CW1: Report: Individual 6000-word (+/-10%) written report with action plan.
Marking Scheme:
Please note the assessment criteria and marking breakdown for the assignment:
- Introduction, background of organisation and review of the problem faced. 500 words. (10%)
- Literature review. 2000 words. (30%)
- Discussion of the secondary and primary research undertaken. 1000 words. (15%)
- Critical review of the results of the research. 1500 words. (25%)
- Recommendation and action plan. 1000 words. (15%)
- 5% of the remaining marks will be allocated to general assignment parameters including but not restricted to structure, synthesis, referencing etc.
Assignment task
Based on the feedback you will receive from the formative assignment, you are to produce a 6000 word report which should include the following:
- An introduction that reviews the background of the organisation and the issues or problems faced.
- A literature review that discusses the key areas of theory applicable in this case.
- A discussion of the secondary and primary research undertaken to analyse the problem or issue.
- A critical review of the results of the secondary and primary research.
- A recommendation and action plan that proposes solutions to the problem of issue based on your findings.
Learning outcomes
LO 1: Critically evaluate the industry life cycle of a chosen organisation and reflect on the existing corporate strategy
LO 2: Compare and contrast the board’s corporate governance structure and effectiveness.
LO 3: Prepare a board crisis action plan for a natural disaster of unforeseen event of catastrophic proportions.
LO 4: Critically analyse a corporate governance failure and suggest actions that can be taken to reduce or eliminate and similar such occurrences from happening in the future
LO 5: Critically analyse the various methods of data collection in order to conduct research into complex organisational issues using both primary and secondary research techniques.
Structure
Title
This will be same as the approved title you used for your formative research proposal.
Acknowledgments
This section is where you put all the names and acknowledge anyone who helped you in the process of writing your report. You can also put all your dedications under this section.
Abstract
The abstract should be very concise and no more than a page. It should include very brief details of what you did within this report, how you did it (the methodology employed – secondary and primary research) what you found (findings) your major conclusions and recommendations plus action plan.
Table of Contents
The table of contents details all the sections covered in the document with their corresponding page numbers plus table of figures.
Contents
Table of Contents 1
Introduction 1
Background of organisation 1
Chapter 1 – Introduction
Introduce your topic explaining the importance of the issue or problem at hand and then situate it in academic literature. The idea of the introduction is to also orientate the reader as to what is going to be covered in your report.
Background of Organisation
The name of the organisation, industry, what it does etc. Ensure that you discuss the wider industry in which the organisation operates in using referenced research. Moreover, you should provide some stats and data here to back up points made using referenced research.
The Problem or Issue
You should explain the problem, or the issue identified and how significant this issue is to the chosen organisation using referenced research. It is not enough to write that the report will identify corporate strategy & governance in later sections; the problems should be identified in the introduction. Please also ensure that the problem identification is focussed on a few problems, so that they can be explored in significant detail.
Research Aim
This is the overall aim of conducting this research, in other words why are you conducting this research and what are you trying to achieve? Contributions to the existing literature on the identified problem area should be considered here.
Research Questions
The main questions you will be asking in order to achieve your research aim. There should be a maximum of 3 or 4 research questions. Depending on the adopted methodology, qualitative or quantitative, your questions will differ in structure. Examples include:
- What is the importance of culture for corporate governance?
- How could organisational culture be improved?
Research Objectives
This is considered as a subsidiary of the research aim and should include what you will be doing to achieve your aim. E.g. If the aim of the research is to research the importance of culture for corporate governance, your research objectives could be:
- To analyse the importance of culture for corporate governance.
- To provide recommendations on enhancing organisational culture for improved corporate governance.
Chapter 2 – Literature Review
Here you need to explain where your investigation fits in the wider body of literature and perhaps inform a current debate in that literature. Using referenced research, you should start with a brief exploration of the main concepts of Corporate Strategy and Governance, and then critically evaluate carefully selected concepts, theories and ideas which might be useful for investigating your research topic and taking it forward.
For example, if you are researching the importance of culture for corporate governance, then you will need to cover the main literature on culture. The explored literature should relate to the topic area e.g. literature that has explored the importance of culture, and its impact on governance. Moreover, the literature review should include a theoretical section, where a theoretical framework/model is presented to guide the research. For example, concepts from Hofstede’s theoretical framework may be explored, as it has widely been adopted as a way to explain cultural differences. Looking at another example, if your research is exploring how an organisation’s corporate governance affects organisational strategy, you may explore aspects of logical incrementalism.
You will need to discuss material from a range of relevant academic journal articles, as well as appropriate secondary research. All sources must be referenced using the Harvard system. A key requirement here is to develop a clear argument, linking the literature to the issue, problem, or questions that you have identified in the introduction; in other words, there should be a critical link with the research question to be investigated and the topics reviewed under this section. Make sure you have critically reviewed the literature; this means that you do not just descriptively state what another scholar has stated; rather you should engage critically and identify the limitations of their work. This could be done by stating the points of other scholars who have different views.
