Individual Essay Guidance

MGT3122 International Business Strategy – Individual essay (40%)

1. Essay Requirement

Write an essay addressing the key issues relevant to one of the four questions below and draw a suitable conclusion. The essay should be approximately 2,000 words excluding all appendix and references. Your work should appear professionally produced in terms of the quality and currency of the data, analysis and conclusions drawn.

2. Topic Selection

You are required to select and write about ONE of the four essay questions given below:

1) Critically evaluate the Resource Based View theory in terms of their usefulness in explaining firms’ strategies. Illustrate your answer with reference to at least one case company of your own choice.

2) Critically evaluate the importance of the Porter’s Five Forces framework. To what extent are his ideas still relevant to modern day strategy making? Illustrate your answer with reference to at least one case company of your own choice.

3) Critically evaluate the relevance of strategic planning in today’s environments. Illustrate your answer with reference to at least one case company of your own choice.

4) Critically evaluate Porter’s ‘generic strategies.’ To what extent are his ideas still relevant to modern day strategy making. Illustrate your answer with reference to at least one case company of your own choice.

3. Submission Requirement

You must submit your individual essay via Moodle only; No hardcopy should be submitted. Only submission to Moodle on-time is accepted and marked.

When submitting the essay, you must make sure your essay cover page contains all relevant information:

• The module title and code

• The essay title in full

You should present your essay professionally by following the instructions below:

1. word processed on A4 paper with a font size of 12 2. word document ONLY (no PDFs or other formats are allowed) 3. page margin of 2.5cm on both sides 4. use 2.0 line space 5. pages are numbered 6. label all charts, tables, graphs, diagrams, etc 7. use Harvard referencing style ONLY

8. meet the word count requirement of 2,000 (or, of no fewer than 1,600 words and no more than 2,400 words)

Please note: it is your responsibility to make sure a backup copy is always made available in case of PC or network failure.

4. University Policy

If you have extenuating circumstance and anticipate a late submission of coursework, you

need to submit relevant form to the Unihelp desk. If you miss the deadline without good

reasons, a grade 20 (failure) will be given, which means you have not completed all of the

assessment required for this module. The minimum pass grade (16) is the maximum that

may be gained if the module is subsequently passed.

You may also apply for a deferral through the Unihelp desk in the Library where you must

have documented good cause to defer, usually on medical grounds only. Please note that

deferral does not mean handing in the current work later on, but means taking another

assessment. Students must apply to the assessment manager in writing, submitting

supporting documentation. The application for deferral must be submitted without a delay.

The applications that have been unjustifiably delayed will not be processed. To help the

module team keep track of deferrals, the student should inform the module leader of

his/her intentions to apply for deferral before doing so. Deferral means that you have the

opportunity to undertake and submit your assessment (please note that this can be a

different assessment) at a later date, decided between the School and the Module Leader. If

a student receives a deferral, they should immediately forward the approval email to the

module leader to discuss the next possible date for the student to undertake the missed

assessment. This arrangement is intended to help students to complete the module within

the schedule. Please note that self-deferral is not allowed in the Business School.

5. Coursework Feedback

Informal feedback can be sought via email, office hours, and during teaching sessions.

Formal feedback and marks for individual coursework will be available within 15 working

days following submissions (Please note: this excludes public holidays and school holiday

periods).

Individual Essay (40% weighting of total grade) Assessment Criteria

Student ID and Name:

Criteria (weighting is based on maximum 100%)

Excellent (70% & above)

Very good (60% - 69%)

Good (50 - 59%)

Adequate (40% - 49%)

Fail (40%)

1. Precise and concise description of the relevant theories (including appropriate refs from valid sources)

(20%)

2. Application of the theories to the question asked; Identification of weaknesses of the theory;

Well-justified suggestion of alternative perspectives

(20%)

3. Detailed studies of cases (reference to a range of up-to- date relevant data both on the businesses and their businesses environments)

(20%)

4. A well-balanced argument substantiated with relevant case details (as above)

(20%)

5. Conclusion (to be built upon the argument and to be

logical and appropriate to the detail of theory and case materials)

(10%)

6. Quality of presentation (include use of English and overall formatting and referencing)

(10%)

MARK (out of 100%):

MARK (out of 40% of the module):

First Marker Signature:

Second Marker Signature:

Date: