- Case Study Report and Complex Diagrams.rar