You need to divide this section under different subheadings but remember the subheadings you choose must be related to the title of your research and research questions. For example, using the topic of ‘the importance of culture for corporate governance’, you could decide to divide our literature review section as follow:
2.1 Subtitle A: Main Concepts of Corporate Governance and Strategy
2.2 Subtitle B: Culture and its Importance
2.3 Subtitle C: The Importance of Culture for Corporate Governance
2.4 Subtitle E: Theoretical Framework
Note how the subheadings relate to the research questions and the title of this research. Conclude this chapter summarising what you have discussed under this chapter.
Chapter 3 – Methodology
Discussion of the primary and secondary research undertaken e.g. make sure you explain how you conducted secondary research for instance, using academic databases, books, journal articles etc.
Methodology and Methods
Some short passages should be included on why methodology and methods are important for research. It is also important to clarify the difference between the term’s ‘methodology’ and ‘methods’.
Philosophical Paradigms (Positivism – Interpretivism)
Brief discussion on the main philosophical paradigms, namely, positivism and interpretivism.
The Positioning of this Study
Articulation of the adopted philosophical approach; this should be argued in terms of the philosophical approach being consistent with the research questions and objectives.
Research Approach (Qualitative – Quantitative)
Discussion on the research approach adopted by the study, which would be either qualitative or quantitative. Briefly state the difference between both.
Research Design and Selected Methods (Primary and Secondary Data Collection Methods)
Discussion on research design, which centres on the selected methods. Clearly state what primary and secondary data collection methods were adopted by the study and why this fits the purpose of your research. Primary methods include the questionnaire, interview, focus groups etc. Secondary methods include using academic databases, books, journal articles etc.
Data Collection
This section should detail how data were collected and should highlight the various challenges that were faced during the collection phase. Questions to consider include what was your sample frame? (number of participants, maybe age, gender, positions they occupy etc). Explain how you selected your participants, whether you used probability or non-probability sampling design and the specific sampling technique. Did you use snowballing technique? Convenience sampling? Random etc. The study participants you chose should be able to offer the right type of information to enable you address the research problem.
Data Analysis
How did you analyse the data you collected? This section must be consistent with the previous section on data collection method and must be mindful of the nature of the data collected, whether this is quantitative or qualitative. E.g. How did you transcribe your interviews? How did you then analyse the data? Did you use software like Nvivo? Also, with quantitative data, how did you analyse your data? Did you use excel, SPSS, etc.
Accessibility Issues
What accessibility issues did you encounter when you collected the data? How did you manage the accessibility issues?
Ethical Issues
You must discuss any ethical issues that are relevant to your research topic, participants, and method. Discuss how you dealt with the ethical issues. E.g. Consent forms, information sheet and explanation to participants, anonymity issues, data storage and security, the freedom to opt out etc.
Chapter 4 – Critical Review of the Results of the Research (think about your research questions)
You have two options in terms of how you approach this chapter:
- First summarise all your findings under the themes developed and then analyse them after OR
- Summarise each theme followed by analysis and then another summary of findings followed by analysis ……and so on
Discuss your findings here in relation to previous research whether proving or disproving within your literature review and also in line with the concepts that emerged after reviewing the literature.
Remember to also review your findings in line with your research questions in other words make sure you answer your research questions.
You could discuss your findings under the emerging themes from your research data with sub-headings.
Remember this is the section you get to critically explain to the reader the meaning and implication of what you found so do explain it very well.
Chapter 5 – Recommendations
- The recommendation should come naturally from your findings.
- Do not come up with recommendations because you feel they are right or sound right.
- Recommendations must be explained and justified so do not just state them.
- Every recommendation must be relevant, realistic and achievable.
- You could also give short term, medium- and long-term recommendations.
Chapter 6 – Action Plan
- Your action plan must be based on your recommendations and must summarise the main goal of the action plan.
- It must explain what exactly the organisation needs to do operationally in order to achieve the recommendations.
- Action plan must be specific and must address each of the recommendations given.
- You must also explain and justified what sort of resources will be required.
- You should also include timelines of when this is likely to be completed.
Chapter 7 – Conclusion
This is a summary of everything you have done within your report. This should include the main points discussed and the major conclusions on your main findings. Remember no need to talk about anything new here it is just a summary of your project
References
This should contain all references cited in the main text in Harvard style, numbered and alphabetically. Please aim for at least 30 references from reputable sources such as journal papers, conference papers etc.
Appendix
Any tables etc.
Information sheet
Accounts
Detailed calculations
Consent forms
Interview guide (if you conducted interviews)
Tables and diagrams
Copy of questionnaire (if you conducted one)
