Assignment #1 FAQs (updated 20-03-17) PDF

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Assignment #1 – A List of Frequently-Asked Questions (updated 20/03/2018 * latest updates are in italics) General questions on the assignment How strict is the word limit? Is there a penalty for exceeding the word limit or for writing less? Do not exceed the word limit by more than 10% or a penalty may apply. Although there is no penalty for writing less, you should be cautious if your overall coverage is significantly shorter than the recommended number of words as this may mean that it is either too brief or has insufficient depth/detail. It is part of doing a good assignment to be able to decide what should be included and excluded in your coverage. Are references required? As an academic assignment, referencing is required whenever you cite or quote from any formal sources. For example, if you forward an argument that relies on an author’s opinion, it should be referenced… if you quote directly from a book or article, it should also be referenced. For more details on referencing procedures, check http://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/ . For referencing, do I need only to attach a list of references at the back of the document or do I also need to include in-text references within the coverage of the report? As noted in the assignment document, you should use APA referencing style. This means including both in-text references and a reference list. This is a standard practice in all academic writing. A reference list included at the back of a document does not serve any useful purpose (we need to see the in-text references to know how you have utilised your references in the coverage). A simple example is to take a look at the referencing style used in any published journal article (eg. in Journal of International Business Studies). If you are new to academic referencing, please make sure that you check the APA style on Cite/Write as this will be important for all your assignments http://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/ . How many references do I need per section? There is no strict rule on how many references you need per section (you need to exercise some judgement here). In general, referencing is not so important for Part A as the conclusions are based mostly on your individual analysis, opinion and proposal. If your analysis or proposal is consistent with something similar raised in a book or article, you can reference it for support. For Part B, the only reference you need is the EIU database (see example in the ‘Task Guidelines’ document). For Part C, you should include a few references to support your discussion. Is there a structure/format to follow for this assignment? Follow the ‘format’ shown on page 2 of the ‘Task Guidelines’ document. Are there any formatting requirements (font type, spacing, etc)? Readability and neatness is always important for an assignment. I’d recommend: Times New Roman, 12pt font with double spacing.

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Do I need an overall ‘introduction’ and ‘conclusion’ section for this assignment? No, these are not required as this is not a formal report like Assessment #2. Simply follow the required format and label each part clearly (Part A, Part B and Part C). Are references included in the word count? No, references are not included in the word count. Can I reference lecture slides? I heard this is not allowed in some units. For all academic assignments (in any unit), never ever use lecture slides as a reference source. Referencing is part of showing your marker how you’ve done your research. Lecture slides are not considered original sources as they are mere compilations of materials for teaching purpose. When you do an academic assignment and need to cite or quote something, always seek an original source (eg. use a textbook or a journal article as reference). This is an important point to remember. I read that the overall word limit for the whole assessment item is 1000 words, however after calculating the suggested word limit for Parts A and C, the total is actually 850 words. Where is the additional 150 words? Does this mean that the limit is actually 850 words + 10%? Under the university’s strict assessment guidelines, we must set word limit for an assignment according to marks allocation. So, for the amount of marks allocated for Parts A and C, these sections combined should not have a word limit exceeding 850 words if the assessment guidelines are followed. The additional 150 words is meant to be for Part B (formally speaking, this graph is equivalent to 150 words in terms of marks allocation). However, I do understand the possible confusion surrounding this issue among most 1st-year students who are new to the university’s assessment guidelines, and so, I have decided to keep things simple and will treat 1000 words as the word limit for the entire assignment with allowance of 10% extra words without incurring penalty. Please be careful though in ensuring that your coverage for each question is proportionate to the suggested word limit (eg. you should not have an extremely long Part C and very short Part A). I submitted my assignment but noticed that the similarity percentage was rather high. What is the accepted similarity percentage? For a short assignment like this, the similarity percentage is likely to be higher due to everyone having the same headings, very similar Part B graph, and also some commonly used references like the textbook and the EIU database. You can check the similarity report and if you see that the percentage is high due to these similar common items, there’s nothing to worry about. As a general guideline, the similarity percentage should not exceed 55%. I submitted my assignment but realised that I made some errors. Can I resubmit? Yes, you can use the submission link to submit as many times as you like. But, take note that your tutor will only marked the final submission (it is your responsibility to ensure that your final version is correct). Is it possible to apply for an extension? If I need an extension, how can I apply? As a rule, an extension is only granted under special circumstances. Under the university’s assessment policy, lecturers and tutors are not allowed to negotiate with 2

students on an extension. If you require an extension, you will need to apply by going through the formal procedures (read this page… https://www.student.qut.edu.au/studying/assessment/late-assignments-andextensions). Once you have submitted an extension application, you must be prepared to wait up to 5 working days to receive an outcome. If you do not receive an outcome or a response before the due date, you should submit whatever work you have already completed. This is important because if your extension application is rejected and you have not submitted anything by the deadline, you will not be graded for the assignment. The university is very strict regarding this, so do be careful. Take note that the university’s assessment policy applies to all units and not only BSB119.

