Weighting: This assessment accounts for 30% of your final grade for this unit and must be completed by students individually.

Length: The review must be 2000 words in length excluding the list of references.

Cover page: The report must include a cover page that contains your name, student number, resident campus, assessment title, lecturer and word count.

A critical review and analysis of two articles/cases.

Two articles will be posted in the Assessment Tile on Moodle. 

Task: Students are to critically analyse the premise, context, and key issues discussed in those two articles.

The specific questions will be determined by the unit coordinator. Students are required to develop clear and logical arguments supporting their opinions using appropriate critical thinking models and frameworks.

Both on-campus students and distance students must write a review of the two articles and submit it online via Moodle by the due date.

Format: Text should be word-processed, Times New Roman, 12 size font, and line spacing (1.5). Please save/upload your file in a Word format (.doc or .docx).

Task Description: The purpose of this task is to demonstrate your ability to critically analyze, synthesise and evaluate information and present that information in a written format. You are expected to analyse the arguments using information from the articles. You are required to do research and collect recent information on key themes, ideas, and models you will focus.

Two articles will be available for you on the unit’s Moodle site. Guidelines relating to critical thinking and analysis will be posted on Moodle (Assessment title). 

• A clear and structured report including introduction, main body, and conclusion (10%) .
• Use of key critical thinking, problem-solving, and argumentation as the basis for analysing the main issues and arguments highlighted in the articles (40%).
• Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the article against the critical thinking concepts (20%).
• Providing a clear perspective of the practical value of the articles to management practice. (20%).
• Using a minimum of 12-quality references made up of recommended texts and academic journal articles so as to demonstrate breadth and quality of research, including citation of the recommended texts (10%).
• The use of the APA in-text referencing system to correctly cite academic sources.
• Ensuring a list of references used in the written report.

This is the minimum standard expected for this assignment. Students who only meet the minimum should expect to receive the minimum pass grade.

As Master's students, you are required to engage in research as per the Australia Quality Framework (AQF) guidelines. Two specific requirements need to be considered.

Students need to demonstrate “a body of knowledge that includes the understanding of recent developments in the discipline and/or area of professional practice, and demonstrate "knowledge of research principles and methods applicable to a field of work and/or learning”.

Each topic in your unit has a number of required weekly readings in terms of academic texts, journals, and business publications that represent the appropriate body of knowledge and recent developments referred to by the AQF.

In order to demonstrate the ability to engage in appropriate research, students should read and utilise these texts and journals, and publications, and as Masters students, indicate a willingness to research beyond this minimum standard through additional texts, journals, and studies that demonstrate an ability to engage in independent research.

A detailed rubric and audio file are available in the Assessment folder on the Moodle site that provides further information regarding this assessment.

Weighing: This assessment accounts for 30% of your final grade for this unit and must be completed by students as a group. This assessment consists of two parts:

(1). A summary group report (15%).

(2). An individual presentation (15%).

Each team member must make an in-person presentation at the scheduled workshop along with other team members.

 Length:  The written group report must be 1500 words in length excluding the list of references. 

Cover page: The report must include a cover page that contains your name, student number, resident campus, assessment title, lecturer, and word count.

The presentation (individual) is about 5 minutes per person.

Criteria for Individual Presentation.

1. Presentation style and approach.

2. Answer to the question (s) allocated to an individual member.

3. Demonstration of the understanding of decision-making models and their usefulness.

Criteria for Assessment 2 (Report)

In groups, students are to examine the case study for a major organisation operating in Australia and critically analyse a key decision or series of decisions made by the organisation. Student groups are expected to use appropriate critical thinking and decision-making models to analyse the decisions made by the organisations and whether they were sound and justified.

You are required to collect recent information from the organisation's website plus from credible journals and articles.

Students need to consider the data available to the organisation, and demonstrate the decision tools and techniques used, including- Kepner-Tregoe Methodology, a detailed SWOT analysis, and ethical decision-making frameworks.

Your critical analysis should:

1. Identify the critical competencies of the organisation you are allocated.  Support your observation with evidence.

2. What managerial decisions were made by the management to compete in their respective industry? Develop arguments justifying your observations.  Were all decisions ethical?

3. How has the organisation developed a highly responsive supply chain that enables the delivery of new and changing products/services as trends emerge?

4. Identify some decision-making options that the organisation should consider to ensure growth and relevance.

There is a minimum of 10-15 peer-reviewed journal articles in APA style.

Submission of group report: Only one member of the group must submit the written group report and the PowerPoint slides. Individual marks will be allocated for both the presentation and the report. If more than one member of the group submits, then a high overlap score will be generated. Please save and upload your written report in a Word format (.doc or .docx) via the assessment link on Moodle. This is the minimum standard expected for this assessment. Students who only meet the minimum should expect to receive the minimum pass grade.

