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Example of use of theory in assignments.pdf

Example of use of theory in assignments

The value expectancy theory (Waddell, Cummings, &

Worley, 2011) suggests that Woolworths use visibility of

rewards to motivate staff by announcing best performing

staff in the monthly newsletter and presenting awards at

regular staff meetings. This seems to work well as staff all say

the awards are something they look forward to and they are

very proud when they receive an award.

Comment [u1]: Reference to theory

Comment [u2]: Application of the theory

Comment [u3]: Analysis/discussion

Executive Summaries Guide.pdf

Page 1

Examples of Executive Summaries – Good and Bad

The following two examples are from UniLearning. The UniLearning website was

developed through a National Teaching Development Grant provided by the

Committee for University Teaching and Staff Development

http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/report/4bi1.html

This is a GOOD example of an executive summary from a marketing report:

This report was commissioned to examine why the sales volume of

Choice Chocolate has dropped over the past two years since its peak

in 1998 and to recommend ways of increasing the volume.

The research draws attention to the fact that in 1998, the market share

of Choice Chocolate was 37%. The shares of their key competitors

such as Venus and Bradbury were 22% and 18% respectively. The

size of the chocolate market then was $36 million. Over the next two

years, although Choice Chocolate retained its market share the volume

of sales in the whole market decreased to $29 million. Further

investigations reveal that this market shrinkage coincided with an

increase in health awareness amongst consumers who regard the milk

and sugar ingredients in chocolate as negative; moreover, since the

second half of 1999, an increasing number of rival ‘health candies’

had appeared on the market. These claimed to offer the consumers a

healthy alternative. These factors appear to be the major causes of the

decreased sales volume of Choice Chocolate.

Slim Choice is the latest chocolate range put forward by the R & D

Department of Choice Chocolate. The report evaluates this range and

concludes that it would be an ideal candidate to meet the challenge

presented by the market and could satisfy the new consumer demand

since it uses significantly reduced milk and sugar ingredients and is

endorsed by renowned health experts. According to 97% of the 2000

subjects tested recently, it also retains the same flavour as the original

range.

It is recommended:

that Choice Chocolate take immediate measures to launch and

promote Slim Choice alongside its existing product range;

that Slim Choice adopt a fresh and healthy image;

that part of the launch campaign contains product endorsement

statements by renowned health experts;

that Slim Choice be available in health food shops as well as in

traditional chocolate retail outlets

Terms of reference

Statement of problem/

topic

Formal language

appropriate to report

writing

Key findings

summarised

Problem solution

summarised

Recommendations

summarised

This is a POOR example of an executive summary from a marketing assignment

Executive Summary Every time a business or consumer purchases products

or services they display forms of buyer behaviour that

are influenced by many factors.

Background to problem

http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/report/4bi1.html

Page 2

The following report looks at the fast food industry and

will analyse four McDonalds’ key products and services.

It highlights what type of consumer buying or business

buying behaviours are displayed in the purchase of a

product or service and explains why each behaviour may

occur. This enables a conclusion to be drawn from

applying theory to reality.

Although a full comprehension of buying behaviour is

impossible, since everyone is an individual, it is useful

to reflect on common behaviours and attempt to divide

behaviours in types and stages. Even McDonalds, a

leader in marketing cannot always predict consumer

behaviour.

Report’s aims

Outlines what information the report

deals with but FAILS to provide a

summary of the results gained,

conclusions drawn and recommendations

made. These are the functions of an

executive summary and are absent in this

example.

The information in this executive

summary is vague rather than

summarising what the report found.

The next Executive Summaries are taken from Monash University’s Learning and

Language Online site. Other useful hints about writing are also found on this site,

including other comaprison assignments.

http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/index.xml

The following 3 Executive Summaries are for the same assignment, with lecturer’s

comments. 2 are not to the requried standard, the third is considered a good Executive

Summary.

Amy’s Assignment – An Executive Summary with too

much information

Lecturer’s comments

The purpose of this report is to investigate the major problems

that are prevalent at Lawton, Langridge, Lypton and Lawless,

Solicitors.

One of the major problems that the firm is experiencing, is that

the data clerks possess a lack of motivation. This is because

they are isolated on the 35th floor and their work is

monotonous. Also they are not given any responsibility which

then results in a lack of initiative. Furthermore they do not

possess any goals. Another major problem is that Mrs Blakely,

the WPC unit supervisor, does not possess adequate leadership

skills. She does not encourage or inspire the girls, delegate

simple tasks, or teach them. She also does not try to solve the

problem of data error. Lack of effective communication is also

another problem that the firm suffers from. Ineffective

communication is present in the WPC unit and between the

different divisions of the law firm. This was illustrated when

Mr Lawton held a meeting with the WPC employees. The girls

told him that they found the work boring and that they felt

isolated. His solution was to install a sound system. He did not

ask them what was the best solution, hence no active listening

was present, nor did he ask whether installing a sound system

was the best answer to their problem, hence not allowing

feedback to occur.

Too much detail

There is much too much

detail here for an Executive

Summary. Ideally, you should

aim for a half-page summary

of your whole report. State

your purpose, the main

problems, and the

recommendations. The detail

is presented in the rest of the

report. A good example of an

Executive Summary can be

found in Cindy's report.

http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/index.xml

Page 3

It is recommended that if the law firm resolved the symptoms

of ineffective communication, the lack of motivation amongst

the data clerks and Mrs Blakely's poor leadership style, then

the two other problems, the weak organisational culture and the

lack of teamwork would also be eradicated. Therefore the

solution to the lack of motivation of the data clerks is to assign

a WPC employee to a maximum of two solicitors, on the same

floor as the solicitors. This would then allow them to improve

communication with the other employees of the firm. Another

solution is for goals to be set by individual employees and

departments. This would create a more motivated employee

base that would possess clear objectives. Therefore solutions to

the lack of communication is to implement informal social

events as well as regular meetings for each department, and

meetings for all the department heads. This would allow all the

employees to communicate with one another.

In regards to establishing better leadership skills in the WPC

unit, it is recommended that Mrs Blakely should undertake a

work appraisal, which would identify to her and the

organisation that she is not managing the WPC unit very well.

A manager should then be appointed to the WPC. Mrs Blakely

could still remain as a supervisor of the WPC unit and meet

weekly with the new manager. In regards to the lack of

motivation in the WPC, it is suggested that as individuals and

as groups they create goals. WPC employees working on the

same level could have their own work area. Consequently, this

would increase their skills, sense of responsibility and

motivation

Angus’s assignment - Irrelevant detail and not enough

summary

Executive summary

Lawton, Langridge, Lypton, and Lawless Solicitors

The company is a large firm consisting of 25 partners, 48

employed solicitors and 80 support staff. As the company has

grown it has developed new initiatives to keep, train and

develop systems to promote staff. One of its initiatives was to

set up the Word Processing Centre (WPC).

The WPC has been in operation for only a few years and the

concept behind it was to employ high quality staff that the firm

could train and promote to be secretaries for the partners and

solicitors. The staff in the WPC are employed to word process

the large volumes of legal documents produced by the

solicitors, together with their long reports etc. Unfortunately

the WPC has not been working as it was hoped.

Unnecessary repetition of case

material

The manager reading the report

is usually the person who

commissions the report (case

study). As he or she is familiar

with the problems being

identified, there is no need to

repeat background details from

the case such as the facilities

offered by the firm, number of

personnel, etc.

In the Executive Summary in a

report or case study, state 1) the

purpose of the report, 2) the

main problems identified, 3)

Page 4

Those that have been promoted to secretarial positions have not

been able to carry out tasks as well as they probably should

have, and just as importantly have not shown any forward

thinking or initiative. Other staff, still working in the WPC are

producing sloppy, substandard work, display a no-care attitude

and have no real idea about what the firm is out to achieve. The

senior partners having witnessed this first hand through their

new secretaries, and complaints from solicitors, now want to

know why.

This report will set out to find why. It will do this through

firstly identifying the major problems, offer solutions, form

recommendations on how to fix the problems and then show

how to implement these recommendations. Some of the major

problems that the Centre has are that the staff in the WPC are

not motivated, they do not seem to enjoy their work for various

reasons. They need to be stimulated. They also need to be

given more opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns.

your recommendations and the

expected outcomes. Key

aspects of the case should be

very briefly summarised.

Length should be no more than

half a page to a page

Cindy’s Executive Summary – a Good Executive Summary

Executive summary

The following report is based on a case study of Lawton, Langridge, Lipton and Lawless,

Solicitors. The main problems that have been identified are major problems of staff motivation,

lack of communication (informal), and Mrs. Blakely's lack of leadership skills.

A recommendation for the motivation problem is that Mrs. Blakely set attainable goals for the

employees and reward and recognize the clerks when they have achieved their goals.

For the problem of lack of communication, it has been recommended in this report that weekly

meetings be held and that Mrs. Blakely be retrained both for development of communication

skills and leadership skills.

The reward program is expected to cost the company approximately $450.00 per month whilst

the setting of attainable goals is not expected to cost the company anything. Because Mrs.

Blakely will have to read 22 documents per month in order to recognize the employees

appropriately, she will need to be paid extra for this work i.e. overtime pay. Assuming it will

take half an hour to read one document, there will be approximately eleven hours spent on

reading. It has been assumed that Mrs. Blakely earns $18.00 per hour while the clerks earn

$15.00.

