Research for Business Decision Making/BUSS 5397 – Study Period 3 – 2015

Research for Business Decision Making/BUSS 5397 – Study Period 3 – 2015

ASSESSMENT DETAILS
Details of assessment submission and return are listed under each assessment task. Assessments will be returned to you within two to three weeks of submission.

#    Form of assessment    Length    Weighting    Due date (Adelaide Time)    Submit via    Objectives being assessed
1    Research
Project Proposal    1,500 words

20%

Assessment One due,
17 May 2015, 11.00pm

LearnOnline    a, b, c, d, e
2    Research Project Report    5,000 words    80%
Assessment Two due,
21 June 2015, 11.00pm    LearnOnline    a, b, c, d, e, f

ASSESSMENTS OVERVIEW
There are two assessments in this course and they are interconnected to assist students to complete a research project using secondary data. The first assessment is a proposal for the project and the second assessment is the project report. Note that a strong problem solving approach that assists in business decision making underpins these assessments. Please refer to the Assessment Guidelines for SP3 2015 section below for specific instructions regarding all assessments in SP3 2015).

When choosing a research question, students should consider the availability of secondary data that will allow them to answer their research question within the course duration. A list of potential secondary data sources is available on the course homepage. While students do not have to limit themselves to these data sources, the data sources should be credible (we will be discussing credibility of sources in Week Three). Please check with the Academic Library Team (UniSA Business School) if you have any queries about secondary data sources.

Students can use a range of sources including academic journal articles, popular press, industry reports in their literature review and project report. However, emphasis should be on academic literature in both their assessments (e.g., articles in academic journals, scholarly book chapters). A minimum number of academic references (other than the text book) is expected in each assessment (see specific requirements for each assessment under Assessment 1 and 2 information below). We will be discussing how to search academic literature in Week Three.  It is essential that you search UniSA Library’s electronic databases as part of your literature search. You are also encouraged to use the textbook (Zikmund et al., 2013) and the recommended readings associated with this course.

Please use APA referencing style in the assessments. The library has information on referencing styles http://www.library.unisa.edu.au/learn/manreferences.aspx
Please contact Academic Library Team (UniSA Business School) if you have any questions about referencing or credible sources of information.
All tables, graphs, data referred to in the text of the assessments should be embedded in text and not placed in the appendices.

ASSESSMENT GUIDELINES FOR SP3 2015
The focus of your research project in Study Period 3 (2015) should be a business issue that is of relevance to South Australia. You should focus on a business problem/an issue facing South Australia where research can be used to assist in decision making related to that issue. As noted in the Course Outline a strong problem solving approach that uses research to assist in business decision making underlines the assessments in this course. We strongly encourage you to focus on the following guidelines in finalising your research question.
•    Choose a business problem relevant to South Australia where you can use your research project and its findings to assist in the business decision making related the problem.
•    Your research proposal and the project should focus on the business problem/issue that you have identified. You can frame your research question to focus on a particular aspect of the issue, for example, you can look at issue(s)/problem(s) associated with marketing, financial viability, impact on the local community, human resource management. But the issue must be of significance to South Australia from a business viewpoint.
•    You are encouraged to use knowledge and skills gained in your discipline area and work experience to decide on the issue you would like to focus on. For example, if you are a studying in the Masters in Marketing program, you may choose to focus on an issue(s) associated with marketing or branding of South Australia’s tourism regions. While your program need not be the sole criterion used to select a research question, we encourage you to draw on knowledge and skills learnt in the other courses in the program to complete the research project.
•    Overall, your research proposal and the project should identify a business problem and use research to make recommendations that would assist in making business decisions related to the problem.
•    The research proposal and project must be your original work. Your research proposal must identify a business problem/issue relevant to South Australia, you must source secondary data, analyse the data you have sourced and present your findings and recommendations based on your research project. Any reproduction of previous projects by others is a serious breach of academic integrity. Please read the information under Academic Integrity (pages 9-10) of this document and the Course Outline.

ASSESSMENT 1 – RESEARCH PROPOSAL
The objective of this assignment is for students to write a detailed Research Proposal that demonstrates understanding and application of the material covered in this course.
In order to complete the literature review segment, conduct a search of published material mainly focusing on academic literature and prepare a summary. Your literature review should provide a succinct overview of the field’s state-of-the-art knowledge about your research topic.

Warning:  “Reviewing the literature” means reviewing the actual research on your topic, do not rely on the literature reviews that the authors present in the introductions of their papers.

This section of the assignment is deliberately broad. Part of your responsibility is developing a clear structure for the review: You will need to make some decisions about how you define your research topic and the constructs/concepts that you will be using in your study. You will need to create a framework with which to organise the articles that you locate.  You will need to provide a “big picture” set of conclusions that accurately describes the broader literature.

