RECENT ASSIGNMENT

Preliminary work for two industry research papers

Due date: See your Study Desk
Value: 5%
Structure: Essay
Objectives
The course objectives met by this assignment include:
• Course specifications are available online from the USQ website http://www.usq.edu.au/course/specification/ . Always check the website for the latest version.
Overview
This assessment item requires you to find two organisations that you will be using for the other assignments in this course.
In your essay, you need to provide information about these two organisations you selected.
Background
You are required to find two organisations: one large organisation with more than 5,000 employees and one small-to-medium organisation with between 50-1,000 employees.
The size of these organisations is important as their current and future requirements would be different. When you are selecting these organisations, consider their footprint, such as are they operating within one country only, are they branching out to another country or are planning to do so, or are they already operating on a global scale? Other points you need to consider at this point is the type of business (pharmaceutical versus distribution for example). You may find some information on their history that provides some clues. You could look at their mission, vision, values statements. An organisation may be small now (they might have just started) and has the potential to grow. Some organisations pride themselves to be a family business and their expansion would encompass minimal risks, while large conglomerate organisations may have more assets to take larger risks. Some organisations are owned by another organisation, and this may impact their current and future situation differently.
Please do not contact any organisation to obtain information. There are security reasons why this information is not availably publicly. What you need to do for your assignments it to use the technical aspect of this course to make your own assumptions and deductions from the information that is publicly available. Then translate this into a managerial view.
In addition, it would be more beneficial and workable to select two organisations that do not have the same product or type or operation. This will assist you in the requirements of the other assignments in this course.
General Note
For all assignments in this course you are expected to write clearly, with the relevant theme of the specific assignment requirements flowing from one point to another, and succinctly addressing the issues within the word limit given to you. This is a normal expectation when you work in the industry, and therefore also of this course.
Essay
In your essay for this assignment you need to provide the following for each organisation:
• describe these two organisations
• explain why you have selected them
• provide the URL of the web sites
• describe their main product(s)
• provide the number of employees
• details about their presence (global, local)
• type of business (family owned, multinational)
One last point to consider is that in your other assignments you will be looking at the organisations requirements for the technologies we are covering in this course. Not how an organisation is going to provide this technology to their customers - a big difference to be aware of when selecting your organisations.
Structure
The structure of this assignment is essay type – please refer to the communications handbook for guidelines.
Please note that all assessment items in this course must adhere to the correct Harvard specifications for in text citing and reference list. For this purpose links have been provided to you on the study desk. However, you can consult the library web site for further details and clarifications. It is optional to use Endnote, and the links are provided to you on the study desk for the course. Endnote is of great assistance to get the citing and referring correct. However, you can do this without Endnote, but you need to make sure that the format of in text citing and the format of the list of references are correct according to the Harvard guidelines.
Submission requirements
Submit your assignment into EASE. Please note that the link will be visible to you only when the assignment is due. Do not email the essay to the course leader. If you are unable to upload, notify the course leader of the issue so that it may be resolved so that you can upload the assessment.
Marking criteria for Preliminary work (essay)
Student name: ___________________________ Student number: ____________________
Marks
Applied skills /20
Essay contains the requested information; good reasoning has been applied to the selection process and been clearly expressed in the essay.
Meets all the requirements 15-20
Good work – minor issue 10-15
Requires more work 5-10
Very poor effort 0-5
Comment:

Structured development of essay
Clear and succinct communication; logical flow through the essay leading the reader from start to finish on a clear path of addressing the assignment requirements
Meets all the requirements 15-20
Good work – minor issue 10-15
Requires more work 5-10
Very poor effort 0-5
Comment:
/20
Depth of research/ critical reflection
Assumptions and deductions made in the essay reflect the understanding of the course material and matches the selected type of organisation
Meets all the requirements 15-20
Good work – minor issue 10-15
Requires more work 5-10
Very poor effort 0-5
Comment:
/20
Understanding of key ideas and concepts
The essay reflects the ability to relate own research to course materials and issues by reflecting own perspectives.
Meets all the requirements 15-20
Good work – minor issue 10-15
Requires more work 5-10
Very poor effort 0-5
Comment:
/20
Evidence of support
Citing and referencing: Correctly formatted within text Harvard citing and provided correctly formatted Harvard list of references.
Meets all the requirements 15-20
Good work – minor issue 10-15
Requires more work 5-10
Very poor effort 0-5
Comment:
/20

/20
Total /100
General Comments: