BU5565: empirical methods in finance.

Question Description

I need support with this Economics question so I can learn better.
 
analysis the data and write a report.
This Eviews file contains 269 monthly observations from 01/1989 to 05/2011 on the following variable:
Consumption:Consumer expenditure consumption in the US
Required:
1.Construct a univariate time-series model using the consumption variable.Recall that
there are three stages involved in this process:Identification,estimation and diagnostic
test.You should cover all these aspects until you reach your final model.
2.Forecast and test the forecasting accuracy of your model.Use as a forecasting sample
for the period between 2009M01 to 2011M05.What can you conclude about this?
Report
Write a report on the models you have estimated.This should contain:
Introduction
Discussion on the nature of the data
Econometric methodology used
How you chose your final specifications
Conclusions(should include also any limitations and weaknesses you perceive with the
empirical work undertaken)
The report should be written in the style of an empirical journal article and should not contain
more than 1,500 words.Brooks,Chapter 13(3rd Edition)or Chapter 15(4th Edition)provides
some advice on this.You should not include Eviews output directly within the text.You should
report results of the appropriate statistical tests and where appropriate estimation results in the
style used in the empirical journal articles.
Overall,you need to explain in detail what is being done and discuss the results appropriately.
 
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Newcastle University Managing Organization Essay

There are two parts:
Part 1: Choose one of the following topics and discuss how, if at all, it can help us understand the modern world of work and management: Fordism, Varieties of Capitalism, Employment Relations, or Diversity.
Part 2: Compare and contrast competing theories and perspectives within one of the following topics: Motivation, Culture, Identity, or Leadership. Critically evaluate how useful, and appropriate, these theories and perspectives are for managing people today.
Overview of Content
The word count is 2,000 words overall. The normal word count allowance of plus or minus 10% applies, which means that the upper limit is 2,200 words. Recommend that you allocate a similar number of words to answering both parts of the assignment – i.e. 1,000 words approximately for each of the two parts.
Overview of Structure
Suggest you structure each part of the assignment separately i.e
.•Introduction to part 1 – ‘set up’ what you are going to look at in this part
• Main body of your answer
• Conclusions – summarize what found
•Introduction to part 2 – ‘set up’ what you are going to look at in this part
•Main body of your answer
•Conclusions – summarize what found
Part 1 in more detail: Choose one of the following topics and discuss how, if at all, it can help us understand the modern world of work and management: Fordism, Varieties of Capitalism, Employment Relations, or Diversity.
•“how, if at all” – you are being asked to evaluate if the content of the topic is useful for understanding…
•“the modern world of work and management”… How relevant or useful is it today for understanding work and management today? What, perhaps, are the critical views about the importance or relevance of the topic? How convincing?
Part 2 in more detail
Compare and contrast competing theories and perspectives within one of the following topics: Motivation, Culture, Identity, or Leadership. Critically evaluate how useful, and appropriate, these theories and perspectives are for managing people today.
•“Compare and contrast competing theories” – how different / similar selected theories are in terms of focus /approachetc.
•“Critically evaluate how useful, and appropriate, these theories and perspectives are for managing people today” – useful for managers in today’s workplaces /contemporary organisations? Appropriate – ethical? Today versus yesterday?
When answering Part 2 you are encouraged to refer to material you covered in Part 1. For example, in Part 2 you could highlight how motivation, leadership, identity or culture might be affected by the context of work you discussed in Part 1. Refer back to first answer where appropriate, but don’t base your whole part 2 answer on part 1 material. Imagine them like separate chapters of the same book – make links. For example, could highlight implications of Tayloristic management or different varieties of capitalism for Motivation, Culture, Identity, or Leadership topics? Use your imagination!
TIPS
You should not try and cover everything related to your topic in your answers – doing so will not allow you space for analysis / evaluation. Be selective.
Use the introduction to set out how you are going to answer this part – what you are going to look at. Justify why you have chosen to look at certain things/theoriesin the introductions (why it helps you address the question).
Try to avoid the mindset of this assignment being about getting the right or wrong answer or covering the correct material.
•Carefully read the assignment guide and marking criteria
•Read and refer to a good range of academic sources
•You can also draw on quality information from other sources
•Can use brief examples as evidence to back up your answers, for example based on companies/people. Can reference news articles etc., but do not use material uncritically

 
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Newcastle Buyer Decision Process of a Traditional Porsche 911 Discussion Paper

1 Introduction and Learning Objectives
 
Please read this entire document before starting the assignment. The purpose
of the assignment is to assess your knowledge and understanding of the
materials covered in the module and your ability to apply relevant theories and
concepts to a consumer behavior case.
 
2 The Assessment
 
Your task is to critically examine the appended case study (at the end of this
document) using appropriate consumer behavior theory and concepts, and
to answer the following FIVE compulsory questions. Each question carries
equal weighting (20 marks for each question). Feel free to use the questions as subheadings.
 

  1. Analyse the buyer decision process of a traditional Porsche 911

customer.

  1. Contrast the traditional Porsche buyer decision process to that for a

Cayenne or Panamera customer.

  1. Which marketing concepts/theories can help explain why Porsche sold

so many lower-priced models in the 1970s and 1980s? How did
traditional Porsche buyers feel about this?

  1. Explain how both positive and negative attitudes towards a brand like

Porsche develop. How might Porsche change consumer attitudes
towards the brand?

  1. What role does the Porsche brand play in the self-concept of its

buyers?
 
You should restrict your analysis to the material provided in the case study.
Whilst additional reading about the company is a good thing, the inclusion in
your analysis of further research into the company beyond the material
presented in the case is not compulsory.
 
3 Word count requirements
 
The word count for this assignment is 2,000 words.
You must state on the front of your assignment the number of words used and
this will be checked.
The main text for this assignment must be word-processed in Arial, font 12,
double spacing, minimum 2cm margins all around.
You must observe the word count specified in this assignment brief. The School has a policy of accepting variations to the recommended word count of plus or minus 10%.
What does this mean for you?
Markers will mark your work up to the word count maximum plus 10% and
then will stop marking; therefore all words which are in excess of the word
count plus 10% will not be marked.
Where your word count is more than 10% below that specified, it is likely that
this will result in a lack of analytical depth or relevant content which will be
reflected in the mark assigned.
What is in the word count?
The word count includes:
– the main text, including in-text reference citations (e.g., Smith et al.,
2020) and quotations.
The word count does not include:
– the cover page,
– tables and diagrams
– the reference list.
– appendices. These may be used to include supporting data which
may be too detailed or complex to include as a Table. They are not a
device to incorporate material which would otherwise cause you to
exceed the word limit.
 
 
 
 
CASE STUDY ON NEXT PAGE
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Case Study
 
Porsche is a unique company. It has always been a niche brand that makes
cares for a small and distinctive segment of automotive buyers. Last year,
Porsche sold only 29,023 cars in the five models it sell in the United States.
Honda sold about five times that many Accords along. But Porsche owners
are as rare as their vehicles. For that reason, top managers at Porsche spend
a great deal of time thinking about customers. They want to know who their
customers are, what they think, and how they feel. They want to know why
they buy a Porsche rather than a Jaguar, or a Ferrari, or a big Mercedes
coupe. These are challenging questions – even Porsche owners themselves
don’t know exactly what motivates their buying. But given Porsche’s low
volume and the increasingly fragmented auto market, it is imperative that
management understand its customers and what gets their motors running.
 
Profile of a Porsche Owner
Porsche was founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche, the man credited with
designing the original Volkswagen Beetle, Adolf Hitler’s “people’s car” and one
of the most successful car designs of all times. For most of the first two
decades, the company built Volkswagen Beetles for German citizens and
tanks and Beetles for the military. As Porsche AG began to sell cars under its
own nameplate in the 1950s and 1960s, a few constraints developed. The
company sold very few models, creating an image of exclusivity. Those early
models had a rounded, bubble shape that had its roots in the original Beetle,
but design evolved into something more Porsche-like with the world famous
356 and 911 models. Finally, Porsche’s automobiles featured air-cooled fourand six-cylinder “boxer” motors (cylinders in an opposed configuration) in the
rear of the car. This gave the cars a unique and often dangerous
characteristic – a tendency for the rear-end to swing out when cornering hard.
That’s one of the reasons that Porsche owners were drawn to them. They
were challenging to drive and that kept most people away, making the car
even more exclusive.
 
Since its early days, Porsche has appealed to a very narrow segment of
financially successful people. These are achievers who see themselves as
entrepreneurial, even if they work for a corporation. They set very high goals
for themselves and then work doggedly to meet them. And they expect no
less from the clothes they wear, the restaurants they go to, or the cars they
drive. These individuals see themselves not as part of the regular world, but
as exceptions to it. They buy Porsche because the car mirrors their self-image
– it stands for the things owners like to see in themselves and in their lives.
 
Most of us buy what Porsche executives call utility vehicles. That is, we
buy cars to go to work, to deliver the kids, and to run errands. Because we
have to use our cars to accomplish these daily tasks, we base buying
decisions on features such as price, size, fuel economy, and other practical
considerations. But a Porsche is more than a utility car. Its owners see it as a
car to be enjoyed, not just used. Most Porsche buyers are not moved by
information, but by feelings. A Porsche is like a piece of clothing, something
the owner “wears” and is seen in. they develop a personal relationship with
their cars, one that has more to do with the way the car sounds, vibrates and
feels than with how many cup holders it has or how much cargo it can tote.
They admire their Porsches as machines that perform without being flashy or
phony.
 
People buy Porsches because they enjoy driving. If all they needed was
something to get from point A to point B, they could find something much less
expensive. And whereas many Porsche owners are car enthusiasts, some of
them are not. One successful businesswoman and owner of a high-end
Porsche sad, “When I drive this car to the high school to pick up my daughter,
I end up with five youngsters in the car. If I drive any other car, I can’t even
find her; she doesn’t want to come home.”
From Niche to Numerous
 
For the first few decades, Porsche AG lived by the philosophy of Ferry
Porsche, Ferdinand’s on. Ferry created the Porsche 356 because no one else
made a car like the one he wanted. “We did not do market research, we had
no sales forecasts, no return-on-investment calculations. None of that, I very
simply built my dream car and figures that there would be other people who
share that dream.” So really, Porsche AG from the beginning was very much
like its customers: an achiever that set out to make the very best.
But as the years rolled on, Porsche management became concerned
with a significant issue: Where there enough Porsche buyers to keep the
company afloat? Granted, the company never had illusions of churning out the
numbers of Chevrolet or Toyota. But to fund innovation, even a niche
manufacturer has to grow a little. And Porsche began to worry that quirky
nature of the people who buy Porsches might just run out on them.
This led Porsche to extend its brand outside the box. In the early 1970s,
Porsche introduced the 914, a square-ish, mid-engine two-seater that was
much cheaper than the 911. This meant that a different class of people could
afford a Porsche. It was no surprise that the 914 became Porsche’s top-selling
model. By the late 1970s, Porsche replaced the 914 with a hatchback coupe
that had something no other regular Porsche model had ever had: an engine
in the front. At less than $20,000, more than $10,000 less than the 911, the
924 and later 944 models were once again Porsche’s pitch to affordability. At
one point, Porsche increased its sales goal by nearly 50 percent to 60,000
cars a year.
 
Although these cars were in many respects sales successes, the
Porsche faithful cried foul. They considered these entry-level models to be
cheap and underperforming. Most loyalists never really accepted these
models as “real” Porsches. In fact, they were not at all happy to share their
brand with a customer who didn’t fit the Porsche-owner profile. They were
turned off by what they saw as a corporate strategy that had focused on mass
over class marketing. This tarnished image was compounded by the fact that
Nissan, Toyota, BMW, and other car makers had ramped up high-end sports
car offerings, creating some fierce competition. In fact, both the Datsun 280-
ZX and the Toyota Supra were not only cheaper than Porsche’s 944, they
were faster. A struggling economy threw more sand in Porsche’s tank. By
1990, Porsche sales had plummeted and the company flirted with bankruptcy.
 
Return to Its Roots?
But Porsche wasn’t going down without a fight. It quickly recognized the error
of its ways and halted production of entry-level models. It rebuilt its damaged
image by revamping its higher-end model lines with more race-bred
technology. In an effort to regain rapport with customers, Porsche once again
targeted the high end of the market in both price and performance. It set
modest sales goals and decided that moderate growth with higher margins
would be more profitable in the long term. The company set out to make one
less Porsche than the public demanded. According to one executive, “We’re
not looking for volume, we’re searching for exclusivity.”
 
Porsche’s efforts had the desired effect. By the late 1990s, the brand
was once again favoured by the same types of achievers who had so deeply
loved the care for decades. The cars were once again exclusive. And the
company was once again profitable. But by the early 2000s, Porsche
management was asking itself a familiar question. To have a sustainable
future, could Porsche rely on only the Porsche faithful? According to then
CEO Wendelin Wiedeking, “For Porsche to remain independent, it can’t be
dependent on the most fickle segment in the market. We don’t want to
become just a marketing department of some giant. We have to make sure
we’re profitable enough to pay for future developments ourselves.”
 
Sin in 2002, Porsche did the unthinkable. It became one of the last
companies to jump into the insatiable SUV market. At roughly 5,000 pounds,
the Porsche Cayenne was heavier than anything that Porsche had ever made
with the exception of some prototype military tanks it made during WWII.
Once again, the new model featured an engine up front. Ant it was the first
Porsche to ever be equipped with seat belt for five. As news spread about the
car’s development, howls of distress could be heard from Porsche’s customer
base.
 
But this time, Porsche did not seem too concerned that the loyalists
would be put off. Could it be that the company had already forgotten what
happened the last time it deviated from the mould? Apparently not. After
driving one of the first Cayennes off the assembly line, one journalist stated,
“A day at the wheel of the 444 horsepower Cayenne Turbo leaves two
overwhelming impressions. First, the Cayenne doesn’t behave or feel like an
SUV, and second, it drives like a Porsche.” This was no entry-level car,
Porsche had created a two-and-a-half ton beast that could accelerate to 60
miles per hours in just over five seconds, corner like it was on rails, and hit
165 miles per hour, all while coddling five adults in sumptuous leather seats
with almost no wind noise from the outside world. On top of that, it could keep
up with a Land Rover when the pavement ended. Indeed, Porsche had
created the Porsche of SUVs.
 
Recently, Porsche upped the ante on more time. It unveiled another
large vehicle. But this time, it was a low-slung, five-door luxury sedan. The
Porsche faithful and the automotive press again gasped in disbelief. But by
the time the Panamera hit the pavement, Porsche had proven once again that
Porsche customers could have their cake and eat it too. The Panamera is
almost as big as the Cayenne but can move four adults down the road at
speeds of up to 190 miles per hour, accelerate from a standstill to 60 miles
per hour in 3.6 seconds, and still wring 23 miles out of a gallon of gasoline.
 
Although some Porsche traditionalists would never be caught dead
driving a front-engine Porsche that has more than two doors, Porsche insists
that two trends will sustain these new models. First, a category of Porsche
buyers has moved into life stages that have them facing inescapable needs –
they need to haul more people and stuff. This not only applies to certain
regular Porsche buyers, but Porsche is again seeing buyers enter its
dealership who otherwise wouldn’t have. Only this time, the price points of the
new vehicles are drawing only the well-heeled, allowing Porsche to maintain
its exclusivity. These buyers also seem to fit the achiever profile of regular
Porsche buyers.
 
The second trend is the growth of emerging economies. Whereas the
United States has long been the world’s biggest consumer of Porsches, the
company expects China to become its biggest customer before long. Twenty
years ago, the United States accounted for about 50 percent of Porsche’s
worldwide sales. Now, it accounts for less than 25 percent. In China, many
people who can afford to buy a car as expensive as a Porsche also hire a
chauffeur. The Cayenne and the Panamera are perfect for those who want to
be driven around in style but who may also want to make a quick getaway if
necessary.
 
The most recent economic downturn brought down the sales of just
about every maker of premium automobiles. When times are tough, buying a
car like a Porsche is the ultimate postponable purchase. But as this downturn
turns back up, Porsche is better than ever to meet the needs of its customer
base. In fact, its global unit sales are up by 21 percent to a company record
118,867 vehicles. Porsche is also better in shape than ever to maintain its
brand image with the Porsche faithful, and with others as well. Understanding
Porsche buyers is still a difficult task. But one form chief executive of Porsche
summed it up this way: “If you really want to understand our customers, you
have to understand the phrase, ‘If I were going to be care, I’d be a Porsche.’”

 
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The Strategic Management Report for GAP Inc. 1500words

Structure of the Management Report  Non-anonymous cover sheet: This must contain the module title and code, assignment title, your name and ID number, name of your specific seminar tutor, submission date and word count  Executive summary: This should present a ‘snapshot’ of the report – What did you find out? What conclusions have you drawn? [This will help you to start formulating the Executive Summary for your Summative.] 5  Introduction: An introduction that places the organisation within context – its financial status, operations (what it does), its proposed strategy and their key competitors.  An analysis of the organisation’s external business environment – macro factors (PESTEL framework).  An analysis of the sector/industry through Porter’s Five Forces model.  An analysis of the organisation’s internal business environment – specifically the capabilities of the organisation. This will include the use of the VRIO framework.  A critical evaluation of the chosen company’s strategic position, based on an assessment of the organisation’s internal and external business environment using the appropriate frameworks – SWOT/TOWS  Conclusions – [What conclusions do you draw from undertaking the various examinations of the above topics/issues? This will help you to start formulating some of your conclusions for CW2  References: These must be in the Harvard Format. Additionally there must be appropriate in-text citations throughout your work. [NOTE: You must seek out reliable and validated sources of information for your assignments – Please refer to comments elsewhere in this document and other guides on the M002 Moodle pages.]  Appendices: No more than four pages in total.

 
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Newcastle University Fraudulent Return Behavior and Return Policy Dissertation

 
 
 
Dissertation Guidelines
 
MA ABC
MSc E-Business
MSc ICE
 
 
 
Academic Year 2019-2020
 
 
 
 
 
 
Staff Contacts
 
Your contact for the dissertation will primarily be with your allocated supervisor who will be officially assigned to you early 2020. However, each programme has a dissertation co-ordinator responsible for co-ordinating the assignments. Their names and contact details are listed below:
 
Dissertation Co-ordinators
 
ICE/ABC        Dr Paul Richter paul.richter@ncl.ac.uk
E-Business   Dr Arturo Vega Arturo.Vega@newcastle.ac.uk
 
 
Contents
1       Beginning the dissertation. 5
1.1 The dissertation in your programme of study. 5
1.2 Some readings (for more, see research methods module reading lists) 6
1.3 Goals for Postgraduate Dissertations. 6
1.4       Empirical material 7
1.5       The Literature Review.. 8
1.6       Method. 9
1.7       Ethical Issues, risk assessment, and GDPR.. 9
1.8       Sources for Topic Ideas. 12
1.9       Guidelines for suitable topics. 12
1.10         Writing your Full Dissertation Proposal 13
1.11 Submission deadline for Research Methods Assignment 2 – Full Dissertation Proposal 13
1.12 Submission of final dissertation.. 13
1.13 Penalties for late submission.. 14
2 Assessment Criteria. 15
2.1. The scope of assessment 15
2.2 How your work is marked. 15
2.3 Presentation and format 19
2.4 General points. 22

  1. Citation and referencing. 24

3.1 Plagiarism.. 24
3.2 Referencing. 26
3.3  Definitions. 26
3.4 Why write references?. 27
3.5  Harvard Referencing System.. 27
4   Student’s responsibilities. 28
4.1 Meeting Guidelines in this Manual 28
4.2  Selection of Topic. 28
4.3  Contact with Dissertation supervisor 28
4.4   Managing the Dissertation Supervision Sessions. 29
4.5  Meeting Deadlines. 31
4.6  Originality. 31
4.7  Referencing. 31
Appendix A.. 32
NUBS Ethical approval form for student projects. 35
Risk Assessment 40
Risk Assessment form – No travel outside University. 40
Newcastle University Travel Risk Assessment 42
GDPR DATA MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT. 52
Appendix B (example Contents page) 54
Appendix C –  The Harvard Referencing System.. 55
 
 

1       Beginning the dissertation

1.1 The dissertation in your programme of study

The words “Dissertation” and “research” can seem quite daunting. However, most of you will have completed some sort of project during your previous education, and, in many ways, a dissertation is just an extension of individual project work.  The key differences are:-

  1. You choose your own question/problem/issue – preferably one in which you are interested and/or engaged in some way.
  2. You must review the relevant academic literature and explore the methodological issues in your project area.