Therefore, approximately, it will cost the firm $500.00 per week for ten weeks. The weekly

meetings will be run one hour before the end of the working day, beginning at 4:00 pm. and

ending at 5:00 pm. eliminating the need to pay overtime.

Harvard Detailed Guide to Referencing.pdf

Information Resources Library

Harvard Style Guide In-text references, reference lIsts and bIblIographIes

www.swinburne.edu.au/lib

Swinburne University of Technology Library – Harvard Style Guide

1. The purpose of Harvard Style Harvard Style is an academic system that allows you to make reference to and then acknowledge other people’s information that you have used in preparing your own work. Using Harvard Style ensures that people who read your work can locate and read the same sources you used; using it also reduces the risk of being accused of plagiarism.

Using Harvard Style means acknowledging the author of an information source and the date the source was published. The author’s family name/surname and year of publication is inserted in the body of your work each time you refer to their work. This information, together with all other identifying details (such as the title) is also included at the end of your work. If you use more than one information source, arrange the sources listed at the end of your work alphabetically.

Remember: be consistent when using Harvard Style. All information sources of the same type should be treated in the same way.

2. Acknowledging sources in the body of your work; to paraphrase and to quote The two most important details to acknowledge whenever you use someone’s information are: a) the name(s) of the author, authors or organisation who created it, and b) the year they created it. You must insert them each time you use their information. The details are usually placed at the end of the sentence and are called ‘in-text references’, as you are placing them in the text (the body) of your work.

You can paraphrase an information source or quote from it. To paraphrase is to look at someone’s information and then write it using your own words. To quote is to copy exactly what someone has written and insert it into your work. You should only quote when you feel that the words are perfect and that trying to paraphrase them would weaken their message and power. When you paraphrase or quote, always include the page number or page numbers in the in-text reference, placed after the year it was published. If you quote, enclose the text in double quotation marks: “ “.

For example, consider this sentence from a book: Certain kinds of behaviour are difficult to observe because they occur only rarely or in private.

If you copy it from the book and insert it into your work, the in-text reference should look like this:

“Certain kinds of behaviour are difficult to observe because they occur only rarely or in private” (Aronson, Wilson & Akert 2007, p. 36).

If you paraphrase it by rewriting the information using your own words, the sentence and the in-text reference could look like this:

There are some behaviours which are only displayed in private or very rarely, making them hard to report (Aronson, Wilson & Akert 2007, p. 36).

If the writers are very well known in their subject field, you may want to state their names as part of your writing. If you do so, you must still include the year of publication (and the page number too, if you are quoting or paraphrasing them). For example:

Nilsson, Johansson and Frantzich (2009, p. 466) found that if someone commenced evacuating from the scene of the fire, others were influenced by their action and also evacuated, confirming an earlier experiment that had the same results.

If you quote more than one sentence, don’t use double quotation marks around the quotation – instead, place the quotation on a new line and indent it from the left margin. Anything after the quote should begin on a new line and not be indented. If a source does not have a page number (some sources, such as webpages and YouTube videos, do not), simply insert the author’s name and year of publication. If a source has section numbers instead of page numbers (eg. some ebooks; legislation) use ‘s’ instead of ‘p’ and list the section number in the in-text reference.

You can still provide an in-text reference even if an information source doesn’t have an author (check carefully first, though). The author detail is replaced by the title of the information source and the title is italicised. Year of publication and page number is unchanged. For example:

Decapsulation of brine shrimp cysts is not necessary but has been carried out by dedicated aquarists for many years as they claim it improves hatching rates (Hatching and raising brine shrimp 2010, p. 2).

3. Your Reference List or Bibliography Each time you find a useful information source, keep a record of all its bibliographic details. These can include the name of the company who published the source; the state, town or suburb the source was published in; what edition the source is; the Library database you found it in (if you found it using a Library database); the web address for the source (if you found it on the web); the date that you first found it; and other details depending on the type of source. These details all help someone locate the same information source you used.

These bibliographic details, when arranged in the correct order, are called an entry. Entries are arranged in a single alphabetical list – either a Reference List or a Bibliography.

Authors’ surnames Year of publication Page number

Page numberYear of publicationAuthors’ surnames

Swinburne University of Technology Library – Harvard Style Guide

A Reference List is a list of all the information sources you refer to in your work; a Bibliography is a list of all the information sources you refer to in your work and other sources you have looked at while preparing your work but did not actually use. Ask your instructor which one they want.

4. Books: bibliographic details required For books, the details you must include in the entry are as follows and must be presented in this order: 1. Author(s) – either a person(s) or an organisation – or editor(s). Names are presented

surname first, initial(s) next. 2. Year of publication. 3. Title – plus the subtitle, if there is one. Place a colon between the title and subtitle. Both

are italicised. 4. Title of series and volume number, if applicable. 5. Edition – only if this is not the first edition of the book. Edition is abbreviated in the entry

as ‘edn’. 6. Publisher. 7. Place of publication – state or city or suburb. Extra information may be provided if there

is more than one place with the same name.

For example:

Aronson, E, Wilson, TD & Akert, RM 2007, Social psychology, 6th edn, Pearson Education, New Jersey.

5. Articles from newspapers, magazines and journals found in Library databases: bibliographic details

Many students gather newspaper, magazine and journal articles using Library databases. The details required are: 1. Author(s) – if given. 2. Year of publication. 3. Title of article – enclose in single quotation marks. 4. Title of periodical – italicise the periodical title.

5. Volume and/or issue number. Volume number is given a prefix of ‘vol.’, issue number a prefix of ‘no.’.

6. Day and month, or season – if volume and/or issue number are not provided, or if needed to precisely identify an article.

7. Page number(s), if they are included. Note: this is not an estimate of how many printed pages would result from printing the article, but the page numbers given in the database.

8. Title of the database and also the name of the online service provider, if applicable. 9. Date that you first viewed the online resource (day, month and year). Precede the date

with the word ‘viewed’.

For example:

Tang, A & Yip, A 2010, ‘Collision avoidance timing analysis of DSRC-based vehicles’, Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 182-195, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 10 November 2010.

6. Information from the web: recommendation Information sources found on the web can sometimes be the most difficult information sources to acknowledge and create entries for. Please carefully examine the guidelines and examples at the Harvard Style webpage (www.swinburne.edu.au/lib/researchhelp/ harvard_style.html) as you may find an example that matches what you are trying to do. If you cannot, you can build an entry by combining the guidelines for books and for other sources: this is called a hybrid entry. For more information on hybrid entries and to see an example, see section 8.

7. Information from the web: bibliographic details required Include as many of the following details in the entry as possible:

1. Author(s), editor(s), compiler(s) or organisation responsible for the website – if given. If there is no clearly identifiable author, do not use the name of the Copyright owner or website host or website sponsor, as they may not be the same organisation. If there is no author, use the title, in italics.

Place of publication

Authors’ surnames and initials

Year of publication

Title

Title of article

Edition Publisher

Title of periodical Volume and/or issue number details

Name of Library database and name of

online service provider

Page numbers

Date that you first viewed the article

Swinburne University of Technology Library – Harvard Style Guide

2. Year the information was created or year of the most recent revision, modification or update. Use the Copyright date of a webpage if there is no date of creation. If a range of dates is given (e.g. 2004 – 2008), use the latest date.

3. Title of document. The page title is usually shown at or near the top of the page. 4. Name of the organisation hosting the webpage on their website or the name of the

sponsor of the webpage. Remember – do not confuse a group hosting or sponsoring a webpage with the author.

5. Date that you first viewed the webpage (day, month and year. Precede the date with the word ‘viewed’.

6. URL. The URL (website address) should be enclosed in angle brackets: < > . The URLs should not be in blue colour and underlined – they should not be active; please deactivate URL links before enclosing them.

Example of an entry for a web source from an organisation:

Austrade 2010, Market research: not just facts and figures, Austrade, viewed 23 November 2010, <http://www.austrade.gov.au/default.aspx?FolderID=1363&utm_source=Buy&utm_ medium=menu&utm_campaign=MM>.

8. Hybrid entries If you need to blend guidelines to create a hybrid for an unusual information source, remember: always be consistent in the application of Harvard Style throughout your work.

Here are the steps showing how to create a hybrid entry, in this instance an entry for an Annual Report found on a company website:

The details required by the guidelines for Annual Reports (Name of organisation, Year of publication, Short descriptive title (italicised), and Year(s) covered) are collected and then the guidelines for web sources (Name of the group hosting the webpage, Date that you first viewed the webpage, and URL) are collected. The two are then blended to make the following hybrid entry:

Iluka Resources Limited 2010, Annual Report 2010, Iluka Resources Limited, viewed 25 October 2010, <http://www.iluka.com/publications/reports/2010.pdf>.

9. More examples, more guidelines and getting help with Harvard Style The Harvard Style webpage includes: • a PDF version of this guide called Harvard Quick Guide • an online video called A Practical Guide to Harvard AGPS Referencing (in Flash format) • a comprehensive guide to Harvard Style with many more examples.

Please see www.swinburne.edu.au/lib/researchhelp/harvard_style.html

Need help with Harvard Style? Visit us at a campus library, or contact us: • Email: [email protected] • SMS: 0427 841 787 • Telephone: (+61 3) 9214 8330

Author’s name

Organisation’s name

Date of publication

Short descriptive title

Year(s) covered

URL

Year the document was created

Name of the host of the webpage

Date the webpage was first viewed

Title

Version: 16 February 2012

Swinburne University of Technology Library – Harvard Style Guide

Information source In-text (paraphrase) In-text (direct quotation) Reference List or Bibliography entry Book with one author Transport by road has emerged as the leading way

to move goods from the port of arrival to their final destination (Bishop 2009, p. 36).

“The predominant and fastest-growing form of inland transport within the EU is road transport” (Bishop 2009, p. 36), which means the truck will be the vehicle of choice for the next decade at least.

Bishop, B 2009, European Union law for international business: an introduction, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne.

Book with two authors A government minister’s performance will be influenced and affected by four factors: their personality; the government’s requirements; the portfolio and lastly their circumstances (Tiernan & Waller 2010, p. 299).

Tiernan and Weller (2010, p. 299) state that there are four factors that will determine a minister’s performance: “their personality, the requirements of the government, the expectations of their portfolio and the political circumstances in which they find themselves”.

Tiernan, A & Weller, P 2010, Learning to be a minister: heroic expectations, practical realities, Melbourne University Press, Carlton.

Book with three authors There are some behaviours which are only displayed in private or very rarely, making them hard to report (Aronson, Wilson & Akert 2007, p. 36).

“Certain kinds of behaviour are difficult to observe because they occur only rarely or in private” (Aronson, Wilson & Akert 2007, p. 36).

Aronson, E, Wilson, TD & Akert, RM 2007, Social psychology, 6th edn, Pearson Education, New Jersey.

Book with more than three authors

A module can be compromised of certain data and certain procedures (Adams et al. 2009, p. 11).

Adams et al. (2009, p. 11) define it this way: “A module provides a means of packaging related data and procedures, and hiding information not needed inside the module”.

Adams, JC, Brainerd, WS, Hendrickson, RA, Maine, RE, Martin, JT & Smith, BT 2009, The Fortran 2003 handbook: the complete syntax, features and procedures, Springer, USA.

Book with an editor(s) and the contributing writers are identifiable

Sports events can bring together disparate peoples and reduce the geographical differences between them when they come together to play against others (Schulenkorf & Edwards 2010, p. 113).

According to Schulenkorf and Edwards (2010, p. 113), “Sport events as superordinate goals are able to reduce intergroup distance and create inclusive identity feelings, as they encourage people from different groups to come together and work toward a common purpose”.

Schulenkorf, N & Edwards, D 2010, ‘The role of sport events in peace tourism’, in O Moufakkir and I Kelly (eds), Tourism, progress and peace, CABI, Oxfordshire, pp. 99-117.

Book with an editor(s) but the contributing writers are not identifiable (in this particular example, the book has also been translated and is part of a series too)

Water quality can be affected by how the water is used and by pollution, so water quality is measured by surface water sampling (ed. Krajca 1989, p. 14).

Krajca (ed. 1989, p. 14) also considers surface water sampling to be essential, because it “is fundamental to quality studies relating to use (water supply, irrigation, fisheries, etc.) or to degree of pollution”.

Krajca, JM (ed.) 1989, Water sampling, trans. J Joseph, Ellis Horwood series in water and wastewater technology, Ellis Horwood, West Sussex.

Book where an organisation is the author

A seller only needs a minimum level of insurance when CIF is used (International Chamber of Commerce 2010, p. 105).

The buyer cannot expect the seller to pay a premium level; “under CIF the seller is required to obtain insurance only on minimum cover” (International Chamber of Commerce 2010, p. 105).

International Chamber of Commerce 2010, Incoterms 2010: ICC rules for the use of domestic and international trade terms, ICC Services, Paris.

Swinburne University of Technology Library – Harvard Style Guide

Information source In-text (paraphrase) In-text (direct quotation) Reference List or Bibliography entry One author referring to another author

Sir Alfred Pugsley (cited in Wolfram & Phillips 1978, p. 153) proposed a new sequence of checks to building design and construction as far back as 1973.

Sir Alfred Pugsley (cited in Wolfram & Phillips 1978, p. 153) had called for a new sequence as far back as 1973, when he stated that “all safety rules grow out of, and are periodically amended as a result of accidents to structures, and in this sense what we are wanting is a reversal of the usual sequence”.

Wolfram, HG & Phillips, JT 1978, ‘Proof engineering for major structures’, Engineering conference 1978: engineers developing a better world, Institution of Engineers, Australia, Barton, ACT, pp. 149-154, Engineering Collection, Informit, viewed 10 December 2010.

DVD Effective communication in a workplace can end if a problem is not dealt with (Don’t hesitate, communicate! Effective communication in the office 2010).

In other words, “Refusing to address the issues is one way to kill communication” (Don’t hesitate, communicate! Effective communication in the office 2010).

Don’t hesitate, communicate! Effective communication in the office 2010 [DVD], Video Education Australasia, Bendigo.

DVD – feature film In this instance, a blank scroll is used as a metaphor for non-existent knowledge (Kung Fu panda 2008).

The passing down from generation to generation of a chef’s skills can humorously be summed up as follows: "We are noodle folk – broth runs through our veins!" (Kung Fu panda 2008).

Kung Fu panda 2008 [DVD], Dreamworks Animation, USA. Distributed in Australia by Paramount Home Entertainment.

ebooks – with pagination Lake Eyre receives high amounts of incoming water but due to a combination of slow arrival time of incoming water combined with a high evaporation rate, it rarely fills (Ghassemi & White 2007, p. 141).

The process has been described this way: “In spite of this significant volume of run-off, the very high evaporation rates and the long time it takes for water to reach the Lake, means that it only fills with water during exceptionally wet years” (Ghassemi & White 2007, p. 141).

Ghassemi, F & White, I 2007, Inter-basin water transfer: case studies from Australia, United States, Canada, China and India, Cambridge University Press, EBL Ebook Library, viewed 6 December 2010.

ebooks – no pagination, sections only

Temperature affects random electron motion which in turn can cause thermal noise (Chomycz 2009, s. 10.2.4).

“Thermal noise occurs in any component and is due to random electron motion due to temperature” (Chomycz 2009, s. 10.2.4).

Chomycz, B 2009, Planning fiber optic networks, McGraw-Hill, Books24x7, viewed 1 December 2010.

Periodical articles with an author (online)

It is much simpler to manage an optical network that has been arranged in a ring (Argibay-losada et al. 2010, p. 263)

Argibay-losada et al. (2010, p. 263) identify that “The main reason to use ring topologies is not a high degree of connectivity or route diversity, but the opposite, namely simplicity of management (static routing and automatic recovery, for example)”.

Argibay-losada, P, Suarez-Gonzalez, A, Lopez-Garcia, C & Fernandez-Veiga, M 2010, ‘Flow splitting for end-to-end proportional QoS in OBS networks’, IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 257- 269, IEEE Xplore, viewed 8 December 2010.

Periodical articles with no author (online)

Wikileaks was founded by a number of different people from different countries with the aim to bypass censorship and publish truthful documents (How to avoid embarrassing leaks 2008, p. 4).

Wikileaks “was founded by dissidents, journalists, mathematicians and technologists from China, the US, Taiwan, Europe, Australia and South Africa, with the aim of subverting censorship and distributing the unvarnished truth” (How to avoid embarrassing leaks 2008, p. 4).

‘How to avoid embarrassing leaks’ 2008, IT Week, 10 March, p. 4, Computers & Applied Sciences Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 8 December 2010.

Industry and market reports from the Library’s databases

Demand from Asian markets is expected to continue to raise the price of gold over the next few years (Butler 2010, p. 6).

This commodity is not going to stagnate; “there are solid prospects for rising demand for gold in Asian markets” (Butler 2010, p. 6).

Butler, E 2010, Gold ore mining in Australia, IBISWorld, B1314, viewed 10 December 2010.

Swinburne University of Technology Library – Harvard Style Guide

Information source In-text (paraphrase) In-text (direct quotation) Reference List or Bibliography entry Australian Standards Online

LP gas fuel vessel manufacturers must make and then keep their records for a minimum of 11 years (Standards Australia 2009, p. 23).

The rule from Standards Australia (2009, p. 23) is: “The fuel vessel manufacturer shall maintain suitable records including the following data from Items (a) through (l) and retain them for not less than 11 years in Australia”.

Standard Australia 2009, LP Gas fuel vessels for automotive use, (AS/NZS 3509:2009), SAI Global Limited, viewed 10 December 2010.

Learning material in Blackboard

There are usually two types of systems: natural systems and artificial systems (Tipping 2010).

“Systems can be natural or artificial, eg. The solar system; Australia; Swinburne University of Technology; a bicycle” (Tipping 2010).

Tipping, R 2010, 'Lecture 1', HIT3423/8423 Enterprise system management, Learning materials on Blackboard, Swinburne University of Technology, 10 August, viewed 16 August 2010.

Web document with an author

Practicing is the best way to improve juggling skills (Kalvan 1999).

Kalvan (1999) reinforces this on his website when he says “The best way to improve your juggling is to practice”.

Kalvan, J 1999, Learn to Juggle, Kalvan network, viewed 10 December 2010, <http://www.kalvan.net/ howtojug/howtojug.htm>.

Web document without an author

The Phoenix Mars Lander will investigate the ice on Mars to see if it was once capable of supporting life (Phoenix Mars Lander: Digging for Secrets of Martian Ice 2010).

The Phoenix Mars Lander mission is “to sample Mars ice and determine if the Martian arctic could have once supported primitive life” (Phoenix Mars Lander: Digging for Secrets of Martian Ice 2010).

