Business Research Analysis

Module Code:	BM0421
Module Title:	Business Research Analysis
Distributed on:	TBC	Hand in Date:	Please do not enter a date in this box. Please advise the relevant programme office of the preferred week for hand in.

Instructions on Assessment:

(Some basic instruction if required here)

Important note about ARNA regulations

The regulations specify that students must complete every assessment component contributing to the modules on their programme. This applies to all forms of assessment as defined in the module descriptor. Please note that:

· if any assessment component is not completed, students will be failed in the module even if the module pass mark has been achieved;

· if the requirements for referral specified in section 5 of ARNA1 are met, a resit opportunity will be given;

· if unable to complete an assessment component because of extenuating circumstances, students should follow the procedure described in the Student Guide to Extenuating Circumstances1.

This change was approved by Academic Board on 12 October 2009 in consultation with the Students’ Union. Students should consult their Programme Leader or Guidance Tutor if they have any queries. Independent advice and support is also available from the Students’ Union Advice & Representation Centre ( [email protected] ) or from a student adviser in Student Services.

1ARNA and the Student Guide to Extenuating Circumstances Affecting Assessed Work are available from http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/central/ar/lts/assess/assproc/assdocstud/

Word limits and penalties for assignments

If the assignment is within +10% of the stated word limit no penalty will apply.

The word count is to be declared on the front page of your assignment and the assignment cover sheet. The word count does not include:

· Title and Contents page	· Reference list	· Appendices	· Appropriate tables, figures and illustrations
· Glossary	· Bibliography	· Quotes from interviews and focus groups.

Please note, in text citations [e.g. (Smith, 2011)] and direct secondary quotations [e.g. “dib-dab nonsense analysis” (Smith, 2011 p.123)] are INCLUDED in the word count.

If this word count is falsified, students are reminded that under ARNA page 30 Section 3.4 this will be regarded as academic misconduct.

If the word limit of the full assignment exceeds the +10% limit, 10% of the mark provisionally awarded to the assignment will be deducted. For example: if the assignment is worth 70 marks but is above the word limit by more than 10%, a penalty of 7 marks will be imposed, giving a final mark of 63.

Students are advised that they may be asked to submit an electronic version of their assignment.

Time limits and penalties for presentations

The time allocated for the presentation must be adhered to. At the end of this time, the presentation will be stopped and will be marked based on what has been delivered within the time limit.

Submission of Assessment:

All assignments must be submitted via the Postgraduate Programme Office. Each assignment must be accompanied by an Assessed Work Form which must be completed in full. The assignment will not be accepted by the Postgraduate Programme Office unless the form is completed correctly.

Marked assignments will be returned to students. It is advisable to retain a copy of your assignment for you own records. Your mark will be returned on the Assessed Work Form via the Postgraduate Programme Office.

Referencing your work

The APA method of referencing uses the author's name and the date of the publication. In-text citations give brief details of the work you are referring to in your text. References are listed at the end of the text in alphabetical order by the author's name. The general format of an electronic journal reference in the APA style is shown below:

Coutu, D. (2009). Why Teams Don't Work. Harvard Business Review, 87(5), 98-105. Retrieved 29th April 2012 from EBSCO http://searchebscohost.com

Author/s name and initials are listed first, followed by year of publication in brackets. Then there is the title of article and the journal where the article appears, which is in italics. Then state the volume and issue number (in brackets) along with the pages where article can be located. Finally add the date the article was retrieved and then the name of the database, followed by the web address. Wherever possible use the homepage URL rather than the full and extended web address.

For further information on why it is important to reference accurately go to the Referencing and Plagiarism topic in Skills Plus available from the Library website:

www.northumbria.ac.uk/skillsplus

You will find other useful help guides on Skills Plus to help you with the skills involved in writing your assessments and preparing for exams.

For further information on the APA style of referencing see the Concise Rules of APA style and the APA website http://www.apastyle.org/learn

Plagiarism and Cheating

Your attention is drawn to the University’s stated position on plagiarism. THE WORK OF OTHERS, WHICH IS INCLUDED IN THE ASSIGNMENT MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO ITS SOURCE (a full bibliography and/or a list of references must be submitted as prescribed in the assessment brief).

Please note that this is intended to be an individual piece of work. Action will be taken where a student is suspected of having cheated or engaged in any dishonest practice. Students are referred to the University regulations on plagiarism and other forms of academic irregularity. Students must not copy or collude with one another or present any information that they themselves have not generated.

