Contents
This report is based on the following requirement -
This Assignment is a major project-based case study and requires students to obtain sufficient information on a project of their choice to carry out a critical analysis of nominated aspects of that project.
Assignment guidelines for assignments 2
General
● Assignment 2 are designed to encourage you to develop skills in research,
critical analysis, problem solving, decision-making, communication and ethical
behaviour.
They require you to select a project (or projects) of your choice (so your studies are
contextualized for your needs) and to analyse aspects of that project in a clinical
and objective manner.
Viewing the videos on critical analysis will help you
to understand the expectations and how to go about critical analysis.
They require you to find relevant information (as it is not always provided in the
study materials) and to compare theory with practice. This is not simple nor easy
but reflects what is expected of you in the real world of practice.
● Assignment 2 is a case study.
● It provides insights into an issue relating to your project.
● A case study is an analytical report that examines a specific issue and provides
conclusions and clear recommendations.
● The word count is indicative. Past experience indicates that it is difficult to discuss the
issues in less than the nominated word count but try to stay close to the word count if
possible. Marks are gained for conciseness and marks are lost for unnecessary material.
● A high standard of presentation is expected at postgraduate level. There is no excuse for
poor spelling, bad grammar, nor lack of formatting. Use one and a half line spacing with
12-point font, and pages must be numbered.
● Do not use ‘I, we, you, our’ etc. Reports and assignments should not be written in the
‘first person’.
Executive summary
● An Executive summary must be provided for assignment 2 case study (before the
Contents page). It provides a reader with a summary of why the report (assignment) was
prepared, what it covers, and a summation of the conclusions, and/or recommendations.
● It should be about 10% of the assignment length, single line spacing, and is excluded
from formal word counts.
● It is not an introduction, but should function as a totally self-contained removable
document for readers who will read no more of the report.
● It should contain all pertinent information including conclusions and recommendations in a concise summary, but should not contain any theory.
Table of contents and numbering
● A comprehensive table of contents is required for assignment 2, with section numbers,
section headings, and page numbers as per the assignment requirements. It will include
the List of references, a List of appendices, a List of figures, and a List of tables, all with
page numbers indicated. All sections and pages should be fully numbered. At this level
of study, you should be able to use the automated table of contents function in MS Word
to create a professional report.
MGT8022 – Project-based management
Introduction
● An Introduction should be provided at the beginning to summarise the structure of the
following sections of the essay/report/assignment.
● The introduction does not contain theory, nor does it contain any conclusions nor
recommendations.
● Do not assume that the reader has read any Executive Summary (if one is provided), as it
is a totally separate document. Include any relevant information in the Introduction.
Body of assignment
● This is an academic assignment, so it is essential that your statements and views be
justified by relevant academic theory. For example, don’t just use terms like
‘stakeholder’ – explain why you selected those terms, and the academic theory to
justify their use and definition.
● A major failing of students is to simply ‘describe’ the processes that have happened. At
postgraduate level, you are expected to be able to apply recognised theory to situations,
and form opinions. You will often find conflicting opinions from so-called ‘experts’. You
should be developing analytical and communication skills.
● Students coming from other universities, and especially overseas students, find this need for ‘analysis’ the most difficult transition to make to Australian university study. You are expected to use your judgement to analyse problems, make value judgements as to
whether it is good or bad (or both), use existing academic theory from a range of sources
to justify your position, and to argue whether something is valid or not. In the study of
management, there are no right nor wrong answers, only lots of opinions, many of which
change over a period of time. Show that you can act as managers, and communicate your
opinions.
● Watch the video to get a better understanding of ‘critical analysis’.
Major sections of assignment 2 should start on a new page. You will be surprised just how much more readable it makes your assignment / report.
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