Critically evaluate the student’s theoretical knowledge of entrepreneurship

BA DEGREE ASSIGNMENT SPECIFICATION
Student name:		Student P number:
Programmes:	BA International Hotel Management
Module:	Entrepreneurship	Module Level (4, 5, 6):	5
Module code:	BMIH5001	Contribution to Overall Module Assessment (%):	50%
Lecturer:		Internal Verifier:
Assignment Title:	Using an entrepreneur of your choice, critically evaluate their entrepreneurial motivations and characteristics using appropriate academic models.  (2000 words)	Word count (or equivalent):	2000 Words
Submission deadlines:		Return date of provisional marks & written feedback:

Submission method:

All written assessments, where practical and possible, must be submitted via Turnitin unless otherwise instructed by the Lecturer. (Please DO NOT put this assessment specification into Turnitin or it will match many similarities with other students’ submissions.) Late submission of the assessment will result in a late penalty mark.  Penalties for late submission: Up to one week late, maximum mark of 40%.  Over one week late, 0%.  Only the Extenuating Circumstances Panel may approve a change to submission dates.

Academic honesty / referencing:

Academic honesty is required. In the main body of your submission, you must give credit to authors on whose research and ideas your work is based. Append to your submission a reference list that indicates the books, articles, etc. that you have used, cited or quoted in order to complete this assessment.

 

Lecturer to indicate if a hard copy version of the assignment must be submitted.  DO NOT put this form into Turnitin or it will match many similarities with other students’ submissions.
	NO	X

Learning Outcomes tested  (from module syllabus)	Assessment Criteria - To achieve each outcome a student must demonstrate:
Critically evaluate the student’s theoretical knowledge of entrepreneurship Evaluate the student’s ability to recognise the key attributes of their chosen entrepreneur	An understanding of theories relating to entrepreneurship. Linkage between entrepreneurial theory and their chosen entrepreneur. Referencing skills. The ability to develop a coherent written argument and present that argument to the tutor verbally.

TASK DESCRIPTION:

Using an entrepreneur of your choice from the options below, critically evaluate their entrepreneurial motivations and characteristics using appropriate academic models.

Assignment 1 will be a written essay of 2000 words.

You are required to select one entrepreneur from the list below. Investigate the individual’s motivational factors and traits that have led to their success. Your essay must include analysis of entrepreneurial theories and models that relate to your selected entrepreneur.

You MUST choose ONE of the following entrepreneurs:

• Alex Chesterman, Cazoo
• Anne Boden, Starling
• Ben Francis, GymShark
• Charlie McGregor, The Student Hotel
• Christoph Hoffman, 25hours Hotels
• David Chang, Momofuku
• Girish Jhunjhnuwala, Ovolo Hotels
• Hayley Parsons, GoCompare
• Jordan Karcher, Grounds and Hounds Coffee
• Justine Roberts, Mumsnet Online
• Keith Valentine Graham (Levi Roots), Levi Roots Reggae Foods
• Leah Goldglantz, Leah`s Plate
• Marten Dresen, The Good Hotel
• Paul Lindley, Ella`s Kitchen
• Pippa Murray, Pip and Nut

Within your essay you must include:

• An introduction to your chosen entrepreneur and their venture/s.
• The choices they made and the directions they took on their journey to success (a brief historical background of their career to date, including failures as well as successes)
• The driving factors that led them to where they are now and their personal characteristics and motivations that made it possible.
• The entrepreneurial theories and models that align to this individual and their development.
• Critically evaluate the factors that you believe have contributed to their success, both individually and externally (macro-environmental factors).
• The personal traits that will continue to support their continued growth and consideration of their resilience going forward.

You must present your essay with a title page, this to include:-

• The title of the essay:

The Entrepreneurial Motivations and Characteristics of [INSERT NAME OF CHOSEN ENTREPRENEUR]

• Your name
• Your student ID number
• The module title: Entrepreneurship BMIH5001
• Your lecturer’s name.

References & In-text citations

You must use credible sources for your research from online sources, textbooks, media, and industry journals to support your essay. This is a 2,000 word paper and so you need to include 20 sources as a minimum. These must also be inserted as in text citations, to support your writing.

PLEASE NOTE:

As this is written as an essay, it must follow the approved academic essay format with:

Introduction (5-10% of word count) – Usually short and introduces the context and reason for writing the essay- ‘This is what this essay is about’.

Main body (80% of word count) – Develops key themes and topics around the writer’s position, which link together to produce logical and coherent progression ideas, with each paragraph linking to the title of the essay “The golden thread of essay writing”.

And conclusion (10-15% of word count). - Summarises the content of the essay and presents concluding arguments and implications for the future ‘Here’s what this essay has shown’.

It is completed by a reference list (Using the Harvard referencing system) this is an essential part of your essay but is not included within the word count and should make 1% of your total word count so for 2000 words a minimum of 20 reference sources accurately cited within the essay.

In addition to this structure there must be NO inclusion of sub-headings, font changes, diagrams, illustrations, photographs, or such like within the essay.

