0LEC30BS Business and Society Summative Essay Assignment Brief 2026 | King's College London

0LEC30BS Assignment Brief

Task

Purpose

Select one of the 4 questions listed below and write an academic argumentative essay on it.

Note: The business case example can be from any week in the module.

Approach

• Identify in your chosen question the debatable claim that invites a critical stance.
• Question yourself to be able to take a position and brainstorm to check whether you will be able support it with evidence and reasoning.
• Challenge yourself to attempt in your essay evaluation, comparison, and judgement, not just explanation or description.

Structure

We recommend a 5-paragraph structure (Introduction, 3 Body Paragraphs, Conclusion). For example:

1.  Business Measures

Intro: Background and stance developed in detail.

Body 1: Benefits of data-driven ethics.

Body 2: Risks and limitations.

Body 3: Case study from the module showing both sides.

Conclusion: Your position on whether more or less reliance is better.

2.  Service Industries

Intro: Background and stance developed in detail.

Body 1: Benefits of business models in health/education.

Body 2: Risks of this commodification.

Body 3: Case study and ethical implications.

Conclusion: Your stance on whether protection from market logic is needed.

3.  Globalisation & Ethics

Intro: Background and stance developed in detail.

Body 1: Ethical opportunities.

Body 2: Ethical challenges.

Body 3: Case study both.

Conclusion: Your judgement on whether ethical business is possible globally.

4.  Sustainable Business

Intro: Background and stance developed in detail.

Body 1: What makes sustainability genuine.

Body 2: How greenwashing works and why it’s hard to detect.

Body 3: Case study and stakeholder roles.

Conclusion: Your view on how consumers/investors can tell the difference.

Resources

• You must have a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 8 sources in your Reference List.
• You must refer to, at least, one of the last 4 Core Texts in the B&S Essay Source Pack, and you must include, at least, one reference to the corporate website of your business case example.
• You can include up to 2 B&S lectures, but you do not have to. We strongly recommend you to also look for sources in the module’s My Reading List, which is organised by topics.
• The last slide of your lectures and seminar PowerPoints, always includes a list of relevant readings. The Reference Lists in each of the articles of the Source Packs may also be useful. We also recommend researching for sources in the KCL Library or Google Scholar.
• All your sources must pass the CRAAP test, i.e., be current, relevant, authoritative, and purposeful.  All your sources must be written in English. They may have been originally written in a language other than English, but in these cases, they must also have been published in English.

Steps

1. Understand the Task:

Read all four essay questions carefully. Choose the one that interests you most and allows you to use examples from the module. Make sure you understand the key terms in the question (e.g. “ethical decision-making,” “market logic,” “greenwashing”).

2. Analyse the Question:

Identify the debate or tension in the question. Ask yourself: What are the two or more sides of this issue? Decide what your position will be (your argument or thesis).

3. Plan Your Essay Structure:

You may ask your seminar tutor for essay support during F&G hours for the following aspects of the assessment: checking you have interpreted the question correctly, discussing the outline, sense-checking whether the chosen business case is an effective example, consulting on references and their validity or relevance. Tutors will not read drafts of the essay.

4. Select and Use Sources:

Select sources that are relatively recent, unless you are referring to a core theory or past event.

5. Draft Thoughtfully:

Write in your own words. Avoid copying from lectures, AI tools, or websites, as well as inadvertently colluding with a friend after having shared ideas. Use topic sentences, transitions, and academic language. Avoid overusing quotes—paraphrase and analyse instead.

6.  Be critical:

Question assumptions, compare perspectives, and show awareness of complexity.

7. Revise and Proofread:

Check your word count (1200 words ±5%). Make sure your argument is clear and consistent. Review grammar, referencing, and formatting. Ask yourself: Does this sound like my voice? Could I explain this in a seminar?

Submission Deadline

The deadline for this task is 11:00am Monday, 27th April 2026, before 11 am.

Submission after 10:59:59 will be considered a late submission and may result in penalties.

Assignment/Submission Procedure

You must submit the assessment electronically via the KEATS module page. Please ensure you submit via Turnitin.

The assignment must include a completed cover sheet. This document can be found in the ‘Submit Assignment’ section on the module KEATS page.

Assignments are marked anonymously, and so you will need to submit using your student number (i.e. the number on your student card). This number should be clearly visible on the first page of the assignment. Please do not include your name on any part of the assignment.

Please name your assignment with your student number and class number (i.e. K1714743_BS4)

Assignments must be submitted on time. Penalties for non-submission and late submission are detailed in the King’s Foundations Student Handbook.

Word Limit

The suggested word count for this task is 1200 words. Title and reference list are not included in this total.

No penalty is applied for assignments which are up to 5% over the suggested work count. This means that the upper limit is 1260 words. 2% will be deducted for every 5% over the upper word limit (see the King’s Foundations Student Handbook for details).

