E-business Report
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assignment_2-_itis_report.docxMonash University
Faculty of Information Technology
FIT2074 Technology, Information and Organisations
Assignment 2: IT/IS Report
Aim
One of the key learning objectives for this unit is to:
· be able to carry out a critical analysis of an area of technology and make an assessment of its likely future impacts on an organisation.
This assignment is an opportunity to apply what you are learning in the lectures, tutorials and your own studies to analysing a class of information technologies or systems and reporting on your findings. It is also aimed at developing your general research, critical analysis and written communication skills, in accordance with Monash Graduate Attributes.
Task
You are required to prepare a report on the current state of play and future prospects for a class of information systems or information technologies.
Some suggested topics include:
· Facebook in the work place
· The demise of MySpace, the rise of Facebook and what might happen next?
· Role of mobile devices in the workplace
· Twitter – fashion/fad or essential corporate information infrastructure?
· The current state and future of ERP systems
· The current state and future of CRM systems
· Online retailing
· eGovernment
· eHealth
· eBusiness
· Cloud Computing
· Role of tablet computing in the workplace
· Library 2.0
· Knowledge Management 2.0
· Records Management 2.0
· Enterprise Content Management Systems
· Collaborative Systems
· Learning Management Systems
Where applicable, you may also scope your report for a particular industry sector and/or jurisdiction.
You will submit the following three pieces of assessment, with feedback from the Plan and Critical Review aimed at helping in the development of your Final Report.
A. Plan
Your first task is to submit a plan in which you identify and scope your topic, give an indication of the information sources you will be using in your research and how you will schedule your research and writing activities. You plan should include:
· Proposed title of your report
· A summary of your topic and anticipated scope of your report
· Why the topic matters and is of interest to you and to a reader
· Key concepts/challenges/issues
· the key concepts and/or issues that you feel you will need to explore (Note: you might consider mind mapping as a way of presenting this in a visual as well as textual form)
· the key challenges for your research and write-up, and a strategy for dealing with them,
· Key information sources
· a description of where you are going to find the information you will need for your report,
· what you are looking for in terms of relevance and quality,
· Schedule of research and writing activities
· how you are going to schedule your research and writing activities,
· the contingency planning you may need to have in place.
References
Language and Learning Online, Monash University. (2005). Brainstorming and Mind Mapping for Assignments. QuickRefs. Retrieved January 26, 2012, from http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/quickrefs/25-brainstorming.xml
Language and Learning Online, Monash University. (2005). Developing a Plan. Writing. Retrieved January 26, 2012, from http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/information-technology/report/1.2.xml
Plan Assessment Guide
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Choice and scope of topic
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Very Good – Well chosen topic and well scoped. Clearly aware of nuances, challenges and/or limitations and have a strategy to address. Good – Good topic and clearly scoped. Aware of key challenges and/or limitations and have some strategy to address. Satisfactory – Acceptable topic and scope. Some key challenges and/or limitations identified but need to develop further, and work on strategy to address. Needs Improvement – Topic and scope need work. Limited awareness of challenges and/or limitations. Need to develop further along with strategy to address. Unsatisfactory – Poor choice of topic and poorly scoped. Lack of awareness of challenges and/or limitations and no strategy to address.
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Information Sources
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Very Good – A range of highly relevant and high quality information sources identified. Good – A range of relevant and quality information sources identified. Satisfactory – A range of relevant information sources identified. May need to work on quality. Needs Improvement – Limitations in the range, quality and relevance of your information sources Unsatisfactory – Poor range of information sources identified with limited awareness of relevance and/or quality.
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Schedule of Activities |
Very Good – Well thought through and comprehensive schedule of activities. Good – Most activities identified and scheduled Satisfactory – Key activities identified and scheduled Needs Improvement – Missing some key activities and/or limitations in scheduling Unsatisfactory – Poorly thought through activities and scheduling. Missing crucial activities.