The proposal should include
o    Introduction that contains arguments  to support why the business problem/issue you identified matters in this context
o    A comprehensive review of relevant academic and other literatures
o    A clear research problem that is arising from the literature review
o    A clearly defined research aim and objectives
o    Definitions of concepts/constructs that will be examined in the research project
o    Identification of secondary data sources that are to be used in the project
o    Arguments how the proposed plan can achieve the research objective
•    Your research proposal should be accompanied by a full reference list (not part of the word limit). A minimum of 10 academic references (other than the text book) are expected in this assessment.
•    Length (i.e. 1,500 words) does not include the reference list, bibliography, and appendices.
•    On each page, insert a footer that includes your student ID, Name and the page number, on the first page top right hand corner include the word count of the document.
•    Submit your complete research proposal including references and appendices as one document through the LearnOnline system.
The assignment will be assessed according to assessment criteria in the following feedback form.

Research for Business Decision Making (BUSS 5397)
Assignment 1 –  Research Proposal
Weighting 20%  1,500 words Due 17 May 2015, 11.00pm
Key Assignment criteria    % for this component    Comment
Introduction—which must include the information as to why the business issue/ problem you identified matters in the context.     10%
Literature review—is comprehensive drawing on relevant information from different sources with an emphasis on academic literature.
Literature review is clearly structured and concepts are defined.     50%
Research problem and aims- are clearly identified and are clearly connected to the review of literature.     15%
Data sources – identification of secondary data sources that are appropriate, to gather the information needed to solve the research problem.     10%
References—a list of all material directly referred to in the proposal  (at least 10 academic references apart from the prescribed textbook).     10%
Use of appropriate style (i.e., APA) in-text and reference list.    5%
Grade & summary comment

The Graduate qualities being assessed by this assignment are indicated by an X
X    GQ1: operate effectively with and upon a body of knowledge    X    GQ5: are committed to ethical action and social responsibility
GQ2: are prepared for lifelong learning    X    GQ6: communicate effectively
X    GQ3: are effective problem solvers        GQ7: demonstrate an international perspective
X    GQ4:can work both autonomously and collaboratively
ASSESSMENT 2 – RESEARCH REPORT
The objective of this assessment is for students to produce a comprehensive research report that contains the findings of their research project. The report should include
•    An updated version of the research proposal. Please update the proposal based on feedback you received for Assessment One. This section will NOT count in the 5,000 word limit. However, this section is needed so that the research report is a comprehensive standalone document. The research proposal and the new content together should form a comprehensive research report. Clearly mark the section where new content begins by adding the following line:
New content from this point onwards
•    The report must include:
o    A table of contents including page numbers etc.
o    An executive summary.
o    Information about research methods used and analyses, e.g., sampling, how data were collected, details of data analysis, justification for these method/s.
o    Findings: provide information about your findings, you are encouraged to use tables, graphs and other tools that will assist you to present your data in a succinct and user friendly manner.
o    Conclusions: this section should include key takeaways from your project and discuss these by integrating them to the material presented in the literature review.  This section should also include any recommendations you can make based on your findings.
o    State potential problems or limitations of  the project
•    On each page, insert a footer that includes your student ID, Name and the page number, on the first page top right hand corner include the word count of the document.
•    Appendices – any additional material which is not essential to the report but will give more details to enhance the readers’ understanding can be included as appendices.
•    Your research report should be accompanied by a full reference list (not part of the word limits). A minimum of 5 additional academic references that were not cited in the research proposal as part of Assessment One are expected in this assessment. Mark the additional references by highlighting them in a different font colour.
•    Length (i.e., 5,000 words) does not include the material reproduced as part of the research proposal, table of contents, reference list, bibliography and appendices.
•    Submit your complete research report including the material reproduced as part of the research proposal, references and appendices as one document through the LearnOnline system.
The assignment will be assessed according to assessment criteria in the following feedback form.

