Current business issue:carbon tax in an industry in Australia
CRITERIA

P
.6 C
.7 D
.8 HD
.9 MARK
1. Title Page (1 mark)
2. Executive Summary (2 marks)
3. Table of Contents (2 marks)
4. Introduction(5 marks)
This section introduces the topic/issue and the scope of the report (i.e. what areas will be discussed in the report.

5. Background(5 marks)
For this sectionyou must be brief and to the point. Use your own words in describing the company. Don’t just reproduce the case here.

6. Aspects or Issues & Problems(5 marks)
In this section, you should identify the issues relating to the topic and the associated wide range of aspects or problems, and then nominate the key issues and aspects or problems you will focus on. From there, in the sections below, analyse and make recommendations on only the key aspects or problems you have chosen to address.

7. Discussion (CriticalAnalysis) (30 marks)
Your discussion or critical analysis of the issues and aspects or problems must be supported by material from the literature and theoretical concepts (e.g. journal articles, other texts, readings, etc)*. You should ask yourself the questions “Why? Why does this issue or problem exist? What does the literature say about how the issue or problem can be addressed?

Also, the depth of your understanding is shown by your ability to relate theory and practice. Hence, you should support your analysis with examples or case study/studies. Ask yourself: Is there a case study to illustrate why this issue or problem is a concern? ”
8. Recommendations (20 marks)
Again, these must be appropriately supported by the literature*. What recommendations does the literature make? Do they relate to this case? Why or why not?
You may have some of your own. That’s fine but you must acknowledge the ones from the literature. Also, you must make recommendations only for those problems you have identified. Your report must all align – issues, problems, analysis, recommendations and implementation.
Your choice of recommendations demonstrates your understanding of the problems/opportunities to improve. You must convince management to adopt your recommendations (i.e. ‘sell’ them to management).

9. Implementation Plan (10 marks)
Your plan for implementing each of your recommendations should include activities and timelines for each recommendation, and must be plausible. Again, you must convince management to adopt your implementations plan (i.e. ‘sell’ it to them).

10. References (10 marks)
Acknowledgement of sources of information is important. Your report should be supported by the theory and so, references to the literature. These references should be cited appropriately within the context of your report. Further, at the end of your report, you must provide a reference list (using correct APA referencing style). The list must include all references cited in text. Referencing not only shows that you have researched the subject matter, but also that you are not plagarising.

11. Presentation (10 marks)
Grammar, punctuation, expression and presentation must be of a high standard; ‘jackets and ties’ are very important in today’s world of business writing. Also, structure of report, including ‘Table of Contents’, various sections (Executive Summary, Introduction ? Conclusion), and page numbers.

TOTAL (Assignment has a 30% weighting)
/100

*Using the APA referencing style, you must provide appropriate theoretical support for what you write. That is, you must clearly distinguish between your ideas, other’s ideas adapted to your own, and ideas taken from the literature as verbatim quotations. Literature citations must be relevant, and alphabetically listed (one list only please) in the reference list. There must be less than 20% copying or cut and paste from any source

Presentation of Report
• 10 point font; single line spacing; standard left and right margins, ideally double side copied
• APA referencing style; All pages MUST be numbered
• Approx 1,500words
• Business-style report (with various sections)
• Must be written in ‘report’ style, showing ‘sound logic’ in your reasoning

Draft Copy
A draft copy of the report must be handed in during class in week 4. If no draft copy is handed in then the final assignment may not be accepted, or may have the mark reduced by 30%.

Assignment Topic
The assignment MUST be written about a current issue facing Australian business resulting from the recently introduced Carbon Tax. There are NO other choices or options.

 
Extra information for assessment 2 – Individual Research Report (30%)
As an MBA student, you need to master the technique of presenting written business reports which analyse and discuss key business issues. The purpose of this assessment is to provide you with an opportunity:

• to demonstrate critical reading, effective researching and analysis skills;
• to evaluate claims, evidence and arguments;
• to write a report that evaluates a current business issue and effectively communicates this evaluation in a logical, clear and creative way;
• to prepare and present a business report with attention to its various aspects and sections.

As such, you are expected to gather information from textbooks, journals and other academic sources. The authenticity of your information or data is important and you must acknowledge the sources by citing the author(s) in the text of your report and in the reference list toward the end of the report (i.e. before the appendices). Note: Websites are NOT references – so don’t use them.

To contextualise the report, you are to prepare the report for the attention of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Also, format and style are all important. So pay attention to layout, sectioning, structure, persuasiveness, tone, diction, conciseness, and visual and graphic clarity of the report.