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Feedback |
Recommended actions:
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Grade |
HD D C P N
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B. Critical Review
Your second task is to submit a critical review of one of your key information sources. The resource you review should be highly relevant to your topic and it should be of a suitable quality. Your review will be structured according to the guidelines provided by Monash’s Language and Learning Online (2005) and include:
· Title
· Introduction
· Summary description of text
· Evaluation of text
· Conclusion
· References
Some of the questions you might address in the evaluation of your resource include:
· Is the question the resource tries to answer relevant, interesting, new, useful? What is the relevance to your report topic?
· Who (besides you) will find the resource useful?
· Does the resource give new answers to an old question?
· Is the resource detailed, or brief? Simple or complex?
· Is the evidence presented to support the answer extensive? Strong? Weak? Contradictory?
· Are the conclusions reached final, or preliminary? Are they in keeping with the provided evidence?
See the references for further advice on how to critically read and write, as well as the exercises in the tutorials for week 4 and 6.
References
Language and Learning Online, Monash University. (2005). Critical Review Writing. QuickRefs. Retrieved January 26, 2012, from http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/quickrefs/26-critical-review.xml
The Learning Centre, The University of New South Wales. (2005). Writing a Critical Review. Academic Skills Resources. Retrieved January 26, 2012, from http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/critrev.html
Learning Skills, Charles Sturt University. (2008). How Do I Write a Critical Review? Retrieved February 1, 2012, from http://www.csu.edu.au/division/studserv/my-studies/learning/guides/appraisal
The Writing Centre, St Mary’s University. (2009). Critical Reading: Critical Analysis Guide. Retrieved January 26, 2012, from http://www.smu.ca/academic/writingcentre/documents/CriticalAnalysisGuide.pdf
Critical Review Assessment Guide
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Choice of resource
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Challenging ….. Appropriate ….. Inappropriate |
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Synthesis
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Your summary of the article’s purpose, audience, context and the author’s argument and supporting evidence is: Very Good – An excellent description and outline of the salient points. Good – A good description and outline of most of the salient points. Satisfactory – Sufficient coverage of most of the relevant points Needs Improvement – Reasonable attempt, but missing relevant points and/or not well structured Unsatisfactory – Not able to adequately identify and summarise the relevant points. Poorly structured.
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Critical Analysis
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Your evaluation of the author’s thesis and supporting evidence is: Very Good – Compelling, measured and well balanced evaluation criteria, with evidence of broader insight into the topic area. Good – Mainly convincing and relevant evaluation criteria presented and supported. Satisfactory –Acceptable evaluation criteria presented and reasonably supported. Needs Improvement – Evaluation criteria not clear. Need to further develop the reasons/argument behind your claims. Unsatisfactory – Unsupported claims. Personal rather than considered opinion.
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Presentation |
Very Good – Well structured and well written. Correct grammar, spelling and punctuation. Excellent use of references. Good – Clear structure and good writing style. Mostly correct grammar, spelling and punctuation. Good referencing. Satisfactory – Reasonable structure and writing style. Grammar, spelling and punctuation could do with more work. Adequate referencing Needs Improvement – Your writing is a little too disorganised and disjointed. Grammar, spelling and punctuation errors detract from your work. Referencing needs work. Unsatisfactory – Disorganised and aimless writing. Grammar, spelling and punctuation errors make it hard to read. Referencing needs substantive work. Inappropriate tone.
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Feedback |
Recommended actions:
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Grade |
HD D C P N
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C. Final Report
Your third task is to submit your report. In your report you need to include:
· A description of the current state of play of your chosen class of information technologies or systems
· A critical analysis/review which may include discussion of strengths and weaknesses, opportunities threats, where on the adoption/hype cycle, what factors might impact on future adoption and development, etc.
· Conclusions on future prospects
In your description and analysis you need to demonstrate an understanding of relationships between technology, information and organisations as discussed in the lectures and tutorials.
