BU8601 Fundamentals of Management (Semester 1 AY21-22):

INSTRUCTIONS FOR LITERATURE ANALYSIS & GROUP PROJECT

Topic: “The role of an effective Manager during Crisis”

Assignment Deadlines (Tutorial Group A)
Literature Analysis 1 hour before Tutorial 3
(Week 6 13 - 17 Sep)
Group Report 1 hour before Tutorial 5
(Week 10 18 – 22 Oct)
Deadlines (Tutorial Group B)
1 hour before Tutorial 3
(Week 7 20 – 24 Sep)
1 hour before Tutorial 5
(Week 11 25 – 29 Oct)

IMPORTANT NOTE TO ALL STUDENTS

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO WORK IN GROUPS OF THREE or FOUR for THIS ASSIGNMENT [i.e.,
Three or four people per team from the same tutorial group.]
You will not be allowed to work alone, or form a pair, or form a team across different tutorial
groups.

Overview

1. The literature analysis and group project are designed to meet the course learning
outcome that you can analyse the role of a manager, based on today’s managerial practices
and academic research on managers. The assignments will help develop your critical thinking
and problem-solving skills.

2. Students will form groups of three or four during Tutorial Session #1.
It is therefore very important to attend Tutorial Session #1.

3. As a team, you will work together throughout the semester to research the
management topic: “The role of an effective Manager during Crisis?” and submit a Literature
Analysis and a final Group Project Report on the topic.

4. The team will first research the concepts and principles about the topic from any
three journal articles (among these articles, you should have at least one articles on the roles
of manager and another on Crisis Management) and submit a Literature Analysis 1 hour
before Tutorial Session #3. This is to be a short summary and analysis (maximum of 500
words) of what is presented in the three journal articles.

5. You will receive feedback from your tutorial instructor on the Literature Analysis
to help you guide your further research on the topic to complete the assignment. You are
encouraged to proactive seek consultation with your tutors to receive the feedback via virtual
face-to-face. An in-class debrief will be given during Tutorial Session #4. Parts of the
Literature Analysis should be incorporated into the team’s final Group Project Report. Please
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 BU8601 Fundamentals of Management (Semester 1 AY21-22):
INSTRUCTIONS FOR LITERATURE ANALYSIS & GROUP PROJECT
see the rubric (page 10 of this document) that will be used to provide feedback on the
Literature Analysis.

6. As part of the overall assignment, the Literature Analysis is not graded. However, it
must be submitted on time or else the final report will be penalized, according to the late
policy detailed in the BU8601 Course Outline.

7. Based on the Literature Analysis, the team members will conduct further research on
the topic by interviewing three managers of their choice and submit a Group Project Report
on the findings from these interviews. These managers could be anyone working in
management or supervisory positions in any organization.

8. The final Group Project Report (maximum of 4,500 words) must integrate what the
team members have found out about management practices (from the interviews) with the
management concepts, theories, and principles (from your readings for literature analysis,
the prescribed textbook, and other academic research you may have carried out).

9. The report is due 1 hour before Tutorial Session #5. The report will be assessed
according to criteria in the Group Project Report Rubric (see page 11). You are strongly
urged to read and understand the rubric to ensure you achieve the highest possible grade for
this assignment.

Your group project should address key issues [drawn from experiences of individuals you
interviewed] concerning the work that the managers carry out in order to ensure effective
and efficient crisis management in their organisation. You should attempt to find answers
to the following:
• Justify how important is the role of an effective manager during a crisis. How d o e s
t h i s r o l e impact the crisis management of the organization?
• According to the academic literature, what can managers do in order to be more
effective in their roles in managing a crisis?
• How do managers in the real world go about doing their job, based on your
interviews?
• How do the practices in the real world compare to the ideas advocated by the
academic literature, and what could explain the differences and the similarities?
• In conclusion, what insights about crisis management have you gained from the
project that will benefit you in the future?

