AIB Assignment Writing Guide for Students - V8Dec2013

©Australian Institute of Business . V2Mar11 – CD:2011:10ed 0

ASSIGNMENT WRITING GUIDE For Students

©Australian Institute of Business . 1 V8Dec13

Assignment Writing Guide

Contents

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................ 2

IMPORTANCE OF CITATION AND REFERENCING ............................................................................................... 2

USING PEER REVIEWED/SCHOLARLY JOURNAL ARTICLES ................................................................................. 3

A NINE-STEP APPROACH TO WRITING ASSIGNMENTS ...................................................................................... 3

BASIC FORMAT OF AN ASSIGNMENT REPORT .................................................................................................. 5

APPENDIX A – EXAMPLE ASSIGNMENT WITH ADDED COMMENTS ................................................................... 9

©Australian Institute of Business. 2 V8Dec13


INTRODUCTION

While your assignment comprises only 25% of your subject grade, it serves an important

function in helping you focus on the concepts and clarify your learning. In this sense, the

assignment prepares you for the exam, which is much more heavily weighted at 75%.

Scoring well on the assignment can sometimes mean the difference between a pass and a

fail for the subject – or a high distinction versus just a distinction.

This Assignment Writing Guide consists of five parts:

1. Importance of citation and referencing

2. Using peer reviewed / scholarly journal articles;

3. A nine-step approach to writing assignments;

4. The basic format of an assignment; and

5. Appendix A - Example assignment with added comments

IMPORTANCE OF CITATION AND REFERENCING

1. Assignments must contain proper citations and referencing using the Harvard ‘author-

date’ style referred to in the AIB Style Guide, that is:

a. citations (or in-text references) of quoted and paraphrased materials to support

your arguments/comments; and

b. a reference list relating specifically to your in-text references.

2. Your grade will be adversely affected if there are no or poor citations and/or reference

list, as referred to above.

3. Your assignment should normally contain the following number of relevant references

from different sources in the reference list.

a. BBA assignments: 5 – 10

b. MBA assignments: 6 – 12

4. All references must be from credible sources such as books, peer reviewed journals,

magazines, company documents and recent articles. Students are highly encouraged to

use peer reviewed journal articles as this may contribute towards a higher grade.

5. You are encouraged to make use of the AIB online library (i.e., EBSCO Host) which can be

accessed through the AIB website.

6. AIB checks assignments with anti-plagiarism software. Please carefully check your

assignments before final submission to ensure that all quoted and paraphrased materials

are properly cited and referenced.

7. You are strongly advised to carefully read The AIB Style Guide for clarification of these

requirements.



USING PEER REVIEWED/SCHOLARLY JOURNAL ARTICLES

Peer review is an academically accepted measure of quality. Peer reviewed journal articles

are normally considered more credible, authentic and reliable as they are evaluated and

recommended for publication by several experts in the field. It is therefore strongly

suggested that you use the most recent peer reviewed / scholarly articles for your

assignment. This will not only provide you with up to date knowledge but will also enable

you to produce quality work. The “Refine your search” option (as shown below) in the AIB

Online Library can help you to filter and view the peer reviewed / scholarly articles.

Preferably you should filter the publication date to within the last 3 to 5 years.

A NINE-STEP APPROACH TO WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

The following provides a recommended nine-step approach to writing assignments. It is

strongly recommended that you follow these steps in sequential order in order to address

your assignment requirements.

1. Read, understand and address the assignment question

Carefully read the assignment question and make sure you understand clearly what is

being asked. Your submission must be responsive to the assignment question. This is

the first and most important step. By doing this you will know what you need to do, how

to do it and whether you need some form of assistance to finish the assignment.

Furthermore, make sure you check the word count and make sure you understand what

is required. The word count should be used as a guide as to the desired length of your

written assignment. But, be mindful that submissions that exceed the word count guide

by more than 10% will have marks deducted. Then, consider the subject of the

assignment and who will read it. Do the assignment instructions suggest that the

assignment should be aimed at a particular manager of a particular organisation? If no

particular manager is mentioned in the instructions, assume that the instructor will be



the audience. Whoever the reader is, aim the assignment at them and their

requirements and knowledge.

2. Do background reading and jot down notes

Do some brief background reading around the topic, starting with your textbook, jotting

down the main concepts and ideas that seem relevant. Is there any relevant history

related to your topic? Or is there any important detail that will be of high significance to

the future? Are there any important people involved? Knowing such details will give you

a better idea as to how to start and finish your assignment.

3. Organise your assignment

Make a tentative, organized list of headings and some sub-headings and topics about

important issues that will have to be addressed. Inform yourself as to how Table of

Contents (TOC) fields are formatted in MS Word, or other word processing application

you may be using; and how to update the page numbers for your Table of contents as

your composition grows and evolves. Fine-tune your listing of subject headings as you

start gathering information about the assignment’s topics. Organisation is always the key

to a well-written assignment. It not only gives you direction as you write, but it also gives

your paper a certain level of professionalism.

4. Collate information and note your sources for proper citation and referencing

Gather information from articles and other credible sources (preferably from peer

reviewed journal articles). Take notes and write down reference information about your

sources (you may forget or lose them, otherwise). The AIB Style Guide has details of

what information is required for referencing in the assignment; make sure you collect all

that information when you first have your hands on the source of information. Collecting

all the necessary information for proper citation and referencing as soon as you

encounter the source will save you precious time during the course of your writing. The

list will also come in handy if you want to double check information.

5. Organise your notes bearing in mind the marking criteria

Organize your notes and finalise the outline with its headings and sub-headings and

topics. Consult the Assignment Cover Sheet and Assessment Sheet and the marking

criteria for your assignment with weightings for concepts, application of concepts and so

on. Bear these in mind as you plan and write the assignment. Comparing your outline

with the Assignment Cover Sheet and Assessment Sheet will let you know if you have

covered everything that the assignment requires or if you have included something that

is irrelevant. It will give you a chance to finalize your outline before proceeding with the

actual writing.

6. Start writing the assignment

Then, and only then, start writing the assignment. The notes below about the format of

an assignment have details of how each part of the assignment should be written (and

include the recommended length of some sections). For your assignment writing, we

recommend you use the Office Word Format/Font command to set Times New Roman

Regular 12 point font, and the Format/Paragraph command to set 1.5 line spacing – refer

to the AIB Style Guide.



7. Re-read and re-write your assignment ensuring you adhere to the word count

Re-writing is essential. Make sure you add or delete appropriate words or paragraphs

and check the spelling and grammar. Prior to re-writing, read and re-read your draft.

Check whether the flow of thoughts is clear and maintains continuity. Check for any

grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and/or improper use of periods, commas or

question marks. Make sure you read your assignment carefully to check for errors or

omissions. Lastly, ensure that you adhere to the required word count, and add / delete

words as necessary.

8. Write the Executive Summary

Now write the Executive Summary. This is the summary of the entire assignment.

Include only salient points of your assignment. It is called a summary because it is

supposed to be brief and comprehensive.

9. Write the References

Add the References according the requirements of the AIB Style Guide, and submit the

assignment to AIB, remembering to provide a word count which includes the

Introduction section through to the beginning of the References section (that is, do not

include the Executive Summary/Abstract, References or Appendices in the word count).

BASIC FORMAT OF AN ASSIGNMENT REPORT

This section will explain how you should develop the sections of your assignment. An

example assignment that follows this format is provided at Appendix A.

Title page

Give your assignment a title and type out the main words from the assignment for the

marker to know what the assignment is all about. Include the name of the business

investigated if you are writing a case study. The title of the assignment should be

comprehensive enough to give the reader an idea about the coverage of the assignment.

Also, you need to place the word count (which includes all text from the Introduction section

to the end of the Conclusion section) here.

Executive summary

This tells your reader what the assignment is about because it describes the topics or issues

discussed, as well as providing a summary of the conclusions and recommendations and

reasons for them. Before going through the entire assignment, readers first want to see the

summary. In fact in many busy business situations, sometimes decisions are often made

solely on the basis of executive summary if it is persuasive. Your executive summary should

include what you did, how you did it, what your main findings were and what are your key

recommendations. Although the executive summary appears as first section of the



assignment, it should be written last after completing the assignment. Do not include any

sub headings in this section. It is usually one or two paragraphs and should not be more than

250 words. Remember to not include these words in the word count, except if you are

asked to write a marketing plan. As the executive summary is part of the marketing plan, it is

included in the word count.

Table of contents

After the title page and the executive summary, you should show a table of contents with a

list of the numbered sections and subsections of the assignment, with their page numbers.

Numbered appendices, tables and figures with their titles should also be presented in the

table of contents. MS Word provides a function for inserting an automatic table of contents.

Please ensure the table of contents is updated before you submit the completed

assignment.

To update the page numbers in the contents table, when you have completed your

assignment:

• left click on the table

• right click and select Update Field

• ensure “Update page numbers only” is selected

• click OK

Introduction

The introduction tells your reader what you are going to tell them in the body of your

assignment. The first paragraph of your introduction gives the background to the

assignment and why it is useful. Then your second paragraph should say what the aim,

purpose or objective of the assignment is, any limitations and a very brief summary of the

sections (no more than about two lines for this summary of the sections). The whole

Introduction section should not take more than about half a page or so.

Discussion

The sections after the Introduction are where you begin the discussion, outlining relevant

facts and events. A rule of thumb is that there should be at least one section or subsection

heading per page. These sections after the Introduction will follow a logical pattern of

thought. Make your headings longer than just one or two cryptic words, so that they also

help the reader to quickly understand the sections and flow of the assignment. Present

information in a logical order. Use information from a number of credible sources to support

your findings and try not to include numeric calculations in the main body of the assignment.

Instead, include these as an appendix to the assignment. This is to prevent interrupting the

flow of the assignment. Acknowledge all sources using the Harvard ‘author-date’ style.

The start of each section should make obvious its link to previous sections; for example, ‘The

previous sections discussed strengths; this section turns to weaknesses’. Transition words

are especially useful for this linking of paragraphs; for example, ‘moreover, furthermore, in

addition, consequently, so, on the other hand, in contrast, but, however, nevertheless’. After



this linkage has been established, the purpose of the section should be made clear in a

theme sentence at the start of each paragraph, for example, ‘This section aims to discover

those areas where threats could affect strategies’.

