Management of Risk and Scheduling

 

Introduction

This document lists the requirements for the assignment for this module as well as the marking scheme which will be used when assessing your work.

The assignment is worth 40% of the module mark.

The assignment assesses learning outcomes 1, 3, 4 and 5.

Hand in date: Sunday 1st December 2013 before 00.00 am via Turnitin

 

Document objectives

By the end of this document you should have a clear idea of:

€¢ What is required of you for the assignment

€¢ The marking scheme which will be used to assess your work

 

Version 0.8
1 : Individual Assignment
Assignment €“ 40% of module mark
Brief

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Write an academic paper which proposes a risk management framework, such as Management of Risk from the Office of Government Commerce, for a social enterprise and evaluates the suitability of the framework for the venture.

This might be done by first specifying the risk management requirements of the social venture. The paper should:

€¢ Identify the nature of the social enterprise’s risks (both project risks and other organisational risks)
€¢ Specify an appropriate risk management framework which reflects the identified needs of the social entrepreneur(s)
€¢ Assess the likely impact of implementing the framework on the social enterprise and
€¢ Identify any changes or adjustments to the framework which might make it more appropriate for use in the social venture and other similar social enterprises.

A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in human and environmental well-being, rather than maximising profits for external shareholders. Social enterprises can be structured as a for-profit or non-profit, and may take the form of a co-operative or mutual organization, a social business, an NGO or a charity.

A case study should be chosen from the collection of social enterprises and social entrepreneurs listed at the URL below (from Social Enterprise UK) and the analysis should be based on the chosen social venture.

The social enterprises are listed below with links to their websites (from Social Enterprise UK).
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€¢ Big Issue €“ a news and current affairs magazine written by professional journalists and sold on the streets by homeless vendors.
€¢ Divine Chocolate €“ a Fairtrade company co-owned by the cocoa farmers cooperative Kuapa Kokoo in Ghana, who not only receive a fair price for their cocoa but also a large share in the company’s profit.
€¢ Digibridge -a pioneering IT resource and training company, connecting communities and people with no internet experience or computer access.
€¢ Greenworks €“ refashions and redirects office furniture that would otherwise end up in landfill, providing organisations including schools, charities and small businesses with discounted wares.
€¢ Hill Holt Wood €“ educates and trains at-risk youth who have been excluded from school, giving them the lasting benefits of education, practical skills, the ability to work in a team, increased confidence and time spent outdoors.
€¢ London Early Years Foundation €“ runs community childcare centres for children in London where, despite its apparent wealth, extremely high numbers of children are classified as being in need. LEYF supports lower income families by providing subsidised services and helping mums and dads to improve their parenting skills.
€¢ PJ’s Community Services €“ a community hub, working not just in care services but also youth, education, business and the arts.
€¢ Thinking Flowers €“ ethical floral design company supplying creative flower displays and installations to businesses, events and private clients, including the Tate Modern, BAFTA, Westminster Cathedral, Royal Festival Hall, the Emirates Stadium and British Library.

The social entrepreneurs are listed below with links to their websites (from Social Enterprise UK).
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€¢ Paul Aiken €“ co-founder of Global Generation which works with young people, including those from youth offending programmes and homeless shelters on environmental and food growing projects.
€¢ Kamara Bennett €“ founder of Sew Your Own, a clothes upcycling project involving young people and local fashion students.
€¢ Edwin Bronsi-Mensah €“ founder of Give Me Tap, which sells branded aluminium water bottles, which can be refilled for free at a growing network of cafes and restaurants. The majority of the profits go to water projects in developing countries.
€¢ Kelvin Cheung €“ founder of FoodCycle, an organisation which supports young people to collect surplus food from restaurants and shops in their area. They then cook the food in empty kitchen space and serve it to those in need.
€¢ Lily Lapenna €“ founder of Mybnk, provides workshops and toolkits to help young people understand money and finance.
€¢ Rui Jorge Ocatavio €“ founder, of NUTMEG, an organisation running events, debates and festivals to give young people a voice, celebrate their skills and reduce gang culture.
€¢ Leanne Pero €“ founder of The Movement Factory, a dance company providing street dance classes for young people on housing estates, as well as dance workshops for schools, youth centres and private companies.
€¢ Sebastian Thiel €“ founder of It’s Upshot, a clothing and entertainment brand focused on spreading positive messages among young people.
€¢ Viviane Williams €“ founder of Wake Up Campaign, a project which aims to raise awareness of social issues through putting together creative events and campaigns.