 
The dissertation forms a major part of your Masters programme, counting for 60 out of the total 180 credits (or up to 33% of your Masters degree). Strictly speaking, students are only entitled to ‘proceed’ to the dissertation once they have successfully passed the teaching component of the programme. However, in practice work on the dissertation begins earlier in the academic year. You undertake postgraduate research methods training (NBS8062) as a preparation for the dissertation work and will prepare an initial/developed research proposal for your dissertation as part of that module.
 
These guidelines are intended to help you in the dissertation process. Given that a dissertation is an individual piece of work there is no intention unduly to restrict you in your approach.  This document presents guidelines to support your work, therefore, and is not a set of absolute rules or procedures to which you must adhere.  You will talk in more detail about your own project with your dissertation supervisor.  Nonetheless, it has been carefully prepared and you should read it to understand the important aspects of the dissertation process, as well as the standards required within the Business School.
 
In accordance with the module guidelines (NBS8039/8241) for the ICE and ABC dissertations, students on these programmes may choose to have a more explicit practice-orientation for their research project. In all cases, however, the research project will always include a critical review of the relevant academic literature and will explore the methodological issues in the project area.

1.2 Some readings (for more, see research methods module reading lists)

Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2011) Business Research Methods, 3rd Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press
 
Saunders M, Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2009) Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition (Prentice Hall).
 
Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R. and Jackson, P. (2012) Management Research, 4th Edition, (Sage: Sage Series in Management Research)
 
Collis, J. and Hussey, R. (2009) Business Research, 3rd Edition, (Palgrave)
 
Alvesson, M. and Deetz, S. (2000) Doing Critical Management Research (Sage: Sage Series in Management Research)
 
Silverman, D. (2013) Doing Qualitative Research, (Sage)
 
Silverman, David (2011) Interpreting Qualitative Data, 4th Edition (Sage)
 
Yin, R. K. (2014) Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 5th Edition, (Sage: Sage series in Applied Social Research Methods)
 

1.3 Goals for Postgraduate Dissertations

The primary goal of the dissertation is to allow you to integrate your academic study with the analysis of some material, preferably empirical.
 
More specifically, dissertations should:

  1. Be based on either:
    1. Empirical work undertaken by the student; And/Or
    2. A very in-depth review of current academic theoretical work;
  2. Provide an academic framework within which that empirical or theoretical work is evaluated;
  3. Include a discussion of appropriate research methods issues;
  4. Arrive at a conclusion justified by the empirical and/or theoretical material.

Putting this in a different way, your research may be:-

  • Descriptive – describing the features of a setting or a case, or the views of a group or individual; And/Or
  • Explanatory – testing or attempting to derive a theory or model.

Your research methods may be:-

  • Qualitative (e.g. observation, interpretation of interviews); And/Or
  • Quantitative (e.g. survey or experimental).

 
 
 

1.4      Empirical material

This may include any one or more of the following:-

  • Financial, economic and statistical information (e.g. from Datastream, Labour Force Survey, Household Survey, etc);
  • The results of questionnaire surveys you have conducted yourself;
  • Interviews or Focus Groups you have conducted;
  • Participant observation of an organisation – e.g. a place of part-time work; a voluntary group or an organisation for which you have previously worked;
  • Non-participant observation (also known as ethnography) of an organisation to which you can gain regular and reasonably extended access – e.g. a company where a friend or family member works;
  • Written or multimedia documents whose independent existence can be verified
    • Newspaper articles; Film, Television, Radio, Videos;
    • Official records and reports from companies, trade unions, professional associations, voluntary bodies, local & national government, independent research units and ‘think tanks’, industry forums & trade associations;
    • Confidential documents internal to an organisation – be very careful of the confidentiality and ethical issues
    • Published diaries, biographies & autobiographies, histories of companies, industries or other relevant organisations;
    • Archived correspondence;
    • The archived content of an internet discussion forum;
    • Historical academic literature (generally over 15 years old).

 
In rare circumstances it may be feasible (but only with the full agreement of your dissertation supervisor) to conduct a totally theoretical dissertation – for instance on the philosophy of Business Ethics or the social theory of organisational analysis.  Even with this type of dissertation, it is usually wiser to relate relevant theoretical argument to empirical or practical issues, such as current debates on corporate governance or research methods.
 
Whatever data are collected (e.g. interview recordings; completed questionnaires etc.), along with the data analysis outputs (e.g. interview transcripts/coding schemes; database files etc.), these should be kept securely in case they need to be made available to the marking team. Further, if these are electronic, you should ensure they are securely backed-up.
 

1.5      The Literature Review

The literature review should be a separate chapter. It should review the relevant literature in order to provide a framework within which your empirical material can be evaluated. It should be succinct (i.e. you should not attempt to describe a whole body of literature in detail, but focus on those areas which are relevant to your research aims and questions) and should link directly to your own investigation. Be critical in your approach: be clear about areas of disagreement, in terms of views or research findings. Attend the relevant library sessions on the Research Methods course and make good use of the library resources available.
A good literature review does more than simply restate the literature. You need to consider the difference between a literature report and a literature review.  A report of the literature simply describes what theoretical and empirical work exists in the topic area under discussion, summarising perhaps but not adding analysis or commentary.  A literature review goes much further.  It discusses theoretical and empirical work thematically, bringing out inconsistencies and controversies and relates your detailed research questions to that discussion. Ideally a literature review will develop an argument that justifies your research question/issue/problem.

1.6      Method

If you have formulated your research question/issue/problem fully, then it may already suggest a particular approach to the design of the research project. In any case, in selecting a method you must ensure that it is appropriate to your research question. This chapter should first describe and briefly justify your overall research strategy, with reference to the research methods literature.  The specific data collection methods you employ – surveys, interviews, observation, analytical models – should clearly fit within the overall methodology. For instance, it would be inappropriate to adopt a qualitative interpretive methodology and then rely mainly on quantitative tools or SWOT analyses. You should clearly describe and justify the methods and tools you employ. Where there are constraints on the kind of investigation that you can conduct, you should acknowledge them. You should include samples of the data collection instruments you have used (e.g. copies of your questionnaire) in the appendices, where appropriate.

1.7      Ethical Issues, risk assessment, and GDPR

 
You are required to comply with the Newcastle University Code of Good Practice in Research. This is available at:
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/research/researchgovernance/goodpractice/
 
Prior to commencing your dissertation you are required to consider the Newcastle University Ethical Approval Process for Research, the School’s Fieldwork & Travel Risk Assessment, and GDPR regulations (3 forms in total). Further details can be found in Appendix A, where you will find the appropriate forms and guidance. It is essential that you complete the forms and submit them with your full research proposal (assignment 2 on NBS8062 Research Methods module) by uploading them via Blackboard (please create one document consolidating the three forms prior to uploading it). Your dissertation supervisor will then consider the forms for approval (clearly indicating if they give approval or if they are passing it to the Ethics Convenor for further consideration). You cannot proceed with your research until these forms have been completed and approved. If approval is not granted by the time of the Board of Examiners (end of semester 2) you may be prevented from proceeding to semester 3 – you are responsible for ensuring that the forms are approved by your supervisor by the end of semester 2. During semester 3, you may be away from the university for short periods conducting fieldwork for example. If this is the case, you will, of course, still need to consider the university’s notice of absence and attendance monitoring procedures. As a general rule, you should treat semester 3 as a normal semester in terms of your availability even if there are no formal lectures during this period.
 
Please note that if you change your research design at some point after getting your original research design ethically approved, you may well need to obtain further ethical approval and fieldwork and travel risk approval, and reconsider GDPR issues in the light of the revised research design. This issue should be discussed with your supervisor as appropriate.
 
Within your discussion of Research Methods in the dissertation, you should show that you are aware of the ethical issues raised by the practice of writing about other people’s lives. If it is appropriate, ensure that your research subjects are aware of the kinds of thing you are planning to write. If necessary, use pseudonyms and change identifying details.
 
Discuss these issues with your dissertation supervisor.
Topic Selection
 
It is your responsibility to ensure that your approach to the project topic is reasonably original and unique.

1.8      Sources for Topic Ideas

You can explore ideas for topics from many sources: any work placement experience; past work experience; current part-time work; other empirical material to which you can gain access; course work; academic readings, especially current and recent issues of academic journals; regular reading of business & management trade press.

1.9      Guidelines for suitable topics

You can assume that the topic as you initially conceived of it will evolve as the project progresses. By “evolve” we mean that the particular aspect of the topic which becomes central to the project may well change, in one direction or another as the project progresses. As a result, you may adjust your dissertation title, final research questions or data collection method as you develop your work.  This evolution or ‘fine tuning’ of a project is quite usual. The goal is to find a topic which is general enough to be significant, but specific enough to become focused.
 
You are expected to identify a research topic in line with the programme that you are studying (e.g. Arts, Business & Creativity; Innovation, Creativity & Entrepreneurship; E-Business) in order that you can demonstrate a detailed knowledge and understanding of your discipline, including a critical awareness of current issues.
 
Here are some examples of purely imaginary but conceivable dissertation titles. See if you can identify how they might match the styles of research and the types of empirical material set out above.

  1. The Tensions Within Family Owned Firms: A Case Study.
  2. The impact of WTO membership on small businesses in China: a case study.
  3. Applying Virtual Ethnography (Hine, 2000) To Internet Shareholder Discussion Forums.
  4. A Comparative Study of the Adoption and Use of information systems in SMEs
  5. The Impact Of The Euro On The UK North East Textile Industry
  6. From Bloggers To Dot.Coms: E-News, E-Leisure, Or E-Business?
  7. Open Innovation adoption in dynamically evolving SMEs In North-East England

 

1.10   Writing your Full Dissertation Proposal

You will discuss this in detail as part of the research methods module; the full dissertation proposal is Assignment Two for this module.  In general, you should be clear about the aims of your research: What is it that you are attempting to achieve?  Will the research be descriptive, explanatory, or both? Will it use quantitative or qualitative methods, or both? What will be your empirical material?  – this is one of the most important questions to settle before writing your outline. There is no point proposing a wonderfully original dissertation if you cannot get access to the required material.  You need to remember that a dissertation operates as a research project and is, therefore, a combination of both practical and theoretical elements.  You need to pay careful attention to both aspects if your work is to be successful.
 
Again, consult with your dissertation supervisor!
 

1.11 Submission deadline for Research Methods Assignment 2 – Full Dissertation Proposal

The Deadline for submitting your full proposal is 10am, 23rd March 2020.  Remember that you are required to submit copies of your completed ethical review form, fieldwork and travel risk assessment form, and GDPR data management form with the assignment (see above).
 

1.12 Submission of final dissertation

The deadline for submitting two soft bound copies of your final dissertation (as well as the turn-it-in copy) is 4pm, 1st September, 2020.
 
Be careful! Work backwards from this date, remembering that you will also have semester 2 exams/assignments around the middle of May. Always allow at least two weeks slippage, and remember that it always takes longer to write up your dissertation than you had allowed for. Aim to be able to send draft chapters to your dissertation supervisor throughout the duration of the supervision, preferably by email, allowing plenty of time for their response.
 

1.13 Penalties for late submission

It is your responsibility to hand in your dissertation by the due date.  Any dissertations handed in after the date, without prior agreement of the senior tutor, will be penalised.  Work submitted up to one week after the deadline will be marked at a maximum of 50%.  Work submitted more than one week after the deadline will be awarded a mark of zero.  In exceptional circumstances, such as illness, you may be able to arrange for an extension to the deadline and/or appeal for mitigation in the marking of your work.  The process for arranging extensions and mitigation is similar to the process for other modules.  If you have any resit examinations or need to resubmit any coursework, you will automatically be granted an extension according to the following rubric:
 

  • 1 re-sit                        1 week (4pm, 8th September 2020)
  • 2 re-sits                      2 weeks (4pm, 15th September 2020)
  • 3 or more re-sits        3 weeks (4pm, 22nd September 2020)

2 Assessment Criteria

 

2.1. The scope of assessment

Ideally, your dissertation should reflect:

  • A clear statement of the problem you have chosen to investigate
  • A thorough reading of the relevant literature
  • Appropriate selection of empirical material
  • An ability to synthesise various academic perspectives
  • A good grasp of the theoretical and practical issues
  • A critical stance (in relation to the literature and your own research) and an ability to evaluate evidence, drawing appropriate conclusions and acknowledging ambiguity;
  • A set of arguments that are logically and coherently developed
  • Clarity of presentation
  • A fluent style

 

2.2 How your work is marked

The dissertation will be double marked by your Dissertation supervisor and one other member of the teaching/research staff.  Double marking means that they mark the work separately, and then come to an agreed overall mark.  The Second Marker will be assigned on the basis of staff expertise and workloads. In addition, a sample of dissertations will be read by an External Examiner. Although they will not generally have the right to alter your specific mark, they will be asked to validate the overall assessment of dissertations.
 
In the table below are the set of criteria that will be used to mark your dissertation, so read it carefully and understand the distinctions between the marking bands.
 
 
 

Grade Mark Use of Academic Literature Structure and Coherence Selection and Application of Appropriate Research Methods Critical Analysis and Conclusions Writing and referencing
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Distinction
 
85-100 A contribution to the subject literature through its critical insight. Demonstration of depth of reading incorporating ‘state of the art’ sources.  A substantial piece of work that demonstrates coherent arguments and lines of thought throughout the document. An approach that illustrates a critical consideration of appropriate methods of data collection.  It has excellent justification and carried out with due care. Outstanding understanding of ethical issues with appropriate solutions consistent with University and MRS guidelines;
Limitations of approach are explicit. Substantial and appropriate data collected.
Innovative approach to analysis and interpretation of results demonstrating critical insight consistent with the findings. It has valid and insightful conclusions that articulate a deep, critical understanding of the theories and approaches used. It advances understanding of key issues and problems, adding value to the literature.
For company based dissertations, undertook research that generates outstanding insights / added value for the client
Excellent writing style. Appropriately referenced throughout
70 -84 A current and comprehensive review of the literature showing some critical insight using primarily journal based sources. A well-structured and coherent piece of work. An approach that illustrates consideration of appropriate methods of data collection.  It has very good justification and carried out with due care. Excellent understanding of ethical issues with appropriate solutions consistent with University and MRS guidelines;
Limitations of approach are clear. Appropriate amount of data.
A detailed analysis and critical synthesis of literature and the findings leading to insightful conclusions.
For company based dissertations, undertook research that generates excellent insights / added value for the client
Excellent writing style. Appropriately referenced throughout

 

Grade Mark Use of Academic Literature Structure and Coherence Selection and Application of Appropriate Research Methods Critical Analysis and Conclusions Writing and referencing
Merit 60-69 Critical awareness of key theories and debates in the literature based upon a greater use of journal articles.
 
Have adhered to the structural guidelines and demonstrated good clear but limited arguments and rationale. An approach that, on the whole, illustrates appropriate methods of data collection have been used.  It has some justification and has probably been carried out with due care. Good understanding of ethical issues with appropriate solutions consistent with University and MRS guidelines. Some limitations are noted. Appropriate data collected. A more detailed analysis with some critical evaluation of the findings and some thorough conclusions.
 
For company based dissertations, undertook research that generates good insights / added value for the client
Good writing style. Mainly referenced to the requisite standard. Minimal typing and grammatical errors.
Pass 50-59 Have presented the key theory in the subject area drawn predominantly from book / web sources. Lacks appropriate coverage of ‘state of the art’ journal articles. Have adhered to the structural guidelines and have demonstrated  a some coherence of argument Have selected an appropriate method for data collection and articulated a clear but limited rationale for its adoption. Acceptable understanding of ethical issues with appropriate solutions consistent with University and MRS guidelines. Some appropriate data collected. A clear but basic analysis leading to logical conclusions.
For company based dissertations, undertook research that generates appropriate insights / added value for the client
The writing style is adequate. Mainly referenced to the requisite standard with some errors or omissions. Typing and grammatical errors

 
 

Grade Mark Use of Academic Literature Structure and Coherence Selection and Application of Appropriate Research Methods Critical Analysis and Conclusions Writing and referencing
Fail 40-49 A flawed piece of work. Significant omissions from theory and/or review based upon few sources Guidelines not really followed with little structure or argument throughout the document.  Appropriate method used with some care but with little justification. Methodological and procedural flaws evident. Inadequate understanding of ethical issues and / or research inconsistent with University and MRS guidelines. Little useful data collected Flawed analysis and fails to draw any logical conclusions
 
For company based dissertations, undertook research that generates few insights  or added value for the client
 
 The writing style is poor. Not referenced to the requisite standard. Inadequate proofreading.
Fail <39 Flawed and narrow view of the theory based upon one or two sources. No literature review to speak of. Unstructured. Little coherence throughout. Unacceptable in terms of design and execution. Inadequate methodology. Inadequate understanding of ethical issues, University and MRS guidelines Superficial / inadequate analysis and conclusions.
 
For company based dissertations, undertook research that generates no significant insights or added value for the client
 
The writing style is poor. Not referenced to the requisite standard with some major errors or omissions. Totally inadequate proofreading.

 

2.3 Presentation and format

 
Length: The Dissertation should not exceed 12,000 words, not including references and appendices. Your Dissertation supervisor may refuse to read anything beyond this limit. On extremely rare occasions it may be appropriate to exceed this limit, but only with the full prior agreement of the Dissertation supervisor.
 
You must submit two soft bound copies, one for your Dissertation supervisor and one for the Second Marker, and you must also submit an electronic copy via turnitin in the usual way. The requirement for an electronic copy is in order for the University to easily check for plagiarism (see below).
There are no specific rules for content and presentation. Different parts of your dissertation may have a different weight depending upon, for example, the nature of your project and the availability of a background literature.
However, dissertations will normally comprise:

  • A Title Page (this is essential): including the title of the dissertation, your name and degree course, and the institution awarding the degree (usually Newcastle University Business School).  The title should be succinct yet clearly specify the content of the report. This should be brief, descriptive and explicit rather than poetic or implicit. Thirty (30) words is normally the maximum length. It should be agreed and finalised as part of the final draft. It may be different from the original working title.
  • An Abstract (essential): stating briefly the mode of enquiry and any conclusions reached.  This should be brief, certainly no more than one page in length.
  • A Contents Page (See Appendix B for an example)
  • Acknowledgements: acknowledging any help, advice or support received during the dissertation process, including from people outside the Business School.
  • An Introduction (essential): the purpose of this chapter is to introduce and contextualize the study.  This means that the significance or importance of the topic is set out. If there is no apparent importance to the study to any external reader, the topic may not be appropriate. Personal interest may inspire selection of the project topic, but ultimately, its importance to others as a research project should be specified. This can best be done by positioning the dissertation in relation to other work that has been published, whether in agreement with that work or otherwise – in other words, you should summarise here the main points from the next chapter, the Literature Review.

This Introduction should also describe the setting in which your research was undertaken, and discuss the questions your dissertation addresses. This section should also tell the reader how the topic will be unfolded and the order of forthcoming material.

  • Literature Review: See above
  • Method: See above
  • Results or findings: these should be clearly presented. Avoid over- burdening the reader with masses of data: produce summaries of the main findings. Depending on your method, these might take the form of appropriately headed numerical tables with descriptive accounts of their content in the text, or qualitative analyses with examples of material to enable the reader to judge the relation between those data and the conclusions drawn. Where statistical procedures are employed, these should be described. It is often useful to include samples of data, calculations and computer printouts in the appendices (appendices do not contribute to the word count).
  • Discussion: this should summarise your findings, and indicate their implications for your research questions. You should discuss how your findings support or challenge the theoretical / empirical context set out in the literature review. Do not overstate your conclusions: remember that your method may be incomplete, your sample unrepresentative and your conclusions open to different interpretations by different readers.  When editing your work, try to anticipate any weaknesses that a reader might find in your discussion and acknowledge / incorporate / change what you have said to take them into account.  Evaluate here any deficiencies in the way you designed the research or practical difficulties in carrying it out in the way that you intended. You may also want to discuss alternative approaches that could be employed to gather data relevant to your questions.

The Discussion chapter functions as an appraisal and criticism of your work, in relation to the issues and any hypotheses raised in the introduction. It should not simply repeat chunks from your introduction or findings.
There are of course exceptions, especially with these two main chapters on Findings and Discussion. For some styles of dissertation, for instance ethnographic, historical or case studies, it may be more appropriate to integrate the discussion with the presentation of empirical material.

