While the first nine biggest problems faced by business are a direct result of research, the 10th is really BMGI’s own conclusion based on the prior nine. The lack of sophisticated approaches to information acquisition, analysis and the development of unique insight leaves many companies at a disadvantage; they lack a long-term strategic imperative and instead jump from one strategy to the next on a year-to-year basis. Everyday problem-solving competency among today’s business leaders is also limiting their ability to adequately deal with the first nine problems. This is why corporate managers tend to jump from one fire to another, depending on which one their executives are trying to put out, and in many cases the fast-changing business environment is what ignites these fires in the first place. So what is the problem to be solved? We believe, to navigate the future, companies must resolve that strategic thinking and problem solving are the keys to successful business, then develop a robust capability at all levels.
This is an individual, written assessment, to be completed in report format. The required length of the report is 1,250 to 1,750 words (excluding title page, preliminaries, tables, figures, reference list and appendices). In-text referencing and a full reference list, provided in APA style, are required.
The purpose of this assessment is to provide the contextual background to YOUR future profession, alongside a proposal detailing the topic of YOUR professional project.
In order to successfully complete assessment 1, you are required to reflect upon your course (program) of study and the 'profession' that is associated with this course. This requires you to explore the notion of 'profession' in general, alongside your future career pathways and the specific profession, towards which you are studying. In particular, you are required to write a report including the following:
1. Project context (500 - 750 words; at least 5 high-quality academic and/or practitioner references):
• Identify and explore YOUR future profession (management)
• Produce a critical review of your understanding of what it means to 'become a professional' in YOUR future profession
2. Project proposal (750 - 1,000 words; at least 10 high-quality academic, peer-reviewed journal articles): Identify a problem or issue - this must be CRUCIALLY relevant to your profession - which your professional project will address, and write the following:
• Clear and concise working title for your project
• Background and definition of the issue/problem, including a justification why this issue/problem is crucially relevant to your profession
• Your project's proposed aim and objectives/research questions
• A preliminary critical literature review on this issue/problem, particularly highlighting any gaps in the literature
• An overview of how you will be proceeding with your project, including secondary information sources,approaches to analyse them, major milestones and a Gantt chart schedule
3. In addition, you are required to attach evidence that you have discussed your proposed topic with your campus tutor and that the campus tutor has approved the topic prior to the vacation week.
You should use the BUSN20019 logbook (available here) to record your interactions with your campus tutor - PRINT the logbook and bring it to every meeting you have with your tutor. Online students: you should copy email screenshots into the logbook to evidence your interaction with the tutor. ALL students: submit the logbook with your proposal and report (this may mean scanning it in).