Assessment Task 2 - Individual Report (30%)! HBM220 Assessment 2 (Aamp;amp;B): Individual Report Overview: You will write a formal report which is a...
Assessment Task 2 - Individual Report (30%)!!!
HBM220 Assessment 2 (A&B): Individual Report
Overview: You will write a formal report which is a mix of review of theory and personal case study. You will apply two consumer behaviour theories to yourself in relation to one of your own purchase decisions.
Topic: Choose two theories based on their relevance to you and the purchase decision you are writing about - you want to use theories that give you scope to make insightful arguments.
Psychoanalytic theory
Social-cultural theory (Jung's theory, Adler's theory, Horney's theory). Choose one out of the three social-cultural theories.
Self- concept theory
Trait theory
Task: There are several tasks involved in producing your report:
You need to choose a purchase decision you have recently made that was 'high involvement' (refer to your materials for explanation of involvement). It should also be a purchase where you were the main decision maker, as opposed to a purchase where the choice was made by other people. Summarise the purchase briefly within the introduction to your report to set the scene.
Choose two of the theories. You will need to discuss the theories and then use them to analyse your purchase decision so choose on the basis of relevance.
Research your two theories so that you can give an informed explanation of them. You must use at least 2 consumer behaviour books (in addition to your textbook) and 4 recent academic peer reviewed journal articles. These sources must be relevant and authoritative, and correctly cited within your report and referenced in the reference list. The sources will support your explanation of the consumer behaviour theories you will be covering in your report [1] .
Analyse your decision making process in light of the two theories. This is likely to involve some reflection and analysis of yourself as a person so that you can apply the theories to your situation.
Explain how your experience was or could have been influenced by marketing activities related to the theories. (Marketing activities include: Approach to setting prices; types of products/services offered; design/features/style of products offered; types of consumers targeted; packaging/signage used; store layout/design; distribution/delivery options; promotion strategy.)
Provide brief recommendations for how marketing strategy could have been improved to relate better to you by using the buyer behaviour theories you have researched. Strategy could relate to the organisation you purchased from OR their competitor/s.
In summary your report needs to achieve three purposes.
Explanation of theory: you discuss two selected theories.
Application of theory: you explain how the theories apply to you and your purchase experience.
Relating buyer behaviour to marketing strategy: you discuss marketing activities relevant to your theories that may have influenced you, and recommend improvements to marketing strategies, related to the theories.
The weightiest parts of your report will be (a) and (b).
There are TWO required outputs from this assessment that carry marks:
(A) Peer evaluation of your draft report (5%)
(B) Your final report (25%)
Further details for each are provided in the following sections.
Note that you must complete all assessment tasks to be able to pass this unit.
A. Draft Report Peer Evaluation (5%)
Overview: This part of your assessment gives you a valuable opportunity to enhance your report before it is finally submitted. Having to present a draft for review by others should assist you in fine tuning your thinking about how to tackle the assignment. By reflecting on other students' work you will also develop your critical thinking and analysis skills and that will also lead to an improvement in your own work.
The Task: In week 8 tutorials you will bring 5 copies of a draft of your work on the individual report. Your draft should include the following:
1. A mocked up outline of your report, with the headings you are likely to use. This should be a like a draft 'Table of Contents' that can fit on one page - a list of headings that is able to be scanned quickly to grasp the structure of your report.
2. 1 or 2 paragraphs of your writing about the theories you have chosen (with appropriate citations) so that readers can get an idea of your writing style and your grasp of the theories.
3. A draft reference list in Harvard format so it is possible to see whether you have found appropriate articles and books and can reference them correctly.
It may help you to imagine that you are submitting a draft outline to some senior colleagues. They want to see the structure and style of your report to check you are on the right track. The draft should therefore be professional but does not have to be polished.
Word limit: There is no word limit but your entire draft should be no longer than 3 sides of A4 paper.
Assessment criteria: You will be evaluated on:
Logic and clarity of your outline structure
The clarity of your expression
Understanding of the theory
Appropriateness of your writing style
The appropriateness of your references (are they authoritative sources?) and citation style
B. Final Report (25%)
The task: You need to submit a polished professional report on the assigned topic. Don't forget to follow the conventions of report writing - you will be assessed on format and style as well as content. The Summers and Smith (2010) book mentioned in your unit outline, or another up to date business writing guide should help. Note that unlike most formal reports you can use 1 st person in this one, but keep your language formal in other respects - it is still an academic piece of writing.
Word limit: Your final report should be 3000-3500 words (excluding title page, executive summary, table of contents, in-text references, and reference list). Reports that are too long will be penalised.
Assessment criteria : Details appear on the following pages.
[1] Peer-reviewed journal articles can be accessed from the Library's electronic databases (look at both business and psychology databases). If you are unfamiliar with academic research in the library you are strongly advised to take advantage of the free library tours on offer.