  • Conclusion (essential): a brief statement of any conclusions you have reached as a result of your enquiries. What do you want the reader to know as a result of having read your dissertation? How do your findings and/or discussion relate back to any broader issues you have raised in the Introduction? The conclusion may also suggest further work or study needed on the topic, as well as ways the new work can be used or applied in other cases. It is not meant to be a summary or restatement of the entire project, which belongs in the abstract. If you have developed any strong personal opinions about the subject which seem appropriate to relate, this is the place where such content is appropriate.
  • References: a complete list, properly set out, with all relevant details. All references cited in the text should be included here – and vice versa. See the section later in this Guide on the Harvard Referencing System.
  • Appendices: if appropriate. As a general rule, if figures, tables, charts or quotes are less than a full page and can be conveniently included in the text, you will want to do so, since reference to appendices is awkward for the reader. All such material, in the text or at the end, should be titled and sequentially numbered. Tabular material which is presented in landscape format should be bound with the top of the table to the spine.  Appendices are labelled alphabetically, although if there is little such material and it is all of a similar nature, it may all be included in one Appendix.   Appendices are not included in the final word count.  Equally, however, they are not included in the main marking of the dissertation.  Do not put into an appendix any information, discussion or data that is essential for your argument or conclusions.  Appendices are intended to support and provide additional, substantiating information for your work, not as a ‘dumping ground’ for anything that you couldn’t get into the main text because of word count restrictions.

 

2.4 General points

Writing Style:  The level of writing must be appropriate to the level of your degree. Specifically, you should pay attention to correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure and clarity of style. Remember that the Second Marker (and possibly the External Examiner) will not necessarily be a specialist in your topic, so do not rely heavily on specialist language.  It is your responsibility to edit the text for typing errors, even if the document is copy-typed by someone else.
 
Page Layout:  Pages should be numbered, starting with and including the title page. This is especially important when giving draft copies of chapters to your dissertation supervisor.
 
Margins: Please leave sufficient margins to allow for binding.
 
Tables and charts: should be numbered in sequence by chapter, e.g. Table 3.1 is the first table in Chapter 3 Each figure should be accompanied by a descriptive title which explains the contents of the figure.
 
Legibility: The dissertation must be word processed, and the Two final copies must be on A4 paper. Line Spacing must be at least one-and-a-half lines and not more than double-spaced.  Both the draft and final copies of the dissertation must be produced in such a manner that the text is entirely legible, and at least suitable to produce an image that a photocopier could easily reproduce.
 
Binding: For a document of this length you will need a form of binding that is more durable than the common forms used for essays. Thermal binding and Comb-binding, with soft or plastic covers, are both equally suitable. You do not need to use ‘perfect-binding’ with hard covers.

3. Citation and referencing

 

3.1 Plagiarism

  • The intellectual work of others that is being summarised in the dissertation must be attributed to its source.  This includes material you yourself have published or submitted for assessment here or elsewhere (in the case of your assignments for NBS8062, it is possible that you will wish to develop certain parts of your proposals in your dissertation – that is fine).
  • It is also plagiarism if you copy the work of another student. In that case both the plagiariser and the student who allows their work to be copied will be disciplined.
  • When writing dissertations and essays, it is not sufficient to just indicate that you have used other people’s work by citing them in your list of references at the end. It is also not sufficient to just put “(Bloggs 1992)” at the end of a paragraph where you have copied someone else’s words. It is essential that the paragraph itself be IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
  • The only exception to this is if you are quoting a source. In that case you must put the quotation in quotation marks and cite the source, including page reference, immediately afterwards.  If the quotation is longer than a sentence, you should indent and set off the whole passage; when the quotation is indented in this way it is not necessary to use quotation marks, but, as always, the author, date, and page number should be cited.
  • It is assumed that all ideas, opinions, conclusions, specific wording, quotations, conceptual structure and data, whether reproduced exactly or in paraphrase, which are not referenced to another source, is the work of the student on this dissertation.  If this is not the case, an act of plagiarism may have occurred, which is cause for disciplinary action at the programme or University level. IT MAY LEAD TO DISMISSAL FROM THE UNIVERSITY.

Here is a real-life example of plagiarism. We first quote an extended passage from a text-book, then a passage from a real student essay.
A quotation from Mike Featherstone, Consumer Culture and Postmodernism (London, Sage), p. 14 (emphasis added – some passages have been underlined to indicate where the student has plagiarised):
If from the perspectives of classical economics the object of all production is consumption, with individuals maximizing their satisfactions through purchasing from an ever-expanding range of goods, then from the perspective of some twentieth-century neo-Marxists this development is regarded as producing greater opportunities for controlled and manipulated consumption. The expansion of capitalist production, especially after the boost received from scientific management and ‘Fordism’ around the turn of the century, it is held, necessitated the construction of new markets and the ‘education’ of publics to become  consumers through advertising and other media (Ewen, 1976). This approach, traceable back to Lukács’s  (1971) Marx-Weber synthesis with his theory of reification, has been developed most prominently in the writings of Horkheimer and Adorno (1972), Marcuse (1964) and Lefebvre (1971), Horkheimer and Adorno, for example, argue that the same commodity logic and instrumental rationality manifest in the sphere of production is noticeable in the sphere of consumption. Leisure time pursuits, the arts and culture in general become filtered through the culture industry; reception becomes dictated by exchange value as the higher purposes and values of culture succumb to the logic of the production process and the market…
Student essay:
From the perspective of some twentieth century neo-Marxists these developments produce greater opportunities for controlled and manipulated consumption. On the one hand critical theorists from the Frankfurt school stress that the same commodity logic and instrumental rationality manifested in the sphere of production is also noticeable in the sphere of consumption. Leisure time pursuits- the arts and culture become filtered through the ‘culture industry’: the mass media and popular culture. (Adorno and Horkheimer, 1979). Reception becomes dictated by exchange value as the higher purposes and values of culture succumb to the logic of the production process and the market.
 
Clearly, this student did not express the ideas in their own words; there is no way of knowing whether he or she understood the original. The student was convicted of plagiarism.
 

3.2 Referencing

A most important feature of academic work is the proper acknowledgement of the work of others in relation to your own work. When planning any kind of study the first thing to do, after defining your subject area, is to review the literature available on the subject. It may be helpful to consider recording all the information that you have consulted as a database on a computer. This will save a lot of time later on, and in particular it is important to note where you found the information as well as the details of the reference itself so that it may be traced again.

3.3  Definitions

A reference is any piece of information (book, journal article, or video) to which the writer of a dissertation refers directly either by quotation or by the author’s name. A reference gives information about the source (usually an original source) from which the writer of the dissertation has taken or used material. The purpose of a reference is to enable the reader to locate that information as easily and quickly as possible. Individual references used in the text are, in addition, compiled in a list at the end of a piece of written work.
A bibliography is an extended list of references dealing with particular subject matter, and may include not only the references made by the writer in the text of an dissertation, but also others the writer has found useful, perhaps as background reading, even though they are not directly referred to in the written work itself.
For your dissertation you will only supply a list of references directly used in the dissertation; DO NOT supply a bibliography.
In summary, you are expected in your written work to refer directly by source and/or author to any material that you have used in your dissertation, and to provide a list of those references on separate pages at the end of the dissertation (in other words, NOT within footnotes).

3.4 Why write references?

References are needed both to give credit to authors whose work has been used and to enable readers to find out where material came from in which they may be interested. Readers may wish to check that the reference is a correct citation of a source, and to follow up by reading that source.
References help support an argument and validate any statements that are made. Any phrases, sentences or paragraphs taken from another source must be acknowledged, as must ideas from such a source; if the acknowledgement is not made it is called plagiarism and your own work will be discredited, and sanctions imposed if this is discovered.

3.5  Harvard Referencing System

There are many methods of writing and arranging references so that they may be accurately and systematically recorded. We believe that the Harvard system is the most appropriate to use for your dissertation, and it is mandatory – you must use it. The Harvard system is based on the author’s surname and is easy to use and to check. Do NOT mix it up with any other referencing scheme (such as ones using numbered references in the text). You must read Appendix C of this Guide, which gives a full description of The Harvard Referencing System.

4   Student’s responsibilities

 

4.1 Meeting Guidelines in this Manual

It is your responsibility to comply with the guidelines in this manual. Failure may cause the final dissertation mark to be reduced or may invalidate, delay, or prevent the successful completion of the dissertation.  However, in most matters these guidelines may be overridden by the Dissertation supervisor, Dissertation Co‑ordinator or appropriate Business School administration. However, any such changes will only be valid and binding if they are committed to writing, circulated and signed by the relevant parties before submission of the final work.

4.2  Selection of Topic

Selection of a suitable dissertation topic rests with the student: however, any member of staff may be approached for broad guidance on potential topics, at their convenience. The student cannot be required by a member of staff to undertake a topic that is not acceptable to the student.

4.3  Contact with Dissertation supervisor

Once a Dissertation supervisor is assigned, you will be advised who he/she is. The member of staff coordinating the allocation process will always try to take into account students’ chosen research area and/or approach to research in order to find a suitable fit with the interests/experience of the academic staff who are taking on supervisory duties in the year concerned. Notwithstanding this, all of our academic staff are more than able to carry out Masters dissertation supervision regardless of the research topic given staff’s generic knowledge of research processes and the process of completing a Masters dissertation. Students will be allocated to a supervisor who is supervising a maximum 10 students. A supervisor will be allocated to this group of students to provide support, guidance and facilitate meetings.
 
Supervisory meetings will be a mix of individual and group sessions. There will be a maximum of 2 individual supervision meetings and 4 group supervision meetings. Group sessions will still allow students to ask individual questions as well as to discuss common problems or issues as a group. The precise content of meetings may vary depending on students’ progress at a particular time but it is suggested that the group supervision meetings have this focus:

  • late May – research design
  • June – data collection
  • early July – data analysis and findings discussion
  • late July/August – writing up and conclusions

 
As for the individual supervision meetings, it is a good idea to try to arrange the first of these with your supervisor soon after the allocation process is complete and, ideally, before the detailed research proposal (NBS8062) is due to be submitted to discuss the development of the initial proposal. The other individual supervision meeting should be arranged in conjunction with supervisors at a mutually convenient time.
 
Your dissertation supervisor’s task is to help you develop your research ideas and put them into practice in a fruitful manner, not to dictate a specific topic to you. In other words, their role is to guide and support your research, even though this may involve asking difficult questions about rationale, practicalities, and contributions of your study – all of which will be aimed at making your research more robust. However, it is important that you understand that the dissertation is intended to provide an opportunity for students to pursue a research project independently. It is your research and your responsibility to design, conduct, and write the dissertation. If you have any concerns about your supervisor’s advice, you should discuss these first as part of a supervision meeting. In the very rare instances when your concerns cannot be alleviated by such discussion, you can contact the dissertation module leader.
 

4.4   Managing the Dissertation Supervision Sessions

It is in your interests to attend supervision meetings and to plan carefully for them. If you are unable to attend group supervision meeting, you should not expect your supervisor to arrange a substitute individual meeting. The supervision process should be used to discuss ideas with your Dissertation supervisor and to get feedback on whether the work you are planning to do is at the appropriate level for the Masters qualification.  You may contact your Dissertation supervisor by email if you have a question to ask. It is likely that staff will be unavailable during August as this is a holiday period. It is a good idea to ask supervisors about their availability well in advance.
 
Try to follow these rules:
 

  1. All meetings with your Dissertation supervisor should be arranged by appointment and you should attend all. You should arrive at the agreed meeting place on time.

 

  1. If you have work for the Dissertation supervisor to appraise then it should be submitted to them sufficiently in advance of the meeting to allow them time to read and comment on it. This should be at least a week before the meeting.

 

  1. Always arrive at a tutorial meeting with an agenda of the areas that you wish to discuss

 

  1. Be prepared to show the Dissertation supervisor the sources of information that you are currently consulting for your dissertation.

 

  1. Maintain contact by email with your Dissertation supervisor throughout the dissertation period and if you are having problems let them know.

 
As a student you can expect:

  • A maximum of 6 meetings (see above for details of individual/group meeting format) with your dissertation supervisor and contact over email where necessary (extended e-mail contact may count as a meeting).
  • Guidance on the standard of your work and its structure
  • Staff to meet you at the arranged time
  • Comments on ONE draft of your dissertation providing that it is submitted to your supervisor in July.

 
As a student you cannot expect:

  • Your Dissertation supervisor to provide you with substantial reference material.
  • Your Dissertation supervisor to read and comment on copious drafts of your dissertation and correct your English.
  • Your Dissertation supervisor to give you specific direction on the content of your work, or in general to take decisions on your behalf.
  • Your Dissertation supervisor to state in advance of the examination of the dissertation as to whether it will pass.
  • To change Dissertation supervisor without just cause. Problems should be raised with the dissertation co-ordinator

 
Remember: your Dissertation supervisor (along with another member of staff) is also your examiner and as such must restrict their input into your work.

4.5  Meeting Deadlines

The deadlines specified in the manual are set to assure that the dissertation moves forward in a timely fashion and that undue pressure is not placed on the student, dissertation supervisor, or other school staff.

4.6  Originality

It is the student’s responsibility to verify that the title and the approach of the dissertation are reasonably original. However, a student may not claim exclusive rights to a topic area.

4.7  Referencing

See Appendix C

Appendix A

NUBS Policy on Research Ethics and assessing fieldwork and travel risk and GDPR (2019/20)
The University has a duty of care to the human subjects of research carried out by students under its aegis and therefore needs to institute safeguards to ensure their interests are properly protected. In addition, the Business School needs to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students and the protection of the University’s good name. You must not proceed with any empirical research until you have been granted approval by your supervisor. If you do not gain approval you cannot submit your dissertation. You risk failing the module if you have not gained the required approval. As soon as your supervisor has approved your forms (notified to you via email or through Blackboard), you may begin any fieldwork you are undertaking.
 
The following ethical approval form is based on the university’s ethics form that is used to identify high-risk projects that require full ethical review. Please note that student projects ought to be low-risk projects and generally must not be of a type that requires faculty ethics committee approval. Supervisors need to ensure that a project under their supervision does not have the potential to harm the participants, the student or the university. They should not sign off projects where there are doubts about this, as this may lead to a loss of insurance cover and/or the incurring of personal liabilities! Projects that are too risky need to be changed and/or specific safeguards need to be put in place to turn it into a low risk project. Supervisors need to assess the risk of a project as a whole. For example, the use of a gatekeeper is generally a factor that increases risk. However, if a student wants to survey all business schools students about an uncontroversial topic, he might need to use the programme secretaries to send out an email. Technically, this is use of a gatekeeper, but this case does not really raise ethical issues. The case is different if a student wants to interview employees in a firm where his father is HR director and would serve as a gatekeeper. This latter case is ethically problematic as it raises concerns that (a) the gatekeeper has a conflict of interest and (b) whether participants can really give consent voluntarily. It becomes more problematic if the topic of the project is employment relations and less problematic if the student asks questions about gardening. It should usually be possible to drastically reduce the risk of a project by putting some safeguards in place (such as altering the time and place of data collection). If any of the sub-questions in any section is answered affirmatively, supervisors will need to provide a written justification why the project as a whole is still low-risk at the end of the form.
Alterations to an approved project require further ethical approval. Unauthorised deviations from an approved project plan constitute research misconduct and – depending on severity – can lead to disciplinary consequences for students up to the expulsion from the programme.
In addition to this form please be aware that both fieldwork, including primary data collection, and travel requires appropriate risk assessments. Please consult the school’s fieldwork and travel policies for details. Please complete all sections of the form (this may just involve ticking “no” for the first question in each section). Some explanatory notes on specific points in these sections can be found on the following pages. Additional guidance on ethical approval as well as details on things like informed consent, etc. is available at: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/research/researchgovernance/ethics/
 
Guidance notes on specific sections (as of August 2015)
Note that these are specific guidance notes in relation to aspects likely to be relevant for NUBS projects. They will be updated in the future to reflect lessons learned from past projects. The general guidance can be found at: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/research/researchgovernance/ethics/
 
Project synopsis: Please be clear about aims and scope, proposed methods and where relevant details on data collection, participant recruitment, consent, briefing and debriefing. Please focus on the nuts and bolts here – for example, if a student wants to do an email survey, the form will need to state how he plans to obtain email addresses. If a student wants to ask people on the street, the form should state where, when and how this will happen.
Section 4. In the past this was often understood as “no research on the NHS”. This is not the case. Students can obviously use publicly available data on regional NHS spending and, say, regional morbidity rates for various diseases or use anonymised secondary data from, say, the Health Survey for England to look at health care usage.
Section 5 (e). This is not relevant in cases where the project involves only the analysis of secondary, anonymised data, such as, say, the study of victimisation using the British Crime Survey (available via the UK dataservice). It is relevant in all cases where respondents can be potentially identified and for all primary data collection, regardless of whether the student intends to anonymise the data later. There are also restricted use versions of otherwise available datasets covering more sensitive topics (such as the domestic violence modules on the British Crime Survey) – these should generally be avoided by students.
Section 6. Note that this is highly relevant for a lot of NUBS dissertations involving data collection abroad or for cases where data was collected in the UK and the student wants to return home to write up the dissertation. You will need to ensure that these data transfers do not fall foul of relevant data protection laws (in the case of the UK mainly the GDPR (2018) legislation). Whether data is sensitive will depend to some extent on the specific project and on local laws. Please be sensible with the definition of “commercial contract” or “license”. For example, most government data is technically released under the Open Government License. Clearly, this does not mean that students should avoid a project that regressed UK GDP against growth. Similarly, we have a subscription to Bloomberg data. This is clearly a commercial contract, but again this is not problematic. Please draw a line where violations of license conditions can cause harm to the student/the university (such as cases where data abuse can lead to more than trivial punishment or can restrict the university’s future access to data, i.e., where data abuse leads to a ban of all of the university’s users). Please also ensure that students are aware of any eventual conditions attached to data, for example, in relation to sharing the data with others.
Section 7. Please be aware that all international travel by students, inside or outside of the UK, needs to be risk-assessed by the student and signed off by supervisors. If the risk associated with a student conducting fieldwork in a specific country cannot be judged, the project should not be signed off.
 

NUBS Ethical approval form for student projects

SECTION 1: Applicant Details

Student Name and Number:  
Student Email Address:  
Programme of Study:  
Module Code and Name:  
Supervisor Name:  
Supervisor Email Address:  

 
SECTION 2: Project Details

Project Title:  
Project Synopsis:
Please describe here what your planned research is about, why it is important and how you seek to conduct it.
 

 
SECTION 3: Project Type

  YES NO
This research involves primary research.
This research involves secondary research.

 
If you ticked YES, please complete the remainder of the form and append a copy of the information sheet and consent form for your research.
If you ticked NO, please sign the form on the last page and submit it to your supervisor for sign-off.
 

  YES NO
This research involves travel.

 
If you ticked YES, please complete and append the risk assessment form ‘travel’.
If you ticked NO, please complete and append the risk assessment form ‘no travel’.
 
SECTION 4: NHS, Health & Social Care: Facilities, Staff & Patients
 

  YES NO
“Will the study involve participants recruited by virtue of being service users, their dependents, their carers’ or human tissues or the use of NHS & Health / Social Care Facilities?

 
If you ticked YES, Please discuss alternative research questions / settings with your supervisor as a matter of urgency. The School does not support student projects involving patients of the NHS (or another health system in the UK or abroad) or their relatives.
If you ticked NO, please go to Section 5.
 
SECTION 5: Human Participants in a Non-Clinical Setting
 

Does the research involve human participants, e.g. use of questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, observation, surveys or lab-based studies involving human participants? (If you are unsure please tick ‘Yes’ and complete the sub-questions.) YES NO

 
If you ticked YES, please complete the sub-questions below and provide details.
If you ticked NO, please go to Section 6.
 

Does the study involve any of the following? YES NO
a.    The study involves children, or other vulnerable groups (inc. DBS should students want to work in schools), defined in Section 59 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Act 2006 as those who are relatively or absolutely incapable of protecting their own interests, or those in unequal relationships, e.g. participants who are subordinate to the researcher in a context outside the research[1]?
b.    The study requires the co-operation of a gatekeeper for initial access to the groups or individuals to be recruited (e.g. organisational representative, chair / committee of a professional association)? Please note: gatekeepers are normally required when a case-study approach is taken.
c.    It is necessary for participants to take part in the study without their knowledge and consent e.g. covert observation of people in non-public places?
d.    Deliberately misleading participants in any way?
e.    Psychological stress, anxiety, harm or negative consequences beyond that encountered in normal life?
f.     Prolonged or repetitive testing i.e., more than 4 hours’ commitment or attendance on more than two occasions?
g.    Financial inducements (other than reasonable expenses and compensation for time)?