The topic on Crisis Management can be very wide. Therefore, you should define very clearly
the scope of your group project eg. using the current Pandemic Crisis or Financial Crisis in the
past. The scope will be the issues or questions that you focus on and try to answer. These
issues should come from what you identify as important in the Literature Analysis. For
example, Does the role of a manager differ in different types of crisis or
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INSTRUCTIONS FOR LITERATURE ANALYSIS & GROUP PROJECT
organisations/industries? Is it possible for managers to be efficient without being effective
during crisis? What can managers do, themselves, to improve their effectiveness in crisis
management? What can their organization as a whole do to improve the effectiveness of the
managers especially during a crisis?

Defining the scope of your report will also help you devise appropriate questions to ask
interviewees so you can compare what they tell you to what is suggested in the academic
literature. This is where virtual face-to-face interviews are most effective. They enable you
to probe and clarify responses and answers which are unclear or ambiguous. In face-to-
face interviews, you can also re-phrase questions which your interviewee may have difficulty
in understanding.

THE LITERATURE ANALYSIS (maximum = 500 words)

Each team is required to submit a LITERATURE ANALYSIS (also known as a “Literature

Review”) before your TUTORIAL SESSION #3. If you do not submit this review on time, the
final Group Project Report will be penalized!

The Literature Analysis must be based on an in-depth analysis of any four research articles
with at least one article on the roles of manager and at least one article on Crisis Management
Theory/Framework.

The Literature Analysis is NOT a simple summary of the literature. It should identify
the main points from the readings and integrate these points by highlighting the similarities
and differences in how they are presented in the different readings.

Further information on a literature analysis/review is provided at the end of this document

– see page 12.

THE GROUP PROJECT REPORT (maximum = 4,500 words)

To gain a more realistic understanding of issues related to the manager’s roles during crisis,
your project group is to interview three managers on the topic: “The roles of an effective
manager during crisis?” Ideally, the managers you interview should be working (or have
worked) in a supervisory or managerial position for several years.

To complete this project meaningfully, you should research and read widely prior to
commencement of the assignment. This will help you better frame your interview questions
to get information to write a better report. In particular, what do recent (from 2015
onwards) management articles suggest about the role of manager today and future in the
context of crisis?

Your interview questions should focus on the role of the managers during crisis:
What do they have to do in order to be crisis-ready? How do they ensure organizational
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INSTRUCTIONS FOR LITERATURE ANALYSIS & GROUP PROJECT
survivability to weather through the crisis? What actions do they take to plan, organize and
control resources and activities, and lead the people under their charge to prepare, weather
and emerge stronger in a crisis?

Procedure for the interviews and Structure of the report

1. You may wish to consider your parents, relatives, or family friends as potential
interviewees. Ask the interviewees to describe their role at work as a manager in the
context of the crisis management process [e.g. planning, organizing, controlling, leading].
Interviewees tend to digress, so you must keep them focused and, therefore, virtual face-
to-face interviews are strongly recommended. By the same token, you should be familiar
with the topic to ensure that your interview is focused on the subject. Email interviews are
generally ineffective for this assignment – please avoid them!

2. Your questions must be well-framed so that you obtain relevant and useful information
to write your report. Poorly framed questions and inadequate attention to details in
questioning will lead to a poor report. Therefore, please spend some time prior to the
interviews in framing your key questions.

3. Discuss your findings and argue whether what happens in practice bears any semblance
to the descriptions of managers and their roles in the textbook and your readings. Address
the issues identified in your introduction to the report.

4. Think critically about your findings. Analyze any variances between practice and theory, and
explain your interpretation of these. Support your own position, ideas, and views, with further
reference to literature or other sources of information. Evaluate the effectiveness of the roles
done by the managers you interviewed. (There is no need to evaluate the managers,
themselves, but address the effectiveness of their jobs or roles for their organization). If you
have suggestions on how the manager’s role can be improved, please justify your suggestions.

5. In your conclusion, discuss any insights you have gained from identifying the similarities
and differences between theory and practice (and what these may mean for your own
careers). Try to take into account the context and nature of the business and crisis that each
manager faces.

6. If necessary, to maintain anonymity, you may change the name of the interviewee and
his/her organization. However, please give some background information about the type and
nature of business and crisis. This is important to give context to your findings and
observations in the report.