Assignments exceeding this word limit by more than 5% will be penalised (see the King’s Foundations Student Handbook for details).

There is no penalty for under-length assignments; however, assignments that are more than 5% below the word count are unlikely to give adequate answers to the questions set.

Do not include visual data (e.g., graphs, diagrams) in your assignment.

You must also be sure to acknowledge any sources with correct referencing. Please note that in-text citations such as (Smith, 2021) are counted in the word count, so Smith, 2021 would count as two words.

All the sources should be adequately cited and included in a Reference List at the end of your submission; that is, your Reference List will include an entry for the Lecture/s and another one for the Core Text from the Source Pack.

Style And Referencing Guidance

You must present your work in a standard essay format, consisting of an introduction, body, and conclusion (note: you should not provide headings for these sections).

Use 12pt Arial or Times New Roman font. Written assignments should be 1.5-line spaced, with a single empty line between paragraphs.

You must fully reference your assignment (i.e., use in-text author/date/page citations and provide a full reference list at the end). Please use APA 7^th Referencing Style as per the KCL APA 7^th guidance.

Mitigating Circumstances

If you are unable to submit your assignment by the deadline above and you believe you have a valid reason for this, you must complete the Mitigating Circumstances process. Information and guidance can be found via the ‘Assessment’ section on Student Services Online.

Generative AI Use For This Assignment

Using AI tools like Copilot or ChatGPT can support your learning, but using them uncritically or unethically may negatively impact your final grade. If you copy AI-generated content without understanding or adapting it, your work may lack originality, critical thinking, and synthesis — all of which are required by the marking criteria. Over-reliance on AI can also raise academic integrity concerns. You are responsible for ensuring that your submission reflects your own understanding and meets university standards.

Level of generative AI use allowed in B&S: Open. 

• This level allows the use of generative AI for everything listed under the Minimal and Limited/selected levels. In addition, the use of generative AI to summarise, synthesise, simplify and translate texts is allowed.
• Please note that over-reliance on text produced by generative AI is likely to result in an unsatisfactory grade for progression purposes.
• You will be asked to acknowledge how you have used generative AI for this assessment on a cover sheet.
• As long as your use of generative AI is within the scope of appropriate use and you have acknowledged that use, there will be no negative impact on the assessment of your work.

Please see the King’s Generative AI Student Guidance for more details about what Open use of generative AI means.

Advice on the use of Generative AI – Please follow these 3 golden rules:

• Golden Rule 1: Learn with your chats and interactions with AI, but never copy-paste. Close the AI chat before working on your assignment and avoid using AI tools that write directly into it.
• Golden rule 2: Ask your tutor if you are uncertain about what is allowed in any given assessment.
• Golden rule 3: Ensure you take time before submission to acknowledge use of generative AI.

If you follow these three rules you are essentially ensuring that your assessed outputs are unlikely to breach academic integrity guidance in terms of use of generative AI.

Advice For This Assessment

Your response should:

• Use a clear paragraph structure: begin with a topic sentence, develop your ideas with evidence from both the lecture and the text, and end with a closing sentence that reflects your own interpretation.
• We advise you to include one example from the Core Text and the lecture materials to deepen your analysis.
• Avoid generic summaries—your goal is to compare and evaluate how the sources present the topic, not just describe them.

Other points to remember:

• Do not draft or write the essay with your classmates as you may risk collusion if the ideas submitted are the same and expressed in the same way.
• Do not share your work with classmates before the submission deadline.
• Cite your sources correctly using APA 7th style. Use the adapted reference under the Source Pack text title and cite lectures correctly, making sure you cite the correct person (e. Delgado Marin or Rushton).
• Make sure all the entries in your Reference List are edited consistently.
• Proofread your work for clarity, coherence, and grammar before submission.

Things You Should Check Before Submitting Your Work

• You have reviewed your document before submitting it.
• Your word count includes the individual words of in-text citations. E.g. (Smith, 2021) = two words to add to the word count.
• You submit the correct file format for that particular assessment, e.g. Microsoft Word/PPT or PDF. Check with the Module Leader if you are unsure.
• You are submitting the final version of your work (not a draft).
• You are submitting the complete file, not just the cover sheet.
• You are submitting to the correct module, correct submission portal and correct assessment link.
• You start the submission at least 1 hour prior to the deadline to allow time to deal with any tech issues and avoid a potential lateness penalty.
• If you have any technical issues, take a screenshot of the problem and email it to kingsfoundations@kcl.ac.uk immediately, along with the final version of your submission.
• Please also check: You receive a TII receipt for the submission. This can take up to a day to arrive in your email, but if you don’t receive one, it suggests something has gone wrong.