BE964-7-FY-SO:
Work-Based Project
2020/21
Essex Business School
Southend Campus
Full Year
Postgraduate: Level 7
Current
Thursday 08 October 2020
Friday 02 July 2021
60
12 October 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.
The aims of the module are:
- To provide the student with the opportunity to apply their academic learning in a work-related context.
- To enable students to develop essential work-based skills throughout the placement.
- To provide students with the opportunity to analyse their practical work in a theoretical context.
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. An understanding of their role within the organization, sector and wider socio-economic context in which they are employed;
2. A capacity for critical, reflexive evaluation of their own contribution and development whilst undertaking a work-based placement;
3. An ability to draw on theoretical concepts and ideas, and relevant academic knowledge, to analyse and evaluate work-based practices, experiences and learning.
4. In meeting each of the above, students should be able to demonstrate appropriate communication skills including the ability to present information together with analysis, argument and commentary in a form appropriate to the needs and interests of different audiences.
5. Students should also demonstrate, through the successful completion of a placement review, an ability to locate, extract and analyse data from multiple sources, including the acknowledgement and referencing of appropriate academic sources.
This module will only be available to students of MSc Business Analytics, 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.
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 Placements Manager, who 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
Supervisors allocated to individual students
ebshelp-sou@essex.ac.uk
No
No
No
Dr Ping Zheng
Canterbury Christ Church University
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.
Disclaimer: The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its Module Directory is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can
be necessary to make changes, for example to programmes, modules, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include a change of law or regulatory requirements,
industrial action, lack of demand, departure of key personnel, change in government policy, or withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to modules may for example consist
of variations to the content and method of delivery or assessment of modules and other services, to discontinue modules and other services and to merge or combine modules.
The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications and module directory.
The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.