MMM143 – International Business and the World Economy Coursework Guidelines 2025-26

Section title

Weight

Introduction

10%

Section 1: Balance of payment

16%

Section 2: Participation in GVCs

16%

Section 3: Activity of exporters

16%

Section 4: Activity of MNEs

16%

Section 5: Distance in international business activities

16%

Concluding remarks

5%

References*

5%

Teamwork Expectations

Overview of what is required of you in this module will be delivered during Week 1. In addition, an assessment brief and and

detailed groupwork guidelines can be found on Blackboard under the

Assessment tab.

Overview of how teamwork informs this assessment will be discussed during the lecture and tutorial in Week 1.

Team Allocation

Random

Peer Evaluation

This assignment has no peer-evaluation, but the individual marks may differ from the group mark, as per the rule describe in the Overall Assessment mark section

Resolution for Non- Contribution

In many situations we have different experiences and perspectives, this influences the way in which we react in a given situation. Diversity of thinking and experience is a good thing, however can lead to miscommunication and misunderstandings in teams.

This highlights the importance of setting ground rules in the group; this can include the following:

Mission statement

•         Broad statement of values and principles

Communication rules

•         What media to use. Agree to check inboxes! Agree to respond to each other

Meetings

•         Purpose, length, frequency, format , leadership, taking notes

Taking decisions

•         Seeking consensus, what to do if you can’t agree

Source: Levin, P (2005) Successful teamwork! London: Open University Press.

Disagreements between individuals can be caused by behaviours such as poor timekeeping, and can lead to individuals not contributing to the team. We aim to resolve issues by agreeing a solution and how we can achieve a way forward. Being able to resolve an issue is a key transferable skill which will help you in your graduate careers.

You are encouraged to approach each other informally to address concerns and agree action plans to move forward, especially if this is between two individuals; every effort must be made to resolve an issue informally. It would be helpful to keep a log of communication and/or minutes of meetings.

If an informal approach is ineffective in resolving non-contribution in the team overall, then please use the following process which must be actioned by the team collectively:

Step 1: Initial communication

If a team member is being perceived to not be making a valuable contribution, then you can choose to issue an initial communication. This action must be documented through University student email accounts, with all team members included in the email trail. It would be prudent to check that the team member is OK and whether they may need support.

Step 2: Formal Communication

If the team member does not respond to the initial communication and/or persists in being uncooperative and unproductive, then the team may issue a formal communication.

This is where keeping track of evidence (WhatsApp, e-mails, drafts, etc.) is quite important. The team should be able to demonstrate that they made every effort to include and communicate with individual members.

This must be done through University student email accounts and must involve a clear description of your reasons for sending the communication; this must be agreed by all team members. A date in which the team expects a response must be indicated. In addition, the module convenor must be cc’d into this email.

Step 3: Module Convenor Arbitration

If the team member does not respond to the formal communication by the deadline and/or the issue is not resolved, then contact the module convenor who will provide arbitration. If it is determined by the module convenor that the team member is not contributing (e.g. not engaging with team members, no active participation in drafting the inputs to the report assigned to them), then relative action will be taken. This can include a reduction of

marks, zero marks awarded and removal from team. All decisions by the module convenor will be supported by evidence provided by team members.

You are expected to resolve any issues as early as possible and in a timely manner. At the latest, notifications to the module convener can 

be made up to 10 working days prior to the submission date. This will allow time the module convenor to issue further warnings and find the most appropriate course of action.

Any complaints received after assessments have been submitted will not be taken into account.

Sanctions

If it is deemed by the module convenor that sanctions are warranted, the following will apply:

• Poor contribution by an individual student will incur a deduction of 5 marks from the penalised student’s overall assessment mark, which will be based on the assessment of their individual section (as describe below) and their individual mark will not contribute to the group mark
• No contribution by an individual student will result in the student being removed from the team and awarded a mark of zero for their overall assessment mark and their individual mark will not contribute to the group mark