Assignment 1 Specifications Purpose: 

This unit aims to give you an opportunity to combine many facets of your acquired MBA skills into the production of a high-quality research project. 

Assignment 1 - the Topic Approval - is to ensure you have given sufficient thought to the topic you are choosing to base your research project on. You will ideally work with a group consisting of 2 or 3 class-mates. Your respective contributions will be governed by the Team Charter, which is a document you will produce at the same time as your Topic Approval submission. The Team Charter is to indicate, essentially, what roles will be played by each member of the team. 

Your lecturer will LEAD and FACILITATE you through the process, week by week. The learning will be progressive, so for best results you will need to be in weekly contact with your lecturer during class time at your campus. 

Assignment Structure should be as the following: 

1. Say why this topic interests your team 

2. Discuss your team’s initial search for relevant literature and show that it has provided you with a good contextual understanding 

3. Define the Research Problem that your team intends to address (as you see it, so far) 

4. Propose at least ONE research question that your team will be seeking to answer through your research project (additional questions may be defined as you progress with this unit) 

5. List the student numbers and names of your team members, complete a Team Charter (see template) and include in your submission as an appendix. 

N.B. Check with the lecturer if and when you will be required to make a short presentation. 

Team Charter (not applicable if doing the assignment individually) 

Here the team members must participate in robust discussion during which they discuss their individual interests, strengths and weaknesses and contemplate who can best contribute what over the period of the business research project. For example, while all members of the team must contribute to the whole project, the team members may decide that a particular person will take the lead role in a certain section of the project, such as the sourcing of relevant literature. [If one member takes on the lead role it doesn’t mean that others don’t do any of the work, just that they will be guided by the one leading that section of the project]. It is recommended that each team member assumes a leading role for one aspect of the team effort. The result of your discussions should be documented in a table similar to the one below. [Note that you need to define the roles; those listed are simply examples]. Each person’s name and student number must appear at least once in the table. There may be more than one person allocated to any role.  

Team Charter Template 

HI6008 Business Research Project - Team Charter    

Team Member Names email mobile 

Member 1                     Contact 1 Pref 1 

Member 2                    Contact 2 Pref 2 

Member 3                    Contact 3 Pref 3 

Note: The maximum team size is 3 persons.

ASSIGN TOPIC :IMPACT OF OUTSOURCING BUSINESS FUNCTION 

1. Explain the team’s agreed goals and timeline for completion (Due dates, meetings, milestones, deliverables from individuals) 

2. Who is responsible for each activity?

3. What particular team-roles will each member contribute to the team? 

4. What are your team’s expectations regarding meeting attendance (being on time, leaving early, missing meetings, etc.)? 

5. What process will team members follow if they have an emergency and cannot attend a team meeting or complete their individual work promised to the team (deliverable)? 

6. What are your team’s expectations regarding the quality of team members’ preparation for team meetings? 

7. What are your team’s expectations regarding team members’ ideas, interactions with the team, cooperation, attitudes, and team-member contributions in general? 

8. How will your team ensure that members contribute as expected to the team and that the team performs as expected? 

9. How will your team reward members who do well and how will you collectively manage members whose performance is below expectations?  

10. Add any other team agreements and commitments here

This table may be useful in thinking about the effective combination of team members skills. 

Team Members Lead-Role 

Allocations (examples) Name(s) Student Number(s) 

Innovation / Design 

Networking / Relationships 

Writing / Editing  

Research / Data

Accuracy / Reference checks

Final Submissions