Research for Business Decision Making (BUSS 5397)
Assignment 2 – Research Report
Weighting 80%  5,000 words Due 21 June 2015, 11.00pm
Key Assignment criteria    % for this component    Comment
Introduction— The material related to the research proposal (from Assessment One) is fine-tuned and included.      10%
Table of contents and executive summary—succinct, clear and provides a synopsis of the project.      15%
Methods and analyses – Provides information about the methods and analyses used in the project. Methods and analyses used are appropriate to the research problem.    20%
Findings – Findings are clearly and succinctly presented, highlighting key findings.     25%
Conclusions and recommendations – Conclusions are clearly presented, they are reintegrated to the literature used in the proposal. Conclusions and recommendations are clearly and logically linked to project findings.     20%
References—a list of all material directly referred to in the research report  (at least 5 additional academic references apart from prescribed textbook and references cited in the proposal i.e., Assessment One).     5%
Use of appropriate style (i.e., APA) in-text and reference list    5%
The Graduate qualities being assessed by this assignment are indicated by an X
X    GQ1: operate effectively with and upon a body of knowledge    X    GQ5: are committed to ethical action and social responsibility
X    GQ2: are prepared for lifelong learning    X    GQ6: communicate effectively
X    GQ3: are effective problem solvers    X    GQ7: demonstrate an international perspective
X    GQ4:can work both autonomously and collaboratively
Feedback proformas
The feedback proforma is available on your LearnOnline course site. It can be accessed via the Feedback Form link in the Course Essentials block.
Supplementary Assessment
Supplementary assessment is NOT available for this course.
Important information about all assessment
All students must adhere to the University of South Australia’s policies about assessment: http://www.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp.
Students with disabilities or medical conditions
Students with disabilities may be entitled to a variation or modification to standard assessment arrangements.

Information for students with disabilities is available at: http://www.unisa.edu.au/Disability/
Variations to assessment tasks
Variation to assessment methods, tasks and timelines can be provided in:

Unexpected or exceptional circumstances, for example bereavement, unexpected illness (details of unexpected or exceptional circumstances for which variation can be considered are discussed in clauses 7.8 – 7.10 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual). Variation to assessment in unexpected or exceptional circumstances should be discussed with your course coordinator as soon as possible.

Special circumstances, for example religious observance grounds, or community services (details of special circumstances for which variation can be considered are discussed in clause 7.11 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual). Variations to assessment in expected circumstances must be requested within the first two weeks of the course (or equivalent for accelerated or intensive teaching).

More information about variation to assessment may be found by consulting the relevant policy: http://www.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp  (sections 3
and 7).
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
The university aims to foster and preserve the scholarly values of curiosity, experimentation, critical appraisal and integrity, and to foster these values in its students.

Academic integrity is a term used at university to describe honest behaviour as it relates to all academic work (for example papers written by staff, student assignments, conduct in exams, etc.) and is the foundation of university life. One of the main principles is respecting other people’s ideas and not claiming them as your own. Anyone found to have used another person’s ideas without proper acknowledgement is deemed guilty of Academic Misconduct and the University considers this to be a serious matter.

The University of South Australia insists that its students display academic integrity so that its degrees are earned honestly and are trusted and valued by its students and their employers. To ensure this happens and that students adhere to high standards of academic integrity and honesty at all times, the University has policies and procedures in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct for all students. Work submitted electronically by students for assessment will be tested using the text comparison software Turnitin. Note that it is the responsibility of every student to submit every online submission required for assessment as outlined above, through the Turnitin text comparison software first before finally submitting it in the LearnOnline system.

More information about academic integrity and what constitutes academic misconduct can be found in Section 9 of the Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual (APPM) at: http://www.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/ or on the Learning and Teaching Unit website at:  http://www.unisa.edu.au/ltu/integrity/default.asp

SUBMISSION AND RETURN OF ASSESSMENT TASKS
See above under Assessment details.
ACTION FROM PREVIOUS EVALUATIONS
The previous evaluation of the course helps to improve the direction of the course. Evaluation questionnaires of the course will be distributed electronically at the end of the course.

CONCEDED AND TERMINATING PASSES
Conceded and Terminating passes are not available in this course.

FURTHER ASSESSMENT INFORMATION
Extensions may be available subject to negotiation with the Course Coordinator as per the standard policy of the Business School. Please note that work circumstances will NOT be accepted as a reason for requesting an extension. Please also note that a student given a formally approved extension for Assessment One (under exceptional circumstances) does not automatically qualify for an extension for Assessment Two. It should be clearly understood that missing an assignment has roll-on consequences.

Within the Business School a standard penalty is applicable when students submit assignments after the due date/time (taking into account of any extension that has been formally approved). Please note that assignments submitted after the due date, without an authorised extension, will receive a penalty of 10% per day deducted from the total awarded mark for the assignment for up to 7 calendar days. After 7 calendar days the assignment will no longer be accepted and a zero mark will be awarded.

However, late submission is not possible for some assignments, for example:

Submitting an assignment after other students in the class have received feedback on that assignment;

Making online postings on a topic in discussion forum after discussion on that topic has closed;
Submitting answers to case study questions after the solution to the case study has been provided.

Return of assignments
Your assignments will be marked and returned to you via Learnonline after marking and/or moderation is completed. Assignments will be returned to you within approximately two -three weeks of submission.

APA referencing style in the assessments

Length (i.e., 5,000 words) does not include the material reproduced as part of the research proposal, table of contents, reference list, bibliography and appendices.

Submit your complete research report including the material reproduced as part of the research proposal, references and appendices as one document through the LearnOnline system.