HOLMES INSTITUTE
FACULTY OF
HIGHER EDUCATION
Assessment Details and Submission Guidelines
Trimester T1 2020
Unit Code HC1021
Unit Title Interpersonal & E-Communication
Assessment Type Group Assignment
Assessment Title Evaluating the advancements in communication strategies of International and domestic Business
Purpose of the assessment (with ULO Mapping) Students are required to perform academic research on any nominated international company to identify and assess the effectiveness of its current “Non Electronic and Electronic Communication” strategies
Weight 40 % of the total assessments
Total Marks Group Report (25 marks)
Group presentation (15 marks)
Word limit Not more than 2500 words
Due Date Report (Friday in week 10 by 11:59pm)
Submission Guidelines
All work must be submitted on Blackboard by the due date along with a completed Assignment Cover Page. The assignment must be in MS Word format, no spacing, 12-pt Arial font and 2 cm margins on all four sides of your page with appropriate section headings and page numbers.
Reference sources must be cited in the text of the report, and listed appropriately at the end in a reference list using Harvard referencing style.
Assignment 1 Specifications
Purpose:
This assignment aims at applying theoretical and practical knowledge of communication to formulate effective business communication strategies. In groups of 4 students must:
i. Select a suitable business, company or organisation and write a formal report on their business communication trend over the past 20 years (Note: the selected company must have been in operation at least in the past 20 years).
ii. The nominated company must be approved by your lecturer. Each group must do their report on different companies. This will be approved on a ‘first-come first-served’ basis.
iii. You will be required to perform academic research on the nominated companies to assess how changes in business communication strategies have impacted the way that business is being done today. iv. You are to make a group presentation for 5-12 minutes on the key findings from your report using PowerPoint slides in the class during the tutorial session in weeks 10 and 11.
Assignment Structure should be as the following:
Title Page
Executive Summary
Brief Introduction and Background
Section 1: Synopsis of the key communication methods and practices that the company previously used to engage customers, suppliers, staff members and the public.
Section 2: Overview of the current communication strategies used by the company, including websites, social media, and electronic platforms.
Section 3: Perform a SWOT Analysis on the company’s overall communication methods and practices, and describe your findings.
Section 4: Assess and compare the company’s previous and current communication practices Recommendations: Provide suggestions and recommendations on how your chosen companies can improve their business communication Conclusion
Marking Criteria
Marking criteria Marking criteria Weighting
Overall Structure, format and presentation 3 marks
Overview of the company’s communication strategy changes over time 4 marks
SWOT Analysis of the company’s communication strategies 6 marks
Comparison of the previous and current company’s communication strategies 5 marks
Summary of findings and Recommendations 4 marks
Evidence of quality research and Referencing 3 marks
TOTAL Weight 25 marks
Assessment Feedback to the Student:
Marking Rubric
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory
Overall
Structure, format and presentation (3) Report is excellently structured, with sub-sections and logical paragraphing. Correct layout including Arial, font size 12, about the right length. Report is very well-structured, with subsections and logical paragraphing. Correct layout including Arial, font size 12, about the right length. Report is well structured, with sub-sections and
logical
paragraphing
Correct layout including Arial, font size 12, about the right length. Report is sufficiently structured, with sub-sections and
logical paragraphing Some elements of layout or length incorrect. No or little logical structure of report. Many direct quotes and/or very little paraphrasing.
Some elements of layout or length incorrect.
Overview of the company’s communication strategy changes over time (4) Very detailed discussion on key communication strategies with examples Detailed discussion on key communication strategies with examples Sufficient discussion on key communication strategies with examples Barely adequate discussion on key communication strategies Insufficient discussion on key communication strategies
SWOT Analysis of the company’s
communication
strategies (6) Outstanding indepth SWOT analysis of company communication strategies A very sound SWOT analysis of company
communication strategies A good SWOT analysis of company
communication strategies A satisfactory SWOT analysis of company’s communication strategies. A very shallow analysis. Failed to adapt a SWOT analysis technique.
Comparison of the company’s previous and current communication
strategies (5) Excellent comparisons drawn on the company’s previous and current communication strategies Very good comparisons drawn on the company’s previous and
current communication
strategies Good comparisons drawn on the company’s previous
and current communication
strategies Satisfactory comparisons drawn on the company’s previous and
current communication
strategies Little or no
comparisons drawn on the company’s previous and current
communication
strategies
Summary of
Findings and
Recommendatio
n (4) An interesting, well written summary of the main points. An excellent final
comment on the topic, based on the information provided. A very good summary of the main points. A good final comment on the topic, based on the information provided. Good summary of the main
points. A final
comment on the topic based on the information provided. Satisfactory summary of the main points. A final comment on the topic, but introduced new
material Poor/no summary of the main points. A poor final comment on the topic and/or new material introduced
Evidence of quality research
and Referencing
(3) Correctly set out reference list and in-
text citations included. Cited sources are all current and relevant Correctly set out reference list and in-text citations included. Cited sources are
mostly current and
relevant Correctly set out reference list and intext citations included. Cited sources are
somewhat current and relevant Some problems with the reference list and/or in-text citations. Cited sources are marginally current and relevant So many problems with the reference list and/or in-text citations. Irrelevant or poorly-selected sources
Total Marks (25) /25