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 2 – the Literature Review – is designed to ensure that each team member masters the
skills of searching, locating, reading, summarising, and using relevant academic literature and
secondary data to create a compelling discussion and/or argument, thereby creating the context for
their further research in pursuit of the answer to their research question(s).
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 the following:
1. An opening statement of the Research Problem and research Question(s) – these should
now be more detailed than what you had in your Topic Approval.
2. Discussion of major theories, models or streams of influence around this topic. This provides
your lecturer with evidence that you have gone deeper than your initial search now to find
literature that leads you toward answering your research question
3. Draw the reader’s attention to any contrasting views expressed in prior research in this area
and give your view of how differing opinions can be brought together to help answer the
research question and ultimately resolve the research problem. [the more comprehensive
your literature review, the better. Whatever you do NOT find out in this literature review
will leave you with more work to do when you move to the next part of the project, i.e.
methodology]
4. Report how it has brought you closer to an answer to your research question(s).
5. Ensure all in text citations are correctly referenced.
6. Add a comprehensive List of References, in Harvard referencing style. [Students please be
warned that errors in referencing attract suspicion of plagiarism/academic misconduct
and may require detailed investigation, prompting a request for further information from
you regarding your sources. It is always essential that academic integrity is upheld and any
breach thereof may lead to a mark of ZERO and a report of academic misconduct. Don’t
take a chance!]
7. Append a statement indicating ‘who wrote which sections of this report