7. The report on each interview should be treated as a separate section and clearly identified
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INSTRUCTIONS FOR LITERATURE ANALYSIS & GROUP PROJECT
appropriately. However, it would be ideal to present a common discussion, analysis, and
conclusion so you can bring into your report the element of comparing and contrasting the
various ideas (for example, ‘conflicting views’, etc.), as well as extracting key themes from
them.

8. As there is a limit to the length of your report (4,500 words), you should exercise
prudence and plan well before commencing the writing up of your report. The report
should include an introduction, the interview reports, analysis, discussion and conclusion.
You need to work closely with your team mates to ensure you write a focused report which
is sufficiently thorough and detailed yet does not exceed the word count of 4,500 words.

9. Here is a guide for writing the report. It should have the following headings:
Introduction– identify the purpose of the report and issues to be addressed
Interview Reports – keep this brief. They should focus on the key findings with respect to the
interviewee’s situation.
• Interviewee 1
• Interviewee 2
• Interviewee 3
[Full transcripts of the interviews are not compulsory. If they are deemed necessary for
supporting evidence, you can include them in the Appendix.]
Discussion – describe the similarities and differences between what’s in academic literature
and what your interviewees said, in relation to the topic.
Analysis – explain the similarities and differences with your own ideas supported by further
reference to literature or other sources of information. (This should be the largest section, as
it requires justification and critical thinking)
Conclusion – summarize your findings and present your own views in a well-balanced manner.
What insights about management have you gained from the project that will benefit you in
the future?
References / Bibliography – please use a consistent and well-recognized referencing style (not
footnotes).
Appendix
[NB: References, bibliography & appendix are NOT INCLUDED in word count.]

10. Your team should devote time to decide on the scope of coverage and how the report
is to be written before commencing to write it, to ensure that it is effectively and efficiently
‘argued’ and presented. [These are management skills, especially when working as a team].

PLEASE BE AWARE Past experience has shown that groups who do not spend time and
effort in defining their scope, and consolidating their research and findings, often do not
compile the best possible reports. If team members work independently, write sections of
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INSTRUCTIONS FOR LITERATURE ANALYSIS & GROUP PROJECT
the report separately, and then just ‘stitch’ them together, the end-result is likely to be a poorly
organized report.

There are no absolute “right”, “wrong”, “model” or “standard” answers for this report. The
purpose of the assignment is for you to demonstrate your understanding of the management
process and present a realistic view on how managers function in today’s workplace. Your
report will be graded according to the Group Project Assessment Rubric on page 11. You
should use this rubric as a guide in writing your report. Teams who do well in their assignment
generally follow the rubric very closely.

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INSTRUCTIONS FOR LITERATURE ANALYSIS & GROUP PROJECT

Submission of Literature Analysis

As described below, the Literature Analysis has to be submitted via Turnitin in your
respective Tutorial Site 1 hour before the Tutorial Session #3. (There is no need to print and
submit a hard copy of your assignment):

• The Literature Analysis should be in the form of a word document. Please name
the file in the following format: Tutorial Group + underscore + name of person 1 +
underscore + name of person 2 + underscore + name of person 3.
For example, three students, Lee Ting Ting, Quek Ling Karen and Rama s/o Bala from tutorial
group 1 should name their literature anlaysis file as
“TG01_LeeTingTing_QuekLingKaren_Rama”.

• Insert your filename as a footer (i.e., to appear at bottom of every page throughout
your report).

• The assignment should be submitted via Turnitin (into NTULearn) 1 hour before
your tutorial session #3. E.g., if your tutorial session #3 begins at 6:30pm Tuesday, 14
Sep 2021, then your submission deadline will be 5.30pm Tuesday, 14 Sep 2021.

• You MUST attach the DECLARATION OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY as your cover page
for the literature analysis. Ensure you put a mark in the box underneath all three (or four)
team members’ names to indicate that the whole team has read, and accepts, the declaration.

• Upload your assignment into the folder called “Literature Analysis” that your
instructor will have created under the "Turnitin Assignments" folder in the NTULearn website
of your seminar class. Attach your file and click “submit”.