As Masters's Students, you are required to engage in research as per the Australia Quality Framework (AQF) guidelines. Two specific requirements need to be considered.

Students need to demonstrate “a body of knowledge that includes the understanding of recent developments in the discipline and/or area of professional practice, and demonstrate "knowledge of research principles and methods applicable to a field of work and/or learning”.

Each topic in your unit has several required weekly readings in terms of academic texts, journals, and business publications that represent the appropriate body of knowledge and recent developments referred to by the AQF.

To demonstrate the ability to engage in appropriate research, students should read and utilise these texts and journals, and publications, and as Masters Students, indicate a willingness to research beyond this minimum standard through additional texts, journals, and studies that demonstrate an ability to engage in independent research.

A detailed rubric and audio file are available in the Assessment folder on the Moodle site that provides further information regarding this assessment.

Students are to demonstrate knowledge of the subject matter, and effective presentation skills by:

• Providing a concise and structured presentation with an introduction, main body, and conclusion (10%).
• Effectively using audiovisuals and verbal communication delivered within the time allocation (25%).
• Using key critical thinking, problem-solving models, concepts, and theories as an analytical frame (30%).
• Providing a clear set of recommendations supported by literature (if and when appropriate) (15%).
• Demonstrating a commitment to professional business presentation standards (10%). 
• Ensuring all group members make a balanced contribution to the presentation (10%).
• Providing a copy of the presentation slides to the unit coordinator prior to the presentation session.

Students are to demonstrate knowledge of the subject matter and effective written skills by:

• Providing a concise overview of the content of the presentation of approximately 1200 words.
• Providing a clear set of recommendations supported by literature (if and when appropriate).
• Using a minimum of 12-15 quality references made up of recommended texts and academic journal articles so as to demonstrate breadth and quality of research, including citation of the recommended texts.
• The use of the APA in-text referencing system to correctly cite academic sources.
• Ensuring a list of references used in the presentation is attached to the summary report.

Weighting: This assessment accounts for 40% of your final grade for this unit and must be completed by students individually.

Length: The essay must be 2000 words in length excluding the list of references.

Cover page: The essay must include a cover page that contains your name, student number, resident campus, assessment title, lecturer and word count.

Referencing: A minimum of 12-15 academic references are required.

Submission: Please save and upload your file in a Word format (.doc or .docx) via the assessment link on Moodle. There will be a late penalty of 2 marks (5% of 40) for each day late.

Task Description: The objectives of this reflective essay are for students to:

(1) summarize, critically review and reinforce key concepts and theories learned from week 1 to week 10 of this unit.

2) reflect on these concepts/theories' potential impact on your decision-making, and how this learning is being applied and could be applied in your current jobs, the development of your future career, and/or your life generally. You will also complete at least two diagnostic tools related to learning styles and critical thinking and reflect on the results.

(3) reflect on new insights gained about oneself as a result of learning the unit, and propose a plan for self-development.

You are expected to reflect on four topics covered from week 1 to week 10 and evaluate the topics that inspired your thinking and influenced your decision-making.   Each topic needs to contain a CONVINCING and PERSONAL justification of why these topics were chosen and how the mentioned topics have changed/might change your thinking or the students’ decisions.

The following questions are to be addressed.

• What have you learned about yourself through the course activities?
• What skills do you possess and what skills are you lacking?
• How are you going to improve your decision-making in the future? (Self-knowledge and self-development)
• You should tie all your arguments/insights together at the end of your paper, highlighting how you think you will be able to use your learnings in the future.
• Illustrate with personal examples how the learnings of this unit have enabled you to be more effective in making a certain decision at work.
• In the conclusion, the essay needs to reflect on self-knowledge and highlight implications for future self-development.

You should tie all your arguments/insights together at the end of your reflective essay, highlighting how you think you will be able to use your learning in your future career and in life generally.

• A well-structured reflective essay that demonstrates key aspects of critical and rational thinking (10%).
• Discuss the four selected topics and provide clear reflection linking personal preferences in light of the diagnostic results (40%).
• Utilise and reflect on the results of a minimum of two diagnostic tools to assess personal learning styles and approaches to decision-making (20%).
• Utilise key critical thinking concepts and models to describe and analyse their own positions or beliefs (20%).
• The use of between 12 quality references that includes key readings and recommended texts, using (10%).
• Use APA referencing and include a reference list.

These are the minimum requirements. You should note that satisfactorily meeting the minimum requirements will typically result in the minimum pass grade being awarded.

A detailed rubric and audio file are available on the Moodle site that provides further details for this assessment task.

Refer to the unit Moodle site for further details.