UMSD9F-15-3 MDGC Coursework Brief | UWE Bristol

UMSD9F-15-3 Assignment Learning Objective 

To demonstrate your ability to apply concepts from the module to MNEs under domestic and global contexts, to undertake a theoretically informed analysis, and to draw conclusions that link the topic of study to the objective of contextual factors for international business. For this essay, you will be required to independently investigate the academic literature on the topic and apply your knowledge of this literature to the organisation of choice. 

UMSD9F-15-3 Assessment Instructions 

This element accounts for 50% of your final mark. For this assignment, you are required to produce a 2000-word academic essay (±10%) focusing on a topic reated to one of the following areas below. Your essay should explore a relevant aspect of the chosen topic and its implications for multinational enterprises in domestic and/or global context. 

Topic choices You need to select one of the following topics as the focus of your essay: 

• Topic Choice 1: Brexit 
• Topic Choice 2: Covid-19 
• Topic Choice 3: Carboneconomics and the green economy 
• Topic Choice 4: Geopolitical conflicts (i.e., Russian war in Ukraine; conflict in the middle east; US- China trade war) (Adapted in 2025) 
• Topic Choice 5: Digital transformation and Artificial Intelligence (New in 2025)

UMSD9F-15-3 Requirements 

• Your essay should include relevant academic theories, demonstrate critical analysis and use real-life examples to support your arguments. critically assess how (an aspect of) your topic of choice has impacted multinational enterprise(s) in a global economy. 
• The assignment is an academic essay, not a report. We expect students to apply relevant IB literature to the case company. You need to focus on a study unit we cover in this module. 
• You are supposed to pick a (1) a theoretical framework (i.e. one study unit) and (2) an industry/company. You can either focus on one company (single case) or multiple companies (comparative case). 
• The word count is 2000 (+/-10%) (Excluding references). Diagrams and figures would be counted as 10 words.
• Some examples: 
  (1)How Brexit has impacted Easyjet/Rynanir: A public policy perspective 
  (2)How Covid has impacted the global supply chain for Tesco: A CAGE framework. 
  (3)How has Tesla developed green firm-specfic advantages in china: a public policy perspective 

Coursework surgeries: 

Formative feedback will be provided in surgeries. Students are encouraged to provide a short 300-word abstract on a topic that they want to work on for their coursework. These surgery sessions will provide formative feedback on the coursework topic in a friendly, collegial environment and provided during seminars. All students are encouraged to attend these surgery sessions. 

• Tip: Choose a topic that you really like! 
• Tip: Formative feedback will help you refine your idea. 

This assessment task requires you to both discuss the appropriate theoretical area and, drawing on evidence from the case study you choose, apply these theoretical ideas to a 'real world' example. The key to doing well is to demonstrate that you can discuss the theoretical ideas and apply these in an analysis of an industry and organisation, as you have been doing in the seminars. You are of course permitted to draw on other areas of the international business and strategy literature.

Marking Criteria 

A detailed breakdown of the marking criteria used by staff to assess this applied essay is provided at the end of this document. When writing your assignment it is useful to keep in mind these assessment criteria and the weightings allocated to each element. 

Format 

The purpose of an essay as an assignment task is to demonstrate your understanding of the topic and your ability to sustain an argument. Essays are a form of academic writing that requires you to follow the general structure of introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. An essay is written in whole sentences and paragraphs. If you do not use an essay format you will lose marks. Essays do not necessarily need headings, though these are often useful for guiding the reader. Appendices are not permitted; any essential figures and tables should be included in the body of the assignment.