Order 1079275: Entrepreneurship - opportunity analysis video game industry in Australia

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SUBJECT OUTLINE

Project (9050PROJ) Term: 3 Study Period: 4 May 2018 – 28 June 2018

Contents SECTION 1 – SUBJECT SUCCESS .................................................................................................. 2

SECTION 2 – WHY STUDY THIS SUBJECT? ................................................................................... 2

Subject rationale ..................................................................................................................... 2

Synopsis .................................................................................................................................. 2

Learning outcomes ................................................................................................................. 3

Graduate qualities .................................................................................................................. 3

SECTION 3 – HOW WILL I BE ASSESSED? .................................................................................... 4

1. Project statement ............................................................................................................... 4

2. Weekly progress reports .................................................................................................... 4

3. Project report ..................................................................................................................... 4

Assessment submission .......................................................................................................... 5

SECTION 4 – SUBJECT CONTENT ................................................................................................ 6

SECTION 5 – WHAT RESOURCES SHOULD I USE? ....................................................................... 7

Prescribed readings ................................................................................................................ 7

Additional resources ............................................................................................................... 8

AIB Online Library ................................................................................................................... 8

SECTION 6 – ADMINISTRATION AND SUPPORT ......................................................................... 8

APPENDIX 1 – Assessment grading criteria: Project report ................................................... 10

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SECTION 1 – SUBJECT SUCCESS

To be successful in this subject AIB has the following recommendations:  Engage with learning materials and your facilitator(s).  Take responsibility for checking communication and information provided about

assessment items, due dates for submission of assessment items and grades.  Make genuine attempts at all assessment items.  Engage with your peers and participate in forums.  Contact AIB for further support.

SECTION 2 – WHY STUDY THIS SUBJECT?

Subject rationale Application an integration of knowledge is an essential part of a Masters qualification. This project conducted as the final part of the Masters degree requires students to apply the knowledge developed throughout their degree to a business issue or problem in a professional context. It demonstrates attainment of specialised knowledge and application of research skills. Synopsis This subject focuses on designing, conducting and reporting findings from a business research project. The objective of this subject is to undertake a project related to the chosen specialisation. Students will identify an appropriate workplace-based research problem, conduct a small literature review, engage in data collection in the workplace setting, analyse the data and present findings in a formal business research report.

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Learning outcomes

AQF’s Subject LO categories

On completion of this subject participants should be able to:

Knowledge LOs 1 Describe and appraise a variety of practical research methods relevant to business research.

2 Identify a problem, core issue or objective relevant to the professional workplace as a research topic.

Skills LOs 3 Source relevant literature and other information for the research project.

4 Identify relevant stakeholders and source relevant information.

5 Develop a project proposal and present and justify the planned project to key stakeholders.

Application LOs 6 Design and undertake research using appropriate methodology.

7 Develop and write a substantial research project report.

Graduate qualities AQF generic LO categories

AIB graduate qualities – on completion of this subject students should be able to:

Covered in

subject’s learning

resources

Practised or

applied in this

subject

Formally assessed

in this subject

Fundamental skills

1 Communicate effectively in a professional or community context

x x

2 Work independently x x

People skills 3 Work collaboratively

Thinking skills

4 Use systematic enquiry methods

x x x

5 Demonstrate problem solving and decision-making abilities

x x

Personal skills

6 Engage in lifelong learning x n/a

7 Work as a reflective practitioner

x

8 Act in an ethical manner x x x

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SECTION 3 – HOW WILL I BE ASSESSED?

Assessment

item Weighting Due date Related

learning outcomes

Related graduate qualities

1. Project statement

15% Monday 14 May

(Week 2) 2, 4, 5 1, 2, 4, 5

2. Project weekly progress report

n/a

Thursday 24 May (Week 3)

n/a n/a

Thursday 31 May (Week 4)

Thursday 7 June (Week 5)

Thursday 14 June (Week 6)

3. Project report

85% Thursday 21 June

(Week 7) 1–7 1, 2, 4, 5

1. Project statement

The project statement should be 500 words (plus or minus 10%) and should be submitted during Week 2, 10 days after the start of the subject. You must continue working on your project after submission and not stop to wait for feedback.