 
If you have answered YES to any of the sub-questions in Section 5, please provide details about the research, the issues that you have identified and the actions through which you seek to mitigate against them. Particular attention should be given to the procedures by which informed consent (the form should include the student’s and supervisor’s details to protect both researcher and interviewees) is sought and by which participants can withdraw from the research. Please append a copy of the information sheet and consent form for your project. The text box can be increased in size.
 

 
 
 
 
 

Please note that only low-risk projects are supported. Your supervisor may demand alterations to your research to ensure that it is low risk before being able to sign off this form.
 
Please continue with the Section 6.
 
SECTION 6: Data
 

  YES NO
Does the research involve the viewing, usage or transfer of Sensitive personal data as defined as by the Terrorism Act or data governed by statute such as the Official Secrets Act, commercial contract or by convention e.g. client confidentiality? (If you are unsure please tick ‘Yes’ and complete the sub-questions.)

 
If you ticked YES, please complete the sub-questions below.
If you ticked NO, please go to Section 7.
 

  YES NO
a.    Will the study involve the sharing of sensitive data outside the European Economic Area?
b.    Will the study involve the collection or analysis of sensitive data which will be identifiable within the project outputs and could potentially cause harm?
c.    Will the study involve the collection or analysis of personal data without explicit consent?
d.    Will the study involve the collection, viewing or dissemination of materials which could be considered ‘extremist’ and or ‘terrorism related’?

 
If you have answered YES to any of the sub-questions in Section 6, there is a presumption that dissertation/project proposals will need individual ethical clearance. This would normally be incorporated in the existing project/dissertation proposal approval process.  In addition, ensure that data management protocols are in place to conform with GDPR (2018) legislation. To comply with GDPR – ensure that all data is securely transferred via an encrypted USB when off-site, confidential, anonymous, the right to be forgotten and data will be destroyed post study. Similarly, if students are conducting lone interviews they should conform to the ‘Lone Worker’ protocol. The text box can be increased in size.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
Please note that only low-risk projects are supported. Your supervisor may demand alterations to your research to ensure that it is low risk before being able to sign off this form.
 
Please continue with Section 7.
 
 
SECTION 7: International Projects
 

  YES NO
Will the research be conducted outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) or will it involve international collaborators outside the EEA?

 
If you ticked YES, please complete the sub-questions below.
If you ticked NO, please go to Section 8.

  YES NO
a.    Will there be an increased risk to researchers and participants where they are working remotely?
b.    Will the research involve political sensitivities (e.g. offend specific public interests or the rights and reputations of others)?
c.    Will the work undertaken overseas be governed by standards which are NOT equivalent to those in the UK?

 
If you have answered YES to any of the sub-questions in Section 7, please provide details about the research, the issues that you have identified and the actions through which you seek to mitigate against them. You should abide by the University’s ‘Lone Worker’ protocols in informing family or friends of your whereabouts when collecting data. Particular attention should be given to differing expectations between the UK and the country in question and any risks associated. The text box can be increased in size.
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
Please note that only low-risk projects are supported. Your supervisor may demand alterations to your research to ensure that it is low risk before being able to sign off this form.
 
Please continue with the Section 8.
 
 
SECTION 8: Declaration
 

By signing this declaration I, [please insert your name here]:
* certify that the information contained in this application is accurate.
* certify that the research will be undertaken in line with all appropriate local standards and regulations.
* certify that I have discussed this form with my project supervisor and that s/he agrees with the answers given.
* will submit a revised form should the project design change after this form has been signed off.
 
Name of student:
 
 
Signature of student:
 
 
Date:
 
 

 
 
SECTION 9: Supervisor sign-off and comments
If any of the sub-questions in Sections 5 to 7 has been answered with “yes”, please provide a written justification below as to why the project as a whole is still low-risk. Special attention should be given to the conduct of the research, particularly when human participants are involved, when a gatekeeper is required and/or the research takes place internationally. Details about discussions with the student about key ethical issues and their mitigation should also be provided here.
 

 
 
 
 
Name of supervisor:
 
 
Signature of supervisor:
 
 
Date:
 
 

 
Please attach any risk assessment forms and other applicable documents (such as information sheet and consent form) and submit them for sign-off as advertised in the module guide.
 

Risk Assessment

In addition to the ethical approval form, you are required to complete one of the following two risk assessment forms. The first should be completed if the project does not require any travel outside the University. Other projects require the second, longer risk assessment to be completed. The form needs to be completed and submitted with the ethics approval form and the GDPR data assessment form (see later in document) along with the detailed research proposal.
 

Risk Assessment form – No travel outside University

Newcastle University Business School
Risk Assessment – No Travel etc.
Module Code and Title  
Project Title  
 
 
Project synopsis (can be copied from Ethics form)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Confirmation I confirm that no travel outside of the University will be undertaken for the purposes of this research project.
 
Student
Name: Signature: Date
Supervisor
Name: Signature: Date

Newcastle University Travel Risk Assessment

Travelling without appropriate risk assessment may prejudice subsequent insurance claims
Traveller

Name Staff/ student Number Unit Telephone
mobile & landline
E-mail
University and/or personal
         

Add more rows for additional travellers
Emergency Contacts

Insurance
insurance@ncl.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 191 208 6520
·         Emergency claims – Chubb Assistance: +44 (0) 207 895 3364 (policy numbers: 64811698 – UG students and 64811697 – PG students and staff
Selective Travel Management Routine – 028 9044 2071 (8.30am- 6pm) ncl@selective-travel.co.uk Emergency – +44 7720 593700
British Embassy
Please note for staff/ students who are not UK nationals please enter your own Government embassies in this section.
 
In Country Emergency Services  
In country guide/ local contact during trip
(Address/ e-mail/ mobile/ landline)
 
Newcastle University
·         Line manager/ supervising academic/office
·         Security +44 (0) 191 208 6817 (24 hours)
security.control@ncl.ac.uk
 
Next of kin  
European Health Insurance Card
(only required if UK or European citizen visiting European Economic Area destination)
I have applied for a EHIC card prior to travel ☐

 
Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Travel Advice
What is the FCO travel advice for your destination(s)? For trips to more than one country please tick all the levels of travel advice which apply for all the countries you are planning to visit.

FCO advice categories Copy of web link to FCO travel advice Destination Country
Please name all destination countries
☐Advise against all travel
No staff or students are permitted to travel to these destinations.
   
 
☐Advise against all but essential travel
UG students are not permitted to travel. PG students and staff may travel but the risk assessment must be approved by the Pro Vice Chancellor.
   
☐x No specific travel restrictions but read FCO travel advice before travelling
 
   

Itinerary
If travel and accommodation has been booked using Selective Travel Management or one of our preferred group travel agents the traveller only needs to complete the ’Summary of Travel and Meetings and Events’ sections on the next page. I confirm I have booked using Selective Travel Management or approved group travel agents
 

Summary of Travel Please provide a summary of your work activity/ project/ research which requires you to travel
 

 

Departing Flight
Date From (country & city) Flight Number To (country & city)
       
       

Add additional lines as necessary

 Accommodation (hotels/ apartments/ hostels etc.)
Check in date Check out date Name & address Website
       

If accommodation changes whilst ‘in country’ please update risk assessment & share with School/ Institute ASAP

 Meetings/ events/ research or fieldwork locations
Date(s) Description of activity Venue/ location/ telephone
     

Add additional lines as necessary

Return Flight
Date From (country & city) Flight Number To (country & city)
       
       

 
Risk Assessment
When carrying out the risk assessment the following four hyperlinks will provide useful information:

What are the hazards (bold text)/ risks (bullet points)? What controls have you put in place?
Accommodation
·         Physical defects
·         Risk of fire
·         Risk of robbery, physical or sexual assault
·         Terrorist incident e.g. bomb
·         Falls from balcony’s
 
 
Work activity
·         Risks from work activities including fieldwork e.g.
o    Operating machinery
o    Hazardous substances
 
 
 
 
Travel and transportation
·         Risk of theft/ attack at airport or on public transport
·         Road traffic accident whilst self-driving or passenger in taxi or other vehicle
·         Carjacking or road blocks
·         Struck by vehicle whilst walking
·         Falls from vehicles
·         Poor road infrastructure
·         Density of traffic
·         Poor driving standards
·         Poorly maintained vehicles
·         Lack of emergency response or help after accident
·
Location and or regional factors
·         Crime- risk of robbery, physical or sexual assault
·         Kidnap and ransom
·         Terrorist attacks/ bombs
·         Political instability
·         Corruption- requests for bribes
·         Remote working
·         Poor communications
·         Religious tensions
·         Cultural misunderstandings e.g. clothing, alcohol or other behaviour
·
General health/ environmental factors
·         Natural disasters e.g. floods/ cyclones/ earthquakes
·         Food and drink (poor hygiene)
·         Infectious diseases
·         Biting insects or animals including risks from rabies, malaria, Zika virus etc.
·         Poor or distant medical facilities
·         Sexually transmitted diseases
·
Individual factors
·         Disability
·         Level of cultural awareness
·         Inability to speak Language
·         Cultural/ religious or sexual orientation leading to increased risk
·         Pre-existing medical conditions, physical injuries or weaknesses or mental health conditions requiring management
·
Other hazards
Please change hazard title and enter additional hazard(s) as required.
·

 
Approval
Traveller

Name:  
 
Date:  

The completed risk assessment form should be e-mailed to authorising staff member to provide an audit trail.
 
Authorised by (line manager, supervising academic, PVC)

Name:  
 
Date:  

 The authorising staff member should approve, refuse or modify risk assessment e.g. suggest further controls. A copy of the final risk assessment should be kept by the traveller/ travel authoriser and central location e.g. shared drive maintained by Unit office in case of emergency outside normal hours.
The final form that you need to complete relates to the University’s processes for complying with GDPR regulations. Below you will find further guidance on GDPR. After that, is the form that you are required to complete. This needs to be completed and submitted with the ethics approval form and the risk assessment form along with the detailed research proposal. Please create one document consolidating the three forms prior to uploading it.
 
Newcastle University Information Security Guidance (authored by Jason Bain, 6 February 2018)
 
Introduction to GDPR
What is GDPR?

  1. What is the GDPR?
  2. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a new, Europe-wide law that replaces the Data Protection Act 1998 in the UK. It is part of the wider package of reform to the data protection landscape that includes the Data Protection Bill. The GDPR sets out requirements for how organisations will need to handle personal data from 25 May 2018.
  3. The (UK) Data Protection Bill:
  4. seeks to repeal the Data Protection Act 1998;
  5. transposes the GDPR into UK law so it continues to have effect in UK after the UK leaves the EU;
  6. applies GDPR standards to additional areas of processing not covered by the GDPR and EU law (e.g. the processing of unstructured manual files by public authorities);
  7. gives effect to the EU Law Enforcement Directive.
  8. Who does the GDPR apply to?
  9. The GDPR applies to ‘controllers’ and ‘processors’.
  10. In the vast majority of cases the University acts as a data controller.
  11. A controller determines the purposes and means of processing personal data.

iii. A processor is responsible for processing personal data on behalf of and at the direct instruction of a controller.

  1. As a processor, the GDPR places specific legal obligations on you; for example, you are required to maintain records of personal data and processing activities. You will have legal liability if you are responsible for a breach.
  2. As a controller, you are not relieved of your obligations where a processor is involved – the GDPR places further obligations on you to ensure your contracts with processors comply with the GDPR.
  3. The GDPR applies to processing carried out by organisations operating within the EU. It also applies to organisations outside the EU that offer goods or services to individuals in the EU.

vii. The GDPR does not apply to certain activities including processing covered by the Law Enforcement Directive, processing for national security purposes and processing carried out by individuals purely for personal/household activities.

  1. What information does the GDPR apply to?
  2. Personal data
  3. The GDPR applies to ‘personal data’ meaning any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified in particular by reference to an identifier.
  4. This definition provides for a wide range of personal identifiers to constitute personal data, including name, identification number, location data or online identifier, reflecting changes in technology and the way organisations collect information about people.
  5. The GDPR applies to both automated personal data and to manual filing systems where personal data are accessible according to specific criteria. This could include chronologically ordered sets of manual records containing personal data.
  6. Personal data that has been pseudonymised – e.g. key-coded – can fall within the scope of the GDPR depending on how difficult it is to attribute the pseudonym to a particular individual.
  7. Sensitive personal data
  8. The GDPR refers to sensitive personal data as “special categories of personal data” (Article 9).
  9. The special categories specifically include genetic data, and biometric data where processed to uniquely identify an individual.
  10. Personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences are not included, but similar extra safeguards apply to its processing (Article 10).
  11. ICO Principles
  12. Under the GDPR, the data protection principles set out the main responsibilities for organisations such as the University.
  13. Article 5 of the GDPR requires that personal data shall be:
  14. processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to individuals;
  15. collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes; further processing for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes shall not be considered to be incompatible with the initial purposes;

iii. adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed;

  1. accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date; every reasonable step must be taken to ensure that personal data that are inaccurate, having regard to the purposes for which they are processed, are erased or rectified without delay;
  2. kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed; personal data may be stored for longer periods insofar as the personal data will be processed solely for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes subject to implementation of the appropriate technical and organisational measures required by the GDPR in order to safeguard the rights and freedoms of individuals; and
  3. processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data, including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage, using appropriate technical or organisational measures.
  4. Article 5(2) requires that:
  5. The controller shall be responsible for, and be able to demonstrate, compliance with the principles.
  6. At Newcastle University
  7. The NUIT Information Security Team has lead responsibility for providing guidance and advice related to GDPR;
  8. As a public authority the University must appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO) who:
  9. Assists in monitoring internal compliance;
  10. inform and advise on data protection obligations;

iii. provides advice regarding Data Protection Impact Assessments; and

  1. acts as a contact point for data subjects and the supervisory authority (in the UK, the Information Commissioners Office).

A member of the NUIT Information Security Team is nominated as the University’s DPO (see http://www.ncl.ac.uk/data.protection/PrivacyNotice.htm for the current nominee). The DPO is independent, an expert in data protection and reports on data protection matters directly to the University’s Senior Information Risk Owner, the Registrar.

  1. Working with academic and service units across the University NUIT Information Security Team coordinates responses to individuals who have rights under GDPR.
  2. Guidance and process information regarding the rights of individuals under the GDPR as well as the legal bases available for processing personal data are available on the University’s intranet site.
  3. At the time of writing, the UK’s Data Protection Bill has not completed all of its parliamentary stages nor received Royal Assent, and hence guidance on the UK’s derogations under the GDPR, or any subsequent changes to the Bill that apply solely to the UK are subject to change. Updated guidance, as well as a summary of the changes will be published when it is available.

GDPR DATA MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT

 

Student Name:
Supervisor:
Title of project:
 
Documenting:
  Yes No
I understand that I must retain all my data until after I have graduated    
I will provide a methodology that explains how my data was collected    
Please explain how you will label and organise your data, records and files
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Storing:
  Yes No
I understand that I must keep all data and documentation related to my dissertation on the University server    
I will protect personal or sensitive data    
Please explain how you will protect personal or sensitive data (if you are not collecting this sort of data, please state this here)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Please explain how you will transfer and store data that is collected with mobile devices (e.g. audio recorder, mobile phone, USB stick, laptop)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Confidentiality, ethics and consent:
  Yes No N/A
I have completed the ethics assessment      
I will follow this assessment throughout my dissertation and seek additional advice from my supervisor as needed      
I have gained consent from my participants, including their permission to share data with supervisor/second marker      
I have anonymised my data to remove identifying/personal information      
Copyright
  Yes No N/A
Have you established who owns the copyright in your data?      
If you are re-using someone else’s data sources, have you considered copyright?      
Please explain how you have accessed any secondary data being used and any associated copyright implications
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Appendix B (example Contents page)

 
Table of Contents
 
Title Page                                                                                                                     i
List of Tables                                                                                                                ii
List of Figures                                                                                                               iii
Acknowledgements                                                                                                       iv
Abstract                                                                                                                        v
Abbreviations                                                                                                                vi
 
Chapter 1 Introduction
 
1.1        Purpose of the Study                                                                                        1
1.2        Methods of Analysis                                                                                         3
1.3        Plan of Work                                                                                                     5
1.4        Data Sources                                                                                                    7
1.5        Synopsis of dissertation                                                                                                9
 
Chapter 2 Literature Review
 
2.1        The need for risk management in business                                                         11
2.2        Theoretical approaches to risk management                                                       17
 
Other Chapters
 
Chapter X – Conclusions
 
X.1       Overview of the process                                                                                                70
X.2       Recommendations                                                                                            74
X.3       Opportunities for further research                                                                       78
 
References
 
Appendices
 
A          Interview schedule for interviews
B          Names, dates, times of interviews
C          Sample transcript of interview
 
 

Appendix C –  The Harvard Referencing System

Using Harvard References in the Text itself
 
In the text, if you summarise what an author has said in your own words, you need only reference the author’s surname and the year of publication of the book or article concerned e.g. Walters (1989). However if a book is lengthy and you are referring to an argument in one chapter or even a page number, rather than the whole book, you should add the chapter or page number in addition e.g. Walters (1989 Chap.1) or Walters (1989 p.325).  A brief paragraph illustrating this approach is as follows:
 
Walters (1989 Chap.1) argues that the deregulation of public service broadcasting has lead to a decline in programme choice for viewers.  This view is contested by Veljanovski (1989).  However, in the specific area of news it finds support in claims made by Murdock (1990:22).
 
If you quote directly from a book or journal and you want to quote only a few words you do so as follows within the text of your essay:
 
It has been argued that ‘currently the most dynamic approach to media reform is inspired by classical neo-liberalism of the “free” market’ (Curran 1988:16).
 
If you quote directly from a book or journal and want to quote a slightly longer piece to assist your argument you would normally indent the quote and of course refer to the page number from the source thus:
 
Industrial democracy in the press can be implemented directly by statute.  Alternatively it could be encouraged in new ventures through the terms of reference of the media enterprise board. (Curran 1988: 24).
 
Do not use direct quotes unnecessarily, but they are useful if they add to the significance of your argument, and are not too lengthy.
 
If you refer to more than one work by the same author in the same year you can distinguish between the works by using the suffix a, b etc., thus Turner (1990a), Turner (1990b). Where authors have the same surname you will need to give their first initial to distinguish them, thus Turner V. (1991), Turner B. (1991).
 

  • Footnotes

There are a number of different academic styles for footnotes (numbered notes at the foot of the page) and endnotes (numbered notes at the end of the essay).  Footnotes are generally easier for the reader and thus also the marker and examiner. You should use either footnotes or endnotes, not both.
 
You should not use footnotes simply to cite a single reference. Although such a style is used in many academic books and journals, it does not fit well with the Harvard system, which is designed for references given in the text.
 
You should use footnotes or endnotes sparingly and generally only to say something additional which cannot sensibly be incorporated in the text. Examples might be:
(a) To mention an additional implication or issue which is interesting but not directly relevant to the current argument;
(b) To give further informative details, for instance the background to a piece of research, which again is useful but not directly relevant;
(c) To give a long list of references – this should in any case generally be avoided, with references given for discrete points or arguments.
 
 
 
A Harvard List of References at the End of a Text
 
At the end of your dissertation on separate sheets titled References you list all the full references alphabetically by author’s surname using the following rules. Do not show separate lists for books and journals; all references used should be given in the same list.
 

  • When there is more than one work by the same author, order these works by the date of publication in ascending order (thus 1994, 1995 etc.).
  • Where there is more than one work by an author in the same year, order thus 1990a, 1990b etc. within each year.
  • As in the case of the ‘Turners’ above the initial will be used to decide alphabetic priority in the reference list, thus Turner B., would come before Turner V.
  • If there is more than one author then the references are listed alphabetically by the first author.
  • Single authored works by a particular author are all placed before multiple authored works by the same author, overriding date of publication, thus Kleinman (1985) would come before Kleinman and Good (1983). But if there are several single or multiple authored works then they are ordered within ascending date order WITHIN each group, thus the order would go Kleinman (1985), Kleinman (1986), then Kleinman and Good (1983), Kleinman and Helman (1982).

 

  • In the unlikely event that a bibliography is needed to indicate the additional reading you have undertaken but not referred to in the text, this should be placed on a separate sheet headed Bibliography.

