Faculty of Arts and Society
BUS506 – Global Megatrends
Assessment Task 3 – Individual Written Assignment
1. Assessment Overview
Assignment SummaryYour final assessment task for BUS506 – Global Megatrends is:
• An individual written assignment to be completed over 15 days
• Marked out of 100 and is worth 50% of your final result for this course
• To be submitted on Learnline
• Completed at your home (or another safe place of your choice).
• Available to students via the course Learnline page on Thursday, 4 May 2023
• You must submit your response to this task in a Word document before 23:59 (ACST) on Wednesday 31 May 2023.
This task is comprised of 3 parts:
Part A – Resource Summary – (30 marks)
Part B – Short answer questions – (40 marks)
Part C – Case-based questions – (30 marks)
2. Submission details:
Due Date: 23:59 (ACST) on Wednesday 31 May 2022
Submission: You must upload your completed assignment (Parts A, B & C) as a Word doc via the Assessment 3 submission link on the course Learnline page.
Task Assessor: Lecturer
Note: In your submissions, you will need to reference, cite and acknowledge ANY content you use from other sources, according to Charles Darwin University rules on academic integrity.
3. Task Description:
Part A – Resource Summary – 30 marks
This course has provided many resources to support your learning. In the table below are resources that address specific business trends treated in this course. This task requires you to summarise ONE of these resources from the list below:
|
Week Theme |
Author(s) |
Date |
Resource Title |
|
Digital Transformation |
Behnam Tabrizi, Ed Lam, Kirk Girard, & Vernon Irvin |
2019 |
Digital Transformation Is Not About TechnologyAccess here: https://hbr.org/2019/03/digital-transformation-is-not-about-technology |
|
Circular Economy |
Suzanne Benn & Damien Giurco |
2014 |
Explainer: What is a circular economy?Access here:https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-the-circular-economy-23298 |
|
Social Media & Business Transformation |
John Hall, Forbes |
2021 |
Want to digitally transform your business? Start with social media |
|
Demographic Shift |
The Economist |
2019 |
Mapping global population and the future of the worldAccess here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur77lDetI9Q |
|
Natural Capitalism |
Behnam Tabrizi, Ed Lam, Kirk Girard, & Vernon Irvin |
2007 |
A road map for natural capitalismAccess here: |
Your summary needs to:
• Focus on ONE of the resources from the list above;
• Introduce the author/speaker, their topics/themes, and the context of the paper/presentation
• Identify the key argument or perspective being presented;
• State the key findings/points of the paper/presentation (may use dot points for emphasis);
• Briefly discuss the relevance or contribution of this paper/presentation to business management;
• accurately reflect what is in the report/article/website/presentation
Word Limit: 500 words
|
Criteria used to grade task in Part A: Criteria |
Marks |
|
|
Criteria |
Marks |
|
| Clear introduction of author/speaker, their topic, and the context |
5 marks |
|
|
Accurately and concisely identifies and explains the key points from the article/presentation |
10 marks |
|
|
Insightful discussion outlining the relevance of the author/speaker’s topic and business |
10 marks |
|
|
Paper uses clear and concise English language expression and formatting and follows APA referencing conventions to cite and reference relevant course resources and readings accurately, within the given word limit requirements. |
5marks |
|
|
Total |
30 Marks |
|
Part B – Short Answer Questions – 40 marks
You are required to provide written responses to 2 (two) of the 3 (three) questions below. Each question is worth 15 marks.
Your response to each question should be 375 – 400 words in length.
In preparing your responses to these questions, you may need to access additional materials (articles, videos, reports, quizzes, websites) from other external sources.
Question 1 – 20 marks
In order for organisations to reap the full benefits of social media, many will have to fix their social media strategy. For example, when a company is looking to improve its customer relationship management (CRM) strategy through social media, the first thing it has to do is break down the company’s silos.
a. Using helpful examples, discuss what ‘breaking a company’s silo’ mean from a social media perspective?
b. Discuss the likely opportunities for a company that follows this approach to improving its CRM strategy.
Question 2 – 20 marks
The United Nations’ World Population Prospects 2019 report clearly indicates that the falling birth rates and ageing populations account for the declining population growth. Despite young people (ages 15-24) comprising a large and rapidly growing segment of the population, older persons (ages 65 and above) today comprise the world’s fastest-growing age group. Research shows that businesses need to be concerned about this population dynamism as they pose both challenges and opportunities to businesses.
a. Discuss the following strategies with clear examples as ways companies can effectively respond to current population trends.
(i) diversity and inclusion strategy and execution
(ii)Look to innovative resourcing
(iii) Rethink what work looks like
Question 3 – 20 marks
The global economic landscape is changing. Global reports show that the aggregate economic weight of developing and emerging economies (E7) is about to surpass that of the advanced economies (G7).
a. What is meant by ‘global power shift from West to East’?
b. Discuss how the current wave of globalisation is accounting for the shift in global power?
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Criteria used to grade each task in Part B: teria |
|
Criteria |
Marks |
| Contextual relevance:
Accurate application of relevant concepts and themes from the course Accurately addresses the key points raised in the question with appropriate examples |
15 marks |
| Mechanic:
Response uses clear and concise English language expression and formatting and Follows APA referencing conventions to cite and reference relevant materials and readings accurately Writeup within the word limit requirements |
5 marks |
|
Total |
20 Marks |
Part C – Case-based Questions – 30 marks
This task requires you to read the brief case study presented below and apply the relevant concept and framework to respond to it accordingly.
Short Case Study
Why buy light bulbs when you can buy light -Signify? [Source: Adapted from Ellen Macarthur Foundation case study on Signify].
Signify, formerly Philips Lighting, is a multinational lighting corporation producing and selling electric lights and lighting fixtures that are installed all over the world. Signify employs almost 40,000 employees and has production facilities in over 70 countries. Besides selling lighting equipment, Signify also offers ‘lighting-as-a-service’ (LaaS) to its commercial and public sector customers. Under a LaaS contract, Signify installs, operates and maintains the lighting systems while the customers pay a monthly service fee for light. Under the LaaS contract, the ownership of the lighting systems is retained by Signify, who instead typically offers a 5-yr performance contract that is underpinned by a set of KPIs, such as light level, uptime, and energy savings. At the end of the contract, the client can choose to extend the contract or return the lighting equipment to Signify, for reuse or recycling. Under the LaaS business model, Signify is incentivised to manufacture high-quality, durable and modular equipment, which circulates in use for much longer, thus conserving the resources that are used in production. Furthermore, because the lights are professionally managed often with artificial intelligence and the internet of things, the system is run more efficiently, leading to significant energy savings.
Deducing from the case passage and the principles of circular economy, do you agree that Signify’s Laas approach is circular in nature or not? Justify your stance in detail with clear examples.
In your view, discuss the likely advantages of the LaaS approach by Signify to the business, customers and the environment.
Word Limit: 700 words
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Criteria used to grade this task in Part C Criteria |
Marks |
|
|
Criteria |
Marks |
|
| Clear introduction |
5 marks |
|
|
Accurately and concisely identifies and explains the key points as the justification of the case |
15 marks |
|
| Accurately addresses the key points raised with appropriate examples |
5 marks |
|
|
Accurate structure, and concise English language expression and formatting. Also, it follows APA referencing conventions to accurately cite and reference relevant course resources and readings, within the given word limit requirements. |
5 marks |
|
|
Total |
30 Marks |
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