2. Project weekly progress reports

During Weeks 3 to 6 of the subject you must complete one progress report per week (four in total). This is important because it provides AIB the opportunity to know how you are progressing and provide any additional support that is needed. Fill out the ‘Project weekly progress report’ document, which you can find within the subject on the student learning portal.

3. Project report

Make sure to adhere to the required word length of 4500 words (plus or minus 10%) and ensure that the report clearly meets the assessment criteria outlined in Appendix 1.

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Important project report instructions • Please note that the project report should:

o provide a clear description of the topic being addressed and its context in the organisation/industry of your choice

o demonstrate knowledge of relevant literature in the discipline area of the

project, outlining relevant principles and theories o describe and justify the use of a relevant research methodology and secondary

data relevant to the topic o analyse the data and evaluate findings relevant to the topic (using literature,

logic and data to support the argument). You should include a section on reflections on your findings with implications for your chosen organisation and the industry

o summarise conclusions and provide recommendations o remember to submit your weekly progress reports.

• In terms of structure, presentation and style you are normally required to use:

o AIB standard report format o AIB preferred Microsoft Word settings o author-date style referencing (which includes in-text citations plus a reference

list). These requirements are detailed in the AIB Style Guide. • Reference lists for AIB assessments normally contain the following number of relevant

references from different sources: 20–25 (a minimum of 12 academic references). • All references must be from credible sources such as books, industry related journals,

magazines, company documents and recent academic articles. • Your grade will be adversely affected if your assessment contains no/poor citations

and/or reference list and if your assessment word length is beyond the allowed tolerance level (see Assessment Policy available on AIB website).

Assessment submission • All assessments must be submitted by 11:55 pm Adelaide, South Australia time on the

due date.

• All assessments must be submitted in PDF format. • All assessments must be submitted via the student learning portal.

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• For assessments over the word count range, penalties apply. Please refer to AIB’s Assessment Policy and Procedures section 1.3.

• For late submission where no extension has been granted, penalties apply. Please

refer to AIB’s Assessment Policy and Procedures section 1.7.

SECTION 4 – SUBJECT CONTENT

The stages of development of your project include:

1. Introduction

• Identify a suitable topic for the project. The ‘MBA project themes’ document provides

a short list of themes from which you can choose one. You can find this document within the subject on the student learning portal. Please note that if you want to graduate with an MBA specialisation, you are required to complete the project in the area of your specialisation, as the MBA Project is an intrinsic part of the specialisation.

• Develop and submit a topic statement of about 500 words during Week 2. This outline should include the title of your project (selected from the project topics), a brief description of the topic chosen, information about the organisation/industry, and describe your intended approach to address the project issue.

• Undertake reading to collect background information relevant to the topic and

continue working on your project.

2. Literature review • Collect background literature relating to your project topic and also your chosen

organisation. Search for articles in peer-reviewed journals, reports (published by government, public companies or reputed consultants e.g. HBR, Forbes), or scholarly book chapters and articles from industry sources (such as publicly available industry magazines). You can use EBSCO or other journal databases to identify relevant articles.

• Read the articles to learn more about the project topic and how it applies to your

chosen organisation. • Write a brief literature review in which you explain what the background literature

says about the project topic, referencing the articles/reports/chapters you have read. This way you lay the foundation for your own project: you build on knowledge other people already have provided in their publications.

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3. Research methodology • Identify and access secondary data for the project in a systematic and ethical manner.

• If secondary data is not publicly available, a consent form needs to be signed from the

organisation that has ownership over the secondary data. The latest date to submit the consent form is the final assessment date.

4. Presentation of the findings

• Analyse the data to identify findings in relation to your project topic. • Note down your findings. Develop tables/figures to help display the findings, as

appropriate. • Once you have findings for your project, sit back and consider what those findings

mean for you, for the chosen organisation and, if relevant, for the industry. Reflect on the findings in relation to yourself, your organisation, and industry.

• Note down the reflections. These reflections about the organisation and industry

provide a link from the findings to the implications and recommendations of your study.

5. Concluding the project report • Write a draft project report in AIB report format. Make sure to include an 'Implications

and recommendations' section as well as a 'Conclusion' and 'Executive Summary'. • Re-work and improve the project report. Remember to pay attention to appropriate

referencing.

• Attach relevant appendices to your project report. • Submit the project report in Week 7.

SECTION 5 – WHAT RESOURCES SHOULD I USE?