Phoenix Mars Lander: Digging for Secrets of Martian Ice 2010, Imaginova Corporation, viewed 10 December 2010, <http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/phoenix-mars- lander-special-report.html>.

Webpage of a company or organisation

Telstra has increased its Sales Revenue over the last five years (Five Year Financial Summary 2010).

Telstra has increased its Sales Revenue from $22,712,000 AUD to $24,813,000 AUD over the last five years (Five Year Financial Summary 2010).

Five Year Financial Summary 2010, Telstra Corporation, viewed 10 December 2010, <http://www.telstra. com.au/abouttelstra/investor/financial-information/ financial-summary/>.

YouTube video Those already in the trade say the best way to get into bricklaying is through friends, family, contacts and the local TAFE (abbtf 2010).

Troy Everett, Chief Judge of the Bricklaying Speed Test at Worldskills 2010 advises that “The best way (into a job in Bricklaying) is through friends, family, contacts and also going to your local TAFE college and (doing) some courses to see if you like it” (abbtf 2010).

abbtf 2010, ABBTF Bricklaying Speed Test – WorldSkills 2010, 3 June, viewed 10 December 2010, <http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=xhHt2Nbcm_c>.

Tables, graphs and images from a webpage

(United States National Library of Medicine 2010) Section through Visible Human Male – abdomen, including large and small intestines, spinal column, musculature, subcutaneous fat (United States National Library of Medicine 2010).

United States National Library of Medicine 2010, ‘Section through Visible Human Male – abdomen, including large and small intestines, spinal column, musculature, subcutaneous fat’ [image], in The Visible Human Project, United States National Library of Medicine, viewed 9 December 2010, <http://www.nlm. nih.gov/research/visible/image/abdomen.jpg>.

Swinburne University of Technology Library – Harvard Style Guide

Information source In-text (paraphrase) In-text (direct quotation) Reference List or Bibliography entry Article from a newspaper website

By understanding Venus’s climate it will be easier to understand our own (AFP 2010).

“Scientists believe investigating the climate of Venus would help them deepen their understanding of the formation of the Earth’s environment and its future” (AFP 2010).

AFP 2010, ‘Japanese space probe Akatsuki fails in attempt to orbit Venus’, The Australian, 8 December, viewed 8 December 2010, <http://www.theaustralian. com.au/news/health-science/japanese-space-probe- akatsuki-fails-in-attempt-to-orbit-venus/story- e6frg8y6-1225967684743>.

Article from an open access online journal

It should be obvious that published research found to contain falsified data and poor experimental procedures will cause any science to be ignored or ridiculed by common people (Kreutzberg 2004, p. 332).

Kreutzberg (2004, p. 332) was prescient about this issue when he stated “Scientific honesty and adhering to the principles of good scientific practice are not only essential for our work but are indispensable in gaining the respect and trust of the public”.

Kreutzberg, GW 2004, ‘The rules of good science’, EMBO reports, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 330-332, viewed 4 January 2011, <http://www.nature.com/embor/journal/ v5/n4/pdf/7400136.pdf>.

Blog entry The issue of sustainability in architecture can be addressed by using recycled materials (katzsj 2009).

One way of including sustainability in architecture is “to use recycled products and objects in creative and innovative ways” (katzsj 2009).

katzsj 2009, ‘Water bottles as a design tool’, Sara’s blog, 11 February, viewed 9 December 2010, <http://katzsj.wordpress.com/2009/02/11/water- bottles-as-a-design-tool/>.

Blog entry on a newspaper website (this is not a hybrid entry, it simply employs the guidelines for Blogs)

The parent should carefully gauge if their children are ready before having them meet the parent’s new partner (Davoren 2011).

Such an event should not be rushed: “Introducing a new partner should only occur when the children are ready, not because it is convenient for the adults involved” (Davoren 2011).

Davoren, H 2011, ‘Children must come first when divorcees seek new partners’, Dirty Laundry, 12 April, viewed 27 May 2011, <http://www.theage.com.au/ lifestyle/lifematters/blogs/dirty-laundry/children- must-come-first-when-divorcees-seek-new-partners- 20110411-1db80.html>.

SP0065-13-112

Quick Guide to Referencing.pdf

Quick Guide to Referencing

(source: The Uni of Western Australia, Information Services http://guides.is.uwa.edu.au/harvard )

Why is referencing important?

Referencing or citing your sources is an important part of academic writing. It lets you acknowledge

the ideas or words of others if you use them in your work and helps avoid plagiarism.

Referencing also demonstrates that you've read relevant backgound literature and you can provide

authority for statements you make in your assignments.

The Harvard citation style can vary in minor features such as punctuation, capitalisation,

abbreviations, and the use of italics.

The examples in this guide are appropriate to most Marketing and Management subjects.

ALWAYS CHECK with your lecturer/tutor for which citation style they prefer you to use.

Getting started

There are two components to referencing: in-text citations in your paper and the reference list at the

end of your paper.

The in-text citation:

Harvard is an 'author/date' system, so your in-text citation consists of author(s) and year of

publication.

In-text citation of a book (the same format applies for a journal article)

If you quote directly from an author or to cite a specific idea or piece of information from the source

you need to include the page number of the quote in your in-text citation.

http://guides.is.uwa.edu.au/harvard

The reference list:

All in-text citations should be listed in the reference list at the end of your document.

Your reference list should ALWAYS START on a new page.

Reference list entry for a book

Reference list entry for a journal

Reference list entries contain all the information that someone needs to follow up your source.

Reference lists in Harvard are arranged ALPHABETICALLY BY AUTHOR (author’s family /

surname)

Report Writing Guidelines.pdf

Report Writing Guidelines A report should include the sections outlined below and in the exact order: Title page This is like the cover of a book. It tells the reader:

 What the report is about (the title)

 Who wrote the report (full names and student numbers)

 Any other brief and relevant information e.g. why the report has been written e.g. as part of the course, the due date etc.

A title page should also look interesting enough to make the reader want to turn the page and start reading – design is important. If using an image, use one that reflects the report content. Microsoft Word has a range of title page templates that might be used, but remember to delete any unnecessary elements, and change the images to something appropriate to the report e.g. the picture of a train or a flower is unlikely to be relevant to most of your assessments. Executive Summary is an overall summary of the entire report. It should: • Introduce the topic of your report • Summarise the main subjects (major findings) examined in the discussion section of your Report. These should be in a series of short paragraphs. See the student guide on Writing Good Executive Summaries for more guidance. • State your conclusions • State your recommendations (No page number) Table of contents This is an ordered list of the different sections and subsections of your report. It must include numbered section headings and subheadings, with their relevant page numbers. This indicates to your reader where various sections of your discussion can be found. Note: Table of contents should also be on a separate page. (No page number) Introduction (The numbering of the pages starts here) The introduction should generally include three key types of information. • Background: This section sets the context for the report and provides the (brief) background information required for the reader to understand the report. For example, it may briefly outline the issue faced by the organisation. Tell the reader something about the history/origin of the report. When was it requested? Why is it important? Who was involved and how? • Aims/ objectives : This tells the reader what the aims/objectives of the report are. It indicates what key questions the report is trying to answer and what it is trying to achieve. Why was it written? • Scope: Tells the reader exactly what areas/ideas are covered in the report. This also helps to explain how the report is organised. Look at your plan and consider your headings and sub-headings. Discussion and analysis: While this represents the main part of the report, it should not be titled Discussion, Body, etc. – the headings and sub-headings should identify each topic, subject, situation or factor being discussed.

Remember 1 subject = 1 section. Another important thing to remember about headings – they should NEVER be alone at the bottom of a page – this needs to be fixed in the final draft process. This section is where information relevant to the topic is presented. It is similar to the 'body' section of an essay. It must be fully referenced throughout, using various resources to support ideas. It should be organised logically, using topic headings, subheadings and minor subheadings to break it into sections and sub-sections based on the ideas being discussed. All headings must be numbered sequentially. Length of a discussion is approximately 60% of total word count. It is also important to use paragraph breaks within sections – 1 idea per paragraph. Paragraphs

should ideally be between 2 and 12 lines long with between 2 and 6 – 8 sentences long.

Conclusion The purpose of the conclusion is to provide a summary of the major findings. It effectively attempts to answer the key questions posed in the introduction. When writing a conclusion it may be useful to consider the following: • No new information should be introduced (therefore no references) • Summarise what has been learnt or proved from doing this research? • On the basis of the research, what conclusions can be drawn? • Consider the key questions and objectives set out in the introduction- what are the answers/conclusions you came to? • Consider each of the key sections of your report- what was the main point made in each section? Recommendations Often when writing a report specific recommendations for future actions are requested. These can be included as a separate section after the conclusion or even as a part of the conclusion (using a sub-heading). Recommendations should state what actions should be implemented based on the findings of the report. You may list these in bullet points or small paragraphs. As with the conclusion, no new information and no references. Reference List This list includes the full publication details of all books, articles, Web sites and other sources referred to in the report. The referencing styles at KOI: Author/date styles (Harvard) – either APA or Chicago are acceptable and standard – see student guides in Moodle, online, and in hard copy student guides for assistance.

