Order Description
Assignment Two – Biographical analysis
Word count: 2000 – 2500 words (excluding references)
Required Textbook Entrepreneurship and small business Author: Schaper, M., Volery, T., Weber, P., & Lewis, K. ISBN: 9781 118 36254 (pbk.) Edition: 2014 4th Pacific Rim Edition Publisher: Australia: John Wiley
Topic Chapters 4 th Edition (Chapters 9, 11)
Structure: Academic essay
Learning outcomes: LO3 and LO4
Overall purpose: To apply the theories and research of the textbook to practice,
and vice versa, in order to give you a better understanding of both.
The brief:
For this assignment you will read a biography or autobiography of an entrepreneur.
Your task is to apply the content of the (auto)biography to the material covered by
the textbook and what you have learned in class and vice versa. You can also include
the lecture notes and any other readings in the analysis, whenever appropriate.
A biography or autobiography describes the life of an entrepreneur. Choose an
entrepreneur who started the business from scratch. Don’t use a book that describes
the life of a manager (e.g., Lee Iacocca, Jack Welch). Use a book that describes a
person’s life and actions in detail. Don’t use a business advice book (e.g., a book in
which the entrepreneur gives you a recipe for success). Use a book with 100 pages at
the very least. It has to be a real book, not a website.
Start out with a brief introduction and then provide a one-page summary of the
(auto)biography. Use your own words. It is YOUR summary of the book.
In the analysis section (discussion), focus especially on all stages of the
entrepreneurs life/businesses. Write about the following:
? Instances where the textbook and lecture notes/slides fit nicely with the
entrepreneurs practice as outlined in the book, or vice versa
? Examples of where the entrepreneurial practices differ from the textbook, and
/or examples of practices not covered by the textbook and/or lecture notes
that the entrepreneur took.
You will need to think about how you frame this assignment and your discussion
section should be profound, not trivial. Focus on a number of key issues (5 to 7) that
relate to entrepreneurship that are striking to you. Don’t try to cover the entire
textbook and all of the lecture notes, or the entire biography – the word limit does not
allow you to do that. Use the issues as headings. Refer to the appropriate page
numbers of the biography and the textbook whenever possible.
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A reflection is to be included as per the marking guide!
Marking Criteria Assignment TWO – 152.230
Introduction (5%)
? It briefly sets the scene
? The purpose of your essay is stated
? A brief overview is provided
One page summary of the biography (10%)
? One page (auto)biography summary is concise, representative and clear.
Discussion (60%)
? The following two topics need to be addressed:
1. Where practices (outlined in the book about the entrepreneur) and the
course textbook/theory align
2. Where practices are different (in the book about the entrepreneur)
from what is discussed in the textbook and /or where the course
textbook does not discuss practices that where undertaken by the
entrepreneur.
? Focus on 5-7 issues that are striking from your reading of the life of your
chosen entrepreneur and the businesses they were/are associated with
Use of descriptive material in the discussion
? When the biography is discussed, clear insight should be given into the events
described
? Whenever possible page numbers of the biography are to be provided as
reference
Conclusion (5%): Main conclusions are clearly presented
Appendix (Note this is graded – Graded 5%)
A short reflection is included containing the following elements: What is
entrepreneurship to you? Is it something you may want to pursue at some point?
Why (not)? What do you think successful entrepreneurship is about? What have you
learnt from this course? What do you still need to learn?
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Presentation (15%)
? Clear writing style using correct punctuation, grammar and spelling
? Structure of the report – Use of headings (preferably coloured headings)
? Correct title page
? Correct referencing style used (APA)
? Word count between 2000 and 2.500 words excluding the references and the
appendix
Overall Quality (helps to earn points in the various marking categories)
? General effort involved
? Depth of thinking
? Innovative or creative approaches
? Extra insight or information
Assignment Writing Guidelines
With regard to layout and formatting of your assignment please note the following
general requirements:
? A cover page with the assignment title, date, paper number, your name and ID
number must be your first page.
? At the back, include a “signed” (type your name under signature) honesty
declaration.
? Saves the files as “name student number assignment nr” (e.g., BROWN Jim
123456 assignment 1)
? All pages should be numbered.
? Use MS Word.
? A font – either ‘New Times Roman’ (12 point) or ‘Arial’ (11 point) must be used.
? Use double or 1.5 spacing between lines.
? For the report, headings (and possibly sub-headings) should be used
? Referencing according to the APA format.
? Ensure that you review your assignment before submitting and check spelling,
grammar, paragraphs, and whether there is a logical flow to your ideas and
arguments.
? Keep to the word limit set out in each of the assignments. The word count only
applies to the text of your assignment and excludes contents pages, reference
lists and appendices. A five point (5/100) penalty will be applied if the
assignment has too many words.
Assignment Submission
? No hard copy
? You will need to submit your assignment on or before 11.55 pm on the due date on
STREAM.
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? If you do not submit an electronic copy of your assignment on Stream, your
assignment will not be marked.
? Save your assignment as a Word document in .doc, .docx
? Your assignment must be ONE file only. (Integrate your title page, contents page,
assignment body, appendices and references, and honesty declaration into the
one document.)
? Save your file using the following name: your name student no assignment no.
For example: WANG Yi 0123459 Assignment 2