Assignment Brief

STUDENT NAME AND ID

NUMBER

Qualification Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in

Business

Academic Year 2021-2022

Unit Number & Name Unit 11: Research Project Business (Pearson Set)
Unit Leader Dr. Shalini Srivastava
Unit Lecturer Dr. Mostain Belal; Mrs. Marzieh Farahani; Mr. Prashidha
Pradhan; Mr. Jameel Qadri; Mr. Imran Nazir Awan; Ms.
Antonietta Balestra; Mrs. Bernadett Brigitta Thuróczy;
Dr. Shalini Srivastava.
Assignment Title Global Pandemic and Workplace Management
Type of Assignment Part 1: Research Proposal Report
Weighting 100%
Issue Date Week Commencing 04/10/2021
Formative Submission Date 22/10/2021 (22nd October at 15:59 using Formative
submission link on Moodle)
Summative Submission Date 05/11/2021 (5th November at 15:59 using Summative
submission link on Moodle).
Assessor Dr. Mostain Belal; Mrs. Marzieh Farahani; Mr. Prashidha
Pradhan; Mr. Jameel Qadri; Mr. Imran Nazir Awan; Ms.
Antonietta Balestra; Mrs. Bernadett Brigitta Thuróczy;
Dr. Shalini Srivastava.
IV Dr. Emmanuel Wanki

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Student Declaration
This is to confirm that this submission is my own work, produced without any external help
except acceptable support from my lecturer. It has not been copied from any other person’s
work (published or unpublished) and has not previously been submitted for assessment
either at GBS or elsewhere. I confirm that I have read and understood the ‘GBS Academic
Good Practice and Academic Misconduct: Policy and Procedure’ available on Moodle.

I confirm I have read and understood the above Student Declaration.

Student Name (print)

Signature

Date

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Learning Outcomes

LO1 Examine appropriate research methodologies and approaches as part

of the research process.

LO2 Conduct and analyze research relevant to a business research project.

LO3 Communicate the outcomes of a research project to identified

stakeholders.

LO4 Reflect on the application of research methodologies and concepts.

Submission is in the form of an academic report. This should be written in a concise,

formal business style using 1.5 spacing and font size 12. You are required to make use
of headings, paragraphs and subsections as appropriate, and all work must be
referenced with research intext citations in accordance with Harvard referencing system.
A references list and bibliography should be provided using the Harvard referencing
system.

The recommended length is 1,500 words for Proposal in Block 4 and 4,500 words in
Research Report in Block 8. The Proposal should be submitted along with the research
ethics check list which is embedded in the proposal form. You must ensure you support
the written report with a range of graphical illustrations and appropriate appendices.

Note: Your submission will be word-processed, written work with clear indication of the
unit number and title, the relevant task being addressed, your name and registration
number.
ASSIGNMENT BRIEF AND GUIDANCE

The Pearson-set theme for use with Level 5 Unit 11Research Project is “Global
Pandemic & Workplace.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed many aspects of our society and
work life. The COVID-19 pandemic has turned life upside down. The rapid worldwide
spread of COVID-19 caught organizations and communities off-guard. The scale of the
pandemic is reflected in the exponential increase in new cases every day, requiring
organizations and communities to continuously adjust work and life routines.

The reach of the COVID-19 pandemic raises the question if organizational members
are affected in their work behavior by the extreme event of local COVID-19 case
fluctuation and how organizations, and particularly their leaders, can intervene to
prevent negative spillover of the external events on their employees. Employee’s
satisfaction, work productivity, workplace safety, flexible working hours, remote working
facility etc. are few important concerns now in the era of global pandemic. Top
management need to maintain the work/organizational efficiency along with supporting
employees in working remotely.