 

2: Structure of the Paper

One way of structuring the paper is as follows:

€¢ Abstract
o Overview
o Summary of key findings
€¢ Introduction
o Purpose of the paper
o Structure of the paper
o (Research methodology €“ how the purpose is to be achieved)
€¢ Background
o Discussion of the chosen social enterprise
€¢ Literature Review
o May include:
? Social entrepreneurship and social enterprise risks
? Frameworks, tools and techniques for mitigating the various types of risks identified
? The nature of risk management best practice
? The characteristics of effective risk management approaches
? Risk management evaluation frameworks and models
? Other relevant theories, concepts and guidelines
€¢ Analysis
o Should include:
? A summary of the nature of social enterprise’s risks (identified in the literature review)
? Discussion of how the chosen risk management framework might be applied to manage the social enterprises’s risks
? An evaluation of the compatibility between the nature of the social enterprise and the risks faced by it on the one hand and the risk management framework on the other
€¢ Findings
o May include:
? An assessment of the areas of compatibility and the areas of incompatibility between the risk management needs of the social enterprise and the risk management framework
? An assessment of the extent to which the application of the framework is likely to result in effective risk management in the social enterprise
? The extent to which the analysis is inconclusive (and thus the likely effectiveness of the application is unclear)

€¢ Conclusions
o Summary of the likely overall effectiveness of your proposed risk management framework for the social enterprise
o The likely implications for the social enterprise (and other similar social ventures)
€¢ Recommendations
o Recommendations for addressing any areas of incompatibility
o Recommended actions for the social entrepreneurs concerned
o Recommendations for further research in this area
€¢ References
€¢ Appendices

 

3: Mark Weightings & Hand in Details

Mark weightings
The allocation of marks below should be considered as a guide to the emphasis which should be placed on specific aspects of your assignment, both for yourselves and the tutor marking your work.

Category %
Abstract 10
Introduction & Background 10
Literature review 20
Analysis & Findings 20
Conclusions 10
Recommendations 10
Coherence, depth 10
Presentation (spelling, grammar, layout, clarity) 10
The word count for this assignment is around 3,000 (plus or minus 500) words (around 8 to 12 pages); include a word count on the cover sheet of the assignment. The work should be submitted to Turnitin on Blackboard; instructions for doing this will be posted to Blackboard. No physical submission of the paper is required.

There is also a Resources section on Blackboard which should prove useful for your assignment preparation.

You are reminded that late submissions will be penalised unless mitigating circumstances (MCs) are submitted, and accepted by the MC Board.

Where a student achieves a mark of 80% or more in this assignment, the paper may be revised appropriately and submitted to a pertinent academic journal as a joint publication (with the student and tutor as authors). Further guidance on this will be provided on Blackboard.

If you do not wish your paper to be considered for joint publication, please indicate this on the cover page of your work.

4: Marking Scheme
Mark Criteria Level of Achievement

80+
Structure
Texts
Analysis

Independence
Presentation
Overall clarity, focus on the requirement, and coherence
Extensive use of pertinent reference material, correctly referenced
Critical and comparative use of relevant concepts and theories and the contextualisation of theory where appropriate
Clear evidence of independent thinking based on analytical material, yielding novel insights supported by appropriate evidence and pertinent theory
Very well written, with clear and lucid discussion of even the most complex concepts
Free from grammar/spelling errors
70+
Structure
Texts
Analysis
Independence
Presentation
Overall clarity, focus on the requirement, and coherence
Selective use of reference material, correctly referenced
Critical and comparative use of relevant concepts and theories
Clear evidence of independent thinking based on analytical material
Very well written
Free from grammar/spelling errors
60+
Structure
Texts
Analysis
Independence
Presentation
Focus on the requirement, clarity
Correctly referenced research material
Identification and grasp of appropriate concepts and theories
Where appropriate, the ability to apply theories
Well written
Very few grammar/spelling errors
50+
Structure
Texts
Analysis

Presentation
Mostly focused on the requirement, reasonable structure and coherence
Some use of reference material, adequate referencing
Evidence of identification of some of the issues, mixture of descriptive and analytical material, some substantiation of ideas and opinions
Reasonably well written
Grammar/spelling errors do not significantly impede readability
40+
Structure

Texts
Analysis

Presentation
Partly focused on the question, evidence of attempt at structure, little coherence
Little use of reference material or inadequate referencing
Little evidence of identification of the issues, descriptive rather than analytical, ideas presented as unsubstantiated opinions
Not terribly well written
Grammar/spelling errors sometimes impede readability
0-39
A demonstrable lack of structure, textual reference or analysis
Poorly written
Grammar/spelling errors make it (very) difficult to comprehend the text
5: Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined as submission of material (written, visual or oral) originally produced by another person or persons, without acknowledgement, such that the work could be assumed to be the student’s own.

If you use text, data, drawings, designs or artefacts without properly acknowledging who produced the material, than you are likely to be accused of plagiarism. This can be avoided by making clear the sources of information used (eg books, articles, interviews, reports, internet reference or government publications). All must be properly referenced, not only in a bibliography but also in the text or in a footnote.

Plagiarism covers both direct copying and/or paraphrasing with only minor adjustments. A direct quotation from a text must be indicated by the use of quotation marks and the source of the material including page numbers for the section(s) which have been summarised.

NB: An essay or report cannot consist merely of summaries of other people’s ideas and texts.