Assessment 1:    Individual Written Essay

This is an INDIVIDUAL assignment. It has been designed to give you an opportunity to earn marks during the earlier part of the trimester. You are asked to write and submit a short, scholarly essay, using an academic essay format, on the following topic:

“Outline and discuss the concept of rapid, volatile, discontinuous change and its impact on the strategic management of organisations.”
The purpose of this assignment is to help you gain a deeper understanding of the nature, impact and implications for every organisation of one of the most critical developments taking place globally in the strategic management discipline. You are expected to draw on a minimum of SIX (6) peer reviewed or respected journal articles (e.g., Harvard Business Review, Journal of Strategic Management) to underpin your arguments presented in this essay.
Process
1.    Undertake wide-ranging reading to ensure that you have a proper grasp of what ‘rapid, volatile, discontinuous change’ means.
2.    Ensure that your reading enables you to address the issue of what such change situations mean for businesses/organisations and for the strategy process.
3.    Evaluate the literature and the research to determine what theories/models help to assess and evaluate discontinuous change.
4.    Make sure that your reading equips you to be aware of how CEOs have or can come to make sense of and strategically respond to such change conditions.
5.    Critically evaluate the literature and the research to see what light it throws on appropriate or effective strategic responses to such discontinuous change situations.
6.    Consider how CEOs might practically make appropriate strategic responses.

Output
The output of the process is the production of an essay in academic style that fully addresses the issues and answers the topic. It is important that you adhere to academic conventions of citation and referencing.

The structure of your assignment is to be as follows:
1.    A brief abstract (or overview) of your key arguments and conclusions (50 words)
2.    Introduction to the topic of your essay and what the essay will cover.
3.    Body of essay
•    Outline the concept of rapid, volatile, discontinuous change
•    Discuss where this concept fits within the Strategic Management process
•    Outline and discuss model(s) used to assess the role, impacts and implications of rapid, volatile, discontinuous change for an organisation
•    Discuss how CEOs should respond to discontinuous change
•    Consider the evidence about whether CEOs do respond appropriately to discontinuous change and if they do not respond appropriately, why not?
4.    Conclusions and implications
5.    References (at least 6 scholarly references).
The forms containing the criteria used to mark this assessment and the marking rubric are set out below.

Some additional points to note for this assessment:
•    Remember that it is necessary to explain and/or justify the points that you make, and that unsubstantiated assertions provide no credibility to your discussion or analysis.

•    You are expected to consult academic journals and texts for material to support your discussion in this assignment. At least six (6) of these sources must be used in your discussion and cited correctly within your text and in the References List. These sources should be additional to your prescribed text. Your Reference List should be indicative of the sources you actually cite in presenting this assignment. Please see the NBS Student Manual for the correct form of citation.

•    Dot points should be used very, very sparingly, if at all. Dot points are a communication tool for presenting summary information and rarely progress discussion or argument. Your assessment requires integrated discussion and/or argument, not presentation of summary information.
Note that it is each student’s responsibility to keep a copy of each assessment task submitted. Please assure you test your similarity index in Turnitin well in advance of the due submission date. Your similarity index score is part of the marking process and review.

Content of Individual Written Essay (15 marks)     HD    D    C    P    F
Abstract (or overview).   (1 mark)
Introduction. (1 mark)
Outline of the concept of rapid, volatile, discontinuous change. (2 marks)

Discuss where this concept fits within the Strategic Management process. (2 marks)
Outline and discuss model(s) used to assess the
role, impacts and implications of rapid, volatile, discontinuous
change for an organisation (2 marks)
Discuss how CEOs should respond to discontinuous change. (2 marks)

Consider the evidence about whether CEOs do respond
appropriately to discontinuous change and if they do
not respond appropriately, why not? (3 marks)
Conclusions and implications (2 marks)
Technical aspects of Individual Written Essay (5 marks)

•    References (6 or more) 2 marks
•    Correct/consistent referencing (1 mark)
•    Word limit (1/2 mark)
•    Visual presentation (1/2 mark)
•    Proper grammar, spelling, expression (1 mark)

All key issues presented and discussed in a carefully considered manner.
Some key issues presented and discussed in a considered manner.
Elementary discussion of issues with little or limited discussion.
Key issues not identified or superficial list of issues.

Discuss where this concept fits within the Strategic Management process (2 marks)
All key issues presented and discussed in a comprehensive and stimulating manner.
All key issues presented and discussed in a carefully considered manner.
Some key issues presented and discussed in a considered manner.

Elementary discussion of issues with little or limited discussion.
Key issues not identified or superficial list of issues.

Outline and discuss model(s) used to assess the role, impacts and implications of rapid, volatile, discontinuous change for an organisation (2 marks)
All key issues presented and discussed in a comprehensive and stimulating manner.
All key issues presented and discussed in a carefully considered manner.
Some key issues presented and discussed in a considered manner.
Elementary discussion of issues with little or limited discussion.
Key issues not identified or superficial list of issues.

Discuss how CEOs should respond to discontinuous change (2 marks)

All key issues presented and discussed in a comprehensive and stimulating manner.
All key issues presented and discussed in a carefully considered manner.
Some key issues presented and discussed in a considered manner.
Elementary discussion of issues with little or limited discussion.
Key issues not identified or superficial list of issues.

Consider the evidence whether CEOs do respond appropriately to discontinuous change and if they do not respond appropriately, why not? (3 marks)
All key issues presented and discussed in a comprehensive and stimulating manner.
All key issues presented and discussed in a carefully considered manner.
Some key issues presented and discussed in a considered manner.
Elementary discussion of issues with little or limited discussion.
Key issues not identified or superficial list of issues.

Conclusions and implications (2 marks)
Comprehensive and insightful pulling together of the arguments.

Comprehensive pulling together of the arguments.

Satisfactory pulling together of the arguments.
Rudimentary pulling together of the arguments.

Poor or non-existent attempt to pull together the arguments.