MGT5EBP: Guide to marking feedback on Assignment 1

This guide is to allow marking to be streamlined without losing the quality of feedback. The downside is that it highlights problems because these are the areas where feedback is most important in order to allow improvement. Positive feedback will be concise and within the rubric. To those who avoid the issues below, well done and THANK YOU FOR MAKING ME SMILE!

Section / category	Explanation
Professionalism & Structure
Executive Summary	The executive summary should provide a synopsis of the contents of the report. It is designed for the busy manager to read either: as an alternative to reading the full report or to decide whether to read the full report. If you leave out the conclusions, the Executive Summary fails at both of those objectives.
Structure	The structure of the report does not flow well. Main issues include: Lack of context e.g. plunging straight into analysis without explaining its purpose Lack of linkage between sections Rambling writing that fails to get to the point. This often happens when students have relied heavily on text from other sources and have not been able to integrate it well into the purpose of the report.
Visual Style	Visual appearance influences the reader’s impression very strongly. Consider style sheets that use different fonts and/or colours to enhance the appearance further, especially on your cover page. [Note: consider this a value-add – most assignments will handle this aspect competently, thanks to the template]
Description of entrepreneur and ventures
Lacks supporting evidence	No or insufficient sources are cited in support of statements of fact. Can also refer to relying heavily on sources written or heavily influenced by the entrepreneur (company web site, LinkedIn profile, PR articles, interviews etc). These are useful sources but are biased, so should be supplemented with more objective sources.
Not own words	Sections are heavily based on external sources, rather than being paraphrased or explained in own words
Use of theory
Theory not explained	Theoretical terms are used without definition or description – you need to show that you understand what these terms mean. Remember DEE – Define (which theory, who developed it), Explain (what does the theory say), give Example (how it fits – or does not fit – the case you are analysing)
Lack of theory	Describes entrepreneur’s characteristics and behaviours without linking it to theories or models
Lack of application	More emphasis on explaining theories of entrepreneurship than applying them to the entrepreneur being analysed
Analysis – interpretation of how entrepreneur fits (or does not fit) theoretical models
Lack of examples	Makes general statements about the entrepreneur’s characteristics or behaviour without any examples to show why this is true (e.g. claiming the entrepreneur is innovative without providing an example of innovative behaviour)
Examples don’t fit theory	Examples supposed to illustrate how an entrepreneur’s characteristics of behaviour fit theory are not clearly connected to the theory, or indicate incorrect understanding of theory.
Reflection – personal learning from researching and analysing the entrepreneur
Not personal	General statements about entrepreneurial behaviour without stating what you actually learned from it
Too general	Lacks specific insights – ideally talk about what you learned that has changed the way you think and / or might influence your future behaviour or intentions.
Writing
Paragraphs	Start a new paragraph whenever you introduce a new idea. Tips: If your paragraphs are still long, you should consider whether you are including too much detail or being repetitive. If your paragraphs are very short, then bullet points may be a better option. Used appropriately, bullet points are a very effective way of communication a lot of information concisely. They are an accepted part of professional writing.
Writing Style	Problems here include: Long sentences, often combined with lack of punctuation Incorrect use of capital letters – e.g. missing at start of sentences, or capitalising words unnecessarily. Spelling and grammar errors – especially those that could be picked up by using the Word tools that detect these.
References
Citations don’t match	(Author, year) in in-text citation does not match Author, Year in the full reference
Incomplete references	References have missing elements, such as author, title, url (for online sources), journal name etc
Incorrect format	Citations and / or references do not match APA6 / Harvard format
Poor quality references	References are not evidence-based sources – a blog without any cited evidence is not in itself evidence.
References out of context	References are evidence – either of existing theory or established facts. A reference must support the statement for which it is given as a source. For example, a theory reference can’t support a statement of fact about an entrepreneur or their ventures; references chosen based on a keyword search but not read often fall into this category.