(Some basic instruction if required here)

For further information on Plagiarism, see the Referencing and Plagiarism topic on Skills Plus.

www.northumbria.ac.uk/skillsplus

(Some basic instruction if required here)

Mapping to Programme Goals and Objectives:

This assessment will contribute directly to the following Postgraduate programme goals and objectives. (Insert an ‘X’ in boxes where applicable, referring to appropriate programme specification for mapping details)

Goal One: Be independent, reflective critical thinkers

	1.	Demonstrate awareness of their personal strengths and weaknesses through critical reflective practice.
	2.	Understand and challenge personal patterns of thinking and behaving.

Goal Two: Be culturally and ethically aware

	1.	Demonstrate their ability to work in diverse groups and teams.
	2.	Reflect on their own ethical values.

Goal Three: Have developed leadership and management capability

	1.	Demonstrate their personal contribution to team effectiveness.
	2.	Communicate complex issues effectively.
	3.	Demonstrate decision making and problem solving skills.
	4.	Carry out presentations and lead discussions.

Goal Four: Have developed and applied knowledge of international business and management theory

1.

Acquire, interpret and apply knowledge of international business, management and organisational functions.

Goal Five: Have developed a range of research skills and project capabilities

x	1.	Plan and complete a major individual piece of research on a contemporary business, management or leadership topic of their choice.
x	2.	Demonstrate skills of analysis and synthesis in the application of research methods to the exploration of contemporary business issues.

Goal Six: Have developed specialist knowledge about the theory and practice of your programme of study

1.

Demonstrate specialist functional knowledge in relation to your programme of study.

Assessment Criteria (NBS)

General Assessment Criteria

Trait	0 Fail	1 – 39 Fail	40 – 49 Fail	50 – 54 Pass	55 – 59 Pass	60 – 69 Commendation	70 – 100 Distinction
Knowledge and Understanding	Work not submitted OR Work giving evidence of serious academic misconduct (subject to regulations in ARNA Appendix 1) OR Work showing no evidence of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. None of the learning outcomes are met.	Work is not acceptable and provides little evidence of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. Few of the learning outcomes are met.	Work is not acceptable in providing evidence of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. However a majority of the learning outcomes are met and others are nearly satisfied	Adequate work providing evidence of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7 but only at a bare pass level. All learning outcomes are met (or nearly met and balanced by strengths elsewhere).	Satisfactory work providing evidence of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. All learning outcomes are met.	Commendable work providing evidence to a high level of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. All learning outcomes met, many are more than satisfied.	Excellent work providing evidence to a very high level of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. All learning outcomes met, many at high level. Marks at the high end of this range indicate outstanding work where all learning outcomes are met at a high level.
Structure, Alignment and Research		Inadequate in some of the following aspects or seriously inadequate in at least one: use of relevant material; development of analysis and structure of argument; evaluation of theory; application of relevant theory, research methods and findings to the problem in question; presentation of information to the intended audience.	Adequate in most but not all of the following aspects: use of relevant material; development of analysis and structure of argument; evaluation of theory; application of relevant theory, research methods and findings to the problem in question; presentation of information to the intended audience.	Adequate in all of (or most of, with balancing strength elsewhere): use of relevant material; development of analysis and structure of argument; evaluation of theory; application of relevant theory, research methods and findings to the problem in question; presentation of information to the intended audience.	Satisfactory in all or most of: use of relevant material from a variety of sources; development of analysis and structure of argument; evaluation of theory; application of relevant theory, research methods and findings to the problem in question; presentation of information to the intended audience.	Good in all or most of: use of up-to-date material from a variety of sources; development of analysis and structure of argument; critical evaluation of relevant theory, research methods and findings to the problem in question; presentation of information to the intended audience.	Excellent in all or most of: use of primary sources of literature from a range of perspectives; development of analysis and structure of argument; critical evaluation and creative use of theory, research methods and findings; presentation of information to the intended audience.