Guidelines for developing your report (or any other assessment) Timing Assessments (reports or other types) have a specific due date and time. However it is almost impossible to complete a satisfactory assessment in a short time – the best reports and assessments are written over several days, with breaks between revisions so that errors and inconsistencies become more obvious. An approximate way to identify the MINIMUM time needed to write a good assessment / report might be to multiply the marks by 2 hours e.g. a 2 mark assessment may take up to 4 hours to do effectively, a 20 mark assessment may take at least 40 hours. If you have more than one assessment due in any single week, you will need to develop a timetable to allow sufficient time for each assessment – this may mean you need to start assessments 2 – 4 weeks before they are due. Assessments started the day (or the day before) they are due are unlikely to satisfy the marking criteria i.e. do not expect to pass!!! First Draft Specifically, the purposes of the first draft are: • to formalise the structure of the assignment • to ensure that there is continuity between the various sections of the report • to state your ideas or case as clearly as possible. Style, grammar, spelling and presentation are of only minor importance at this stage. These aspects are an important part of the final product because a person reading your report will expect a clear, well-written piece of work, but at this stage you are not writing for your reader. You are writing for yourself - to get your ideas down on paper in a structured form. For that reason, you should write as fast as you can - let your thoughts flow freely. Do not be restricted by considerations such as correct expression, choosing the right word or spelling. They can be considered when you do your second draft. Revision of your draft is your own responsibility. Revision is successful when a thorough, systematic approach is used. One systematic way to ensure that your revision is thorough and that you produce a better document is to tackle the task of redrafting as several discrete tasks, rather than as one large one where you work through the document from beginning to end. Revise the document several times, on each occasion looking at different aspects. Ask yourself the following questions to which you should pay specific attention during the redrafting process:

 Does the report answer the question adequately?

 Does it cover all the essential material?

 Does the report have a clear, logical structure?

 Are each of its parts clearly linked to one another?

 Does the report contain any irrelevant or redundant material? (if so remove it)

 Does each paragraph have a clear purpose within its section?

 Are the introduction and conclusion effective?

 Is the language direct and unambiguous?

 Are there any spelling errors?

 Are references properly cited?

 Have all quotes and paraphrases been acknowledged?

 Does it look professional?

The revision process……. A good report will be revised at least 4 – 5 times Moves from the general to the specific. Your first revision should address the more general questions such as structure and coverage of material. Subsequent revisions would consider more specific areas such as language and spelling. Moving from the specific to the general would be counter-productive. There is little point in correcting spelling and improving the grammar of the material that may later be considered redundant or which has to be reworded for use in a different context. In the final editing stage, the emphasis is on producing a correct piece of work. Inadequate proofreading can produce a report that is difficult to read. When you proofread: • ensure that references are correct and properly cited • ensure that grammar and spelling are correct • improve the writing style - an endless process. As with the redrafting stage, reading the assignment aloud or having someone else read it are effective ways of finding errors. One final point. • Submit your report on time. If you do not think you will finish on time, you should apply for an extension, however be aware that an extension may not be granted – it is much better to start 1 week earlier than you think you need to. (see timing above) Presentation of report Check-list to consider prior to completing the report. Have you…….. • kept to within + 10% of the word limit? • used a variety of appropriate resources/references to support your ideas? • written it in your own words (limit 10% direct quotes)? • used the correct referencing format? • provided correct in-text references (Author/date) for all direct and in-direct quotes? • used Times New Roman size 12 font or Calibri size 11 font or another font of a similar appearance size? (It is important to remember that different fonts are larger or smaller for the same font size e.g. Arial is a larger font, Arabic typesetting is a smaller font (both these font names are shown in size 11

font, as is the rest of this guideline which is in Calibri size 11) • used single spacing (if setting paragraph styles, make sure you have 0 pt before and after lines) ? • used appropriate margins? – the normal default margins in Microsoft Word are 2.54 cm all around – this is satisfactory for most assessments. • included page numbers, name and student ID on each page? – these should be in a header and/or footer. • included assignment cover page if required? – note this is NOT a title page, but a KOI assessment submission page.

Sample Assignment with comments.pdf

Assessment 2: New products

This id mine!!

Authors: Oliver Vincent mary

Comment [G1]: This should be deleted

Comment [G2]: Idea? – full words should be used Full names of authors should also be used and spelt correctly – title case should be used

Comment [G3]: Title page is attractive but an image more appropriate to the report topic would improve This sample assessment is a reasonable overview of a text chapter. If it were a Literature Review Assessment it would be quite good, with some improvements as per comments below. If, however, this was an assessment where the writers were asked to analyse the new product development process for businesses today, many more actual application and practical examples would be needed for an acceptable response – comments below indicate where these should be included

Page i

Contents 1.0 Overview ............................................................................................................................. 1

1.1 Objectives ......................................................................................................................... 1 2.0 New products ........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.1 What is a new product? ................................................................................................... 2 2.2 New-product development strategy ................................................................................ 2 2.3 New-product success and failure ..................................................................................... 2

3.0 The new-product development process .............................................................................. 3 3.1 Ideas generation ............................................................................................................... 3

3.1.1 Internal sources: ........................................................................................................ 3 3.1.2 Customers: ................................................................................................................. 3 3.1.4 Distributors and suppliers: ........................................................................................ 3 3.1.5 Other sources: ........................................................................................................... 3

3.2 Idea screening .................................................................................................................. 4 3.3 Concept development and testing ................................................................................... 4

3.3.1Product idea ............................................................................................................... 4 3.3.2 Product concept ........................................................................................................ 4

4.0 Marketing strategy development ........................................................................................ 5 5.0 Business analysis .................................................................................................................. 5 6.0 Product development .......................................................................................................... 5 7.0 Test marketing ..................................................................................................................... 6

Comment [G4]: Mostly well constructed Table of Contents – uses Word’s auto Table of Contents – References tab Needs to also include Conclusions, Recommendations (if included), Bibliography and Appendices /Attachments (if included) “Error! Bookmark …. Needs to be fixed by updating

New Products Report

Oliver, Vincent, Mary Page 1

1.0 Overview It is a fact of life that everything moves through a cycle and this is as true of products as it is of humans. Because of this products need to be modified or developed. This chapter deals with new products and their development. A new product is a good, service or idea that is perceived by some potential customers as new. It is argued here that a product that is new to the company is classified as a new product and as such it includes me-too products as well as innovative new products. Failure of new products is high and it is argued that strong product-planning can diminish the rate of failure for a company. Marketers should be aware of and follow a defined process for the development of new products. The process presented here is one that includes idea generation, idea screening, concept development testing, marketing strategy development, business analysis, product development and test marketing before commercialisation takes place. Simultaneous product development can speed up this sequential process. A five-stage product lifecycle that includes the product development stage as the first stage in the life of a product is discussed in detail and the technology adoption cycle is introduced as a modification suitable for discontinuous innovations based on new technologies. This cycle includes such colourful names as the early market, the chasm, the bowling alley, the tornado, the main street and end of life.

1.1 Objectives

Identify the challenges companies face in creating a new-product development strategy. List different sources for idea generation and discuss how an idea moves ahead through idea screening, concept development and concept testing. Outline how a potential product advances from a concept to a product through marketing strategy development, business analysis and product development. Explain the purpose of test marketing and distinguish between standard, controlled and simulated test markets. Describe how marketing strategies change during the product’s life cycle.

Comment [G5]: Good use of header – provided it clearly states the title and other relevant information Good headings structure – uses Word’s Style management – Home tab Introduction, with sub-headings of Aims and Scope or Focus would be a more appropriate headings for this section

Comment [G6]: Ideally there should be a clear line space between paragraphs Good paragraph construction – 1 idea per para and not too long

Comment [G7]: Content is OK but needs to be written in paragraph form – can contain bullet lists if properly presented.

Comment [G8]: Good use of footer, provided it shows authors names, or copyright or other relevant information. Line above footer separates it from the report content

New Products Report

Oliver, Vincent, Mary Page 2

2.1 What is a new product?

Table 9.1, p. 310 is a summary of different categories of new products, and provides a checklist for the new product from a developer’s view. It can be useful when marketers are considering repositioning options. The new category entry in Table 9.1 explores the issue of an organisation producing an imitation or ‘me-too’ product. As long as it is new to the firm, it is a new product.

2.2 New-product development strategy

Given the rapid changes in tastes, technology and competition, a company cannot rely solely on its existing products. Customers want and expect the new and improved products that competition will do its best to provide. A company can obtain new products in two ways. One is through acquisition – buying a whole new company, patent or licence to produce someone else’s product. The other is through new product development: ‘development of original products, product modifications and new brands through the company’s own R&D efforts’ (p. 311).

2.3 New-product success and failure Innovation can be very risky. New products continue to fail at a disturbing rate. One recent study estimated that new consumer packaged goods (consisting mostly of line extensions) fail at a rate of 80%. (James 2222) Another study found that the new-product failure rate was 40% for consumer products, 20% for industrial products and 18% for services. There are several reasons that so many new products fail: the market size was overestimated, the actual product was not designed well, it may have been priced too high, or poorly advertised, costs of development were higher than expected, or perhaps competitors fought back harder than expected. Because so many new products fail, companies are anxious to learn how to improve their odds of new-product success. One way to identify successful new products is to find out what they have in common. One study found that the number-one success factor is a unique superior product, one with higher quality, new features and higher value in use. Another key success factor is a well-defined product concept prior to development, in which the company carefully designs and assesses the target market, the product requirements and the benefits before proceeding. In all, to create successful new products, a company must understand its consumers, markets and competitors and develop products that deliver superior value to customers. Successful new-product development may be even more difficult in the future. Keen competition has led to increasing market fragmentation – companies must now aim at smaller market segments rather than at the mass market, with the probable results of smaller sales and profits for each product. New products must meet growing social and governmental constraints, such as consumer safety and ecological standards. Many

Comment [G9]: The reference needs to be presented correctly as per Harvard Style e.g. (Brown, 2009), and paragraph rephrased to explain this table, or table can be included and explained. If included, table should be given a title and source

Comment [G10]: Quotes should probably be in italics as well for clear distinction -

Comment [G11]: Reference needs to include Author and date

Comment [G12]: Correctly shown – comma between name and date depends on the particular Harvard style used. Reference should ideally be inserted after the words “One recent study”

Comment [G13]: Needs to be identified

Comment [G14]: Apart from the referencing issues, this paragraph is a well expressed point supported by research evidence

Comment [G15]: Reference needed

Comment [G16]: Reference needed

Comment [G17]: Good analysis – if a little brief – a little more discussion related to the previous points will improve

New Products Report

Oliver, Vincent, Mary Page 3

companies cannot afford to develop new products and emphasise product modification and imitation. Even when a new product is successful, other companies are quick to follow.

3.0 The new-product development process The new-product development process for finding and growing new products consists of eight major steps shown in Figure 9.1, p. 314.

3.1 Ideas generation

New product development starts with ideas generation ‘the systematic search for new product ideas’ (p. 314). A company must usually generate many ideas in order to find a few good ones. The search should be systematic rather than haphazard. (James 2222) Top management should state which products and markets to emphasise and what it wants from these products – high cash flow, market share or some other objective. To obtain a flow of new product ideas, the company can tap many idea sources including:

3.1.1 Internal sources:

The company can use formal R&D methods; pick the brains of scientists, engineers, and manufacturing people; executives can brainstorm. Salespeople are another good source.

3.1.2 Customers:

Consumer wants and needs can be obtained from consumer surveys or obtained through interviews and focus groups. (Kohgoru 4444)

3.1.3 Competitors:

The company can watch competitor’s ads and other communications to pick up clues about their new products. Companies can buy competitors’ new products, take them apart, and see how they work

3.1.4 Distributors and suppliers:

Resellers are close to the market and can pass along information about consumer problems and new-product possibilities. Suppliers can tell the company about new concepts, techniques and materials that can be used to develop new products.

3.1.5 Other sources:

Comment [G18]: This is a new idea so should be in a new paragraph, also should contain some theory / referenced support for the point being discussed

Comment [G19]: See comment 9

Comment [G20]: Se comments above re referencing. For an application assessment , these ideas need to be related in specific terms to the actual business or to actual examples

Comment [G21]: This heading should be moved to the next page

New Products Report

Oliver, Vincent, Mary Page 4

Trade magazines, shows, seminars, government agencies, new-product consultants, advertising agencies, marketing-research firms, university and commercial laboratories, and inventories. Table 9.3, p. 315, shows a summary of studies, identifying the organisational sources of ideas for products for business-to-business and consumer markets. The total is more than 100 because ideas may come from more than one source.

3.2 Idea screening The purpose of idea generation is to create a large number of ideas. The purpose of the succeeding stages is to reduce that number. The first idea-reducing stage is idea screening ‘in order to spot good ideas and drop poor ones as soon as possible’ (p. 316). Most companies require their executives to write up new-product ideas on a standard form that can be reviewed by a new-product committee. (Buwregfurqwgfb 2000) The write-up describes the product, the target market and the competition, and makes rough estimates of market size, product price, development time and costs, manufacturing costs and rate of return. The committee evaluates the idea against a set of general criteria.

3.3 Concept development and testing

Attractive ideas must now be developed into product concepts. It is important to distinguish between a product idea, a product concept and a product image.

3.3.1Product idea

‘An idea for a possible product that the company can see itself offering to the market’ (p. 316).

3.3.2 Product concept

‘The idea that consumers favour products that offer the most quality, performance and features and that the organisation should therefore devote its energy to making continuous product improvements; a detailed version of the new product idea stated in meaningful consumer terms’ (p. 316). 3.3.3 Product image ‘The way consumers perceive an actual or potential product’ ((Cuwrefbur 3000 p. 316). Concept development Customers do not buy a product idea; they buy a product concept. The marketer’s task is to develop this idea into several alternative product concepts, find out how attractive each concept is to customer and choose the best one. Concept testing ‘Testing new-product concepts with a group of target consumers to find out if the concepts have strong consumer appeal’ (p. 317). Concepts may be presented through word or picture descriptions. Consumers may be asked to react to this concept by

Comment [G22]: Most of these sections are too short – they need application examples or explanation in the authors’ own words of the implications for business

New Products Report

Oliver, Vincent, Mary Page 5

answering questions in Table 9.4, p. 317. The answers will help the company decide which concept has the strongest appeal.

4.0 Marketing strategy development After a concept has been chosen, the next step is marketing strategy development: ‘designing an initial marketing strategy for a new product based on the product concept’ (p. 317). The marketing strategy statement consists of three parts. The first part describes the target market, the planned product positioning, and the sales, market-share and profit goals for the first few years. The second part of the marketing strategy statement outlines the product’s planned price, distribution and marketing budget for the first year. The third part of the marketing strategy statement describes the planned long-run sales, profit goals and marketing mix strategy.

5.0 Business analysis Once management has decided on its product concept and marketing strategy, it can evaluate the business attractiveness of the proposal. Business analysis involves a ‘review of the sales, costs and profit projections for a new product to find out whether these factors satisfy the company’s objectives’ (p. 318). If they do, the product can move into the product development stage. To estimate the sales, the company should look at the sales history of similar products and should survey market opinion. It should estimate minimum and maximum sales to learn the range of risk. After preparing the sales forecast, management can estimate the expected costs and profits for the product. The costs are estimated by the R&D, manufacturing, accounting and finance departments. The planned marketing costs are included in the analysis. The company then uses the sales and costs figures to analyse the new product’s financial attractiveness.

6.0 Product development If the product concept passes the business test, it moves into product development: ‘a strategy for promoting company growth by offering modified or new products to current market segments; developing the product concept into a physical product in order to assure that the product idea can be turned into a workable product’ (p. 318). Here R&D or engineering develops the concept into a physical product. This stage will show whether the product idea can be turned into a workable product. One or more physical versions will be developed in the hope that the design prototype will not only satisfy and excite consumers but will also be one that can be produced quickly and at budgeted costs. Developing a successful prototype can take days, weeks, months or even years. When the prototypes are ready, they must be tested. Functional tests are conducted under laboratory and field conditions to make sure that products perform safely and effectively. Consumer tests are conducted as well where consumers rate the attributes of the product.

Comment [G23]: Comments as per referencing apply here as well. If a literature review, a little more description of the different elements would be needed. If an application assessment, actual examples, and a discussion / analysis of the implications for business would be needed

New Products Report

Oliver, Vincent, Mary Page 6

When designing products, the company should look beyond simply creating products that satisfy consumer needs and wants. Too often, companies design their new products without enough concern about how the designs will be produced – their main goal is to create customer-satisfying products. The designs are then passed along to manufacturing, where engineers try to find the best way to produce the product. Recently, however, many companies have adopted a new approach towards product development called design for manufacturability and assembly (DFMA). (J 2000) Using this approach, companies work to fashion products that both satisfy the consumer and are easy to manufacture. This often results not only in lower costs but also in higher quality and more reliable products.

7.0 Test marketing If the product passes functional and consumer tests, the next step is test marketing. Test marketing is ‘the stage at which the product and marketing programs are introduced into more realistic settings’ (p. 319). Test marketing lets the marketer get experience with marketing the product, find potential problems and learn where more information is needed before going to the great expense of full introduction.

Bibliography Buwregfurqwgfb, J. Kjbwid Jfhej. Jubv 23, 2000. www.hhhh,cvidhvc (accessed May 34,

2100). Cuwrefbur, J. "Khaiufvg Obcvdj Obncdjwbv." Lisafh Jfhweuqfh Khfiwe , 3000: 21-23. J, Eihyssvfgiy. Nisdh UIhceiu. Jojf: Huwhf, 2000. James, Hbwddfbu. Ubvjfdgv HUOfbdjs BHCu. Nds, Jnvb: Jbdufvbujd Jidh, 2222. Kohgoru, Jihsddvuo. JIouehrfbv Hcouwhfv. Guwgfue: Pjfwog, 4444.

Comment [G24]: These sections are too brief – see comment 23 for reasons

Comment [G25]: All reports should be concluded with a Conclusion – also Recommendations if required This section should be a brief summary of the main purpose and points – conclusions and recommendations should be clearly identifiable from the preceding discussions and analysis. There should be no new material or comment in these sections, so there should be no references – all references should have already been inserted in the appropriate place in the body of the report.

Comment [G26]: Well presented using Word’s auto referencing system (References tab) Obviously the Bibliography should start on a new page. Obviously the references would be real names and should be spell checked and proof read.

What Makes a good essay.pdf

Language and Learning Services

What makes a good essay?

Read the essay topic and essay. Then study the comments on the side. Essay topic “Birth rates are falling in developed countries. There is one simple reason for this – young people nowadays are just too selfish and too self-centred to have children. And this is particularly true of women”. To what extent do you agree with this view? Support your argument with relevant readings and evidence.

Sample essay 1 Countries in the developed world have seen a big shift in attitudes to population growth.

