Managerial and Decision Economics M20440 – Coursework Assignment 1
Managerial and Decision Economics M20440 – Coursework Assignment 1
Spring 2022
Learning outcomes
This coursework assignment addresses the following learning outcomes:
ï‚· Show understanding of issues relating to corporate social responsibility and how it might influence decision making within organisations;
ï‚· Review academic literature relating to managerial and decision economics in order to make policy recommendations.
Coursework assignment and submission details
This assignment is weighted 20% towards the unit assessment
By Friday 22nd April 2022, 23:55, in no more than 700 words, submit a response to the following topic. You MUST answer BOTH parts.
a) By focusing on a prominent firm (this can be Tesco, Lego, IKEA etc..) critically analyse the engagement of the firm in corporate social responsibility. Use news articles, reports, or firms’ own business records to get this information (Don’t forget to give credit to your source!).
Relate the CSR activities of that firm to at least one of the CSR theories that we discussed in the lecture and explain how firm’s CSR activities are in line with that theory.
[Use approx. 500 words for this part. This part counts towards 75% of this assessment’s mark]
b) Briefly but precisely explain what is a “king maker” within the context of Hotelling’s Location Model. Hint: Think of Hotelling’s application in political science. [Use approx. 200 words for this part. This part counts towards 25% of this assessment’s mark]
IMPORTANT: There is a submission box for this assignment on Moodle and it is YOUR RESPONBILITY to submit the CORRECT assignment into the CORRECT submission box. If you submit a wrong assignment (e.g., you accidently submit an essay that was meant for another module) or into a wrong submission box there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that can be done to correct this once the submission deadline has passed!!
Essays should be submitted electronically to the Dropbox facility on Moodle (which can be found under the ‘Coursework’ section) as an MS Word document (.doc/.docx). File names should include your student number, such as UP123456.docx.
Formatting: Use Arial size 12 font with 1.5 line spacing, include only page numbers in the footer and your student number in the header. Your name should NOT appear in your submission. Essays should be referenced according to the APA 7th edition. The word count is a maximum of 700 words (excluding the reference list and tables). Work that exceeds 700 words will not be read beyond the stated word count.
Late Submission of Assignment
Assignments submitted after the published submission date without a valid Extenuating Circumstances Form (ECF), but within ten working days of that date, will be marked. The mark awarded will be limited to the unit pass mark (40% unless otherwise specified in the unit handbook). Assignments submitted more than ten working days after the published submission date will not be marked, and a mark of zero will be recorded on the student's record. It will be recorded as a non-submission. Students are strongly advised to keep a copy of their work. Corruption of computer disks is not an adequate excuse for late hand in, as work should be adequately backed up.
Marking criteria and Feedback
To satisfy the above learning objectives, your assignment submission will be graded against the following criteria: (see the next page for more details on grade criteria)
ï‚· Analysis of theory – Choice and discussion of relevant theory/ theories.
ï‚· Application of theory – Appraise the actions taken by management in the firms and evaluate the applicability of relevant theory to the firm in question.
ï‚· Communication – Essays will be assessed on the quality of language, structure, presentation of diagram(s), construction of well-reasoned arguments.
ï‚· Academic scholarship – Quality of chosen sources and use of citations and references. Originality of the essay.
Marks and feedback will be available on or before 23 May 2022. Marks will be posted on the Student Portal, and your marked coursework and tutor’s feedback will be available on Moodle once it has been marked and processed.
Referencing requirements
Please include a Reference List of all items cited in your work and follow this with a Bibliography to show your wider background reading. All sources should be acknowledged and appropriately cited within your work, following the University's approved referencing conventions [APA 7th ed.]. Students who fail to include a reference list will be penalised. If any student has a query about any of the above matters and wishes to obtain clarification or further information please contact the unit co-ordinator or your personal tutor. Referencing is required to give intellectual credit to your source, help your reader recover your source easily and to avoid being accused of plagiarism.
For further guidance see: http://referencing.port.ac.uk/
Grade Criteria
A first class answer (70%+) is one that demonstrates evidence of in-depth study, including the consultation and effective use of a range of quality references relating to the question under scrutiny. The answer should demonstrate knowledge of the area (contained in the question) and key debates of relevance, which are compared and contrasted. It should go beyond descriptive content and be analytical in its approach; first class answers will provide a successful critique. Evidence of clear understanding, evaluation and interpretation is necessary to achieve this grade and this is often demonstrated through original contribution. The answer will be clearly focused upon the question and will also include relevant diagrams that will be labelled and used to explain the key points in the argument. A first class answer will be well written, clearly referenced and will cite evidence in support of the arguments.
An upper second class grade (60–69%) should demonstrate many – but not all – of the features listed above for a first class answer. Crucially, it should show evidence of reading, understanding and interpretation and must go beyond descriptive content. The answer must address the question and will include appropriate diagrams. Once again the answer must be well written and referenced. The extent to which the student has analysed and interpreted relevant material will be the boundary between this grade and a first class answer and the balance of description to analysis is the difference between a 2:1 and 2:2.
A lower second class answer (50–59%) will show understanding of the topic under scrutiny and some broadly based reading. The answer will be weighted more towards description than analysis and the answer might not go beyond the material delivered in lectures. Factual information will be correct and properly utilised but might not have been shaped to address the question. The answer will usually be clearly written but the use of vocabulary and the grammatical structure will not reach the standard of a first class or upper second class answer. Diagrams will be more basic or not clearly explained or applied to the question.
A third class answer (40–49%) is often very ‘common-sense’ in its approach and is lacking in analytical content. Use of sources is quite basic and all relevant literature has not been covered. Awareness of debates/ disputes outside this common-sense answer is poor. There is, however, evidence of some understanding of the topic, but this may be accompanied by some factual or analytical misunderstandings. There might be some errors in the grammar or punctuation whilst diagrams will either be lacking or will not have been used fully to explain the key concepts.
A fail (under 40%) is usually an answer that has either not addressed the topic under scrutiny sufficiently or has misunderstood what was required from the question. Little evidence of reading, poor understanding of key concepts and even mainstream debates. An answer that fails will often be poorly written and the poor communication skills will impede the understanding of the content. Diagrams will either be lacking or will be wrongly used.