All required materials, such as journal articles, will be available as PDFs via the student learning portal.

Prescribed readings

Chapter 6 ‘Reviewing literature’ in O’Leary, Z 2014, The essential guide to doing your research project, 2nd edn, Sage, London.

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Chapter 8 ‘Using secondary data’ in Saunders, M, Lewis, P & Thornhill, A 2016, Research methods for business students, 7th edn, Prentice Hall, London. Chapter 9 ‘Summarising and presenting data’ in Bouma, GD 2016, in The research process, 6th edn, Oxford, Melbourne.

Additional resources

Atkinson, AB & Brandolini, A 2001, ‘Promise and pitfalls in the use of "secondary" data- sets: Income inequality in OECD countries as a case study’, Journal of Economic Literature, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 771–799. You are strongly encouraged to use AIB Online Library resources to help identify readings relevant to the problem issue of your project. All students have access to electronic database(s) with full-text journal articles through AIB’s Online Library.

AIB Online Library

Students have access to AIB’s Online Library collection via the student learning portal. This access currently consists of: • EbscoHost’s Business Source Corporate Plus journal and newspaper resources • IbisWorld / Marketline company information • Proquest corporate eBook collection.

SECTION 6 – ADMINISTRATION AND SUPPORT

Associated Courses Position in the Course Master of Business Administration Core

Subject is: Core AQF level: 9 Subject credit points: 10 Prerequisites and presumed knowledge

MBA core subjects (in particular AQF level 8 subjects) provide the foundation for specialisation and elective subjects (AQF Level 9 subjects). Hence, relevant core subjects should normally be attempted before progressing to specialisation and elective subjects.

Before beginning the project, you must have completed at least 10 MBA subjects (normally including the core subjects).

Student workload: 20 hours per week

Aligned with the volume of learning requirements of the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) one AIB 10 credit point subject nominally involves 150 hours of study. Study-related activities may include formal webinar time, independent study, interaction

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with staff and peers, reflection, application in the workplace, quizzes, reflective practice preparation, forum activities and other. Individual student workload may vary.

Subject support

Learning materials All of your materials and activities are provided online via the student learning portal and are designed to lead you through the learning process for this subject.

Academic integrity, assessment guides and study skills materials Supporting materials are available on the student learning portal: https://learning.aib.edu.au/course/view.php?id=2&section=3

Contact information

Please follow the Contact Support link on the student learning portal for relevant support and assistance from AIB.

Subject feedback

As part of our commitment at AIB to improve the quality of our courses and teaching, we regularly seek feedback on your learning experiences. Student feedback informs evaluation of subject and teaching strengths and areas that may need refinement or change. Your AIB End of Subject Survey is a formal and confidential method for you to provide feedback about your subjects and the staff members teaching within them. You will receive an email invitation when the survey opens. We value your feedback and ask you to provide considered feedback for each of your subjects.

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APPENDIX 1 – Assessment grading criteria: Project report The criteria used to assess your project report are as follows: 1. Project topic selection and statement (15% of the total grade) a) Explanation of the project topic and a brief outline of the planned report (15%)

The student clearly articulates an appropriate reason for selecting the topic and effectively establishes its context in the organisation being considered. Further, the student outlines the approach taken and the method of research or analysis used.

2. The project report (85% of the total grade) a) Components of the report:

i. Introduction to the report (5%) and literature review (15%)

The student provides an introduction to the report, including an overview of the literature relating to the topic, critically evaluating its main relevant themes and its application to the topic being addressed.

ii. Explanation of research methodology and identification of the data source

(10%) The student describes and justifies research methods used; explains data collection methods appropriately.

iii. Presentation of the findings (20%)

The student describes and analyses the findings effectively, clearly showing how findings address the research topic. The student demonstrates appropriate reflection on findings.

iv. Implications, recommendations and conclusion (15%)

The student summarises key findings in relation to literature discussed earlier; makes appropriate recommendations based on the findings; presents effective conclusions regarding the research problem.

b) Referencing (10%)

The student acknowledges sources of facts appropriately; uses appropriate number and quality of references; adheres to author-date style referencing conventions.

c) Structure and presentation (5%)

The student structures the content logically; demonstrates clear report from and presentation.

d) Communication style and language (5%)

The student demonstrates good writing style and adheres to the conventions of written English (grammar, punctuation and spelling).