BS604 L7 Contemporary Issues in Business Assessment Brief 2025/26 | ULAW

BS604 L7 CIB ASSESSMENT BRIEF

L7 Contemporary Issues in Business

By sitting this assessment, I am confirming:

• That I have worked independently on this assessment submission, and I have not worked together with any current or previous student at the University to produce my submission, other than when officially permitted to do so;
• I also confirm the contents of my submission have not been generated by a third party;
• I have fully referenced and correctly cited the work of others, where required;
• I have not used any generative AI tools to generate, rephrase or otherwise produce content for this submission, except where their use was explicitly permitted, and I have read and understood the University's AI in Higher Education Policy and Protocols;
• I have read the Student Discipline Regulations and understand that any academic misconduct can lead to disciplinary consequences and undermine academic integrity;
• I understand that where applicable, I am expected to engage with my academic work in a manner that meets the professional standards and requirements set by the relevant Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Body (PSRB) or accrediting body for my course.
   By submitting this assessment submission, I am confirming that I am fit to sit according to the Assessment Regulations.

Key Details and Requirements

Learning Outcomes:

1. Critically analyse, diagnose and propose solutions for different business challenges, using appropriate tools and frameworks.
2. Effectively identify the competing perspectives involved in different business situations and propose methods to gain the buy-in of stakeholders.
3. Convincingly and confidently argue a point of view related to a business situation.
4. Fully diagnose business problems and underlying factors in a context of uncertainty through effective teamwork. 
5. Critically assess the impact of contemporary trends on business performance and longevity. 

Assessment details: Individual Portfolio (tasks and activities accumulated over the semester), 100% (equivalent to 2,500 words)

Referencing: Students are expected to use Harvard Referencing throughout their assignments where required. Please follow the Harvard Referencing Handbook for all your assignments at the ULBS. 
Submission Method: Turnitin - Your work will be put through Turnitin. All submissions will be electronically checked for plagiarism and the use of AI software. 

You have the option to upload your work ahead of the deadline, more than once. ULBS will be reviewing your last submission only. You can only upload one file. For example, if your work contains a word document and PowerPoint slides/Excel spreadsheet you will need to copy your slides/spreadsheet into the word document.
Note: Keep in mind that self-plagiarism (when you reuse your own specific wording and ideas from work that you have previously submitted without referencing yourself) is also a form of plagiarism and is not allowed.

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

1.Class participation (10%)– contributions to discussions on each case will be tracked weekly and participation is expected in at least 7 of the 9 sessions (the seven weeks with the highest participation marks will be used). 

Individual contributions should add to case understanding and analysis in the class discussion (see point c. below for clarification). Students will work in groups to discuss cases prior to the whole class discussion and these group meetings should help to inform your contributions (groupwork will be further explained by your lecturer in workshop 1). (LO3, LO4, LO5) 

a.Students attending face-to-face campus sessions will contribute verbally during class sessions. Reasonable adjustments will be made for students with ULIPs (please consult with your lecturer before class).  If special adjustments are made, the student contributions must still take place before the end of the unit workshop to receive credit. 

b.Students attending online campus sessions may contribute verbally or via chat during the live session or may contribute to a discussion board. Online students will have 72 hours after the end of the live session to contribute to the discussion board. Only contributions made before the end of the 72 hours will count for credit. 

c.Points will be awarded after each class session depending on the level of contribution:

• 0 points – no contribution made
• 1 point – a contribution is made, but is not a significant contribution to the discussion at hand (it might be pointing out facts in the case or reiterating something somebody else has said) 
• 2 points –contribution displays critical thinking about the case itself or about the discussion points raised by others.
  (As the term advances, contributions with more critical thought will be expected to earn maximum points per workshop)

2.A reflective write-up (30%) after each of 6 workshops, with the student choosing the six they wish to write about. The reflections should be no more than 150 words for each workshop and should reflect the areas where the student believes they might have performed better for that case session. For example: the student did not use an appropriate tool to analyse the situation, or a major stakeholder was not taken into account, or market conditions were missed, or they did not take into account suggestions or findings by other group members, etc. These should reflect true learning that came out of the session on how the student can personally improve their analysis or assessment of business situations and/or choose appropriate actions. (LO1, LO4)  

3.Summarise the concepts discussed in the term using critical reflection to think about these main ideas: (60% - 1500 words): (LO1, LO2, LO3, LO5) 

a.How do the various trends presented in the cases impact businesses (positively and negatively)? Please discuss the trends presented in three cases from the module and critically reflect on their impacts. Please show Harvard referencing to support this.

b.Why is it critical to identify stakeholders and their perspectives & needs? Please use one case discussed in the module to demonstrate this. You do not have to reference this section, other than the case you choose to discuss.

c.How do the management tools and frameworks learnt in your studies help you to analyse and diagnose a case? These might be the tools/theories presented in the activities after each case discussion or could be something you learnt in another module that applies to a case we discussed.  Please use two cases from the module as examples of how you applied tools or frameworks effectively. Please show Harvard referencing to support this.

You will use Pebblepad to collect items for your portfolio (except for the class participation, which is tracked weekly by the lecturer).

Please refer to the marking criteria (below) for a breakdown of how this assignment will be marked.

BS604 L7 Assessment Criteria