Font settings:

• Arial or Times New Roman font, size 12
• 1.5 line spacing
• Justify text

GUIDANCE FOR Students IN THE COMPLETION OF TASKS

 1.      Research-informed Literature

Your work must be informed and supported by scholarly material that is relevant to and focused on the task(s) set.    You should provide evidence that you have accessed a wide range of sources, which may be academic, governmental and industrial; these sources may include academic journal articles, textbooks, current news articles, organisational documents, and websites.  You should consider the credibility of your sources; academic journals are normally highly credible sources while websites require careful consideration/selection and should be used sparingly.   Any sources you use should be current and up-to-date, mostly published within the last five years or so, though seminal/important works in the field may be older.  You must provide evidence of your research/own reading throughout your work, using in-text citations in the main body of your work and a reference list that is alphabetical at the end of your work. Please use the Harvard/APA referencing system.

Specific to this assignment:

You should show a wide level of reading, a minimum of 20 references, from a variety of sources including textbooks, academic journals and academic based websites.  You must reference academic sources for theory.   

2.      Knowledge and Understanding of Subject

Your work must demonstrate the growing extent of your knowledge and understanding of concepts and underlying principles associated with the subject area.  Knowledge relates to the facts, information and skills you have acquired through your learning.  You demonstrate your understanding by interpreting the meaning of the facts and information (knowledge). This means that you need to select and include in your work the concepts, techniques, models, theories, etc. appropriate to the task(s) set.  You should be able to explain the theories, concepts, etc. meaningfully to show your understanding.  Your mark/grade will also depend upon the extent to which you demonstrate your knowledge and understanding; ideally each should be complete and detailed, with comprehensive coverage.

Specific to this assignment:

Make reference to relevant entrepreneurial theories/models.  You do not need to explain these in depth, but introduce them briefly. Variety and suitability of theory is key.

3.      Analysis

Your work must contain evidence of logical, analytical thinking, evaluation and synthesis. For example, to examine and break information down into parts, make inferences, compile, compare and contrast information.  This means not just describing What! But also justifying: Why? How? When? Who? Where? At all times, you must provide justification for your arguments and judgements.  Evidence that you have reflected upon the ideas of others within the subject area is crucial to you providing a reasoned and informed debate within your work.  Furthermore, you should provide evidence that you are able to make sound judgements and convincing arguments using data and concepts.  Sound, valid conclusions are necessary and must be derived from the content of your work.  There should be no new information presented within your conclusion.  Where relevant, alternative solutions and recommendations may be proposed.

Specific to this assignment:

Through further discussion, you should critically analyse relevant theory and principles. Demonstrating your ability to compare and contrast theory and academic writing is key.

4.      Practical application and deployment

You should be able to demonstrate how the subject-related concepts and ideas relate to real world situations or a particular context.  How do they work in practice?  You will deploy models, methods, techniques, and/or theories, in that context, to assess current situations, perhaps to formulate plans or solutions to solve problems, some of which may be innovative and creative.  This is likely to involve, for instance, the use of real world examples and cases, the application of a model within an organisation and/or benchmarking one organisation against others based on stated criteria.  You should show awareness of the limitations of concepts and theories when applied in particular contexts.

Specific to this assignment:     You should be able to show an understanding of the factors important to your entrepreneur. You should deploy your chosen techniques, models and/or theories and wider reading to illustrate points critical to your entrepreneur. A wide variety of real-world examples should be included to support your conclusions. Where possible you should show awareness of the practical limitations of the models selected.

5.       Skills for professional practice

Your work must provide evidence of the attributes expected in professional practice.  This includes demonstrating your individual initiative and/or collaborative working. You must communicate effectively in a suitable format, which may be written and/or oral, for example, essay, management report, presentation. Work should be coherent and well-structured in presentation and organisation.

Specific to this assignment:

By compiling this essay you should be able to demonstrate an understanding of entrepreneurship. You should write an essay in a recognised format.  All writing should be academic style, formal, focused, concise and subject specific. 

Essential Resources:

• Resources provided in module handbook, lecture notes, tutorial material and on Moodle

 

This section details the assessment criteria. The extent to which these are demonstrated by you determines your mark. The marks available for each criterion are shown. Lecturers will use the space provided to comment on the achievement of the task(s), including those areas in which you have performed well and areas that would benefit from development/improvement.   

Common Assessment Criteria Applied	Marks available	Marks awarded
1. Research-informed Literature Extent of research and/or own reading, selection of credible sources, application of appropriate referencing conventions.
2. Knowledge and Understanding of Subject Extent of knowledge and understanding of concepts and underlying principles associated with the discipline.
3. Analysis Analysis, evaluation and synthesis; logic, argument and judgement; analytical reflection; organisation  of ideas and evidence
4. Practical Application and Deployment Deployment of methods, materials, tools and techniques; application of concepts; formulation of innovative and creative solutions to solve problems.
5. Skills for Professional Practice Attributes in professional practice: individual and collaborative working; deployment of appropriate media; presentation and organisation.

Assignment Mark (Assessment marks are subject to ratification at the Exam Board.  These comments and marks are to give feedback on module work and are for guidance only until they are confirmed. )	Late Submission Penalties (tick if appropriate)		100%
	Up to 1 week late	40% Max
	Over 1 week late	0%