Business essay based on a case study

• Part 1 is a business essay based on a case study. It assesses your ability to develop an argument, which you have learned in Blocks 2 and 3 of the module.
• Part 2 is a reflection on your key learning experiences during your studies on LB170.

The marks for this TMA are broken down as follows:

• Part 1: business essay – 80 marks
• Part 2: reflection on your key learning experiences in LB170 – 20 marks.

Learning outcomes

This TMA is intended to assess the following:

• knowledge and understanding of relevant key concepts in business management
• ability to select and analyse information from a range of sources, to support an argument
• awareness of context, purpose and audience
• writing an academic essay applying business concepts
• writing an academic essay following academic conventions
• reflecting on learning and performance
• ability to evaluate your own business communication skills development
• selecting and using appropriate text structure and language, for personal and professional purposes.

Part 1 (80 marks)

Read and analyse the case study on Netflix, a US-based online media services provider and production company. Then write a well-formulated essay in response to the following questions:

• Which of the four drivers of globalisation has been the most influential in the expansion of Netflix and to what extent do you think it is a globalised business?

Using the written communication skills you have developed in LB170, write an essay that provides a well-supported response to these questions, drawing on relevant business concepts taught in this module.

Your essay should contain:

• an introduction
• a main body, which develops your argument
• a conclusion that summarises key points of the essay and answers the questions.

Part 1 of the TMA is intended to assess your ability to write an effective business essay by applying relevant business concepts to develop your argument. You may benefit from applying your tutor’s feedback on previous written TMAs to this assignment where relevant.

This part of your assignment should be 1000 words in length and you should keep to within 10 per cent above or below this limit. Any figures or diagrams should be included in the body of the main text and will form part of the total word count. However, the reference list does not contribute to the word limit.

In preparing for TMA 04: Part 1, you have the option of sending a draft version of your essay to your tutor by email in Week 24, to benefit from their comments. Be sure to confirm with your tutor (in advance) the deadline by which your draft should be with them, in order to allow them sufficient time to respond to you. Note that the feedback will be at a general level and your draft essay will not be assessed.

Guidance notes – Part 1

In this part of the TMA, you are required to use the business essay writing skills taught in Session 20 of this module. You should also draw on skills for developing arguments (Sessions 11, 13 and 15) and persuasive writing skills (Sessions 8 and 9). Additionally, you need to make use of the following skills taught in this module:

• selecting relevant information and synthesising it
• using business concepts to analyse business information
• identifying causes and effects
• building an argument
• writing persuasively
• interpreting numerical information.

Part 2 (20 marks)

Write a reflective piece of 500 words, reflecting on your learning experiences during the study of LB170 using the Gibbs Reflective Cycle. You should focus particularly on the development of your business communication skills. Choose a skill or an aspect of business communication to write your reflection on.

Your reflection should contain:

1. an introduction: Introduce your reflective piece by stating what aspect(s) of business communication skills you are reflecting on, and by introducing Gibbs' reflective Cycle. Briefly explain why this Cycle is a useful tool for reflective thinking.
2. the main part of reflection: Use the framework to reflect on your experience of learning a business communication skill or an aspect of business communication as taught in this module.
3. a conclusion: Conclude your reflection by summarising what you learned and explaining what your future action plan is.

As with Part 1, you should keep your response to the task in Part 2 to within 10 per cent above or below the given word limit.

You do not need to put any module material in the full reference list for your reflective piece, but you should reference Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle.