Global Business Environment

1. Coursework – essay

An essay will account for 30% of the module’s marks.  The essay, no more than 2000 words (+/- 10%) will be based on external environmental issues facing businesses today. Furthermore, students will be given the opportunity to discuss their essays during module convenor’s office hours.

The module will make use of the Turnitin Software. Turnitin is computer software that addresses plagiarism problems when submitting essays.   The software will check all essays submitted and will indiscriminately be checked for possible plagiarism. 

• Essay Topics

Please choose ONE of the following essay topics for your assignment:

1. “Businesses in emerging and developing countries are less likely to effectively respond to the challenges of climate change and environmental sustainability in comparison to businesses in advance countries”. Discuss.

• “Macro-regional business environment (for e.g. business environment in South Asia, Europe, North America etc.) play a more important role in facilitating business competitiveness than national business environment”. Discuss. 

• “Brexit has created more environmental opportunities for UK and EU businesses than environmental threats” Discuss.

•  “Business environment plays a crucial role in shaping business response to global supply chain disruptions”. Discuss.   

3.     Essay Presentation

An essay should have a title page, text, and a bibliography.

Title page

The title page should state

• the module name;
• the title of the question being answered;
• your student ID;
• the date of submission;
• and the word count, excluding bibliography.
•  

The title page is usually not numbered.  Do not put your name on the title page or elsewhere in the essay.

Text

The essay must be word-processed according to the following guidelines:

• The text should have 1.5 (or double) line spacing.
• Divide the text into paragraphs, with a blank line between each paragraph.
• The font size should be 11 or 12 point. The text may be left aligned or justified, as you wish.
• The page number should be displayed at the bottom of each page, starting with 1 on the first page of text.

Punctuation:  Full stops indicate the end of a sentence, while commas (and less frequently colons and semi-colons) mark off its parts. Avoid over-use of ─ dashes ─ exclamation marks! and (brackets).

Commas:  Commas are most commonly used in lists and to separate subordinate clauses and compound sentences.  They should not be placed between the subject and verb of a sentence.  Thus, ‘The unemployed agricultural labourers set fire to hay ricks’, not ‘The unemployed agricultural labourers, set fire to hay ricks.’

Passive voice:  Avoid the passive voice, which leads to vague writing because it removes the human actor from the sentence.  It is better to write ‘The confraternity commissioned a painting of charitable activity’ (active) than ‘A painting of charitable activity was commissioned’ (passive). 

Also

• Avoid unsupported generalisations.
• Avoid slang.
• Avoid personalising your argument by using phrases such as ‘It is my opinion…’  You may use the first person, for example, ‘I will argue…’ or ‘As we have seen…’.
• Avoid padding with phrases like ‘It is important to note that….’
• Vary the structure of sentences.

Tables and Figures

Your essay may include tables and figures.  Tables present frequencies, crosstabs or aggregated statistics.  Figures may include charts, graphs, maps, photos or other images.  Tables and figures should be numbered sequentially from one in two separate series.  Thus, you may have Tables 1, 2, 3, 4, … and also Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.

Follow the following guidelines in presenting tables and figures.

• Each table and figure should be marked with the appropriate number and with a clear title of its contents, either above or below.  For example, ‘Table 1: Occupations of Irish-born Men, 1851’.
• Provide the source below the table or figure. Please see the referencing guide for further guidelines

4.     School and University policy on avoiding plagiarism

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is a form of academic misconduct. Plagiarism may be committed in a number of ways, including:

• Copying another person’s work or ideas. This includes copying from other students and from published or unpublished material such as books, internet sources, paper mills, computer code, designs or similar
• Submitting previously submitted or assessed work of your own without attribution
• Submitting work solicited from (or written by) others
• Failing to adequately reference your sources

Plagiarism and duplication of material, as defined below, are cited in the regulations as examples of breaches of General Regulation V.3:

• Plagiarism: Reproducing in any work submitted for assessment or review (for example, examination answers, essays, project reports, dissertations or theses) any material derived from work authored by another without clearly acknowledging the source
• Duplication of material: Reproducing in any submitted work any substantial amount of material used by that student in other work for assessment, either at this University or elsewhere, without acknowledging that such work has been so submitted

Common to all forms of plagiarism is that you intentionally or unintentionally present someone else’s arguments, information or words as your own.  You plagiarise, for example, if:

1.       You copy sentences or parts thereof verbatim from any source without      quotation marks, thereby suggesting that the copied words are your own          when they are not.
2.       You paraphrase sentences or paragraphs very closely.
3.       You use arguments, information or verbatim quotes from a source without      acknowledging the source by providing a reference every time you use       information, arguments or verbatim quotes from that source. 

Anything written or said by someone else is a source, including articles, books, lectures, lecture notes, web pages, dictionaries, speeches, interviews, radio and TV programmes, other students’ essays, etc.

Just to make it absolutely clear:

• Every time you use a quote (i.e. you copy sentences or parts thereof verbatim) you have to use quotation marks and provide a reference, including the page number.

Duplication of material is a lesser known academic offence which nevertheless carries the same penalties as plagiarism. Duplication of material refers to the submission for assessment of any work or substantial parts thereof that you have previously submitted for assessment at the University or elsewhere without acknowledging that you are doing so.

What are the penalties for plagiarism and duplication of material?

The penalties can be severe. They include marks of zero for individual coursework and de-registration from the university for serious or repeat offences. Additionally, offences may be noted in your student record.

Therefore it is vital that you ensure all assignments are your own work and follow good academic practice, including the correct academic referencing.