Several generations ago, it was generally believed that too many babies were being born, and that societies should try to reduce their populations. Nowadays, however, the concern is the reverse – that birthrates are falling too low and that urgent action is needed to encourage people to have more children. But what are the causes of this trend? And how much are the attitudes and lifestyles of young people to blame? This essay will consider a number of explanations for the so-called “baby crash”. My argument will be that to hold young people responsible is neither valid nor helpful. The best explanation, I believe, is to be found in the condition of increased economic insecurity faced by the young.

2 The birth rate has fallen dramatically in many parts of the world. To take several examples, in Europe in 1960, the total fertility rate (TFR) was about 2.6 births per female, but in 1996 it had fallen to 1.4 (Chesnais, 1998). In many Asian countries, similar declines have been experienced. Japan now has a birthrate of only about 1.3, and Hong Kong’s has fallen to below 1.0 (Ichimura & Ogawa, 2000). A TFR of below 2.0 means that a country’s population is not replaced, and thus there is a net population decline. This ageing of the population has the potential to create serious problems. Fewer children being born means that in the long term, a smaller proportion of the populace will be economically productive, whilst a larger proportion will be old and economically dependent – in the form of pension, health care and other social services. Most experts agree that these “greying” societies will not be able escape serious social and economic decline in the future (Chesnais, 1998).

3 So what are the causes of this trend and what can be done to stop it? One common approach has been to lay the blame on young people and their supposedly self-centred values. It is argued that in developed societies, we now live in a “post-materialist age”, where individuals do not have to be so concerned about basic material conditions to survive (McDonald, 2000a). Thus people, especially the young, have become more focussed on the values of self-realisation and the satisfaction of personal preferences, at the expense of traditional values like raising a family. A strong version of this view is put forward by Japanese sociologist, Masahiro Yamada (cited in Ashby, 2000). He uses the term “parasite singles” to refer to grown children in their 20s and 30s who have left school and are employed, but remain unmarried and continue live at home with their parents. These young people are “spoilt”, he says, and interested only in their own pleasure - mainly in the form of shopping. According to Yamada, it is this focus on self, more than any other factor, that is responsible for Japan’s languishing birth rate (Ashby, 2000). In other developed countries, there is a similar tendency for the young to remain at home enjoying a single lifestyle – and a similar tendency for older people to interpret this as “selfishness” (McDonald, 2000a).

Essay Commentary

1. Analysing the question Notice what the question is asking students to do – in this case saying how much they agree with the ‘view’ in the topic. What do you think? Is this a reasonable explanation for the declining birthrate? Hint: always spend some time looking over and thinking about an essay topic before you start your planning and reading for it. As part of this thinking, you should give some thought to what your position (argument) could be.

Academic Style and Conventions

2. Introduction Notice how in the introduction, this student writer:

i) introduces the topic area in a general way (ie. declining birthrates)

ii) introduces the main issue to be covered in the essay (ie. why this is happening).

Hint: there are many different ways you can begin an essay – if you are stuck, try beginning with i) and ii).

3. The argument In the last part of the introduction, the student introduces his argument. Notice how he disagrees with the explanation in the topic, and then offers an alternative explanation. Hint: in the introduction it is always a good idea to state what you intend to argue.

4. Claims + evidence In this paragraph, the student considers the first part of the topic – that birth rates have fallen. This is presented as background information. Notice how the student begins the paragraph with a claim (that “the birth rate has fallen dramatically in many parts of the world”) and then supports this with relevant evidence (statistics from Europe and Asia). Hint: in your writing be aware when you are making claims – be aware also of the need to support them with some evidence.

5. The issue After giving some background in paragraph 2, the student reminds the reader what the main issue is – why birthrates have declined? Notice also that the student has seen the issue as a ‘problem’ – and asks “What can be done about it?” Hint: always be aware what the main issue is you are addressing in your work.

6. Summarising ideas This paragraph mainly summarises the ideas of those who think young people are to blame for declining birthrates. Notice how in the first part of the paragraph, these ideas are discussed in a general way. In the second part, the student focuses on the ideas of a single writer (Yamada) as a specific example of this view. Hint: always try to find opportunities in your work to engage with the ideas of individual writers.

Paragraphs Try to keep your paragraphs a reasonable length. (Most paragraphs in this essay are around 7-8 sentences long.)

Using “I” – first person pronouns Notice how the student uses “I” in his essay: The best explanation, I believe, is…. And in the previous sentence, another first person pronoun is used: My argument is that … Some students have the impression that they are not allowed to use these words in their written work. But in fact they can often be found in academic writing. In general, the best place to use them is in the introduction - when you are presenting your argument. But if you are concerned that it is not OK to use “I”, you can use other expressions - which avoid self-reference, but which mean much the same thing eg. This essay will argue that ... Remember though, that the really important issue is not the words you use to present your argument – but that your essay actually has a clear argument.

Citation 2 (Ichimura & Ogawa, 2000) Citations can be set out in a number of ways. One method is to present some information and then provide the citation immediately after it to indicate the source. These are known as ‘information-prominent’ citations eg:

Japan now has a birthrate of only about 1.3, and Hong Kong’s has fallen to below 1.0 (Ichimura & Ogawa, 2000).

Other formats are considered further on.

Citation 3 Masahiro Yamada (cited in Ashby, 2000) This citation means that the student is dealing with the ideas of Yamada, but actually read about them in Ashby’s text. Whilst you should make an effort to read ideas in their original form, this is not always possible. In such cases, use the ‘cited in’ format.

Reporting expressions When you are summarising the ideas of a writer, you need to use reporting expressions like the ones used here: He [Yamada] uses the term … According to Yamada,… ... he says …etc.

Citation 1 (Chesnais, 1998) Citations are used to indicate the source of the ideas you have used in your essay. Note that there are two main citation systems: i) the author-date system (also known as Harvard); ii) the footnote system (also known as Oxford). In this essay, the author–date system has been used. (Always check which system is required in each of your subjects.)

But is it reasonable to attribute the baby crash to the “pleasure-seeking” values of

the young? The problem with this view is that whenever young people are surveyed about their attitudes to family, not only do they say they want to have children, they also express preferences for family sizes that are, on average, above the replacement level (McDonald, 2000a). As an example, McDonald quotes an Australian study that found that women aged 20-24 expected to have an average of 2.33 children in their lifetime. Findings like this suggest that the values of the young are not at all incompatible with the idea of having a family. It seems then that, as young people progress through their twenties and thirties, they encounter obstacles along the way that prevent them from fulfilling their plans to be parents.

5 Some conservative thinkers believe the main “obstacle” is the changed role and status of women (eg. Norton, 2003). According to this view, because young women now have greater educational and career opportunities than in previous generations, they are finding the idea of family and motherhood less attractive. Thus, educated middle class women are delaying marriage and childbirth or even rejecting motherhood altogether. It is claimed that women’s improved status – which may be a good thing in itself - has had the unfortunate consequence of threatening population stability.

6 But there are several problems with this argument. For one, the lowest TFRs in Europe are found in Spain and Italy (around 1.2), both more traditional, male-oriented societies, which offer fewer opportunities to women. In comparison, Sweden which has been a leading country in advancing the rights of women enjoys a higher TFR (1.6 in 1996) - even though it is still below replacement. Chesnais (1998: p. 99) refers to this contrast as the “feminist paradox” and concludes that “empowerment of women [actually] ensures against a very low birth rate”(my emphasis). Another problem with trying to link improved education levels for women to low birth rates is that fertility in developed countries seems to be declining across all education and class levels. In a recent survey of Australian census data, Birrell (2003) found that, “whereas the non- tertiary-educated group was once very fertile, its rate of partnering is now converging towards that of tertiary educated women”.

7 We can summarise the discussion to this point as follows:

i) Young people today, in spite of what’s said about their values, still express a desire to have children. However, few end up having as many as they say they would like.

ii) The improved education and career opportunities for women does not

seem to be the decisive factor in reducing the number of children that a woman has.

These conclusions suggest that there must be something else involved. Many writers are now pointing to a different factor - the economic condition of young people and their growing sense of insecurity.

8 Peter McDonald (2000a) in his article ‘Low fertility in Australia: Evidence, causes and policy responses’ discusses some of the things that a couple will consider when they are thinking of having a child. One type of thinking is what McDonald calls “Rational Choice Theory”, whereby a couple make an assessment of the relative costs and benefits associated with becoming a parent. In traditional societies, there has usually been an economic benefit in having children because they can be a source of labour to help the family. In developed societies, however, children now constitute an economic cost, and so, it is argued, the benefits are more of a psychological kind - for example, enjoying the status of being a parent, having baby who will be fun and will grow up to love you, having offspring who will carry on the family name etc. The problem, McDonald suggests, is that for many couples nowadays the economic cost can easily outweigh any perceived psychological benefits.

7. Critiquing ideas The previous paragraph was concerned with summarising some ideas. Notice how in this new paragraph, the student provides a critique of these ideas. (Recall the student’s argument in the introduction: “ …to hold young people responsible is neither valid nor helpful”). Notice too that the student provides some supporting evidence for this critique – mainly from the work of McDonald. Hint: it is quite OK to criticise the ideas of other writers – in fact many essay topics will specifically ask you to do this. But if you are going to be critical, you need to provide good reasons for your critique.

9. Another example of critique In this paragraph the student seeks to dismiss the view that young women are to blame. (“There are several problems with this argument”).Notice that the student then goes on to explain these problems (“For one…”; Another problem is that …”). Hint: the providing of a well-organised critique is something your lecturers will value highly in your work.