 
 
 
More Information on Compiling a Harvard Reference List
 
 
The Sequence of Information Required in Referencing a Book
 

  • First, author’s surname followed by initials. The convention is that you use the author’s name exactly as s/he has used it in her/his book. If there are more than three authors, use the first author and initials followed by et al, although if there are three or fewer authors all should be named.
  • If the author(s) edited the book, put (Ed.) or (Eds.) after their names
  • Second, year of publication (in brackets).
  • Third, title of work (in full, including any sub-title) – use bold type, or underlining, or italics to make the title stand out, and choose only ONE of these methods for each reference list you compile.
  • Fourth, edition of the work if there has been more than one.
  • Fifth, title of collection or series if it belongs to one, and the volume number.
  • Sixth, place of publication (use the British one if there are multiple places mentioned).
  • Seventh, publisher’s name.

 
 
 
Examples
 
Weick, Karl E. (1995) Sensemaking in organizations, London: Sage
 
Westwood, R. & Clegg, S. (Eds.) (2003) Debating Organization: Point-Counterpoint in Organization Studies Oxford: Blackwell
 
Barker M. (1984) The Video Nasties: Freedom and Censorship in the Media London: Pluto.
 
Thompson, P. and McHugh, D. (2002) Work Organisations: A Critical Introduction, 3rd Edition London: Palgrave.
 
 
The Sequence of Information Required in Referencing an Article
 

  • First, author’s surname, followed by initials. If there are more than three authors, use the first author and initials followed by et al, although if there are three or fewer authors all should be named. If the author is unknown (for instance a non-attributed editorial or news report in a newspaper or magazine), then list the newspaper or magazine title as the author.
  • Second, year of publication (in brackets)
  • Third, title of the article in lower case characters apart from the first word, and also in single quotation marks. Do NOT use bold type, italics or underlining for the title of an article.
  • Fourth, the title of the journal in full, using bold type, underlining or italics. Use whichever system you have used for book titles, do NOT use two different systems (e.g. underlining and bold) in the same reference list.
  • Fifth, volume number of journal and issue number within volume. It is sometimes helpful, although not absolutely necessary to include a date or month when the issue was published (thus Vol. 80 No. 6 September 5). If referencing an article or news item from a newspaper or magazine, always give the date of publication (day, week or month).
  • Sixth, the number of the first and last page numbers of the article.

 
Examples
 
Smircich, Linda (1983), “Concepts of culture and organization analysis”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 28(3), pp. 339-58.
 
Willmott, H. (1993) “Strength is ignorance, slavery is freedom: managing culture in modern organizations”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 30(4), pp 515-52
 
Knights, D. & Morgan, G (1991) “Strategic discourse and subjectivity: Towards a critical analysis of corporate strategy in organisations” Organization Studies Vol. 12 (3), pp 251-273.
 
Financial Times (2002) ‘Shining light down dark tunnels’, Editorial, Monday November 11th 2002, page 22.
 
Remember that, as with book titles, the name of a journal is either underlined, put in bold, or italicised.  Again, choose only ONE method (the same as for book titles) and stick to it.
 
 
 
The Sequence of Information Required in Referencing an Article in a Book
 
Social science articles often appear in edited collections in books; they are referenced in the following way.
 

  • First, surname of the article’s author followed by initials. If there are more than three authors, use the first author and initials followed by et al, although if there are three or fewer authors all should be named.
  • Second, year of publication of the edited book (in brackets).
  • Third, the title of the article in lower case characters apart from the first word, and also in single quotation marks. Do NOT use bold type, underlining or italics here.
  • Fourth put ‘In’ and then the surname of the book’s editor followed by initials. The convention is that you use the editor’s name exactly as s/he has used it in her/his book. If there are more than three editors, use the first editor and initials followed by et al, although if there are three or fewer all editors all should be named.
  • Fifth, the Editor or Editors (in brackets) thus (Ed.) or (Eds.).
  • Sixth, the title of edited book (in full including any sub-title) – use bold type, or underlining, or italics to make the title stand out, and choose only ONE of these methods for each reference list you compile.
  • Seventh, the edition of the work if there has been more than one.
  • Eighth, the title of collection or series if it belongs to one, and the volume number.
  • Ninth, the place of publication (use the British one if there are multiple places mentioned).
  • Tenth, the publisher’s name.
  • Eleventh, the first and last pages of the article in the edited book.

 
 
Examples
 
Robinson I. (1990) ‘Clinical trials and the collective ethic’ In Weisz G. (Ed.) Social Science Perspectives on Medical Ethics Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press pp.19-40
 
Nichols B. (1986) ‘Questions of magnitude’ in Corner J. (Ed.) Documentary and the Mass Media London: Edward Arnold pp. 107-124
 
Adams P. (1994) ‘The three (dis)graces)’ In Bal M. And Boer I (Eds.) The Point of Theory Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam Press pp. 232-38
 
Secondary Referencing

  • When you make use of a reference that is quoted in the work of another author, and you have the full reference to the original, you must cite both references. Thus you give the original reference, and say ‘cited in’ and give the full reference where the citation occurred.

 

  • In general it is bad practice to use secondary sources, apart from being a rather lazy and suspect way of deriving evidence for an argument. It may be the case that the citations are incorrect and this has, on occasion, led to a sequence of errors originating from one incorrect citation which has then been perpetuated by other authors who have not checked the original themselves. In any case the secondary interpretation of an original source may not be one that you would agree with on re-reading the original.

 
 
Referencing Institutional Reports and Publications

  • Works that are not the responsibility of an individual should be listed under the name of the organisation concerned, e.g. Department of Trade and Industry (1999)/Age Concern (1990)/Department of Health and Social Security (1993)/THERIP (1990)/CFAR (1999).  For the purposes of referencing, these should be considered to be books with an institutional author, and placed alphabetically in the reference list at the end of your written work.

 
 
Referencing Electronic Documents

  • Increasingly often it is useful to refer to electronic documents in written work (with due caution about the quality of unreferenced publications like web sites). Electronic documents might be World Wide Web pages, contributions to newsgroups or bulletin boards, or files made available by the author for downloading from the Internet. As with conventionally published documents, it is crucial to give reference information for electronic documents in a standard and complete fashion. You should choose a standard way of citing electronic documents which, as far as possible, would enable a reader to trace that document. A number of different standard schemes for referencing electronic documents have been developed. You can find links to some of these at http://www.ifla.org/I/training/citation/citing.htm

 

  • One particular problem which can arise with web pages is that the information you have is incomplete: there may be no author or publication date. In these cases you should give information which is as complete as possible. If the date is missing you can at least give the date on which you accessed the page: readers will then at least know the page was produced before that date.

 

  • Here are three examples of common situations when citing electronic documents.
  • A WWW page with no date

Morgan, Gareth (no date) Strategic Termites: The Power of Self-Organization, available at
                        http://www.imaginiz.com/provocative/organize/termites.html
[Accessed Sept. 18th 2004]
 

  • An electronic journal article

Robbins, Peter (2004) ‘Global Visions and Globalizing Corporations: An Analysis of Images and Texts from Fortune Global 500 Companies’  Sociological Research Online, vol. 9, no. 2, http://www.socresonline.org.uk/9/2/robbins.html  [Accessed Sept. 18th 2004]
 

  • An online Working or Discussion paper

Bolton, Sharon (2003) “Introducing A Typology Of Workplace Emotion” Lancaster University Management School Working Paper Series No. 2003/064   http://www.lums.co.uk/publications/viewpdf/209/  [accessed Sept 19th 2004]
 
Remember, if you have any problem over referencing, that the object of the process is to provide as accurate a means as possible for someone else to locate the exact source of material you are using.  This way you cannot go far wrong.
 

 
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Newcastle University Marketing Strategy Paper

Question Description

Help me study for my Business class. I’m stuck and don’t understand.
 
Hi there is a hotel and venue in Dublin Ireland and This time we should create
a Live Digital Marketing Campaign
we have some details as follows:
Brainstorming session

  • Cocktail making course on zoom
  • Takeaway food and drink – Just eat/Deliveroo
  • Keep both brands or merge into one brand?
  • Pub quiz / Bingo / open mic night (socially distanced)
  • App for booking tables / a virtual queuing system using QR code
  • Contact city council and see about increasing outdoor seating
  • New target markets

o Student accommodation
o Self-isolation rooms for travelers into the country
o Reconfigure bedrooms to offices
New ideas (Brian):

  • Encourage long-term stays eg. Stay four nights and get the fifth night free – this will fit nicely with the new 5-day restricting of one’s movements after traveling from abroad

SOSTAC

  • Situational analysis (20 marks) –
  • Objectives (5 marks) –
  • Strategy (20 marks) –
  • Tactics (30 marks) –
  • Action (20 marks) –
  • Control (5 marks) –

Objectives;
1. Develop the brand

  • Create brand awareness
  • Merge the two brands

2. Generate new revenue streams

  • Lease the venue (eg. Musicians that want to record a live performance)
  • Online classes – Cooking, baking and cocktails
  • Take away food
  • Promotions – Long term stays (buy 4 nights and get the fifth night free)
  • Re-purpose bedrooms – Covid isolation rooms/home office

3. Improve online presence

  • Build a bigger social media following
  • APA format and Please write some practical strategy and tactics part , not just descriptive and theories

intext caitation must be needed.

 
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Business Plan

Running Mate Ltd
 
 
 
Table of contents
Executive summary…………………………………………………………………………………….. 2
Business details………………………………………………………………………………………….. 2
What we do and how we do it…………………………………………………………………….. 3
Business background………………………………………………………………………………….. 4
Our goal/mission………………………………………………………………………………………… 5
Our strategy………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5
Current team……………………………………………………………………………………………… 5
Market analysis………………………………………………………………………………………….. 8
Competitor analysis……………………………………………………………………………………. 9
SWOT analysis and strategy………………………………………………………………………… 9
Marketing strategy……………………………………………………………………………………. 10
Financial plan…………………………………………………………………………………………… 11
References………………………………………………………………………………………………. 19
 
 
 
 

Executive summary

Our business is called Running Mate. We are offering running errands services, community service and barter service. Our three ideal customers are those who work from home, new mothers and the elderly in retirement villages and the disabled. We are trying to develop a blue ocean strategy in a red ocean market. Therefore, the core competitiveness of our platform is customization and localization. We pursue customized services to meet the needs of individuals and communities.
Our value proposition is established in the sharing economy. For example, we take advantage of network technology and the concept of the sharing economy to build a social platform that matches the needs of people who want to sell their free time to those who need help. We want our platform to really help and support their communities, which is also the social responsibility. Besides, we are also proposing another very important concept: Barter service. People can volunteer to help with requests from other people in your community, like when someone needs to mow the lawn, you help them, and then you get a credit. You can use this credit to post what you need on the platform. We do not make profit in this mode.
In terms of revenue stream, we adopt two kinds of business: the first is the normal business based on running errands services and outsourcing services. Our revenue comes from commissions paid by our customers. In terms of cost, our Running Mate focuses on asset-light and low fixed cost models. We don’t need warehousing, we don’t need to buy our own vehicles, and we don’t need a large office space. All we need is a small office space and the basic service cost of building a platform and maintaining the platform. In terms of human capital cost, we will prefer to employ people less full-time and more part-time and we will share our Commission revenue with our Running Mate.

Business details

Business name Running Mate Ltd
Trading name Running Mate Ltd
Established October 6th, 2020
Structure Limited Partnership Company

What we do and how we do it

Our business is called Running Mate. We provide errand services, community services and barter services. The three ideal customers for our company are people working at home, new mothers and elderly people in retirement villages and disabled people. The value of our platform brand proposition is established in the era of the prevalence of the sharing economy and great demand in contemporary society. The sharing economy is a new type of economic format, which is based on the maturity of mobile Internet information technology.
On the other hand, the core competitiveness of our platform is customization and localization. We pursue tailor-made services to meet the needs of individuals and communities. The value proposition we established on the sharing economy, for example, we use network technology and the concept of sharing economy to build a social platform that can meet the necessaries of those who want to sell their free time to those in need. Our services are divided into running errands, community services, and barter services. In addition to helping people pick up or deliver any goods, community service is vital to our platform. We have found that community life and connection are important to New Zealanders. Simple interpersonal relationships and neighborhood mutual assistance are an important foundation for maintaining the peace of New Zealander.
However, in modern society, due to the lack of efficiency and management of community services and the increasingly dense apartment construction, it is difficult for people to have opportunities to communicate with their neighbors. They lack a dedicated channel to put forward their demands, or it is difficult to find efficient institutions to solve their necessaries. Therefore, for daily community services, we provide daily cleaning, maintenance and other fee-based services. We also put forward another very important concept: barter service. People can voluntarily help other people in your community’s requests. For example, when someone needs to mow the lawn, you
can help them, and then you can get honor. You can use this point to publish the content you need on the platform. We will not make a profit in this model. The reason is that what we want is to break the stereotypes and bring closer the relationship between people through such a cooperative exchange service model. We hope that we can build a warm social platform.
From the perspective of industry competition, we are the first such service provider in Hamilton. We can offer customers diversified services, pay more attention to save customer’s time, and provide running errands, innovative community services and barter services to improve the quality of life for people.

Business background

Business history
Our company name is Running Mate Ltd. We issued our business and company in Hamilton in 2020, Oct. Our business is including six founders, we are sharing the same stake of 16.7% each of us. Our initial investment is 10,000 NZD per person. Total initial investment will be 60,000 NZD. Our full-time jobs in the first year will be ourselves in order to save operating fees.
We are a social service platform that offers three main core services: Running errands service, community service and barter service.
Current position
Our company currently mainly focuses on the Hamilton market. It will be one of our strengths due to there being no direct competitors in Hamilton so far. We are beginning with taking self-employees. Our six founders, we take ourselves as full-time jobs. It reduces our labor cost and allows us to have more expenditure on developing our products. Meanwhile, we will also hire some part-time employees, we take them as our partners, and we share our profit with them. Our initial capital is overall 60,000 NZD, comes from our 6 founders. So, we do not borrow any capital from third parties. We do not owe money. Besides, our intellectual property cost is quite low, we will purchase 3 laptops for operating in the first year. In the first year operating, we are seeking 10% of market share. Our first year turnover forecast will be 60,000 NZD. And net profit will be 3,888 NZD.

Our goal/mission

Our final goal is after 5 years’ growth, our marketing share could reach 50% percent of our ideal customers market in Hamilton. Annual turnover could reach out around 20 % growth starting from second year. And our final existing strategy is buying-out by giant internet companies with 1,000,000 NZD dollars acquisition fee.

Our strategy

To achieve our goals, we have to put lots of effort into keeping our company operating well in these five-years. We use barter service to attract more potential customers. In the future, with the model becoming more mature and more users beginning to use our platform, it will not only increase the loyalty of our customers but also enhance the users’ viscosity. This is what we want to achieve in the end.  In order to gain our edge to market, we should focus on developing customization and localization. These two are our core competitiveness. We also need to look for differentiation with other competitors, try to develop a blue ocean marketing strategy in a red ocean market.
We will continue to pay attention to the improvement and expansion of our business. We aim to increase the consuming experience both for our end users and employees. Such as optimizing our ordering system according to our current operational experience, designing subsidy promotion to our running mates. Meanwhile, we are going to continue to expand our customer group. We will provide more personal services for the particular customer group, such as one-parent family, and the Dual-employee family. We will also cooperate with SMBs, such as small grocery shops, restaurants, retirement villages to help them carry the delivery and pick up services in order to save their labor costs.

Current team

Name Jovi Chen
Role title Strategy Analyst
Key responsibilities Conduct in-depth research on the industry, accurately judge the industry development trend, and make suggestions
Qualifications Master degree of Business Management
Experience Engaged in related industries for years; Analyzed and predicted the direction of the future market for several listed companies, then made portfolio investments and made plans

 

Name Sunny Sun
Role title Operation Manager
Key responsibilities Responsible for the overall planning, operation, promotion and management of the platform, and carry out project planning according to the positioning and operation of the platform.
Qualifications Master degree of Business Management
Experience Years of relevant work experience; Familiar with the operating models of major companies and have the own unique understanding of business operations.

 

Name Choice Kunnappillil George
Role title Finance Analyst
Key responsibilities Analyze the company’s financial status, study company information in the industry, and predict the company’s financial benefits and risks based on the important differences between actual situation judgments, interpretations and budgets
Qualifications Master degree of Business Management
Experience Many years of accounting work experience has given him a very sensitive thinking about finances and figures, and he is very professional

 
 

Name Manish Sugumar
Role title Marketing Manager
Key responsibilities Formulate the company’s overall market strategy and market development goals, and make market development plan according to the company’s development strategy
Qualifications Master degree of Business Management
Experience He worked in many companies in charge of business information collection and information platform planning, and researched the macro aspects of the market.

 

Name Shan Liu
Role title Product Manager
Key responsibilities Responsible for the market research and analysis in the early stage of the project, understand the market in depth, and dig out user necessary.
Qualifications Master degree of Business Management
Experience She worked as a product manager in an Internet company, understands the market direction and customer needs, and is extremely sensitive to market changes

 

Name Xinya Wang
Role title Business Development Manager
Key responsibilities Responsible for following up the implementation of the target plan, supervising the implementation of the marketing target of the subordinate department, and formulating an annual work plan
Qualifications Master degree of Business Management
Experience She has years of experience for planning the medium and long-term development direction of the domestic market and the international market in the enterprise, including the operation, planning and product development of all overseas markets

Mentors, consultants, advisors and other outside help

Name Role/Job title
Dr Michele Schoenberger-Orgad Our Mentor. She provided many constructive opinions for us, and also gave us many recommendations for us for improvement.

 
Retention, engagement and recruitment policies and practices
We treat our employees as our partners, not just an employment relationship. We are using the sharing economy. We would like to share a bigger portion of profit with our employees. So that increases our employees’ loyalty to our organization.
We are creating an agreement with our employees. Transparency, comprehensive one, makes our employees know every detail of our partnerships. It helps us to build trust relationships with our employees too. We are also going to increase our subsidy to our employees in the next following years. We would like to give their compensation for their petrol, insurance, fine and etc. We hope that we could build an interdependence relationship with our employees, in order to decrease the high staff turnover in this kind of industry.

Market analysis

  • Customer segmentation

Our Market is based on Hamilton.

  • Working from home, more people prefer working from home after COVID-19.
  • New Mums, there are 2445 new babies born in 2019 in Hamilton (Stats NZ, 2019).
  • The elderly and The Disabled

There are 16,155 elderly people over 65 years old in Hamilton (Stats NZ, 2013).
There are 1,440 people with mobility difficulties, accounting for 8.6% of Hamilton’s total population.
 

  • Market share estimated:
  2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Target Customer 10% 15% 25% 35% 50%

 

Competitor analysis

  Company Name Base Service
1 Auckland Errands Auckland Errand Services
Business Services
Home Services
2 Concierge NZ Auckland Personal concierge services
Concierge services for business
Lobby services
Services for international visitors
3 One Street Wellington Cleaning
Gardening
Life-assist
4
Goodest
Auckland
 
Provides a line service platform
Web platform and the mobile application based
Brokerage fee from the local professional

 
The shortcomings of the competitors

  • Customers cannot place orders directly through websites or apps conveniently, and online information is more used for information collection of both parties with service needs.
  • Customers cannot get the required service price directly from the website.

SWOT analysis and strategy

Strengths
–          The first this kind of service provider in Hamilton.
–          Diversified services
Running errands service, Community Service Barter Service.
Weaknesses
–          Hard to collect data in a new market
 
 
Opportunities
–          There is a market demand in Hamilton.
–          Existing services are scattered and lack of customization.
Threats
– More competitors will enter when the market become mature.
 

 
Our Strengths is we will be the first, this kind of service provider in Hamilton, no direct
competitors. Another strength is the diversified services we could offer: Running errands
service, community service and the barter service. However, because of we are the first
entrant in the Hamilton market. It will be hard for us to collect the enough data for
analyzing this new market.
But this weakness is also accompanied by opportunities: Our three ideal customers in Hamilton need this kind of service we provide, especially in Post-COVID time. Because what services people get in Hamilton so far is not centralized and customized enough.
In terms of the threats. There are already have some existing competitors in New Zealand, which offering the similar services with ours, they would come into Hamilton one day and become our competitors.
Strategy
Strengths Opportunities Strategy
So, our strategy under Strengths and opportunities is we should not fall common. We should focus on developing customization and localization. These two are our core competitiveness.
Strengths Threats Strategy
As for Strength and threats. We need to look for differentiation with other competitors, try to develop a blue ocean marketing strategy in a red ocean market.