• Note: the time of submission is automatically recorded. Do not submit your

analysis on-line at the very last minute, in case of technical problems.

• Only one person needs to submit the Literature Analysis on-line for the group.

• Your instructor will confirm his/her receipt of your submission at the third tutorial
session.

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 BU8601 Fundamentals of Management (Semester 1 AY21-22):
INSTRUCTIONS FOR LITERATURE ANALYSIS & GROUP PROJECT

Group Project Report - Format, Deadlines and Grading

1. This course assignment constitutes 40% of the overall marks for the course. [But you
must have submitted the Literature Analysis to qualify. If you have not done so, the Group
Project Report will be rejected, thereby forfeiting 40% of the marks for the course.]

The assignment will be assessed based on the G r o u p P r o j e c t R e p o r t rubric.

The marks awarded and ultimately the grade the assignment receives will be adversely
affected if sections of the assignment are written ‘separately’ and ‘stitched’ together, or if
there is no cross-link in the discussion section between the three interviewees, or if there is
a lack of good flow of ideas and views, etc.

2. VERY IMPORTANT: This is a three-person team assignment. You may discuss it with
your other friends, family members and/or your instructor, but the finished product should
represent your team’s own work. Students are reminded that plagiarism is unethical and
unlawful (please refer to relevant University rules), and thus carries severe consequences.
You are strongly encouraged to attend the first tutorial session where your instructor will
give you time to find your respective team members. Please discuss with your potential
team members and secure their commitment in terms of time and effort before you commit
to work with them.

3. On the top of the first page after the cover page, you should indicate your tutorial group
number and the names of all the members. Your matriculation numbers should not be
included. Begin your report on the same page. Please ensure that you number your pages.

4. The report should be typed in Times New Roman font size 12, with 1.5 line spacing, and
one-inch margins. The word count should not exceed 4,500 words. Please state the word
count at the end of the assignment. Your assignment should generally not exceed 15 pages
in length (excluding any appendices).

5. The Group Project Report has to be submitted via Turnitin in your tutorial site (into your
tutorial NTULearn site) 1 hour before your Tutorial Session #5.

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INSTRUCTIONS FOR LITERATURE ANALYSIS & GROUP PROJECT

6. Please submit your report on-line, as explained below:

• The Group Project Report should be in the form of a word document.

Please name the file in the following format: Tutorial Group + underscore + name of person
1 + underscore + name of person 2 + underscore + name of person 3.
For example, three students, Lee Ting Ting, Quek Ling Karen and Rama s/o Bala from Tutorial
group 1 should name their report file as “TG01_LeeTingTing_QuekLingKaren_Rama

• Insert your filename as a footer (i.e., to appear at bottom of every page throughout
your report).

• The report should be submitted via Turnitin (into NTULearn) 1 hour before your
tutorial session # 5 begins. E.g., if your tutorial session #5 begins at 6.30pm Tuesday, 19
Oct 2021, your report’s submission deadline will be 5.30pm Tuesday, 19 Oct 2021.

• You MUST attach the DECLARATION OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY as your cover page
for the report. Ensure you put a mark in the box underneath all three (or four) team members’
names to indicate that the whole team has read, and accepts, the declaration.

• Upload your report into the folder called “Group Project Report” that your instructor
will have created under the "Turnitin Assignments" folder in the NTULearn website of your
seminar class. Attach your file and click “submit”.

• Note: the time of submission is automatically recorded. Do not submit your

report on-line at the very last minute, in case of technical problems or congestion.

• Only one person needs to submit the report for the group.

• Your instructor will confirm his/her receipt of your submission at the fifth tutorial
session.

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INSTRUCTIONS FOR LITERATURE ANALYSIS & GROUP PROJECT

7. Students who fail to comply with instructions may be penalized.

The BU8601 late policy is a 5% reduction in your Group Project Report mark (i.e., one grade
lower) for every 12-hour period (or part thereof) that either the Literature Analysis or Group
project report is late. No extension of deadline is allowed except in extenuating circumstances
[e.g., death in a team member’s family, critical illness of self or immediate family, or a calamity
in a team member’s home town/city], where evidence should be submitted to your tutor who
will discuss it with the course coordinator.
So, please plan ahead and allow yourself sufficient time to complete the assignment to a
high standard.