8. Returning to the issue Recall that the topic suggested that young people were to blame for declining birthrates – and then went on to single out women. In this paragraph, the student takes up this gender issue. Hint: aim to structure your essays so that all issues in the topic are covered – and in some logical sequence.

10. Restating the argument Recall the second part of the student’s argument stated in the introduction: “The best explanation is to be found in the condition of increased economic insecurity faced by the young”. The student now elaborates on this part of the argument. Hint: remember that the argument is the key to any essay you write. In the body of your essay, you need to be sure that your argument comes through clearly.

“Scare quotes” You use these to distance yourself from certain language. eg. when you are using an informal expression, or a term used by others that you don’t necessarily agree with.

“Quoting” 1 When you quote an author (like Chesnais here) you need to use quotation marks, and indicate the exact page number in the citation. Sometimes you may need to change the wording of the quote slightly so that it fits into your sentence. If you need to add/change any words, use [ ]; if you need to delete words, use … (Whilst it is OK to change the wording of a quote, you must never change its sense.)

Italics – for emphasis Use italics when you want to emphasise a word. (When you do this in a quote, you need to indicate that it is your emphasis.)

Dot points It’s OK to use dot points in an essay (or numbered points here), but use them very sparingly.

Citation 4 Peter McDonald (2000a) … discusses Notice how in some citations the author can be part of the sentence: Peter McDonald (2000a) … discusses some of the things etc. This is known as an ‘author-prominent’ citation and is very common in academic writing. Notice the use of reporting verbs in this citation type (“discusses”).

Titles Use ‘inverted commas’ for the title of an article Use italics for the title of a book

More reporting expressions Notice some of the other reporting expressions used in the student’s summary of Peter McDonald’s ideas: … what McDonald calls… … McDonald suggests … … McDonald points to … … which he thinks…

Essay Commentary Academic Style and Conventions

Careful language (it seems that….) In this paragraph, the student wants to reject the view in the topic – that young people’s selfishness is to blame for the declining birthrate. Notice how he does this in a careful way, by using expressions like: Findings like this suggest that … It seems then that … Being careful about the way you express your claims is a distinctive feature of academic style.

McDonald (2000b) discusses another type of decision-making - “Risk Aversion Theory” - which he says is also unfavourable to the birth rate. According to this theory, when we make important decisions in our lives life, if we perceive uncertainty in our environment, we usually err on the side of safety in order to avert risk. McDonald points to a rise in economic uncertainty which he thinks has steered a lot of young people away from life-changing decisions like marriage and parenthood:

Jobs are no longer lifetime jobs. There is a strong economic cycle of booms and busts. Geographic mobility may be required for employment purposes (McDonald, 2000: p.15).

Birrell (2003) focuses on increased economic uncertainty for men. Referring to the situation in Australia, he discusses men’s reluctance to form families in terms of perceived costs and risks:

Many men are poor – in 2001, 42 per cent of men aged 25-44 earnt less than $32,000 a year. Only two-thirds of men in this age group were in full-time work. Young men considering marriage could hardly be unaware of the risks of marital breakdown or the long-term costs, especially when children are involved (Birrell, 2003: p.12).

And Yuji Genda (2000) in Japan, responding to Yamada’s analysis of “parasite singles”, argues that the failure of young Japanese to leave home and start families is not due to self-indulgence, but is an understandable response to increasingly difficult economic circumstances. Genda (2000) notes that it is the young who have had to bear the brunt of the decade long restructuring of the Japanese economy, with youth unemployment hovering around 10% and a marked reduction in secure full-time jobs for the young.

10 Young people around the world seem to have an increasing perception of economic uncertainty and contemplate something their parents would have found impossible - a decline in living standards over their lifetime. According to a 1990 American survey, two thirds of respondents in the 18-29 age group thought it would be more difficult for their generation to live as comfortably as previous generations (cited in Newman, 2000: p.505). Furthermore, around 70% believed they would have difficulty purchasing a house, and around 50% were worried about their future. Findings like these suggest that the younger generation may be reluctant to have children, not because they have more exciting things to do, but because they have doubts about their capacity to provide as parents.

11 If we accept that economics has played a significant role in young people choosing to have fewer babies, then the key to reversing this trend is for governments to take action to remove this sense of insecurity. A number of policy approaches have been suggested. Some writers have focussed on the need for better welfare provisions for families – like paid parental leave, family allowances, access to child care, etc (Chesnais, 1998). Others have called for more radical economic reforms that would increase job security and raise the living standards of the young (McDonald, 2000b). It is hard to know what remedies are needed. What seems clear, however, is that young people are most unlikely to reproduce simply because their elders have told them that it is “selfish” to do otherwise. Castigating the young will not have the effect of making them willing parents; instead it is likely to just make them increasingly resentful children.

11. Providing evidence for the argument The student is arguing that economic insecurity experienced by young people is the main reason why the birthrate is in decline. Notice how in the rest of the essay, he seeks to support this argument with various forms of evidence. The student presents a range of evidence:

i) several theories discussed by McDonald ii) some research by Birrell iii) comments by Genda iv) results of a US survey.

Hint: it is important to have an argument in your essay. But it is equally important to provide support for what you are arguing. Your essays will be judged mainly on your ability to do these two things.

Indenting of paragraphs It’s very important to make it clear to your reader when one paragraph ends and a new one begins. In this paragraph (#9), there is some potential for confusion. Notice how the student has used indenting to make this clear.

Essay Commentary Academic Style and Conventions

“Quoting” 2 – longer quotes Quotes of more than one sentence in length should be separated from the main text. Notice how these are indented and are in a slightly smaller font. Again you should indicate the page number. 12. Concluding

There are a number of things happening in the conclusion. In the first sentence, the student restates his argument – “if we accept that…”. He then goes on to discuss what could be done to deal with the problem. In broad terms this is a discussion of the implications of the students’ argument. Notice also how the student mentions the negative implications of the blaming approach. Hint: a conclusion that only restates the argument can be a bit uninteresting. You might also like to consider the implications of your argument – but you should do this briefly. Think: “I have argued for this position - so what might follow on from this”.

13. Structuring the essay You may have noticed that this essay is quite tightly structured. Its paragraph structure can be set out thus:

Par 1. Introduction 2. Background to issue 3. Explanation point 1 - summary 4. student’s critique 5. Explanation point 2 - summary 6. student’s critique 7. Student’s alternative explanation 8. - Evidence 1 9. - Evidence 2 10. - Evidence 3 11. Conclusion

Hint: always try to map out a structure for your essay. Do this before you do too much writing.

14. Editing You may have noticed that the essay is free of spelling, typographical and grammatical errors. Hint: always read your work very carefully before you submit it. Avoid doing your editing on the screen. Always print out and edit from a hard copy.

References

Ashby, J. (2000). Parasite singles: Problem or victims? The Japan Times. 7/04/02. Birrell, B. (2003). Fertility crisis: why you can’t blame the blokes. The Age 17/01/03

p. 14. Chesnais, J-C. (1998). Below-replacement fertility in the European Union: Facts and

Policies, 1960-1997. Review of Population and Social Policy, No 7, pp. 83- 101.

Genda, Y. (2000). A debate on "Japan's Dependent Singles", Japan Echo, June, 2000,

pp. 47-56 Ichimura, S. & N. Ogawa (2000). Policies to meet the challenge of an aging society

with declining fertility: Japan and other East Asian countries. Paper presented at the 2000 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Los Angeles, USA. Available: www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Rostow/readings/PoliciesAging. ichimura.pdf [Accessed 10/5/03]

McDonald, P. (2000a). Low fertility in Australia: Evidence, causes and policy

responses. People and Place, No 8:2. pp 6-21. Available: http://elecpress.monash.edu.au/pnp/free/pnpv8n1/ [Accessed 10/5/03]

McDonald, P. (2000b). The “toolbox” of public policies to impact on fertility – a

global view. Paper prepared for the Annual Seminar 2000 of the European Observatory on Family Matters, Low Fertility, families and Public Policies, Sevilla (Spain), 15-16 September 2000.

Available: http://demography.anu.edu.au/Publications/popfutures.shtml [Accessed 10/5/03]

Norton, A. (2003). Student debt: A HECS on fertility? Issue Analysis No 3.

Melbourne: Centre for Independent Studies. Newman, D. (2000). Sociology: Exploring the architecture of everyday life.

California: Pine Forge.

Essay Commentary Academic Style and Conventions

List of references You only have to provide a separate list of references when you use the author-date system. Note: - Entries should be set out in alphabetical order. - Each entry should generally be set out in the following order

and format:

Author family name, Initial. (date). Title. Place: Publisher.

Web references It is becoming increasingly common for students to refer to sources from the world wide web in their essays. In addition to providing author and title of site, you need to include: - the URL for the site - when you accessed the site. Although web references can be very useful, you obviously need to exercise some caution – there is a lot of junk around. Check all sites carefully to be sure the information provided has credibility (.edu and .org sites are generally the more reliable).

15. References Note in the references section, you need to list all the texts you have referred to (cited) in the essay - not all the texts you have read, as some students mistakenly believe. Notice that the sample essay refers to a total of nine texts. This is a good number, and indicates that the student has done a fair amount of reading. Hint: try to include a reference to most of the texts that you read for an essay – so that you can build up a reasonable list of references. Of course, all references have to be relevant to your argument.