The pandemic sweeping the world, COVID-19, has rendered a large proportion of the
workforce unable to commute to work, as to mitigate the spread of the virus. This has
resulted in both employers and employees seeking alternative work arrangements,
especially in a fast-paced metropolitan like Hong Kong. Due to the pandemic, most if
not all workers experienced work from home (WFH). Hence WFH has become a policy
priority for most governments. In doing so, the policies must be made keeping in mind
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the practicality for both employers and employees. However, this current situation
provides unique insight into how well working from home works, and may play a vital
role in future policies that reshape the current structure of working hours, possibly
allowing for more flexibility.

Scenario 1 (Part 1 Block 4)

This global pandemic has changed the work style and lifestyle everywhere. Many
organizations have been successful in coping up with this situation whereas many
collapsed. You are working as a Research Assistant with a Business Research firm and
have been asked to conduct research under the theme “Global Pandemic &
Workplace” for a perspective client. You can choose any company or any industry to
write your research report.

To carry out the research, the range of topics to be investigated could cover the
following:

✓ Employee satisfaction at workplace under pandemic situation

✓ Future of remote work after Covid-19

✓ Impact of pandemic outbreak on employee willingness

✓ Role of digitalization in balancing work during pandemic

✓ Flexible working & global pandemic: The case of Covid-19

✓ Employer support for work from home employees during Covid-19

You have been tasked to select one of the topics listed above or a topic relevant to the
theme for the purpose of the research.

Activity 1 (Part 1 Block 4)

This assignment asks you to submit your work in two separate parts (Research
Proposal & Ethics Form and Research Report) at different intervals explained below.

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PART 1: Research Proposal Report (Block 4) (1,500 WORDS)

A Research Proposal is a concise and coherent summary of your proposed research.

Your research proposal should set out the central issues or questions that you intend to
address. It should outline the general area of study within which your research falls,
referring to the current state of knowledge and any recent debates on the topic, as well
as demonstrate the originality of your proposed research.

Strong research projects are those with clear, well-focused and defined aims and
objectives. A central skill in selecting a research objective is the ability to select a suitable
and focused research objective. One of the best ways to write the research question is to
put problem statement of the research in the form of a question. You are encouraged as
a business research trainee to look into and discuss a variety of topics related to the
theme to generate ideas for a good research objective.

Proposal Report Guidelines:

✓ Choose a topic of personal interest in the field of global pandemic and workplace.
The topic chosen should allow a sufficient and suitable degree of research through
the existence of adequate background materials.
✓ The research will be conducted using both primary and secondary research
methods (the data collection in Research Report writing stage for primary
research could be possible through using online, telephonic or web-based
questionnaires in light of current pandemic situation.
✓ To ensure that the topic and set aims and objectives are fit for purpose, the
chosen topic will have to be approved by your supervisor.

✓ Consider the development of a methodical and valid research proposal as the

foundation for the project.
✓ Define your research problem or question. This can be stated as a research
question,objectives or hypothesis. Identify appropriate aims and objectives.

✓ Provide a literature review giving the background and conceptualization of your

proposed area of study. This would provide existing knowledge and benchmarks
by which your data can be judged.

✓ Consider and define your research methodology and research process.

Demonstrate understanding of the pitfalls and limitations of the methods chosen
and ethical issuesthat might arise as well as timelines.

✓ Students should get the tutor’s approval for any topic chosen for the
research under the theme of “Global Pandemic & Workplace” before
carrying out the full research.

Note: The Proposal should be submitted along with the research ethics form which
isembedded in the same document students are using as template of research
proposal.

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Activity 2 (PART 2 Block 8)

In Block 8, as part of the project, you will carry out your research, analyze your research
findings and draw conclusions. You will apply both qualitative and quantitative research
methods to evaluate data collected from primary research and communicate findings to the
stakeholders. In the light of current pandemic, the students instead of collecting the data from
participants of study in person they can collect primary data using online questionnaires and
get the responses of respondents by sending questionnaires to respondents in email or they
can also contact the participants of the study and ask the questions of questionnaires in a
telephonic conversation or through a video conversation using skype, teams or any other
appropriate means. The total number of questionnaires must be between 25-30. The
secondary research data will be used to inform the results of primary data. You will be asked
to reflect on the success of your research project and evaluate the problems/ issues
encountered. You must complete the research project in order to complete your work for this
unit. You will need to reflect on the success of your research project and your performance
at the end of the project with the inclusion of a project evaluation and recommendations.

