BE964-7-FY-CO:
Work-Based Project
2020/21
Essex Business School
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Postgraduate: Level 7
Current
Thursday 08 October 2020
Friday 02 July 2021
60
16 January 2020
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
MSC N11112 Business Analytics,
MSC N11124 Business Analytics
This module offers students the opportunity to undertake an extended work-based placement at an employer. During this placement the student will work on a project on an area or issue defined by the employer as a priority for their organisation. The project will give the student the opportunity to utilise and develop the knowledge and skills developed earlier in her/his master's course, applying them in a work-based environment and leading to the production of a substantive project report that will both meet the University's academic requirements for a master's level project and support the placement provider in addressing the area/issue they identified at the start of the project.
Students are expected to meet with employers in the AU Term to identify the subject of their project. They will be involved in the work-based placement and development of the related project during the summer term. The duration of the period spent on placement will be for up to 12 weeks. The students will be assessed based on their written work-based projects which would be 15.000 words in length.
This module offers students the opportunity to undertake an extended work-based placement at an employer. During this placement the student will work on a project on an area or issue defined by the employer as a priority for their organisation.
The project will give the student the opportunity to utilise and develop the knowledge and skills developed earlier in her/his master's course, applying them in a work-based environment and leading to the production of a substantive project report that will both meet the University's academic requirements for a master's level project and support the placement provider in addressing the area/issue they identified at the start of the project.
This module will only be available to those students who have received a Knowledge Exchange bursary through the University’s Postgraduate Support Scheme. Such students will undertake the Work-based Project via a special syllabus, with the Work-based Project being substituted for the dissertation/project on their course.
The students will have 4 hours (i.e. via 1 informal, 3 formal meetings) of direct supervision by the academic members of staff. This information will be available on the postgraduate student handbook.
As part of the module students will be required to attend a course leading to the ILM Level 3 Award in Leadership and Management (this course will be scheduled to avoid clashes with timetabled activities for other modules in the student's course). The purpose of this course will be to help support students in making the transition from studying at the University to the work-based setting in which they will carry out their Work-based Project. Attendance at this course will be a compulsory part of the module. Students will be strongly encouraged to undertake the assessment linked to this course in order to receive the ILM Level 3 Award, but undertaking the assessment will not be a requirement.
At the heart of this module will be the requirement that a student undertake an eight to 12 week placement with an employer. The precise duration of the placement will vary within this range, according to the precise nature of each individual project. The placement is a de facto period of fieldwork that will allow the student to investigate and address the area/issue identified in their specific placement, with the information gained from this period forming the basis for preparing the substantive outputs that will be assessed at the end of the module. The placement will take place during the summer term, and will be scheduled so as to avoid clashes with any examinations the student is required to undertake as part of their course (including for any modules the student is undertaking in other departments).
Each student will have both a work-based supervisor appointed by the employer, and an academic supervisor appointed by the Department.
Students will liaise closely with their work-based supervisor on a regular basis throughout the period of their placement, and as necessary after the placement has ended in order to allow the student to complete the assessed work for the module.
The academic supervisor will be appointed prior to the student undertaking their placement. As mentioned earlier, the expectation is that the student will receive 4 hours of direct supervision (i.e. via 1 informal and 3 formal meetings) through the duration of the module, and will be available via email and phone as necessary during the period the student is on placement.
Additionally student attendance on placement will be monitored on a regular basis by the PSS Manager in the Employability and Careers Centre, and the PSS Manager will also be available to students throughout their placements to provide advice and support in relation to generic work-based learning issues.
- Silverman, David. (2017) Doing qualitative research, Los Angeles: SAGE.
- Blumberg, Boris; Cooper, Donald R; Schindler, Pamela S. (c2014) Business research methods, Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education.
- John Duignan. (2014) Quantitative methods for business research: using Microsoft Excel, Australia: Cengage Learning.
- Bell, Emma; Bryman, Alan; Harley, Bill. (©2019) Business research methods, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Jean-Claude Usunier; Hester van Herk; Julie Anne Lee. (2017) International & cross-cultural business research, Los Angeles: SAGE.
- Creswell, John W. (2015) A concise introduction to mixed methods research, Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.
- Joseph Covello; Brian Hazelgren. (2006) The complete book of business plans : simple steps to writing powerful business plans, Naperville, Ill.: Sourcebooks.
- Brian R. Ford; Jay M. Bornstein; Patrick T. Pruitt. (2007) The Ernst & Young business plan guide, Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.
- Charles A. Scherbaum; Kristen M. Shockley. (2015) Analysing quantitative data for business and management students, Los Angeles: SAGE.
- Matthew B. Miles; A. Michael Huberman; Johnny Saldaña. (2019) Qualitative data analysis: a methods sourcebook, Los Angeles, California: Angeles.
- Easterby-Smith, Mark. (2018) Management and business research, London: Sage Publications.
- Kawasaki, Guy. (2015) The art of the start 2.0 : the time-tested, battle-hardened guide for anyone starting anything, UK: Portfolio Penguin.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course. The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students. Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Work-Based Project |
|
100% |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
100 per cent Coursework Mark
Reassessment
100 per cent Coursework Mark
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Marianna Marra, email: mmarra@essex.ac.uk.
Staff who will be running ILM
PSS Manager, Employability and Careers Centre – Faculty Placements Team
Postgraduate Administrator,
No
No
No
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.
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