Questions relevant to Part A What information should I be analysing? Basically, your job is to make sense of the information provided in the table. You are required to write 3 conclusions. For each conclusion, you must compare the two countries using any two or more of the variables in the table. Then, based on your analysis, you should discuss (in each conclusion) what are the potential implications for an international business. For example, based on your analysis of the country data, you may propose that one country is more suitable than the other as an export market for certain products. Or, you may propose that one country is potentially suitable as a location for FDI based on your analysis. Are there any examples that I can look at? Yes, there is an example in the ‘Guidelines and Examples’ slides covered at the end of the Week 3 lecture (this set of slides can be found with the Week 3 materials in the ‘Assessment’ column of the unit map table in Blackboard/Learning Resources). Also, make sure you attend the Week 4 tutorial as the tutorial exercise is an opportunity for you to do some practice on how to write and present conclusions. Should both countries be analysed in a conclusion? Or should each conclusion focus only on one country? You should analyse both countries in each conclusion. For example, if you are using the variables GDP and GINI in a conclusion, you should be analysing these in relation to both the countries, and based on your analysis, you will then propose what you think might be relevant from a business perspective (eg. maybe one country is more suitable as an export market for luxury products while the other is more suitable as an export market for food products, etc). Are definitions required? Do I need to start each conclusion with a definition of the variables that I am using? No, the purpose of writing these conclusions is for you to analyse the country information. You should not waste time and words defining what is GDP, what is population, what is inflation, etc. Instead, you should be analysing the information provided on both countries and discussing what may be important from an international business perspective. Am I free to choose any type of business and entry mode for each conclusion? Yes. For each conclusion, you’re allowed to consider any type of business and any type of international market entry mode. You can be as creative as you like in how 3

you present your coverage as long as you can logically relate your proposals to the given data. Am I required to use real company examples in my conclusion? This is not a requirement. You can discuss any business in general (just like the example shown in Week 3). Just remember though that your conclusions must relate your business examples to internationalisation decision-making. For Part A, should I be analysing Country A/Country B or UK/China? Read the task guidelines document carefully. You’re supposed to analyse Country A and Country B (NOT UK and China, which are for Part B and Assessment #2).

Questions relevant to Part B What are the countries that I need to cover? The relevant countries are United Kingdom and China (these are the two countries you will be analysing in Assessment #2). My exported Excel file from EIU data does not look right. I get long pages of information rather than just the relevant data. Have I done something wrong? After selecting the ‘countries’, be careful with selection of the ‘series’. You do not want to include all the GDP information available, only the relevant data for the purpose of this assignment. So, just click on the ‘+’ sign in front (do not tick the box) when you select “Gross Domestic Product” and “Expenditure on GDP % Change PA”. You should only ‘tick the box’ for the item “GDP % Change PA”. Do I need to provide comments on the graph? No, you’re not required to provide any comments. The question only requires you to show the correct graph with proper labelling and referencing. Where can I find the video example that was mentioned in class? The video is in the Assessment #1 folder (see Blackboard/Assessment/Assessment 1). I tried the example in the video but my graph looks slightly different even though the general shape is the same, why is this so? I forgot to mention this previously. As the example was taken from a previous semester’s assignment, it was based on EIU’s projected data at the point when the analysis was made a year ago. Therefore, there’s likely to be slight variations although the general shape and trend direction remain the same. If you go through the steps correctly, you’ll get the graph below which is based on current EIU data.

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Questions relevant to Part C Is there any specific way that I should present my answer? Are there guidelines to follow? It is up to you to decide how you want to structure/present your answer (as long as you address the requirements). The purpose of Part C is to test your understanding and knowledge of international joint venture in comparison with wholly-owned subsidiary. So, your answer should not be simply a consolidation of definitions from textbooks. You need to provide some discussion and explanation in your coverage to show your marker that you really understand the topic. And, remember that this question is focused on a successful tech-based firm (your discussion should consider the entry methods from this firm’s perspective). Should I emphasise one entry method over the other in my coverage? When you make comparison between the two entry modes, you’ll essentially be covering both of them at the same time (so it’s not about discussing one method while ignoring the other). Do I need to provide a conclusion to suggest which or the two entry modes the company should use? No, this is not required. Although you should relate your discussion to the firm when you explain international joint venture and making comparison between the entry methods, you do not need to conclude with a proposal on which entry mode to use. Do I need to choose an actual company example and provide information on the tech-based industry for Part C? No, this is not required. You can simply treat this as a general tech-based business. Can you explain what is a tech-based business? In general, a tech-based business is one that specialises in technological knowledge or scientific products and it can relate to any firm that deals in products such as microelectronics, biotechnology, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, computer products, etc. Now, just imagine... if you have a business that specialises in techbased products/innovation that is interested in internationalising, what are the likely pros and cons of the two entry methods? Can I include an appendices section to provide more information? No. An ‘appendices section’ should only be used for long research reports or essays to include supplementary information. It is not appropriate for this assignment as Part C is meant to be a short answer question that shouldn’t be more than 250 words. As noted, it’s part of doing a good assignment to be able to decide what to include and exclude in your coverage. If we’re after a very long answer, the word limit would have been set at 2500 rather than 250. So, read the question carefully and ensure that you’re just addressing the requirements and not covering more than necessary.

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