Part 2: Slide Preparation of Findings and Final Project Report (4,500 WORDS)
addressing the chosen theme as specified by Pearson “Global Pandemic & Workplace
Management”.

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Slide Prepration on Findings:

✓ Communicate your research outcomes in a manner appropriate to your audience by
making 7-8 slides. The stakeholders or audience are the people of the company or
industry on which the research is conducted. While answering LO3 of the assignment
students must insert 7-8 slides containing information about the communication of
results of research to the perspective stakeholders.
(For Microsoft power point presentation structure, please liaise with your tutor. As a
guidance, your slides could include a slide each for title, aim and objectives; research
questions; major approaches and methodologies adopted; major findings from the
research; conclusion and recommendations).

Final Assignment Submission Format (Report Structure)

✓ Use a cover page, Title Page, Contents page, Student Declaration for the
report.
✓ The main body of the report should be concise research report as below:

✓ Executive Summary – A summary of the report with mention of key findings,

conclusions, and recommendations.

✓ Contents Page – Page numbers; section/chapter titles should be included, also if the
report incorporates some appendices, their titles should be listed.

✓ Introduction (500 words) –With the background to the study, the introduction should
also include clearly, the research topic, research aims & objectives, rationale for the
research and research questions.

✓ Literature Review (1000-1500 words) – Evidence your own piece of research to fit
into the overall context of research in your field. The review allows you to describe
the current trends of research of your topic and areas that you can refer to in your
research. Please provide an adequate amount of secondary research with genuine
references which is related to your topic of research. Minimum 15-20 sources would
be considered as adequate. Fake/false citations and references will be treated as
Academic Misconduct
✓ Methodology and Data Collection (1000-1500 words) – Include a discussion of
research philosophy, approaches, evaluation of quantitative and qualitative methods
used, use of primary and secondary sources, sampling methods and the
questionnaires used for the survey. While discussing your research methods, you
need to justify why these research methods are appropriate from the standpoint of
costs, access and ethical issues as well as timelines.

✓ Data analysis and interpretations (1000 words)– Analyze your primary data using
appropriate tools – if you have used a questionnaire, use an excel spreadsheet and
show appropriate charts and diagrams. If you have used qualitative research, use
appropriate methods such as coding method to analyze the responses. Provide an
interpretation to the findings of your research. A good way of interpretation is to link
the findings of your research to the findings of other authors that you have reviewed
in your secondary research in the literature review section. A copy of your
Questionnaire must be embedded in the appendix of the research project - including

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data sheet you have created from your questionnaire/interview analysis.

✓ Research Outcomes – Produce and deliver a summary of research findings to

Stakeholders including the organization you are researching through the power point
slides. Your report should include PowerPoint slides (7-8 slides). Research
outcomes generally include research findings, conclusions and
recommendation for the chosen organization.

✓ Conclusion and Recommendations (500 words)– These act as a summary of your

entire research project.

✓ Reflection & Recommendation of alternative research methodology (500

words)– Write a reflection on the effectiveness of research methods applied for
meeting objectives of the business research project as well as a brief consideration
of alternative research methodologies and lessons learnt in view of the outcomes.

✓ Use at least 1.5 spacing and Times New Roman/ Arial font size 12.
✓ Use headings, paragraphs, and subsections as appropriate.
✓ Across the report you are required to provide various examples to establish
the relationship between the variables of study in literature review to enhance
the credibility, currency and depth of the research.
✓ Attach appendices for power point slides, graphical illustrations.
✓ Use the Harvard Referencing Style for intext citation and reference list.
✓ Respect the word limit of 4,500 words for the section (+/- 10%) excluding the
cover page, contents page, student declaration, list of references and
appendices.