Faculty of Business and Enterprise
HBM 220/HBM220N Individual Final Report Marking Guide
Value 25% 3000-3500 words
Student name:
Student ID no. Grade Awarded _____
| CRITERIA | Not done (ND) | Unsatis-factory (N) | Satis-factory (P) |
Good (C) | Very Good (D) |
Excellent (HD) |
| KEY CONTENT AREAS: | ||||||
| Explanation of theory | ||||||
| Understanding of buying behaviour theory. |
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| Critical thinking and analysis. |
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| Evidence of wide reading of good quality sources |
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| Application of theory | ||||||
| Ability to apply theory |
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| Self reflection and analysis |
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| Relating buyer behaviour to marketing strategy | ||||||
| Understanding of the influence of marketing activities on buyer behaviour |
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| Practical recommendations |
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| ANALYSIS AND ACADEMIC WRITING EVIDENT THROUGHOUT REPORT | ||||||
| Synthesis of ideas (makes connections between ideas) |
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| Ability to judge strengths and weaknesses - consideration of alternatives |
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| Evidence of analysis |
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| Defensible generalisations |
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| Evidence of critical thinking (thoughtful and reflective) |
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| Demonstrates originality; |
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| Develops clear argument and addresses the topic appropriately |
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| Closure of material (completion of the task) |
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| Addresses all aspects of the task |
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| Insightful thought |
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| TECHNICAL ASPECTS | ||||||
| Literacy standard |
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| Structure |
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| Writing Style |
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| Technical accuracy |
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| Appropriate use and format of references |
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| Formatting |
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| NB: Criteria do not carry identical weighting
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| Tutor general comments | ||||||
Explanation of criteria for individual report
| CRITERIA | EXPLANATION |
| KEY CONTENT AREAS: | |
| Explanation of theory | |
| Understanding of buying behaviour theory. | The student has clearly and cogently demonstrated their understanding of the theory. |
| Critical thinking and analysis. | The explanation clearly demonstrates the capacity to analyse and critique theory, integrating a range of sources. |
| Evidence of wide reading of good quality sources | The assignment is shown to be supported by appropriate reading. (At least 2 consumer behaviour book (in addition to your textbook) and 4 recent academic peer reviewed journal articles). In-text citations clearly show that arguments and explanations are based on reliable sources. Sources should be good quality (eg in terms of the reputation of the authors/publisher, currency of the information, and whether or not they are peer-reviewed). |
| Application of theory | |
| Ability to apply theory | Theory is applied appropriately to a 'real world' situation, demonstrating good understanding of what the theory means in practice |
| Self reflection and analysis | The application of theory to the student's purchase decision shows that careful self-analysis has occurred. |
| Relating buyer behaviour to marketing strategy | |
| Understanding of the influence of marketing activities on buyer behaviour | Student is able to recognise how marketing practice relates to their assigned buyer behaviour theories and explain this clearly |
| Practical recommendations | The student has been able to identify ways for organisations to apply buyer behaviour theories more successfully. |
| ANALYSIS AND ACADEMIC WRITING EVIDENT THROUGHOUT REPORT | |
| Synthesis of ideas (makes connections between ideas) | The student brings their ideas together in a logical and succinct conclusion. Synthesis implies that the student has previously analysed, judged and selected and developed a clear argument. |
| Ability to judge strengths and weaknesses - consideration of alternatives | The student displays the ability to decide between the good and bad points of another's work and to identify which points are of sufficient merit to discuss. Students are assessed as much on what they leave OUT of a discussion as what they choose to include. |
| Evidence of analysis | The student shows relevant analysis in their assignment. Analysis is defined as "a breaking up of any whole into parts so as to find out their nature and function" (Collins Australian Dictionary of the English Language, 1981) This means that you will show that you understand the implications of the whole theory as well as the role the component parts play in the overall 'big picture' |
| Defensible generalisations | The student has CORRECTLY applied theories and subject matter covered in class. This implies that the student has understood the concepts, has selected the correct concepts to apply and has interpreted the correct way to apply them to a specific context. |
| Evidence of critical thinking (thoughtful and reflective) | The student's assignment is well thought out and demonstrates logical reasoning. There is evidence of in-depth examination of the material covered. Critical does not necessarily mean negative - it implies an ability to see beyond the material to the implications of it and an ability to construct new meaning from that which is supplied in readings |
| Demonstrates originality; | There is evidence of creative thinking in the student's assignment. Plagiarism, i.e. "taking the ideas or writings of another and passing them off as one's one"� (Collins Australian Dictionary of the English Language, 1981) is not acceptable. The ideas must be your own. |
| Develops clear argument and addresses the topic appropriately | The student's assignment builds unambiguous arguments supported by logical analysis and references or explanation and examples. This argument is sustained throughout the entire work in a coherent and consistent manner. |
| Closure of material (completion of the task) | The student brings the material to a logical and comprehensive conclusion.
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| Addresses all aspects of the task | The student has answered all parts of the question appropriately and with sufficient consideration of the various aspects of difficulty of each section. |
| Insightful thought | The student has demonstrated that their thought processes have led to a deep, clear understanding of the issues involved. Shows that understanding can lead to better decision making. |
| TECHNICAL ASPECTS | |
| Literacy standard | Sentence construction and vocabulary used by the student is suitable for both the material covered and the audience. |
| Structure | The assignment is presented in a logical order and style appropriate to the material covered. |
| Writing Style | The student's assignment must adhere to the Swinburne style manual (and the suggestions of the business communication book recommended) |
| Technical accuracy | The assignment flows well and does not contain any grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors. |
| Appropriate use and format of references | There is appropriate use of in-text referencing in the correct format, and the reference list of presented correctly. See http://www.swinburne.edu.au/lib/guides/harvard_system.pdf |
| Formatting | The assignment is also formatted according to the requirements of the course. |
