Assessment Details and Submission Guidelines
Trimester T2 2020
Unit Code HI6008
Unit Title Business Research Project
Assessment Type 1. Group Formation*, Topic Approval, Team Charter, (Presentation may be required)
Assessment Title Topic Approval
Purpose of the assessment (with ULO Mapping) Clearly identify your chosen topic, having carried out some basic review of available secondary data to secure your interest (at least 3 academic articles, plus a business report, and 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).
List the student numbers and names of your team members and complete the Team Charter, indicating what role(s) each will contribute throughout the project.
A brief presentation in-class may be requested by your lecturer.
Matches to Unit Learning Outcomes 1, 2, and 5
Weight 20 % of the total assessments
Total Marks 20
Word limit Not more than 1200 words for the Topic Approval [The Team Charter, which is to be appended, is additional to the 1200 word-count of the Topic Approval]
Due Date Friday of Week 5
Submission Guidelines • All work must be submitted on Blackboard by 12 midnight of the due date, along with a completed Assignment Cover Page. [If no cover page your mark will be reduced -20%].
• The group members’ names and student numbers listed on the Cover Page must align with the members officially registered in your group. [any errors or omissions may affect your grade and there is no guarantee of any adjustment]
• The assignment must be in MS Word format, 1.5 spacing, 12-pt Arial font and 2 cm margins on all four sides of your page with appropriate section headings, paragraphing, and page numbers.
• Reference sources must be correctly cited in the text of the report, and listed appropriately at the end in a reference list, all in Harvard referencing style.
*Note: Students are required to form groups – a maximum of 3 students per group. You may undertake this assignment individually, i.e. form a group of 1. You will not be able to submit your assignment unless you are OFFICIALLY into a designated group (even if it is a group of 1). Once formed, the group composition should NOT be changed for the duration of the trimester.

Assignment 1 Specifications
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 1 - the Topic Approval - is to ensure you have given sufficient thought to the topic you are choosing to base your research project on. You will ideally work with a group consisting of 2 or 3 class-mates. Your respective contributions will be governed by the Team Charter, which is a document you will produce at the same time as your Topic Approval submission. The Team Charter is to indicate, essentially, what roles will be played by each member of the team.
Your tutor will LEAD and 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 Structure should be as the following:
1. Say why this topic interests your team
2. Discuss your team’s initial search for relevant literature and show that it has provided you with a good contextual understanding
3. Define the Research Problem that your team intends to address (as you see it, so far)
4. Propose at least ONE research question that your team will be seeking to answer through your research project (additional questions may be defined as you progress with this unit)
5. List the student numbers and names of your team members, complete a Team Charter (see template) and include in your submission as an appendix.
Appended Team Charter (not applicable if doing the assignment individually)
Here the team members must participate in robust discussion during which they 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 in a table similar to the one below. [Note that you need to define the roles; those listed are simply examples]. Each person’s name and student number must appear at least once in the table. There may be more than one person allocated to any role.
Team Charter Template
HI6008 Business Research Project - Team Charter
Team Member Names email mobile
Member 1
Contact 1
Pref 1
Member 2
Contact 2
Pref 2
Member 3
Contact 3
Pref 3
Note: The maximum team size is 3 persons.
1. Explain the team’s agreed goals and timeline for completion (Due dates, meetings, milestones, deliverables from individuals)
2. Who is responsible for each activity?
3. What particular team-roles will each member contribute to the team?
4. What are your team’s expectations regarding meeting attendance (being on time, leaving early, missing meetings, etc.)?
5. 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)?
6. What are your team’s expectations regarding the quality of team members’ preparation for team meetings?
7. What are your team’s expectations regarding team members’ ideas, interactions with the team, cooperation, attitudes, and team-member contributions in general?
8. How will your team ensure that members contribute as expected to the team and that the team performs as expected?
9. How will your team reward members who do well and how will you collectively manage members whose performance is below expectations?
10. Add any other team agreements and commitments here
This table may be useful in thinking about the effective combination of team members skills.
Team Members Lead-Role Allocations (examples) Name(s) Student Number(s)
Innovation / Design
Networking / Relationships
Writing / Editing
Research / Data
Accuracy / Reference checks
Final Submissions
HI6008 Assignment 1 – Topic Approval and Team Charter - Marking Rubric
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory
Topic identification and discussion Topic is clearly identified with robust concise discussion Topic is clearly identified with very good discussion Topic is clearly identified with good discussion Topic is identified Missing or confused
Initial literature search 5 or more academic sources with compelling argument At least 4 academic sources with good argument At least 4 academic sources with good discussion At least 4 academic sources with some useful discussion Insufficient rigour
Statement of Research Problem Clear, concise, compelling The research problem is very-well evident The research problem is well-evident The research problem is evident Missing or confusing
Research Question Clear, concise, compelling The research question is very-clearly stated The research question is clearly stated The research question is stated Missing or confusing
Team Charter Appendix Eminently clear what role each will play Each team member has contributed to the Team Charter robust discussion and has an appropriate role Each team member has contributed to the Team Charter discussion and has a useful role the Team Charter indicates that each team member has been allocated a useful role Unclear what role each will play
Total Marks (20)
Comments:
/20