Note: Your final submission should comprise both presentation slides and final report; it
will be word-processed, written work with clear indication of the unit number and title, the
relevant task being addressed, your name and registration number.

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Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

Pass Merit Distinction

LO1 Examine appropriate research methodologies and approaches as part of the research
process

P1 Produce a research M1 Evaluate different LO1 and LO2

proposal that clearly
defines a research
question or hypothesis
supported by a literature
review.
P2 Examine appropriate
research methods and
approaches to primary and
secondary research.
LO2 Conduct and analyze research relevant for a business
research project
research approaches and
D1 Critically evaluate research
methodology and make
methodologies and processes in
justifications for the choice of
application to a business research
methods selected based on
project to justify chosen research
philosophical/ theoretical methods and analysis.
frameworks.

P3 Conduct primary and M2 Discuss merits, limitations

secondary research using and pitfalls of approaches to
appropriate methods for a data collection and analysis.
business research project
that consider costs,
access,and ethical issues.

P4 Apply appropriate
analytical tools, analyze
research findings and data.
LO3 Communicate the outcomes of a research project to identified stakeholders

P5 Communicate research M3 Communicate coherently D2 Communicate critical analysis

outcomes in an appropriate outcomes to the intended of the outcomes and make valid,
manner for the intended audience demonstrating how justified recommendations.
audience. outcomes meet set research
objectives.

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Pass Merit Distinction

LO4 Reflect on the application of research methodologies and concepts

P6 Reflect on the M4 Demonstrate reflection D3 Demonstrate critical reflection

effectiveness of research and engagement in the and insight that results in
methods applied for resource process leading to recommended
meeting objectives of the recommended actions for actions for improvements and
business research project. future improvement. future research considerations.
P7 Consider alternative
research methodologies
and lessons learnt in view
of the outcomes.

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Academic Integrity (Note to avoid Plagiarism)

Academic integrity is a fundamental expectation for all college/university students and while
it is acknowledged that mitigating circumstances might be raised as factors in student
behaviour, cheating cannot be disregarded. GBS definition of plagiarism, as contained in
GBS Academic Good Practice and Academic Misconduct Policy and Procedure, has been
expanded to make explicit that copying from texts or web sources and copying work from
other students constitutes plagiarism.

“Plagiarism is the act of taking or copying someone else’s work, including another student’s,
and presenting it as if it were your own. Plagiarism is said to occur when ideas, texts,
theories, data, created artistic artefacts or other material are presented without
acknowledgement so that the person considering this work is given the impression that what
they have before them is the student’s own original work when it is not. Plagiarism also
occurs where a student’s own work is re-presented without being properly referenced.
Plagiarism is a form of cheating and is a disciplinary offence.”

Plagiarism is easy to avoid by making sure you reference all of the sources of material that
you use in the completion of your work. Pearson has developed Guidelines on Harvard
Referencing which are available in Academic Support Area for Students on Moodle (VLE)
as well as on respective unit pages.

If you are concerned about referencing techniques, please draw the matter to your Unit
Lecturer or Academic Support Team on academicsupport@globalbanking.ac.uk so that
you may receive extra advice.

Group coursework may be designed so that the contribution of each student is identifiable,
but inclusion of plagiarized material is still the responsibility of the whole group. All members
of the group should exercise vigilance to ensure that work is properly referenced; in group-
work, students have a shared responsibility for the assignment.

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Recommended Resources

Core Textbooks

COSTLEY, C., ELLIOT, G. and GIBBS, P. (2010) Doing Work Based Research: Approaches
to Enquiry for Insider-researchers. London: SAGE.
FLICK, U. (2011) Introducing Research Methodology: A Beginner’s Guide to Doing a
Research Project. London: SAGE.
GRAY, D. (2009) Doing Research in the Real World. 2nd Ed. London: SAGE.
SAUNDERS, M., LEWIS, P. and THORNHILL, A. (2012) Research methods for Business
Students. 6th Ed. Harlow: Pearson.

Journals
International Journal of Quantitative and Qualitative Research.
Qualitative Research Journal.

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