Marketing strategy

  • Customer centered services
  • Effective and efficient services
  • Productive partnership

We use this service to attract more potential customers. In the future, with the model becoming more mature and more users beginning to use our platform, we will not only increase the loyalty of our customers but also enhance the users’ viscosity. This is what we want to achieve in the end. Our social responsibility is to make the society more efficient and sustainable. We want our platform to really support Kiwi’s life.
Besides, regarding the advertisements we planned. We will use online ways, like social media, website and broadcast. Customers could receive the promotional information timely. We will also go for offline ways to seek customers. Such as flyer, posters as well as the regular roadshow and field trip to retirement villages are also good options for us to communicate with customers.

 Financial plan

The main revenue stream of the Running mates is through the Delivery Mates Service Agreements with end-users, drivers. The Running Mate comes into mate’s service contracts with running mates and institutions to use this Platform.
Mates Service Agreements
The Mates Service Agreement (MSA) defines the service fees that the company charges for each transaction for running mates and organization. The runners and organizations agree to perform the running as requested by the end-user upon accepting a transaction. Combined with the MSA, the acceptance of transaction requests sets out enforceable rights and obligations for each transaction. There is an agreement between the Corporation and the Runners. An agreement has been reached between the Company and Runners and individuals after a transaction request is accepted. The runners and organizations have the right to cancel the transaction lapses. End-users have unrestricted access to the network, and end-users are not responsible for the company’s success. As a result, these same end-users are not the company’s consumers. The role of the Company for Runnings and shipment transactions is to provide the service of the Runners and company to enable end-users with a good trip or home delivery.
Before its transfer to the end-user, the Running Mate does not pre-purchase. Running mate will obtain control over the goods or services of the Runners. The Running Mate does not direct Runners to conduct transactions on the Company’s behalf. And Runners have the sole right to eliminate a requirement for purchase and, the Company does not integrate services provided by Running Mate.
The Running Mate reviews other specific functions for understanding the agents. The Running Mate is not responsible for all the transactions, The Company has no inventory, so the dangers associated with is not applicable in the business. The company fixes the price for the running and delivery of the services and goods. Many market risks are avoided by such a way of doing business.
Running mates are the receivers of the business. The money to the Business is received from the end customer of the delivery. The Business earns a sluggish revenue in the first year due to the satisfaction and execution of the deal. Running buddy becomes an advocate for end-users and an entity that needs the aid of a runner to fix their problems. So sometimes, the running mate earns money from 30% of the order if, in the first year, the net income for the company is $60,000 if the money of 200,000 is required to achieve the net income. If the order, we receive on a day is thirty-seven, then the predicted order quantity is 1111 for a month and 13,333 for the first year. We hold a bare minimum of $15 per order, then the estimated sum can be reached. So, the company, therefore, thinks that there may be a possibility of refunding. Sometimes the end customer is disappointed.
Revenue recognition
The company shall derive its revenue mainly from running buddies and associations that use this Platform and other operations, such as the involvement of end-users in orders. The demand for the end-users is to be acknowledged by the runners to allow the income. There is communication between the end customer and the running mate. Running buddy is still analyzing new revenue platforms. Both transactions both orders by consumers from the data gathered. This business model is executed until the enterprise has been verified by the battery framework through the sharing economy concept.
Runs
To meet the revenue forecast, the Company collects 30% on each purchase. The processes are related to the operation and the openness of the drivers to consider the customer’s request. To obtain the commission from the end customers, it is important to complete the ride. The drivers are runners in front of the company.
The premium of 30% is the amount paid additionally after the purchase of the good, which means that the end customer needs to compensate for the service and payment of the goods. The service fee shall be paid in the accounts within a limited period. There will also be no funds receivable by the close of the financial year.
In such situations, there is an opportunity for end-users to pay in cash rather than by online accounts. Calculations are not counted and would be considered an advantage for the driver.  Because online transfer is the best way to receive the money from the client. To monitor the cash payment, a new method is to be implemented to fix the problem. Uncollected payments are shown in the budget, which will not be included in the cash inflow outflow figures. It would be deemed to be a credit.
Delivery
The business gets its benefits primarily from the fee of 30 percent of each sale. Running buddy and end-users use the portal to complete the approved and received orders.
Other Operations
Other operations consist of the batter system and, the shared economy concept is no revenue generated here.
Other Technology Programs
The Company will make use of the technology in the future for the development of cloud-based service control and allocation of the drivers and location.
Income Taxes
The company is considering the tax. The effects of tax variations in the future are also a matter of risk to the company. The forecast finds certain differences in the mission in the sentence. All future projected revenue, toll revenue, is calculated in the 5-year forecast.
Equipment
As of 2021 to 2025, the components of as follows: For mobile app and website, 20% depreciation is calculated each year. And for the website maintenance, the same percentage is counted into account.
Expenses
A brief description of company expenses is mentioned below.
Wages First year no wages second-year wages are $ 2,000 per month, then third-year $ 3,000 per month, fourth-year $ 4,000 per month. Rent $ 9,600 in the first year and $30,000 in the second year and increases 10% from the second year. Electronic Devices $3000, These figures include the charges as assets-depreciation 5 years, depreciation $600/year. Mobile App and Website Maintenance The first year we use free software available in the market the second year onwards a $ 20,000 and an increase of 10% up to 26,620 in 2025.
Advertising expenses totalled $ 10.000, $ 20,000, and $ 26,000, $33,800, $43,940 for the five years 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, respectively. Refunds and credits to end-users totaled $ 43,940. General administration shall consist of legal fees and correspondence charges, insurance costs and financial matters. The Senior Management Committee and the Management of Staff shall be reserved for the years to come in the second year.
Depreciation
Depreciation is considered primarily for electronic products such as laptops and other accessories associated with it $600 is reduced from the statements to make it correct and achievable.
Investment
Initial Capital: $60,000, $10,000/ person. $300,000 Venture capital. Shares distribution 80%, 20%. $60000 for the first year, 6 of us are investing together. After 5 years, they’ll get $200,000 back. Because we sell goodwill and data for 1000000 dollars to someone. The first year’s total operating profit is 432000, 518400 in the second year, and 622080 in the third year, which means 20 percent profit every year. The internal rate of return is 375%. More than 100 percent of the NPV.
Goodwill and Intangible assets
In the second year, the Company will determine its operating things. The change in operating and reportable segments will result in the goodwill generated from upcoming acquisitions and the new developments.
Cost forecast – money out
The cash outflow of operating activities is Expenses are mainly wage, rent, software, and hardware. Paychecks: In the first year, there are no wages; second-year wages are $ 2,000 per month, then third-year $ 3,000 per month, and the fourth year is $ 4,000 per month. Rent $ 9,600 in the first year and $30,000 in the second year and increases 10% from the second year. Electronic Devices $3000, these figures include the charges as assets-depreciation 5 years, depreciation $600/year. Mobile App and Website Maintenance The first year, we use free software available in the market the second year onwards a $ 20,000 and an increase of 10% up to 26,620 in 2025.

Area of spend First-year ($) Second year ($) Third year ($) Fourth year ($) Fifth year ($)
Accommodation 9,600 30,000 33,000 36,300 39,930
Power 3,600 8,000 8,400 8,820 9,261
Electronic devices 3,000        
Mobile App and website 10,000        
Mobile App and website maintenance   20,000 22,000 24,200 26,620
Registration and Lawyer 5,000 20,000 22,000 24,200 26,620
Accountant 3,000 6,000 6,600 7,260 7,986
Marketing promotion 10,000 20,000 26,000 33,800 43,940
CRM 1,800 3,600 3,960 4,356 4,792
Uniform 1,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000
Consultant (Marketing and data analysis)   10,000 15,000 22,500  
Salary   144,000 216,000 288,000 288,000
Subsidy (Petrol, toll)   5,000 10,000    
Total 47,000 269,600 366,960 454,436 453,149

 
Revenue forecast – money in
The inflow from operating activities. The Company’s primary revenue is through delivery. The organization acknowledges the sales only after the sale is concluded. The primary income of the company is 30 percent of the commission that comes with each sale. Runners receive the items and transport them to the site and site. Revenue is received after the commodity has been paid to the company that has been bought.

Types of Revenue First-year ($) Second year ($) Third year ($) Fourth year ($) Fifth-year ($)
Revenue 60,000 300,000 500,000 600,000 700,000
Investment / Funding          
Owner’s Capital 60,000
Investment from dragon’s     90,000 45,000 45,000 120,000
Total 120,000 390,000 950,000 105,000 820,000

Cash flow from financing activities is an investment of $ 60.000 in the first year and the Venture capital $90,000 in 2022 in the second year and 45,000 for the third and fourth years.
 
Break-even forecast

Types of Revenue First-year ($) Second-year ($) Third year ($) Fourth year ($) Fifth-year ($)
Running Mate 60,000 300,000 500,000 600,000 700,000
Commission- the amount of the orders 30% 30% 30% 30% 30%
The revenue of order amount 200,000 1,000,000 1,666,667 2,000,000 2,333,333
The price of each order 15 15 15 15 15
The order quantity/ year 13,333 66,667 111,111 133,333 155,556
The order quantity/ month 1,111 5,556 9,259 11,111 12,963
The order quantity/ day 37 185 309 370 432
Increasing % 500% 167% 120% 117%

 
Profit and loss forecast

Profit and loss forecast First year ($) Second year ($) Third year ($) Fourth year ($) Fifth-year ($)
Estimated Revenue 60,000 300,000 500,000 600,000 700,000
Estimated Cost 47,000 269,600 366,960 454,436 453,149
Estimated profit/Loss 3,888 21,456 105,797 117,388 176,388

 
Cash flow forecast
The cash outflow of operating activities is Expenses are mainly waging, rent, software, and hardware. Wages: In the first year, there are no wages; second-year wages are $ 2,000 per month, then the third year $ 3,000 per month, and the fourth year is $ 4,000 per month. Rent $ 9,600 in the first year and $30,000 in the second year and increases 10% from the second year. Electronic Devices $3000. These figures include the charges as assets-depreciation 5 years, depreciation $600/year. Mobile App and Website Maintenance The first year, we use free software available in the market the second year onwards a $ 20,000 and an increase of 10% up to 26,620 in 2025.Cash flow from financing activities is an investment of $ 60.000 in the first year and the Venture capital $90,000 in 2022 in the second year and 45,000 for the third and fourth year.

Particulars First-year ($) Second-year ($) Third year ($) Fourth year ($) Fifth-year ($)
Cash Flow from Operating Activities
Cash collected from customers 60,000 300,000 500,000 600,000 700,000
Payments (excluding depreciation)
Tax -1,512 -8,344 -41,143 -45,651 -68,595
Operating expenses paid -57,000 -269,600 -352,460 -436,361 -454,417
Net inflow from Operating 1,488 22,056 106,397 117,988 176,988
Cash Flow from Financial Activities
Initial Capital 60,000
Investors Capital 90,000 45,000 45,000 120,000
Net inflow from Financing 60,000 90,000 45,000 45,000 120,000
Net increase in cash held 61,488 112,056 151,397 162,988 296,988
Plus: Opening cash balance 61,488 173,544 324,941 487,929
Closing cash balance 61,488 173,544 324,941 487,929 784,916

 
Balance sheet forecast

  First year ($) Second year ($) Third year ($) Fourth year ($) Fifth-year ($)
Current Assets          
Bank 61,488 173,544     324,941     487,929     784,916
Non- Current Assets          
Property, Plant & Equipment 3,000 2,400         1,800         1,200            600
Less: depreciation 600 600            600            600            600
Total Non-current Assets 2,400 1,800         1,200            600              –
Total Assets 63,888 175,344   326,141   488,529   784,916
Liabilities          
Non-current liability          –            –              –              –              –
Current Liabilities          –            –              –              –              –
Total Liability          –            –              –              –              –
Equity          
Capital at start   63,888     175,344     326,141     488,529
Owner’s Capital 60,000            –              –              –              –
Investment from dragon’s          – 90,000       45,000       45,000     120,000
Retained Earnings 3,888 21,456 105,797 117,388 176,388
Total Equity 63,888 175,344   326,141   488,529   784,916

 
 
 
 
 

References

Status NZ. (2013). Population by age group in Hamilton City, New Zealand. Figure. NZ. https://figure.nz/chart/3pRQhmIcVu2QCTlm-75WBAmh11EmQD0tL
Status NZ. (2019). Babies born in Hamilton City, New Zealand. Figure. NZ. https://figure.nz/chart/2IHZyVDwywc2c2zo-mNSHpNiTD2eqnlsk
 
 

 
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Newcastle University Information Technology on Crowd Control Thesis