Warning against Plagiarism

The Turn-it-in program will be used to check the electronic submission. This is a highly
effective tool to check for plagiarism.

The penalties for plagiarism ( e.g., copying of others’ work) are severe. Any sources of
information which are used in completing your work must be identified and reported in the
reference section of your written report. Therefore, please devote special attention to ensure
you have correctly included all references and sources in your bibliography/list of references.

While you may discuss your group project with students from other groups/classes, you must
submit a report based on your own group’s effort and you must not duplicate any parts
of the reports from any other groups (submitted in any semester or for any other course).

Students have been caught and penalized in previous semesters for plagiarizing from past
group projects submitted in BU8601 and other courses of study.

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INSTRUCTIONS FOR LITERATURE ANALYSIS & GROUP PROJECT

Literature Analysis Rubric

(for Formative Assessment = no marks given)

Standards
Criteria
Below expectation Meets Expectation Above Expectation

Understanding - Does not demonstrate a - Demonstrates a good - Demonstrates excellent

of the theoretical good understanding of the
principles in the readings.
readings
- Many key points or principles
in the articles are missed out.
- Does not show that the
students understand the
readings (e.g. it simply repeats
the points from an article’s
abstract, headings or
conclusion).
understanding of the readings insights into the readings
using the students’ own words using the students’ own
words
- Many of the key points or
principles in the articles - Most of the key points or
are identified and discussed. principles in the articles are
identified and discussed.
- Clear explanation of the main
points from all the readings -Excellent explanation of the
that relate to the topic (i.e. main points from all the
not simply a summary of the readings that relate to the
readings). topic (i.e. evidence of
insights gained from the
readings).

Integration of - No integration of the - Some integration of key - Excellent integration of

the theoretical readings. points from the readings. key points from the
principles - Some evidence that the key readings.
- No demonstration of effective points from the readings are
synthesis or paraphrasing of thecompared, contrast, and - Strong evidence that the
key points chosen from the combined. - This is key points from the articles
articles. demonstrated from the are compared, contrast, and
effective synthesis and combined.
- The readings are simply paraphrasing, through the - This is demonstrated from
summarised one after the other. structure of the analysis, the excellent synthesis and
whereby discussions relate to paraphrasing, through the
the key points and not to the structure of the analysis,
individual readings. highlighting similarities and
differences in the different
readings.
Communication - Poorly organized. - Well organized. - Very well organized.
and presentation of
the literature - Unfocused writing, with - Clear and concise writing, - Very clear and concise
analysis inappropriate or inconsistent with good paragraph writing, with excellent
paragraphing. structure. paragraph structure.

- Contains grammatical or - May contain some - Minimal grammatical or

spelling errors that are quite
distracting to read.
- General inadequacy of
referencing. Failure to use a
recognised Referencing System.
grammatical or spelling errors
but not distracting.
- Most sources are cited,
referenced and used correctly.
spelling errors.
- All sources are cited,
properly referenced and
used correctly.

Feedback will be provided in eUreka in relation to an on-line version of the rubric above.
There are no marks for the literature analysis, but it must be submitted on time (by tutorial
3).

