BM4106 Critical Issues in Business and Management Research SEM2 Assignment 2 Brief |UCLan

Assignment Brief

This assessment is worth 60% of the overall module mark.

This Assessment Pack consists of a detailed assignment brief, guidance on what you must prepare, and information on how class sessions support your ability to complete successfully. You’ll also find information on this page to guide you on how, where, and when to submit. If you need additional support, please make a note of the services detailed in this document. 

Preparation for the Assignment

The classes will include a session dedicated to assignment support (please see the Module Information Pack for the date and time of this session). In addition, we have arranged International Support Sessions throughout the module and will arrange online support sessions during the semester to help you deal with the assessment.

At this level, you are expected to make full use of the academic sources provided online by the University. You need to make use of the Reading List on your module page. Please remember that the Reading List is a starting point, and you should use the Internet search engines provided by the university. We do not recommend relying on Google or Google Scholar – these engines will not provide full access to the academic material needed for this assessment.

Assignment Information

In this assignment, you will write a critical review of the literature related to ONE of the business and management topics below:

• Current developments in crisis management in one industry or type of job role of your choice.
• The significance of profit maximization and shareholder returns in the contemporary business environment.
• How can businesses balance technological Innovations and the needs of those whose livelihoods and work may be impacted by these evolutions
• Critically analyse the moral and business case for embedding sustainability in business and management practices
• How can businesses balance profit and environmental sustainability in a post-pandemic world?

A critical literature review is a “detailed overview of the significant literature available about your chosen topic, providing a discussion and critical evaluation, and using clear argument to contextualise and justify your research” (Saunders et al., 2018:33).

In this task, you will present how you have developed and structured your literature review explaining how you have gathered your academic sources and how you have critically evaluated the way in which these sources support your literature review. We also ask students to identify and consider gaps in the current literature. The assessment will consist of a synthesis matrix of 3000 words and a literature review of 1000 words.

The synthesis matrix will consist of information in tabular form where you will describe the source used, how you located or found the source (for example, which internet search engine you used to find the material), the main themes that you hoped to explore in the literature review, and a summary of how each academic article supports your argument. You should use around 30 academic sources with each source supported by 100 words of text.

In the literature review, you will provide a critical evaluation of the sources demonstrating how different perspectives exist within the area of business and management research. The literature review will be fully referenced within the text and in the reference List using the Harvard system. The literature review must use robust and reputable academic sources. We expect you to use the University catalogue for your sources utilising academic textbooks and academic journals.   

The assessment criteria for this assignment are:

• Critically research and select appropriate academic material on which to base your literature review
• Create a synthesis matrix demonstrating and justifying your choice of academic material
• Write a literature review using all the material from the matrix to critically evaluate the material found within the academic literature
• Reference the assignment accurately and comprehensively using the Harvard system of referencing 

The assignment is designed to test the following learning outcomes:

• Critically evaluate current issues in business and management
• Critically assess academic literature in the area of business and management research