Unit Code: HI6008
Unit Title: Business Research Project
Assessment Type: 1.Research Project Development (including Topic, Problem Statement, Research Question), with Team Charter Appendix (Presentation may be requested)
Assessment Title: Topic Development
Weight: 20 % of the total assessments
Word limit: Not more than 1200 words for the Topic Approval [Note that a Team Charter, which is to be appended, is additional to the 1200 word-count of the Topic Approval]
HI6008 Business Research Project Assignment-Holmes Institute Australia.
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 (e.g. 5 academic articles OR at least 3 academic articles, plus a business report, plus 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).This assignment also requires the addition of an appendix in which you list the student numbers and names of your team members and complete a 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
Submission Guidelines:
1.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
2.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]
3.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.
4.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.
HI6008 Business Research Project Assignment-Holmes Institute Australia.
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 Development – is to ensure you have given sufficient thought to the topic you are choosing to base your research project on. You will ideally work within a group consisting of 2 or 3 class-mates (the maximum is 3). Your respective contributions in this and further assignments will be governed by your assignment group’s Team Charter, which is an appendix you will submit at the same time as your Topic Development. The Team Charter appendix must indicate what roles will be undertaken by each member of the team.
HI6008 Business Research Project Assignment-Holmes Institute Australia.
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 of Topic Development should be as the following:
1.Official Cover Sheet
2.Say why this topic interests your team
3.Discuss your team’s initial search for relevant literature and show that it has provided you with a good contextual understanding
4.Define the Research Problem that your team intends to address (as you see it, so far)
5.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)
6.Append a Team Charter (see template here following) and include the student numbers and names of your team members.
Team Charter Appendix (not required if doing the assignment as a solo-group)
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.
HI6008 Business Research Project – Team Charter
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)?
HI6008 Business Research Project Assignment-Holmes Institute Australia.
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?
HI6008 Business Research Project Assignment-Holmes Institute Australia.
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.