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 BU8601 Fundamentals of Management (Semester 1 AY21-22):
INSTRUCTIONS FOR LITERATURE ANALYSIS & GROUP PROJECT
Group Project Report Rubric
Criteria Below expectation
Introduction- - Weak introduction that
Issue & scope: repeats texts from readings.
(20% of overall grade) - Does not adequately
identify purpose of report
and issues to be addressed.
Quality of Information - Lack of thorough
and Discussion research.
(20% of overall grade) - Limited information on the
issues.
Critical Thinking - Own position, views or
ideas are unclear, simplistic,
inadequately explained,
underdeveloped,
(40% of overall grade) unconvincing or missing.
- Fails to consider other
perspectives or
alternative views or does so
superficially showing weak
analyses and syntheses of
materials.
- Weak, ungrounded
conclusion that lacks proper
summary of the discussion
or missing conclusion.
Communication and - Poorly organized,
presentation unfocused, distracting
errors, inappropriate or
(20% of overall grade) inconsistent paragraphing
- Failure to use a recognised
Referencing System.
An on-line version of the above rubric will be used to grade your reports and provide
feedback on them. All students in your group will receive the same grade and feedback.
Standards
Meets Expectation
- Adequate introduction that
guides reader.
- Adequately identifies purpose
of report and issues that will be
addressed.
- Adequately researched.
- Issues are discussed citing
relevant materials and credible
sources.
- Adequately presents and
justifies own position, views and
ideas with evidence and support
though gaps may exist.
- Adequately considers
alternative views with adequate
analyses and syntheses but lacks
strong development or
connection to own position.
- Concludes with adequately
summarized findings and
discussions.
- Organized, clear, adequate - Well organized, very
Paragraphing, may contain some concise, clear, with proper
errors but not distracting. paragraphing and minimal
errors.
- Most sources are cited,
referenced and used correctly.
Above Expectation
- Exceptional
introduction that grabs
interest of reader.
- Clearly identifies purpose
of report, and issues that
will be addressed.
- Exceptionally well-
researched.
- Issues are well discussed,
providing specific and
relevant references or
examples.
- Clearly presents and
justifies own position, views
and ideas and develops new
insights on the issues with
critical evidence and well-
developed support
- Addresses and/or
integrates alternative or
others’ perspectives and
materials from a variety of
sources showing excellent
analyses and syntheses of
materials.
- Concludes with well-
grounded and balanced
views and incisive summary
of findings and discussions.
- All sources are cited,
properly referenced & used
correctly
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 BU8601 Fundamentals of Management (Semester 1 AY21-22):
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WHAT IS A LITERATURE ANALYSIS / REVIEW?

A literature analysis/review is an analysis of the literature relevant to a particular field or

topic. It is also an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars
and researchers. The focus of a literature analysis/review, however, is to summarize and
synthesize the arguments and ideas of others without adding new contributions. In writing
the literature analysis/review, your purpose is to convey to your readers what knowledge
and ideas have been established on a topic, and their strengths and weaknesses. A literature
review gives an overview of the field of inquiry: what has already been said on the topic,
and what the prevailing theories and hypotheses are in relation to the topic of your project
report.

Besides enlarging your knowledge about the topic, writing a literature analysis/review lets
you gain and demonstrate skills in two areas:
1. Information seeking: the ability to scan the literature efficiently, to identify
a set of useful articles and books
2. Critical appraisal: the ability to apply principles of critical thinking to identify
unbiased and valid ideas.

A literature analysis/review must do these things:

1. be organized around and related directly to the group project report that you would be
writing with your project partners.
2. integrate the ideas from your readings into a summary of what is and what is not
known about the topic.
3. identify areas of controversy in the literature.
4. formulate questions that will help you in writing your project report.

How to go about writing the Literature Analysis/Review? First find out what has been written
on your subject. Take notes as you read the literature. You are reading to find out how each
piece of writing approaches the subject of your project report, what it has to say about
it, and how it relates to your team’s approach of your group project report. Typical
questions to prompt effective reading include the following:
• Is it a general textbook or article or does it deal with a specific issue(s)?
• Does the textbook or article follow a particular school of thought?
• What is its theoretical basis?
• What definitions does it use?
• What kinds of data does it use to back up its argument?
• What conclusions does it come to?

Having gathered the relevant details from the literature being reviewed, you now need to
write the analysis/review.

The kind of analysis/review you write, and the amount of detail, will depend on the level of
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your studies. A literature analysis/review synthesizes many texts in one paragraph. Each
paragraph of the literature analysis/review should classify and evaluate the themes of the
readings that are relevant to your project report; each paragraph of your analysis/review
should deal with a different aspect of the literature. Like all effective writing, a literature
review must have an introduction, body, and conclusion. As a general guide, a 500 word
literature analysis should have approximately six to nine paragraphs with the last
paragraph concluding with the direction and approach of your group project report
based on your literature analysis/review.

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