Your report will include:
· Title page
· Introduction
· Body of report
· Conclusion
· References
References
Language and Learning Online, Monash University. (2005). IT Report. Writing. Retrieved January 26, 2012, from http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/information-technology/report/index.xml
FIT2074 – Technology, Information and Organisations
7 October 2015 1
7 October 2015 2
Report Assessment Guide
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Criteria - CONTENT |
N – three or more of the following: |
P -mostly the following: |
C -mostly the following: |
D – mostly the following: |
HD – mostly D and 3 or more of the following: |
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Introduction |
Inadequate introduction |
The introduction does not serve the purpose well |
A reasonable introduction is provided |
High standard introduction |
Well written and logically presented introduction |
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Description of current state of play of chosen IT/IS |
Not well described |
A basic description, but some confusion. |
A reasonably clear description |
Informative and detailed description |
Insightful description showing deep understanding |
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Analysis/Review e.g. strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, establishing where on the adoption or hype cycle, etc. |
Purely descriptive and/or poor analysis based mainly on preconceptions. |
Some attempts at analysis with some supporting rationale |
Adequate analysis, well argued |
Good level of analysis, using a coherent analytical structure |
A strong argument based on strong analytical structure |
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Relationships between technology, information and organisation |
Not identified |
Some impacts identified |
Reasonable understanding of impacts |
Good understanding of relationships |
A very perceptive understanding of relationships |
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Conclusions on future prospects |
Poor/inappropriate/no conclusions |
Limited conclusions |
Reasonable conclusions |
Clear and concise conclusions |
Conclusion show a deep understanding of unit’s themes |
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Criteria - PRESENTATION |
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Quality of writing, clarity & conciseness, and overall presentation |
Very poor English and/or spelling and little/or no care in document layout. |
Adequate but needs improvement |
Average standard of expression and presentation. |
Higher standard of expression and presentation. |
Excellent overall expression and presentation. |
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Information resources (range, relevance & number) |
Inadequate, only personal experience or lecture material used, no literature |
Limited resources used |
Appropriate scope of supporting resources |
Good range of resources |
Extensive sources used and well targeted |
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Structure of the paper |
Poor structure for purpose. |
Some attempt at relevant & logical structure. |
Report has a reasonably logical structure |
Clear and concise structure. |
Relatively sophisticated way of presenting material in a clear logical manner |
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Referencing |
Sources not acknowledged Plagiarism will result in automatic FAILURE |
Citation and referencing needs improvement. |
Material from other sources is cited clearly. Mostly correct listings in bibliography |
Good use and citing of sources. Sources adequately and correctly listed in the bibliography. |
Excellent use and citing of sources. All sources adequately and correctly listed in the bibliography. |
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MARK
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Referencing
You must adequately acknowledge the sources that you use in your Plan, Critical Review and Report, so that it is clear what are your ideas and what are the ideas of others. In this report you task is to show that you can identify and bring together the knowledge and opinion of experts in the field. This will involve appropriately quoting, paraphrasing and acknowledging the sources of these opinions. Good referencing gives your work credibility, reliability and authority and is a demonstrator of your academic integrity and professionalism. It should be integral to your reading, research and writing rather than a mere add-on at the end.
Use the APA citation style (http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/tutorials/citing/apa.html) to provide enough information about your references so that a reader in the future can locate and access the original resource. Note in particular that for web based resources this means more than just a URL – you must provide authors, dates, web page titles, and publication/publisher details where this is different from the author.
Consider using a tool to make citation easier (although you need to always check to make sure that the right metadata is being captured in the right fields when using some of the automated features.
· The Monash Library provides Endnote – see their guide at http://guides.lib.monash.edu/endnote.
· Zotero is an open source personal information management tool – see http://www.zotero.org/.
For advice on avoiding plagiarism and improving your writing see:
· Learning Skills Student Servies, CSU. (2008). The CSU Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism. Charles Sturt University. Retrieved from http://www.csu.edu.au/division/studserv/my-studies/learning/guides/plagiarism/home
Policies
Please note the following University and Faculty policies with regards to:-
· Plagiarism
· http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/conduct/plagiarism-policy.html
· http://infotech.monash.edu/resources/student/assignments/policies.html
· Special Consideration
· http://infotech.monash.edu/resources/student/equity/special-consideration.html