Module Specific Assessment Criteria

Trait	0 Fail	1 – 39 Fail	40 – 49 Fail	50 – 54 Pass	55 – 59 Pass	60 – 69 Commendation	70 – 100 Distinction
Knowledge and Understanding	No appropriate quantitative techniques applied.	An attempt is made to apply quantitative techniques, but these are either the wrong techniques are incorrectly applied.	Correct techniques are applied but there are many errors and very little interpretation of the results.	Correct techniques employed, few major errors but numerous minor errors. Limited interpretation of the results.	Correct techniques employed, no major errors but some minor errors. Full interpretation of the results.	All correct techniques employed, limitations of the techniques fully explained. Very few minor errors, detailed interpretation of results including limitations.	All correct techniques employed, limitations of the techniques fully explained. Virtually no errors, extensive narration of the techniques and interpretation of results including limitations.
Structure, Alignment and Research	Poor structure, not aligned with assignment brief. No research employed.	Structure does not meet requirements for the most part. Extremely limited research grounding.	Structure has major errors and some key research concepts are missing.	Coherent structure, with acknowledgement of key research concepts.	Good structure, relevant research employed where appropriate.	Structure and narration guide the reader through the work very effectively, current research is critically appraised to a high degree.	Assignment makes full use of current research to support arguments. Excellent structure and presentation.

Note: For those assessments or partial assessments based on calculation, multiple choice etc. Marks will be gained on an accumulative basis. In these cases, marks allocated to each section will be made clear.

Students must retain an electronic copy of this assignment and it must be made available within 24 hours of them requesting it be submitted.

Assignment Brief: In this assignment you are required to complete these parts:

Part 1 Total 40 marks

(a) Develop a questionnaire (15 marks)

(b) Discussion of distribution method and associated documents [250 words] (10 marks)

(c) Critical evaluation of the questionnaire [1000 words] (15 marks)

Part 2 Total 60 marks

Data analysis, findings and managerial implications [1750 words] (60 marks)

The word count should be declared on the front page of the assignment.

Scenario

Tynecastle Business School (TBS) is part of the University of Tynecastle, located in the North East of England. It has a reputation regionally, nationally and internationally. The Business School uses its reputation to build and maintain relationships with organizations.. This is key to its philosophy which could be described as “leading business, business led”. TBS runs a suite of 4-year Business and Management programmes; the modules for years 1 and 2 are shown below. Year 3 involves a 12-month placement (work experience) with an external organisation and is managed by a full-time Placements Unit within TBS, with year 4 being taught back within the University.

Year One

Financial and Management Accounting

Business Operations

Introduction to Marketing

Introduction to Management

Business Environment and Organisations

Quantitative Methods for Business

Year Two

Performance Management	Information Management	Preparation for Placements and Graduate Employment
Markets and Customers	International Finance	International and Global Business

Part 1 (a) – Develop a questionnaire (15 marks)

You are a self-employed professional analyst and have been commissioned by the Placements Unit, within Tynecastle Business School (TBS) to undertake an important market research exercise involving their placement organisations. You have two months to design a questionnaire, disseminate this with support from the Placements Unit, code the survey returns, analyse the data and provide a report for the Head of the Unit.

The Placements Unit is interested in determining organisational perception of the degree programmes. Broadly, the Placement Unit would like to know what organisations think of the following:

· the degree content,

· the work skills developed by the students,

· the appropriateness and preparedness of these students for the working/professional environment,

· the levels of support provided by the Placements Unit and TBS.

This is intended to help assess the extent to which students are prepared for graduate level work during their placement year. You are required to develop a short questionnaire (a maximum of three pages) to assess the various issues described here. You should use the above information along with any further research you may wish to do to decide on the questionnaire content.

The questionnaire should be presented in an appendix to the assignment.

Part 1 (b) – Discussion of distribution method and associated documents (10 marks)

In this section you should discuss how the questionnaire should be distributed in accordance with the wishes of the Placements Unit. The Placements Unit will distribute this questionnaire to all organisations on its database electronically, which will involve 1200 potential respondents. Assess the benefits and challenges of using this method of questionnaire dissemination, including methods for tackling non-response.

You should also design a full and appropriate coding plan for your questionnaire and include any other supporting documentation.

The coding plan and any supporting documentation should be presented in an appendix to the assignment.

Part 1 (c) - Critical evaluation of your questionnaire 1000 words (15 marks)

In this section of the assignment you are required to provide a critical evaluation of the questionnaire you have developed). The evaluation of the questionnaire will consider your design decisions: the structure, presentation, types of questions used and supporting instructions for the potential respondents. You should justify your design decisions by considering the case scenario presented above and your justification should be supported with reference to Research Methods textbooks and journal articles.