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THESIS HANDBOOK
Module coordinator: Dr. Ziene Mottiar, ziene.mottiar@TUDublin.ie Research Methods: Dr. Theresa
Ryan, Theresa.ryan@TUDUblin.ie
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Table of Contents
1. Module Aim and Learning Outcomes……………………………………………………………………………..2
2. Choosing a Topic for your Thesis…………………………………………………………………………………..2
3. Finding a Supervisor………………………………………………………………………………………………………3
4. The Role of the Supervisor…………………………………………………………………………………………….3
5. Writing a Proposal………………………………………………………………………………………………………….3
6. Structure of the Thesis………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3
7. Writing a Literature Review…………………………………………………………………………………………… 4
8. Developing a Research Question and Objectives…………………………………………………………. 4
9. Choosing a Methodology………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5
10. Writing a Methodology Chapter…………………………………………………………………………………. 6
11. Conducting Primary Research……………………………………………………………………………………7
12. Data Analysis – Findings and Analysis Chapters………………………………………………………. 8
13. Writing an Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………. 8
14. Conclusions and Recommendations…………………………………………………………………………. 8
15. Title of Thesis……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 8
16. Writing an Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………………..9
17. How many words should the thesis be?………………………………………………………………………….9
18. Ethical Issues to Consider…………………………………………………………………………………………. 9
19. Thesis Schedule……………………………………………………………………………………………………….10
20. Referencing and Structure of the Thesis…………………………………………………………………..11
21. Submission of the Thesis………………………………………………………………………………………… 11
22. Supplemental Thesis………………………………………………………………………………………………..11
23. Thesis Marking Process……………………………………………………………………………………………12
24. Thesis Marking Sheet……………………………………………………………………………………………… 12
25. Thesis Marking Rubric…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 14
26. Resources and Support Materials…………………………………………………………………………….15
Figure 1: Are your Research Objectives SMART?……………………………………………………………….. 5
Figure 2: Suggested amounts of data collection……………………………………………………………………7
Table 1: Structure of the Thesis…………………………………………………………………………………………….4
Table 2: Suggested chapter word counts…………………………………….Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 3: Thesis Marking Scheme………………………………………………………………………………………. 12
Table 4: Thesis Award Classification Descriptor………………………………………………………………… 14
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1. Module Aim and Learning Outcomes
This module shall enable students to research a particular area of interest through the
preparation and completion of a thesis. Learning Outcomes:
On completion the learner will be able to:
1. Complete a thesis, having investigated an individual subject/research area or
tested a hypotheses outlined in a research proposal. 2. Conduct an analytical literature review appropriate to the research area under
investigation. 3. Utilise appropriate research methodological techniques within the context of their
research. 4. Present their findings, conduct an analysis of same, drawn conclusions and
provide recommendations within their research area. 2. Choosing a Topic for your Thesis
At the beginning of each year students will be provided with access to a list of suggested
thesis topics generated by staff in the school. These are areas in which they have a
particular interest and they see scope for thesis research. You may also pick a topic of your
choice and approach a supervisor to see if it is a feasible area to conduct thesis research
on. When choosing your topic the key factor is to find an area that you are interested in as you
will be spending a lot of time on this topic over the next year. The second factor to be sure of
is that you are choosing an area in your own discipline. One of the objectives of the thesis is
to deepen your knowledge about your sector and it is for this reason that you must make
sure that your research is focused on your particular area i.e. tourism, event or hospitality. The best way for you to decide which topic you are going to focus on is to read extensively. Reading in the area will make it clear whether you are interested and will also help you to
identify potential research questions.
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3. Finding a Supervisor
Each student has a supervisor who will guide them through the thesis process. After an
initial discussion about your areas of interest you will be told who your supervisor will be. Every effort will be made to match students and supervisors interests but this may not
always be possible. 4. The Role of the Supervisor
The role of the supervisor is to act as a support for you in this process. Their primary role is
to discuss and help you to develop your ideas, read your work and provide feedback and
help you make decisions such as which methods to employ. Most contact with a supervisor
will occur in regular meetings and or through email communication. It is the student’s
responsibility to organize these meetings in conjunction with the supervisor, and it is
important that you contact your supervisor to agree regular meetings. To receive feedback
on written work you need to have submitted it in advance of the meeting, you should ask you
supervisor how long in advance this needs to be.
It is important that as a student you take charge and responsibility for these meetings. You
should have a list of issues that you want to discuss and always be sure to take notes of
decisions that you have made so that you can get the greatest benefit from the time spent
with the supervisor. You should keep these notes in a logbook. You will find a link to the
logbook on your Thesis Brightspace module which you can print. Supervisors will not correct grammatical or English language issues, so you must be
sure to spell- check and proof read before you submit any work. You may wish to get it
proofread externally, particularly if English is not your first language. 5. Writing a Proposal
It is very important that you start writing for your thesis early on in the process and the
proposal provides you with the first opportunity to do this. It requires you to clarify your
thoughts by succinctly outlining the key area of focus of the thesis, an early attempt at
what your research aim might be and your initial thoughts about what methodology you
might employ. This should be submitted to your supervisor in the early weeks of the
process and will form the basis of your discussions at your next meeting with your
supervisor. 6. Structure of the Thesis
The thesis is usually structured in the following way (although the topic and
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methodology may necessitate small differences):
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Table 1: Structure of the Thesis
7. Writing a Literature Review
Prior to undertaking your primary research it is important to examine existing literature
on the subject area. There are a number of reasons for undertaking a literature review
including:
It gives you a good understanding of what other researchers have to say on the subject.
It helps you identify gaps or issues with existing research, this leads to your research question.
It can provide ideas on methods to use, or factors to consider in your own research.
It enables you to position your research in a larger context, so that you can show
what new conclusions might result from your research.
In general, a literature review has two key components. First, it should concisely analyse
and summarises the findings or claims that have emerged from prior research on the
subject. Second, it should reach a conclusion about how accurate and complete that
knowledge is; it should present your considered judgments about what’s right, what’s
wrong, what’s inconclusive or missing in existing literature.
It is very important when completing a literature review that you focus on the body of work
and give an in-depth insight into this as a whole, rather than simply writing a summary list of
what each individual work says. The material should be synthesised and used to develop
arguments and key points. The ultimate purpose of a literature review is to set the
foundation for your research (identify a gap in existing literature) which leads to your
research question, and to position your findings in the context of a larger body of work. 8. Developing a Research Question and Objectives
This is a vital piece of your work as it will guide your research. The research question is
formed as a result of reading the literature and at the end of the literature chapter it is
advisable to identify the gap in knowledge or understanding that your research will fill. The
research question is then the question that your research is going to address. Research
objectives break the research question into key areas which need to be addressed in order
to answer the research question. These
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objectives should be clearly stated and measureable as they will be the basis on which
you will develop your research tool and analyse your data. It is likely to take a number
of iterations to achieve a strong set of objectives. A useful way to determine whether
your objectives are appropriate is to think of the SMART principles. Figure 1: Are your Research Objectives SMART?
9. Choosing a Methodology
When discussing research methodology we are referring to the approach or steps taken to
answer the research question. The research methodology is different to the research
methods as the methodology has many component parts that explain and justify the overall
approach you took in gathering and analysing the primary data, while the methods are the
tools you used to gather the data and are just one component part of the methodology. Your choice of methodology has implications for each stage of your research including
research methods, sampling analysis etc. so it is important to give it careful thought and
consideration. The choice of research methodology is driven by a number of factors:
The nature of the research question will tend to lend itself to particular research
approaches e.g. qualitative, quantitative or mixed. For example a research question that
seeks to measure or to quantify something lends itself to a quantitative methodology (e.g.
to measure the extent to which Three Star Hotels in Dublin use social media marketing). While other research questions lend themselves to a qualitative approach. For example
if you are seeking to understand something such as motivations or perceptions etc. (e.g.
to understand why or why not three Star hotels in Dublin use social media marketing). Alternatively your study might require you to measure and to understand, and in this
case you would use a mixed methods approach which involves using both qualitative
and quantitative techniques and methods. The researcher will influence the methodology in so much as you should choose the
methodology that will enable you to carry out the research that you feel you are best
able to do. This means deciding on your philosophical stance, how you believe
knowledge is imparted and understood but also deciding on whether you are more
comfortable dealing with statistics and measurements (quantitative) or are happier
dealing with more qualitative data such as interviews etc.
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Time, costs and availability of research subjects.
10. Writing a Methodology Chapter
The methodology chapter of the thesis is an important component that essentially maps
out and justifies the approach that you will take when undertaking your primary research. The main objective here is to establish the credibility of the research and this is achieved
by providing a full description and explanation of how the research was carried out, covering all the steps taken along the way. A good way to begin a methods chapter is to write an introductory paragraph that describes
both the design of the study and the organisation of the chapter, it is important to remind the
reader of the research question and research objectives here also. The paragraphs that
follow should provide an explanation of the methods you will utilise to gather the data
necessary to address the research question. In addition to describing these methods, you
also need to provide justification for selecting this method of research (why you felt this
method or these methods in particular were most suitable). When providing justification for
the method of research you are using, you might also provide an explanation for deciding
not to utilise certain commonly accepted research methods. Or, you might provide an
explanation for purposely including or excluding certain groups from your research. It is very
important that you use relevant literature throughout the chapter to support your decisions
and justifications. You should also provide a discussion outlining the philosophical
underpinning of the research. The methodology chapter should include discussions of:
The research design, i.e. the plan for conducting and organising the research. Justification for the use of the methods selected. Who participated and how they were selected (sample and sampling method). The ethical considerations arising from the study and how these were dealt with. Details of what data were collected and how. How data were processed, analysed and managed. How the reliability and validity of the research was ensured, particularly in the
case of quantitative research. Your pilot study. Generalizability/Transferability of the findings. Limitations.
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11. Conducting Primary Research
Before you being your primary research you must receive ethical approval (see
section 18). It is very important for you to give yourself enough time to collect your data. It
can be slow collecting enough survey responses, and for example if you are doing a street
survey, a bad weather day can seriously affect the number of people who will stop for you to
survey. Similarly if you are conducting interviews many students find that it takes many e- mails and phone calls to secure ten interviews. The key is to begin early and plan ahead. When you are drafting your research tool be sure that your questions are addressing your
research objectives and the issues raised in your literature review. A good way to do this is
to write the numbers of the questions which address each aim. This way you will be sure
that when you start to analyze your data it will be relevant to the issues you want to
address. The guideline in terms of data collection is 100 surveys if you are conducting quantitative
research, 8-10 interviews if it is qualitative research and if you are using a mixed methods
approach approximately 80 questionnaires and 3-4 interviews are suggested. These are
simply guidelines and if you have any concerns about your particular research project
speak to your supervisor and they will advise you. You should include you questionnaire/interview protocol/focus group protocol in the
Appendices of the thesis. Chosen Methodology Suggested amounts of data
collection
Quantitative 120 questionnaires
Qualitative 10-12 interviews
Mixed methods 80 questionnaires and 4-5
interviews
Figure 2: Suggested amounts of data
collection Below are guidelines for field work
All data collection tools (questionnaires, protocols, observation forms etc.) to be
reviewed by supervisor prior to administration in the field. Use of Survey Monkey (or alternative) is permissible; focus being on the
transparent accounting for the distribution of the questionnaire and subsequent
appreciation of the sampling issues to which this may give rise. Recognition must
be given of the limitations of Survey Monkey vs a student produced tool. Consideration should be given to the ethical issues which may arise if students
have to pay a nominal fee to receive extended data analysis from Survey Monkey
(or alternative). Where Survey Monkey, or similar, have been used, the extracted Excel file which
includes time and date-stamps shall be retained by the student until after the
examination board. Where in-depth interviews have been conducted, the full name, professional title, and contact details of the interviewee(s), and time and place of interview shall be
provided to the supervisor before the dissertation is submitted. At interview stage all
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interviewees shall
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be notified that they may receive communication from the School as part of the
examination verification process. Completed questionnaires, both on line and on paper, to be reviewed by supervisor. A recording of an interview should be submitted to the supervisor. Detailed notes from an interview must be included as an Appendix in the Dissertation. Recordings of all interviews/interview notes and paper and e-copies of all
completed questionnaires to be retained by the student until after examination
board. Acknowledgement of the field work effort will form part of the context within which
a dissertation is marked and the quality of the data sample will be considered as
part of the marking process. 12. Data Analysis – Findings and Analysis Chapters
As you will see from the marking structure below the analysis chapter is the chapter with the
highest marks and yet many students do not leave themselves with enough time to spend on
this part of their work. Your Findings chapter presents your findings but in the analysis
chapter your thesis should link back to the literature you have discussed in chapter 2 and the
research questions that you have posed. In so doing you are engaging in a deeper level of
analysis. If when you are writing the Analysis chapter you feel that you are repeating what
you have written in the Findings chapter then it is likely that you are doing just that and are
not engaging in analysis. 13. Writing an Introduction
This Chapter (along with the abstract) is normally the last chapter you write. This chapter
should set the scene for the dissertation and provide the reader with a road-map of what is
to follow. This chapter should include the background to your research, identification of your
research aim/question and research objectives, a brief overview of the relevant literature, a
brief overview of the methodology and an outline of the thesis chapters to follow. 14. Conclusions and Recommendations
The conclusions and recommendations chapter should briefly summarise your key findings,
the conclusions that you have drawn from your research, the significance of your research
(i.e. the “so what?” factor) and recommendations arising from your research (e.g. recommendations for future research; recommendations for practitioners), if such
recommendations exist. 15. Title of Thesis
Choosing the title of your thesis is a task that you may leave to the end of the thesis process. The
title should be short (i.e. fewest words possible) and should catch the reader’s attention and
convey the topic/perspective of your research.
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16. Writing an Abstract
This is a very important part of your thesis. It will give the reader a concise overview of
your work and will quickly allow the reader to understand the purpose of your dissertation. Your abstract should be max. 300 words in length and should be single-spaced. The
abstract should include the following sections: the background/context of your research;
the aim or purpose of your research; research design; findings/results; and key
conclusions and recommendations. 17. How many words should the thesis be?
The thesis overall is 15,000 words. The word count limit will be strictly enforced. All words
from the introduction to the conclusion are included in this count. While a range of
10% above or below the word limit is acceptable, if the word count deviates from this, a
penalty of 1% per 200 words will be imposed. The number of words should be indicated on
the cover of the softbound dissertation. 18. Ethical Issues to Consider
When undertaking research, be it an undergraduate dissertation, a taught Masters
dissertation or a research project, it is important to consider, understand, and reflect upon, all appropriate ethical issues pertinent to your individual research area/topic. As a researcher, your ethical behaviour and conduct should embrace all steps of the research process –
development of research aim, literature review, data collection, data analysis, reporting/write-up of data and subsequent dissemination of information, for example, via the
Internet, a conference paper or a refereed journal article.
In the UK, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has identified six key
principles of ethical research:
1. Research should be designed, reviewed and undertaken to ensure integrity, quality
and transparency. 2. Research staff and participants must normally be informed fully about the purpose, methods and intended possible uses of the research, what their participation in the
research entails and what risks, if any, are involved. Some variation is allowed in very
specific research contexts. 3. The confidentiality of information supplied by research participants and the anonymity
of respondents must be respected. 4. Research participants must take part voluntarily, free from any coercion. 5. Harm to research participants must be avoided in all instances. 6. The independence of research must be clear, and any conflicts of interest or partiality
must be explicit
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(Source:http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/Images/Framework%20for%20Researc
h%20Ethi cs%202010_tcm6-35811.pdf)
All undergraduate and Masters’ students in the School of Hospitality Management and
Tourism are required to complete an Ethical Approval for Research Application Form
(available on the Research Methods and Dissertation modules on Brightspace) and submit it
to the School Ethics Committee. Students cannot undertake any primary research (e.g.
interviewee/participant recruitment or data collection) without prior ethical approval. Please refer to the undergraduate or Masters’ Dissertation Schedule for key dates/times
regarding the ethical approval process. Any undergraduate or Masters’ Dissertation that has not fully addressed all ethical
implications of that research and does not have Ethical Approval from the School Ethics
Committee may be considered as being incomplete. During the Dissertation process, you
may find that your research topic and chosen methodologies will change. This will require, in
the first instance, discussions with your Supervisor regarding the ethical implications of these
changes, and on their advice, may require a new Ethical Approval for Research application
to the School Ethics Committee.
If you are engaging in research with people under 18 years of age you must have written
consent from their parents/guardian. You also need to pay special attention to the wording
of questions in surveys or interviews and all interviews should take place with another adult
present. Any such research must be discussed in detail with your supervisor in advance of
the research taking place to ensure that all ethical issues have been considered and
managed. If students have any concerns regarding ethical issues in this regard please
speak to either Dr. Ziene Mottiar or Dr. Theresa Ryan.
If you are conducting research online, for example, conducting a web-based survey or
observing an online community, you must consider a range of ethical issues specific to your
dissertation topic/discipline. These issues may include: identifying whether your research is
being conducted in a public or private domain; data security; implementing consent and
withdrawal procedures; conducting research with children and young people (i.e. under-18
years of age), privacy, confidentiality and anonymity issues; copyright issues and ownership
of data; and social responsibility. You should always discuss any ethical issue(s) with your Dissertation Supervisor and
consult the ‘Ethics in TU Dublin’ webpage – https://www.dit.ie/dsrh/communicateresearch/ethicsresearchintegrity/
The following are further examples of useful websites regarding ethical guidelines:
Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) http://aoir.org/
ICC/ESOMAR Code https://www.esomar.org
UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) http://www.esrc.ac.uk/
Market Research Society https://www.mrs.org.uk/
19. Thesis Schedule
The thesis schedule is available in Brightspace
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20. Referencing and Structure of the Thesis
Consult the Reference Handbook which provides detailed guidelines regarding
referencing and structure of document. This is available in the Thesis Brightspace. 21. Submission of the Thesis
a) A detailed document outlining key dates will be emailed to all students at least 2 weeks
prior to submission. b) You will be sent a link to a Google document 2-3 weeks in advance of submission. At
this link you need to complete your details and the working title of your thesis. You will
also see your identifier code and need to take this down and keep a record of it as
you will need it for the front cover of the softbound copies of your thesis. c) You must submit two soft (spiral bound) copies and one hardbound copy of your
thesis to the school office. d) As well as submitting the hard and softbound copies of the document you should
submit an electronic version. This should be the same version as the hardbound
version that you will submit. You do this on the Brightspace module. e) You must follow the Reference Handbook guidelines in terms of layout etc. f) You should have your name, the title of the thesis, your programme name and the
year on the cover of the HARDBOUND copy. g) To aid with blind marking you should NOT PUT YOUR NAME ANYWHERE ON THE
SOFTBOUND COPIES. Instead your identifier will be the letter that is in the first
column of the excel spread sheet mentioned in part b). The declaration pages and acknowledgement pages should also not be included
in the softbound copies and there should be no reference to your name or
supervisor in this version of the document. h) On the softbound copies you should also put the number of words (from the introduction
to the end of the conclusion) on the front cover bottom right corner.
i) So, on the front cover of the soft bound copy you should just have your letter
identifier and the title of the thesis and the number of words as specified above. 22. Supplemental Theses
If you do not achieve a pass grade in your thesis you will be required to resubmit it to be
considered approximately one year later, if you prefer you also have the opportunity to
submit it at the next Thesis exam board. You should contact your supervisor and meet with
them to determine the
14
changes and additions that are required. You will be notified of the date of re-submission
and on that date you should submit two soft bound copies of your thesis to the school. 23. Thesis Marking Process
The marks for the thesis are divided as follows:
Element Mark
Literature Review presentation 2%
2,000 word Literature Review 8%
Research Methodology presentation 2%
2,000 word Research Methods document 8%
Final thesis 80%
Final theses submissions are anonymized for the marking process. Each thesis is marked
by the supervisor and a second marker using the marking sheet below. They then meet to
discuss the mark and agree a final mark. If there is not agreement about what the mark
should be then a third marker examines the piece of work (without knowing what marks
others have awarded). Following this mark the three markers may then agree a final mark. If
not the document is sent to the external examiner who makes a final decision. A sample of
theses is also viewed by external examiners. 24. Thesis Marking Sheet
Thesis are marked using the following marking sheet. Please note the weighting of the
marks and in particular the fact that the analysis section carries a significant weighting. Thus it is important that you do not run out of time and that you pay considerable attention
to the analysis of your data.
15
School of Hospitality Management and Tourism
Master’s Thesis
Course
Student’s Name
Thesis Title
Assessor: Please tick Advisor 
2
nd Reader 
External Examiner 
Criteria Maximum
Mark
Mark
Awarded
Comment
Organisation &
Presentation
5
Abstract 3
Introduction 5
Literature
Review
25
Methodology
and Ethical
approval
17
Presentation
of Results
15
Interpretation
& Discussion
20
Conclusions &
Recommendatio
ns
10
Total Mark 100
Overall Comment:
AGREED Mark
Advisor/ 2
nd Reader / Examiner Signature Date
25. Thesis Marking Rubric
Below is the thesis marking rubric which is used by examiners in the marking process to
aid the completion of the marking sheet shown in section 24, it clearly shows the
expectations for each band of mark. This table has been produced to act as an aid to
students, supervisors and second readers of Thesis. School of Hospitality Management and
Tourism Thesis Award Classification
Descriptor
Indicativ
e
grade
Dissertations in this category will generally
1
1.1
(80+%)
An exceptional thesis
Provides insights, based on research objectives, and contributes to knowledge
Is clearly based on independent thinking
Handles methodologies with a high degree of competence or develops an innovative methodology
With some editing, is potentially publishable as an academic paper
Is superbly written, referenced and structured
Reflects depth of insight and confidence of understanding, and real critical analysis
1.1
(70%-79%)
Show evidence of original and independent thinking
Show a strong ability to critically analyze and evaluate
Indicate extensive secondary and primary research
Have excellent clarity of written expression
State research objectives which are then met
Be an excellent piece of work – present outstanding work
2.1
(60%-69%)
Have evidence of some critical analysis
Engage in analysis of data
State research objectives which are then met
Have clear written expression
Display a high level of competence
Be well organized
2.2
(50%-59%)
Be adequate but have a limited scope of analysis
Show competent work which is broadly relevant
Be somewhat lacking in organization
Perhaps lack breadth of references
Have written expression which may at times lack clarity and there may be grammar, punctuation and spelling errors
Show competence in analysis of data
State research objectives but perhaps all are not met
Pass
(40%-49%)
Be an adequate attempt to gather and analyze relevant secondary and primary material
Show some knowledge of the material
Demonstrate some understanding
Problems with focus and structure
Adequate standard of written English with numerous faults in terms of grammar and syntax
Shows that the research process has been completed
Research objectives are not clear
Fail (>40%) Have limited or inappropriate research
Show a lack of understanding
Have poor written expression and abundant language errors
Fail to articulate and address research question properly
Display poor analysis
Be very limited in scope
Unrealistic research objectives which are not met
Table 2: Thesis Award Classification Descriptor
1 Please note that this is not meant as an exhaustive list but as a general description. 14
26. Plagarism and Falsification of data
If a student is suspected of either plagiarism or falsification of data the General
Assessment Regulations will be invoked
https://www.dit.ie/qualityassuranceandacademicprogrammerecords/student- assessment- regulations/general/
27. Resources and Support Materials
You will be provided with a detailed reading list in your research methodology
module and lectures and assessments in this module provide your key support. Guidance from supervisors is provided in terms of meetings and comments on your
written work. Support is also provided via the Thesis Brightspace module where there are tips
and videos to help you through the process and to keep on track. The thesis co-ordinator can also be contacted by email: ziene.mottiar@TUDublin.ie
for any queries or concerns that you may have throughout the process.
15

 
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Strategy for Managers Assignment 2020-21

Strategy for Managers Assignment 2020-21
 
Task: You are required:
 
To produce a detailed analysis of a multinational or an organisation active in global trade (governmental, commercial, professional services, or an NGO) and its strategy during the last decade. Please do not select an organisation which has been discussed in detail during lectures and seminars (i.e. where materials about the organisation have been provided).
Steps:

  1. Define your (chosen) industry (be sure to identify your specific industry segment within this broadly defined industry).
  2. Conduct (i) a Five-Forces analysis of your chosen industry and (ii) a PESTEL analysis to identify the key drivers for change over the next 5-10 years (see guidance note 1 and Appendix A for sources of data).
  3. Assess your chosen firm’s current strategy and its ability to both create and capture value. You may draw on any frameworks you believe appropriate to the data you have identified (e.g. can draw on VRIN, Value Chain Analysis, Strategy Canvass, strategy Canvas (Blue Ocean Strategy), Business Model Canvass. Do not try to use all these frameworks! (see guidance notes 2 and 3 below).
  4. What impact has COVID-19 had on your chosen firm’s strategy? Critically evaluate your chosen company’s response to the pandemic. For example, has the firm developed new products/services and are these likely to be retained in a post coronavirus environment? What strategic issues has the pandemic raised for your chosen company or organisation? (see guidance note 4).

Word limit: 2,000 words (+/- 10%) (excluding references and appendices). This limit is to be strictly observed.
 
Submission date:  Friday, 18 December 2020 by 4.00pm at the latest.
 
Feedback date: Friday, 29 January 2021.
 
Component of module: 100%
 
Guidance Notes
This assessment tests the following capabilities:

  1. Your capacity to produce an analytically structured narrative of an organization. This requires researching the organisation over the last decade, using publicly available sources. This will involve trying to reconstruct the strategy adopted by the organization over the last decade. This relies on the information and data available to you from: Business Data Platforms such as Statista and Mintel Marketing Intelligence; government data and statistics publications; international governmental organisations, industry sources, company accounts, and the internet archive sections of the business press.

 

  1. Having produced a narrative, you must analyse the strategy of the organisation using theories / concepts / viewpoints covered in the Strategy for Managers module. This can range from using a single theory through to using a small range of concepts from the module (do not use too many). The concepts used will frame the type of narrative produced.

 

  1. Your analysis should include a critical evaluation of the strategy (strategies) adopted by the organisation under study. Use the academic literature to develop and support analysis of the strategy. To what extent have they been successful? What might you have done differently? What can we learn from their implementation?

 

  1. You will need to ask yourself questions like: what impact has the pandemic had on the company/organisation’s finances and resources? Has the company/organisation developed new products/services? Has the coronavirus impacted on entry barriers, or buyer/supplier power? What other strategic issues have arisen and how has the company/organisation responded? What strategy should the company/organisation pursue going forward?

 
To produce a high-quality strategic analysis of an organisation’s strategy and to ensure maximum marks, it is important that you argue your choices, backing these up with clear data from authoritative sources. We would like to see evidence of research on the subject going beyond “what you simply know”. A high-quality analysis should include an excellent application of the academic literature to analyse and critique the strategy.
 
 
Helpful Tips from Discussions on Assesment
 
 
The questions and feedback from the two groups of students was very helpful. My aim is to respond to the questions and clarify any confusion there is about how to answer the questions as following:
 
The assignment could be written in the way that you suggest. However, it would still be helpful to use sub-headings.
 
Step 1. You are required to select an organisation that is competing in the industry where you are conducting your analysis. This is stated in the task but there was some confusion about this, as it was not stated in Step 1. (e.g. Coca-Cola in the soft drinks industry). You can select an organisation from any country. Further, your analysis can focus on an organisation and industry in a single country(e.g. UK, China, Nigeria, India, etc). For example, you could analyse Apple’s strategy in the UK. I would suggest that for most students, this is the best approach to take.
 
