Reference no: EM133938710

Study Tour

Assessment 1:

Assessment type: Forum Portfolio - Individual.
Purpose: This assessment is designed to prepare and evaluate students' ability to anticipate and articulate how their experiences during the study tour will influence their professional and personal perceptions of leadership, ethics, and accountability.

Task Details:

Students are required to prepare and present a short expectational statement about how they think their journey through this subject will influence their professional and personal perceptions of leadership, ethics and accountability.

Students are also required to review, complete and sign the Enterprise Benchmarking and Field Intelligence contract. This task must be completed successfully by the close of Session 1 before students are eligible to participate in the site visits commencing Session 5.

Guide to the Feedback Criteria

Clarity and Depth of Analysis
Description: Evaluate the student's ability to clearly articulate their expectations regarding how the study tour will influence their understanding of leadership, ethics, and accountability. Assess the depth of their analysis in anticipating the impact of the tour on their professional and personal development.
Indicators: Well-structured argument, insightful connections between anticipated experiences and personal/professional growth, and clear articulation of expectations.
Reflection on Personal and Professional Skills
Description: Assess the student's reflection on the personal, professional, and culturally responsible skills they expect to develop during the study tour. This includes their awareness of diverse cultural and professional norms and how these might influence their future interactions and leadership style.

Indicators: Evidence of self-awareness, understanding of cultural diversity, and thoughtful consideration of how these skills will be applied in future professional contexts.
Identification and Justification of Enterprise Practices
Description: Evaluate the student's ability to anticipate and justify examples of best and worst practices they expect to observe during the tour, based on their understanding of contemporary enterprise drivers and challenges.
Indicators: Logical reasoning, use of evidence or prior knowledge to support expectations, and clear justification of anticipated observations.

Presentation and Communication Skills
Description: Assess the effectiveness of the student's verbal and written communication, including the clarity, coherence, and engagement of their presentation. This criterion also considers the use of visual aids (slides) to enhance the presentation.
Indicators: Clear and engaging delivery, effective use of slides, adherence to time and word limits, and overall presentation quality.

Assessment 2
Assessment Type: Oral Audio Presentation (Experiential) - Open Collaboration - Individual Deliverable
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is to evaluate students' ability to synthesise and critically analyse their firsthand experiences from the MBA Study Tour, focusing on their observations of leadership, ethics, and accountability in contemporary enterprises.
Topic: Oral Audio Presentation (Experiential Podcast)

Task Details:
Students will assume the role of a managing partner in a private equity firm considering the potential acquisition of one of the businesses visited.

Throughout the tour, students will maintain a daily reflective log/blog engagement portfolio, which will serve as their personal data set collected in the field. This data set will include observations, learnings, and reflections from site visits and classroom sessions.
Students will be assigned to teams and will engage in an open collaboration exercise, sharing and benchmarking their personal data sets with team members. The purpose of this collaboration is to gain broader insights from a wider pool of participants.

Using the combined data from:
The student's own "preflection" from Assessment 1
Personal fieldwork data collected during site visits (logs/blogs)
Insights gained from the collaborative benchmarking exercise with team members

Students will deliver an individual podcast (7 minutes) that provides:
A comparative, critical analysis of the businesses visited during the site visits, focusing on their future potential.
An evaluation of the existing practices and behaviours observed and any changes they might introduce as new leaders
A recommendation on which business to acquire, supported by evidence from the field observations and collaborative insights.
A reflection on the student's personal and professional perceptions of leadership, ethics, and accountability as they relate to the potential acquisition.
A discussion of the potential challenges and opportunities in integrating the chosen business into the private equity firm's portfolio.
The podcast should demonstrate the student's ability to synthesize information from multiple sources, apply critical thinking to real-world business scenarios, and make strategic decisions based on evidence gathered in the field. Students should also reflect on how this experience has shaped their understanding of business acquisitions and leadership in a global context.

Assessment 3

Purpose: The purpose this task is to evaluate students' ability to synthesize, analyse, and critically reflect on their experiences from the MBA Study Tour, focusing on a specific process or issue observed during site visits. This assessment aligns with all five learning outcomes and aims to develop students' ability to critically analyse the data used in their report and articulate novel or unexpected learnings related to their chosen theme. By integrating insights from previous assessments and field observations, students will demonstrate their capacity to synthesize complex information and draw meaningful conclusions about contemporary business practices in a global context. Get instant assignment help from top tutors.

This case study analysis serves as a culmination of the experiential learning journey, allowing students to showcase their developed skills in rapid identification and analysis of core issues central to modern enterprises, while also demonstrating their understanding of diverse cultural and professional norms encountered during the study tour.

Topic: Case Study Analysis Task Details:
Using their Podcast from Assessment 2, "preflection" from Assessment 1, and the fieldwork data collected during all of the site visits (log/blog), students develop a case study report of a selected process or issue identified during the site visits.

As a part of delivering this report, students are also required to critically analyse the data used to compile their report and specifically outline novel or unexpected learnings from the selected process or issue that forms the report's theme.

Assessment 4
Assessment type: Reflective Journal Report - Individual report 2500 words

Purpose: The purpose of this assessment (Reflective Synthesis Report - Individual Deliverable) is to evaluate students' ability to comprehensively synthesize and critically reflect on their entire MBA Study Tour experience, integrating insights from all previous assessments and field observations. This assessment aligns with all five of the subject learning outcomes.

This report serves as a capstone to the experiential learning journey, allowing students to demonstrate their growth in understanding global business practices, cultural competence, and self-awareness. It challenges students to articulate how they will apply their newfound knowledge and skills in their future careers, thereby bridging the gap between academic learning and professional application in the context of 21st-century technology-centric enterprises.

Topic: Reflective Journal Report

Task Details:
Using their Case Study Analysis from Assessment 3, Podcast from Assessment 2, "preflection" from Assessment 1, and the fieldwork data collected during all of the site visits (logs/blogs), students develop a report that synthesises all of their field work and experiences. This report specifically highlights key personal learnings and findings, illustrating how these learnings and findings will now direct the student moving forward with their own career.