Important information: The questionnaire and associated documentation do not count towards the word limit because they are included in the appendices. You are not going to use your questionnaire to collect data and the questionnaire you design should not aim to collect the data as presented in Part 2 below, which involves a different perspective of the placement experience (i.e. that of the students, not the organizations). You will be provided with a set of data in Part 2. Although the general scenario is the same for Parts 1 and 2 of this assignment, there is not a direct link between your questionnaire and the data in Part 2.

Part 2 – Data analysis, findings and managerial implications [1750 words] (60 marks)

For this part of the assignment, you have been provided with a data set consisting of 375 responses from a survey carried out by the Placements Unit, Tynecastle Business School. The placements run for 12 months, commencing in June of each year. The survey was undertaken in May 2012, by post supported by a stamped-addressed envelope and two emails, the first to introduce the survey ahead of its arrival by post, the second as a reminder to students to participate. The students were given three weeks to complete the questionnaire.

The data represents a response rate of 68.2% of the students who undertook the placement in the academic year 2011/12. The population profile consisted of 44% males, 9% mature students, 43% taking a placement in the city or surrounding region and 33% in London, with 30% taking work in each of the manufacturing and finance arenas.

The data can be found in the Excel file BM0421_SEM2_2012_13.xls and the SPSS file BM0421_SEM2_2012_13.sav, both of which are available from the module’s site on the e-learning portal (Blackboard).

Data provided:

The data consists of 375 responses as follows:

· The respondent ID number, recorded as 1 to 375 inclusive.

· Gender of student (1= female, 2 = male).

· Age of student on commencement of the placement (students aged 23 and over would have been aged 21 and over on commencement of their degree programme and are defined as mature).

· Placement location (1 = City of Tynecastle, 2 = Northern Region, 3 = Greater London, 4 = Rest of England).

· Placement sector (1 = manufacturing, 2 = retail/distribution/services, 3 = banking/finance/related industries).

· Placement salary (£k)

· The number of visits made by the placement tutor (2 is the expected number).

· The number of additional telephone calls made to the student whilst on placement (beyond arranging the visits).

· The number of years experience the placement organisation has in providing opportunities for students from Tynecastle Business School.

· The number of other students on placement at the site where the student is located (these may not necessarily be from the Business School or University).

· The satisfaction rating awarded by the student to the placement (1 = very poor to 10 = excellent). Note: You should treat satisfaction as a quantitative variable.

Analysis required:

In this section of the assignment, marks will be awarded for a justification of the displays, measures and tests undertaken, alongside their full interpretation.

For each section in your report, provide the Head of the Unit with a brief summary of the managerial implications of the results (this is particularly important when a null hypothesis has been rejected).

You should show the main results using Excel/SPSS tables and graphs, but these must be relevant and fully explained. Give an explanation with your tables and graphs. Do not attempt Multiple Regression (if relevant to the questions set). It is recommended that you set out your answers as we have done in the workshops. Any very large tables or graphs should be placed in the appendices of your report. Where hypothesis tests are undertaken, you should state the significance level you have used.

You are required to carry out the following analysis:

Overview of the respondents

Provide a summary of the respondents’ profile in terms of gender, age maturity, sector and location of placement experience.

To what extent does sector and geographic location associate with gender?

(12 marks)

Salaries achieved by the students

Describe the salary data using an appropriate graphical display and relevant summary statistics.

The Placements Unit are aware that the mean annual salary for a student from the University of Tynecastle undertaking a placement is £15,500. For students from Business Schools throughout the UK the mean annual placement salary is £16,750. To what extent, if any, are the salaries awarded to placement students from Tynecastle Business School different to these figures? Are there any implications or limitations regarding this salary assessment?

Do the salaries paid to placement students from Tynecastle Business School differ by age maturity? Do salaries differ by sector?

Are there any particular limitations that are evident from this assessment of placement salaries?

(20 marks)

Satisfaction with placement experience

Describe the satisfaction data using an appropriate graphical display and relevant summary statistics.

Does the level of satisfaction experienced by the student differ by personal characteristics? What, if any, are the implication of these results for the students and the Placements Unit?

To what extent is satisfaction influenced by salary, number of visits or organisational experience? Support your answer using appropriate statistics and graphical presentations. What are the implications, if any, for the Placements Unit here in supporting students and organisations?

Develop and evaluate an appropriate simple regression model to predict an expected satisfaction level from a student at an organisation that has 15 years experience working with TBS who is being paid £17,500 and receiving 2 visits.

Are there any particular limitations that are evident from this assessment of placement satisfaction?

(28 marks)

Total Part Two (60 marks)

End of assignment