Step 2. There is some confusion here about what is required. It would have been more helpful if I had put the PESTEL analysis before the 5 Forces analysis. (I will make this change on the assignment brief).(a) PESTEL analysis is about identifying the main environmental factors that are likely to impact on your chosen industry, and the strategies of firms operating in this industry (including the firm that you have chosen). You need to identify those key factors from the PESTEL analysis that are most likely to impact and shape industry conditions. It is a means of identifying the threats and opportunities that an organisation faces now and in the future. A simple PESTEL analysis focuses on the main political threats (e.g. global instability) the main economic threats (e.g. Bexit), etc. Alongside this, you can identify the main opportunities that arises from the political (e.g. more UK government support for industry), economic (e.g. new markets in growth regions), social elements, etc of the analysis for your industry. It is likely to be the case that for each of the PESTEL elements, there will be 1 or 2 elements that will have a major impact now and in the future. Try and develop an understanding of how these main macro-environmental factors are impacting on the industry and will do so over the next 5-10 years. Identify the main threats and the main opportunities for each of the PESTEL elements. Managers need to understand what is happening at the macro-level and how it will impact on their industry now and in the future. (b) Five Forces analysis. We are now moving down to the industry level. This is to give you an understanding of the changes that have been occurring in the industry. The Five Forces Framework is to help you to identify the attractiveness of the industry. How powerful are each of the forces? How should the company position itself to defend itself against the strong forces and exploit the weak competitive forces? For example, how can a company protect itself again low barriers to entry? The next step is to consider how the industry is likely to change over the next 5 years or so. Are new competitors likely to enter the industry? Is technology changing. Are there any changes in consumer trends and tastes? This provides you with information on any potential changes in industry structure. Porter only refers to 5 forces. However, in my video recordings, I do mention other forces, specifically complementors (e.g. App suppliers) and network effects in platform industries.**I have realised that I have caused some confusion here. I should have stated ‘see Appendix A for sources of data’). I did NOT intend for you to conduct: ‘an analytically structured narrative of an organization. This requires researching the organisation over the last decade, using publicly available sources. This will involve trying to reconstruct the strategy adopted by the organization over the last decade’ in this section. This is for step 3. (I will correct this in the assignment brief)
 
Step 3. We are now moving down to the level of the company. This is where you are required to conduct ‘an analytically structured narrative of an organization. This requires researching the organisation over the last decade, using publicly available sources. This will involve trying to reconstruct the strategy adopted by the organization over the last decade.’ The sources of data are listed in guidance note 1 and Appendix A.To analyse your organisation’s strategy in step 3, you can draw on the various framework that we have covered: VRIN/O; Value Chain; Business Model Canvas, etc. Do not use more than 1 or 2 frameworks to conduct your analysis.
 
Step 4. This is concerned with assessing the impact of COVID-19 on your chosen organisation’s strategy. How has the firm’s strategy changed in response to the pandemic? What strategy is the organisation likely to pursue post-pandemic? We need to consider any permanent changes in environmental factors such as more people working from home. How would this impact on transportation and the restaurant sector?  Is the structure of the industry likely to change? Which of the five forces is going to be stronger or weaker? From your analysis in step 3, will the organisation need to develop new resources and capabilities to compete in a post-pandemic environment?Synthesis and Critical AnalysisThe wordcount is 2,000 words +/- 10%. You can put your detailed analysis in the appendices. You need to synthesise this analysis for the main text. The main text should contain your key points.General questionsStudents raised questions about the application of theory. This is an opportunity for you to demonstrate the depth and breadth of your reading. You can cite the books and articles that you have used to conduct and support your analysis in each of the four steps. For example, if you are taking a resource-based approach in step 3, you can cite articles that you have used to critically assess the organisation’s resources and capabilities.Sub-headings: you can use sub-headings. This is a good way of structuring your analysis.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Marking Criteria:
Marks will also be based on coverage of all areas specified in the brief. As a guide, you should spend approximately equal amounts of the essay on each of the four topic areas:
 
 

Assignment Element Weight (%)
1. External analysis – Industry and PESTLE 30
2. Assessment of current strategy 40
3. Impact of COVID-19 on organisation’s strategy and
evaluation of the strategic response
30
Total 100

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Marking Criteria

  Descriptor Marks /weight: Industry & PESTLE Analyses (30) (x.3025) Assessment of strategy (x.40) Impact of COVID-19 (30) Total
PASS WITH DISTINCTION
(70% +)
 
Very good analysis, all material that would be expected, originality or extras
Original contribution to knowledge that would potentially be worthy of publication. Few if any areas for improvement. Extremely thorough and authoritative execution of the brief. Containing evidence of significant independent research, reflective, providing original perspectives or insights, well-structured showing significant originality in ideas or argument, aptly focused and very well written. Use of appropriate illustrative examples and data. Materials utilised and applied to the empirical setting in a sophisticated manner, with advanced critical assessment of the evidence arising from the application of theory to practice. 90-100%        
Thorough execution of the brief, well-structured and well-written with a logical flow of argument. Signs of originality and/or independent critical analytical ability. Well-focused and displays mastery of the subject matter and of appropriate theories and concepts but providing few or no original perspectives or insights. Materials well utilised and applied to the empirical setting, with critical assessment of the evidence arising from the application of theory to practice. 80-89%        
Very good execution of the brief; well-focused, knowledgeable, evidence of reading beyond the basic texts and displays a very good knowledge of the subject matter. Good critical grasp of relevant theories and concepts. Materials well utilised and applied to the empirical setting, with mainly critical assessment of the evidence arising from the application of theory to practice.
 
70-79%        
PASS WITH MERIT (60%- 69%)
Good analysis, material as expected
Well-structured and well-focused answer. Comprehensive, although not complete. Showing understanding based on an ability to marshal information and to support arguments with appropriate examples. Goes beyond the lecture material and core reading in either depth or breadth in some areas. Sound grasp of relevant theories and concepts. Approach generally analytical but with some parts remaining descriptive or some reasoning unexplained. Materials are mostly utilised and applied to the empirical setting, with some form of critical assessment of the evidence arising from the application of theory to practice. 65-69%        
As above but either occasionally lacking accuracy or with few examples or with some lack of evidence or application of theory to practice. 60-64%        
PASS (50%-59%)
Adequate analysis, minor omissions, minor errors
Concise but accurate. Based largely on core lecture material and limited evidence of reading beyond the basic texts. References to advanced texts do not show that they have been adequately read and understood. Information presented clearly but tending to be descriptive in approach. May contain excessive use of quotations. May fail to address all areas of the brief appropriately. Some attempts to apply theory to practice, but without demonstrating critical assessment of either. May have evidence but may not be critically applied. 55-59%        
As above but with occasional lapses of accuracy or logic. Remains at surface descriptive level. Tends to be largely descriptive of data, or the empirical setting is described but not applied to theory. May have evidence but is not critically applied. 50-54%        
FAIL (40%-49%)
Major errors and/or omissions in understanding of materials
 
Answer incomplete, with lapses in accuracy, understanding, reasoning or logic. Limited knowledge and understanding of the subject matter displayed; partial and/or containing significant errors and/or irrelevancies, poorly structured. May contain excessive use of quotations. May rely heavily on lecture materials.  Examples are either not used or their relevance is not adequately explained. Almost entirely descriptive in approach, involving description of theory and practice without clear understanding of theory or application to practice explained. 45-49%        
As above but with serious omissions or major errors. Presentation poor. Some material relevant to the question. Evidence that the task has been understood in part at least. Examples inadequate.
 
40-44%        
FAIL (30%-39%)
Complete omission and/or error in understanding materials; lack of relevance
Inadequate execution of the brief. Highly partial understanding of subject area and containing serious errors. Sections partly or substantially irrelevant. Poorly structured. Displays little knowledge of the subject matter. Some key words or phrases repeated but without displaying understanding.  May contain excessive use of quotations. Remains at descriptive level without explanation of relevance to practice. Utilises vague general knowledge or unsupported assertions; may fail to support argument with appropriate evidence or evidence is not clearly made relevant to the question. 30-39%        
FAIL <30%
 
Seriously inadequate execution of the brief. Failure to focus upon the question.  Seriously short or even devoid of theoretical under-pinning of understanding of subject area. Rudimentary knowledge of the subject area.  Serious and fundamental errors in understanding. Claims to knowledge not supported or explained. Large sections irrelevant. May contain excessive use of quotations. Errors serious and fundamental. Little or no relevant evidence of practice related to assignment task, or application of theory to practice. 20-29%        
Little hint of any relevant knowledge. May be an answer to the “wrong” question. 10-19%        
No knowledge relevant to the question 1-9%        
Nothing written. 0%        

 
 
 
 
 
Assessment guidance

  1. Format and limits. Your work must comply with the assessment word limit +/- 10% (excluding reference bibliography and appendices). Work that does not comply will not be marked. You MUST include a word count on the front of your essay. The assignment should be word processed, double spaced and with a font of no less than 11 point. All pages should be numbered. Use headings and sub-headings appropriately to make clear the structure of your essay.

 

  1. You should demonstrate your reading in the subject area in your work through reference to work from appropriate sources such as journals, books, reports etc. THESE MUST BE CLEARLY REFERENCED IN YOUR ESSAY USING THE HARVARD SYSTEM (for guidance see http://libguides.ncl.ac.uk/referencing and http://www.ncl.ac.uk/right-cite/Student/ ). Do not simply reproduce diagrams or extensive general information from the textbooks or articles. You must submit your own work not the work of someone else.  You should assume that we know the workings of basic theoretical or analytical models and will not allocate marks for lengthy descriptions of the models but will allocate marks for the way you apply them to the question and use them to support a line of argument that helps you to answer the question.  Where you use direct quotations or show diagrams, try to keep them short and ensure that they make a direct and clear contribution to your argument. All quotes MUST be clearly cited with a page number.

 

  1. Sources of research information. You will find information from a variety of sources, including academic and popular journals, press reports and web-based information.  Remember to consider the validity of the information and the writer’s viewpoint in the sources that you use in your final text.

 
You should use scholarly books and academic articles (rather than the internet and newspapers etc) as reference sources of theory and argument to support your analysis of your data.
 
As a general principle, you should treat the internet and non-academic publications primarily as sources merely of ‘data’ on which you will base your analysis. When you use such data, it is important to demonstrate awareness and judgment as to its possible partiality, bias or inaccuracy.
 
This is especially important when using data from the internet. As an information resource, it can be very powerful and can quickly guide you to useful sites, if you carry out a disciplined search.  The greatest value of internet information is its richness – anyone can deposit information about whatever they want on the world-wide-web. For students, however, this richness is also its greatest potential weakness.  Web-based information is of highly varying quality and can at times be very misleading or even inaccurate.  The information that you find might be aimed at any kind of constituency, sometimes for the general user, sometimes more specialized in nature. Therefore, it is often difficult to discriminate about which information is most suitable for your purpose. Always use web-information carefully. As with any source of information, take care not to assume that what you are reading is reliable and check out its origin.  Finally, make sure that you cite the full web address with any information to which you refer in written work.
 
Remember to credit all sources of information that you use, in your text and in the bibliography using the required Harvard citation system.
 

  1. Use diagrams and brief tables if appropriate to illustrate points and to support your arguments. Ensure that these are relevant, based on your reading, and that their significance to your argument is clear.

 

  1. Style and content. Your work should discuss and appraise the findings from your study and research and, in doing so, should provide analysis that is relevant to the question posed. Your style should be analytical, interpretative and informative. The content should be focused, relevant to the question and clearly structured.

 

  1. Combining evidence and theory. The aim of the assignment is to answer the question in a well-structured, consistently referenced and clearly analysed manner. We will give marks for a well-supported argument and discussion of the question that draws on relevant evidence, applies evidence and theory intelligently and shows insight and judgment in drawing conclusions. Avoid merely descriptively reproducing factual information – ask yourself: Why am I including this information? How does it relate to the assessment question? What argument or insight that I am making does it help to support?

 

  1. Structure and development. Try to ensure that the structure of your work follows a clear pattern and that the themes develop in a way that is appropriate to your line of argument. Ensure that what you write makes a direct contribution to the question and try to avoid including general or irrelevant information in your answers. Please include appropriate headings, sub-headings and other ‘sign-posts’ so that we can see the direction of your thinking and analysis.

 

  1. You may attach appendices to your work which will not be included in the word-count.  Appendices may include, for example, certain tables or analyses, the conclusions or outputs of which you have included in the main text. They should not be the sole location for any information that is essential to your argument. While appendices can provide supporting evidence for your argument it must be possible to understand and assess the validity of your argument without reference to the appendix (for example, where statistics are drawn from data in an appendix make sure that the key statistics on which your argument depends are summarised or reproduced in the main text of your work). Just as appendices do not influence the word count, so they will not affect the mark you are awarded for the work.

 
 
 
 
 
Appendix A
Sources of Data
 
Sources of data from governmental, industry and other sources
Sources of data from Newcastle University Library
Databases on industries and companies

  • Statista – industry data
  • Mintel Marketing Intelligence – UK market research
  • Lexis (Lexis@Library) UK national and regional newspapers
  • Nexis – International and business news, company information, etc in various languages
  • Financial Times
  • Passport – business information on countries, consumers and industries
  • Business Source Complete – overview of company information, industry profiles, company profiles, market research reports
  • Mergent Intellect – US and international business data
  • Mergent Archives – corporate and industry documents from over 100 countries and industries (1998-2014)
  • UK Data Service – Office of National statistics
  • International Statistics –
    • Eurostat (EU growth, unemployment, inflation, etc);
    • United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE);
    • Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – range of datasets;
    • United Nations (UNData) – economic performance, innovation, etc
    • Quandl – economic, finance, markets, health, etc datasets (free access, but you will need to sign up and create an account)

 
Financial databases

  • Fame – UK companies
  • Amadeus database – European companies
  • Oriana – companies in Asia-Pacific region including China

 
 
Sources of data from governmental, industry and other sources (available online)
Measures of freedom and democracy
 
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2019
Entrepreneurship and business statistics
https://www.oecd.org/sdd/fin-stats/
National accounts and householder debt, loans, etc
https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-debt.htm
https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/HH_LS@GDD/CAN/GBR/USA/DEU/ITA/FRA/JPN
Office of National Statistics (ONS) UK data
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/debt/datalist
World Economic Forum
https://www.weforum.org/
https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-risks-report-2019
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/archive/united-kingdom/
International Monetary Fund (economic data)
https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/datasets
Bank of International Settlement (economic & financial data)
https://www.bis.org/
World Bank (income, demographics, etc)
https://data.worldbank.org/
https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/dataset/world-development-indicators
US Government Open data
https://www.data.gov/
EU Open data
http://data.europa.eu/euodp/en/data/
UK Open data
https://data.gov.uk/
Open Knowledge Foundation
https://opengovernmentdata.org/data/
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
World Health Organization
https://www.who.int/en/
Registry of open data on AWS
https://registry.opendata.aws/
Facebook
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api
Google datasets
https://www.google.com/publicdata/directory
https://trends.google.com/trends/explore
https://www.google.com/finance
Gap Minder (variety of datasets)
https://www.gapminder.org/data/
UK Data Service (Social, economic, population)
https://www.ukdataservice.ac.uk/
ICAEW (Company reports)
https://www.icaew.com/library/company-research/company-reports-and-profiles/annual-reports
Yahoo (Finance, market data,etc)
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/
Annual Reports
http://www.annualreports.com/
Morningstar (Financial and market data)
http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/
Motor Industry
https://www.smmt.co.uk/
National Health Service (UK)
https://www.nhs.uk/about-us/nhs-website-datasets/
 

 
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Environmental Engineering and Sustainability 2

Environmental Engineering and Sustainability 2 1 Edinburgh, November 2020
Environmental Engineering and
Sustainability 2
Assessing environmental impacts and
sustainability issues of a landfill site
The University of
Edinburgh
School of Engineering
This is a fictional brief, and you should not contact any of the organisations mentioned in the
brief, or any of the businesses in the area.
This project explores the use of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) methodology as a tool
to find the best available location for a new facility. The key requirement is to assess environmental
impacts and mitigation solutions for a hypothetical new landfill site. Based on this, the selection of
the best available location for the landfill site should be clearly justified.
In this project you will work in groups.
Background
 You work in the fictional organisation, Environmental Engineers Without Borders (EEWB),
which is based in Edinburgh. The aim of EEWB is to promote sustainable engineering, and
provide creative, innovative and socially responsible engineering solutions to make our world
fairer, greener, and safer.
 The City of Edinburgh Council has decided to build a new landfill site, where solid wastes
coming from Edinburgh city and the surrounding areas will be disposed of. The capacity of the
new landfill facility will be 100,000 tn/year and its estimated life expectancy will be 30 years.
 EdiDesigners is the company that carries out the design of the new landfill facility. The project is
now at the licencing stage and for this reason a draft EIA document has been submitted to
Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and has been made available for public
consultation.
 EdiDesigners has asked from EEWB to act as a non-statutory consultee and provide advice on
the planned new facility.
 EEWB has formed a multidisciplinary environmental team, who took over the role to develop a
formal document advising on the planned new landfill facility.
 EdiDesigners have considered three different sites (A, B and C) to build the new landfill facility.
Attached is a map with sites A, B, and C.
 The City of Edinburgh Council is on negotiations with Scottish Borders, Midlothian, and West
Lothian Councils about compensation fees. Here you can see the Councils’ boundaries.
 Landfill site selection is the most important decision that should be made when planning a
landfill. Natural, social, political, economic and technical factors should be taken into account to
decide on the best available site. Therefore, site selection is usually made by a multidisciplinary
team of experts with advice from various consultees. Amongst others, the following issues
should be taken into account when selecting a landfill site [1, 2]:
o Distance from protected areas
Environmental Engineering and Sustainability 2 2 Edinburgh, November 2020
o Distance from residential areas
o Distance from water resources
o Distance from roads
o Land use
o Recommendations of local authorities, e.g. inter-municipal corporation agreements
 After careful consideration, EdiDesigners concluded that site C is the most preferable option to
build the new landfill site.
The Brief
 You are required to prepare a document in order to advise SEPA (and the general public) on the
environmental sustainability of the new landfill site.
 Answers to the following issues should be included in the document:
1. Explain whether and how the new landfill facility will contribute to sustainable development
of the city of Edinburgh and the surrounding area.
2. Identify the stages of the life cycle of the new landfill site facility.
3. Assess the environmental impacts of the planned facility.
4. Suggest solutions to mitigate environmental impacts.
5. Evaluate whether the proposed site C is the best available location to build the landfill site.
Feel free to suggest another site (e.g. site A or B or a new one) that you think would be more
suitable to build the landfill site. Consider the “do nothing” scenario. Justify your answers.
The Submission
Each group will submit its project on Learn (submission deadline: Thursday 3rd of December at 2
pm).
Working arrangements/suggestions
You should first contact your groupmates and make sure that you all read and understand the
project brief. Following this, you should start drafting your project submission (i.e. read and
research about landfill site facilities, think about sustainability issues, identify environmental
impacts and ways to mitigate them, make decisions, clearly justify and communicate your
decisions).
References
[1] Y. Rezaeisabzevar, A. Bazargan, B. Zohourian. Landfill site selection using multi criteria decision making:
Influential factors for comparing locations. Journal of Environmental Sciences 93 (2020) 170–184.
[2] H. Asefi, Y. Zhang, S. Lim, M. Maghrebi, S. Shahparvari. A multi-criteria decision support framework for
municipal solid waste landfill siting: a case study of New South Wales (Australia). Environmental Monitoring and
Assessment (2020) 192:682.
Environmental Engineering and Sustainability 2 3 Edinburgh, November 2020
Assessment
Table 1: Assessment Criteria
Assessment
Criteria
Minimum requirement for
Pass (D) 40%
Minimum requirement for
Excellent (A3) 70%
Understanding of
sustainability
concepts
The submission demonstrates basic
understanding of concepts, such as
sustainable development, life cycle
assessment (LCA), and environmental
impact assessment (EIA). Main
sustainability issues have been identified,
but some others were not taken into
account.
Ability to identify interactions between
sustainability issues and how these
apply in real-world problems. The
submission clearly identifies all issues
related to environmental sustainability,
as well as how these can be affected by
other social and economic parameters.
Feasibility of the
proposed solutions
and decision
making
The solution(s) is(are) technically
feasible: the submission demonstrates
that the solution(s) provided and
decisions made are viable (e.g. according
to current regulations, and key design
considerations have been made), and the
new facility is possible to be built.
However, the submission does not take
into account all technical considerations,
and the solutions are no more than
sufficient.
The solution(s) is(are) not only feasible,
but is(are) elegant, efficient, innovative
and appropriate. For example, the
submission will not only provide
feasible solutions to minimize
environmental impacts, but ones that
will also minimise safety hazards during
construction and operation. The
solutions presented in the document are
unambiguous, realistic, and
professional. They do not leave the
reader with unanswered questions about
the decisions made. Solutions provided
and decisions made are properly
supported by evidence (e.g. by literature
or calculations if any).
Quality of
communication
Basic communication that can be
understood, but which lacks clarity. For
example, the submission may not cover
all required issues, or it might be a
collection of individual perspectives that
have not been unified into the submission
document, possibly containing conflicting
information.
Every aspect of the submission is easily
understood. The document is wellstructured and easy to follow. Figures,
tables, graphs, etc. are extensively and
properly used to communicate the
project’s findings. There is a consistent
writing style, which uses appropriate
order and referencing to lead an
unfamiliar reader through the
document.
Environmental Engineering and Sustainability 2 4 Edinburgh, November 2020
Environmental Engineering and Sustainability 2 5 Edinburgh, November 2020
Environmental Engineering and Sustainability 2 6 Edinburgh, November 2020

 
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