The main body of the report will include headings, sub-headings and topics such as in the

example below:

1 Heading

Under the primary level heading, the first paragraph of this section begins like this.

1.1 Sub-heading topic

Under the secondary level heading, the first paragraph of this section begins like this.

1.1.1 Sub- sub-heading topic. Following the tertiary level heading, the first paragraph of

this section begins like this.

2 Heading

Under the primary level heading, the first paragraph of this section begins like this.

2.1 Sub-heading topic

Under the secondary level heading, the first paragraph of this section begins like this.

2.1.1 Sub-sub-heading topic. Following this tertiary level heading, the first paragraph of

this section begins like this.

Tables and figures

Tables and figures are an excellent way of illustrating and justifying your argument.

However, they must complement the written words discussed in the sections above and

should not replace that discussion. Make sure all the important points in your arguments are

in your text and that the reader does not have to search in a table or figure for those points.

A figure such as a pie chart, a bar chart or a line chart is especially useful for showing

relationships between variables. Each table and figure should have:

• a number and a title at the top - the title should be long enough to make the table or

figure self-contained so that its conclusion can be grasped without referring back to the

text of the assignment; for example, ‘Figure 3: plume path for a nuclear power plant

incident based upon wind blowing from the top. No pollution extends beyond ten miles.’

• a legend clearly showing what each line or symbol in a figure stands for

• axes titles and column headings that clearly describe the variables involved, including the

scale used; for example, ‘sales revenue in $00s’

• axes scales which are clearly marked, and which have a clear break if the scale is not

continuous from zero.

More details about tables and figures are in Appendix A.



Conclusion

The conclusion has two paragraphs or so, and takes up to three quarters of a page and no

more. This conclusion should summarise and tie together the whole of the assignment,

without introducing new material. The conclusion should briefly describe the assignment’s

recommendations that are detailed in the next section. A final sentence should demonstrate

that the purpose of the assignment that was stated in the Introduction section has been

achieved.

Recommendations

In some assignments, you may be asked to make some recommendations or you may think

that you will get more marks if you do so, especially if the assignment is about an

organisational strategy or a managerial decision. These recommendations are drawn from

your conclusions above. Your recommendations outline the specific actions that are

required. When detailing your recommendations, you may also need to consider who will

action them; how they will be measured; and the timeframe for the recommendations. The

priority that you place on each recommendation may also be required.

References

A listing of all resources referred to in the assignment, assembled in author alphabetical

order, should be provided. This is not included in the word count. Refer to Appendix A and

the AIB Style Guide for details.

Appendices

The appendices include appropriate, related materials. They are not included in the word

count. These are optional for the reader, that is, the reader can choose whether they look at

an appendix or not. So you should explicitly refer to an appendix in the text of the body of

your assignment, with a very brief outline of its contents.



APPENDIX A – EXAMPLE ASSIGNMENT WITH ADDED COMMENTS

Title: Entrepreneurship and corporations

Assignment topic

The characteristics of a typical entrepreneur are irreconcilable with a corporate career.

Large organisations are by their nature bureaucratic and as such promote an

environment in which the entrepreneur cannot survive.

Prepare a discussion paper in essay style in which you survey the arguments for and against

the above quotation, and then justify your own position. In your answer, provide very many

examples of entrepreneurs and corporate managers, from your reading and your own

experience, to illustrate the points you are making. When you refer to an example, provide

enough details about the person so that a reader who does not know about the person, can

understand the points about that person that you are trying to make. You will have to provide

a definition of entrepreneurship in the introduction to your paper.

Word count (from the start of the Introduction section to the end of the Conclusion section):

1584 words

Executive summary

Entrepreneurship and corporate structures appear to be incompatible. This paper considers

that apparent compatibility and concludes that entrepreneurship and corporate structures can

be compatible in some cases. The paper first defines entrepreneurship and characteristics of

entrepreneurs. It then looks at why these entrepreneurs may not fit into corporations. It then

establishes that some corporations can incorporate entrepreneurs in what is called corporate

entrepreneurship. Examples like Kerry Packer and Richard Branson are used to illustrate the

arguments.

Comment [A1]: Notice that the font is

appropriately set to 12 point Times New

Roman, with 1.5 line spacing.

Comment [A2]: The assignment topic is

placed here just in case the marker did not

have the assignment topic handy when he

or she was marking the assignment.

Comment [A3]: Please note that

current word limit is 2500 words for every

MBA assignment and 2000 words for BBA

assignments.

Comment [A4]: This summary was only

about 60 words and it is usually one or two

paragraphs of only 100 or so words. But it

covers the main points well enough, albeit

rather succinctly.

Comment [A5]: Nice short sentence

that orients the reader to the main idea of

the assignment



Table of contents

1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 4

2. What is entrepreneurship? ............................................................................................... 4

3. The characteristics of an entrepreneur ............................................................................ 5

4. Compatibility of entrepreneurial characteristics with a corporate career ....................... 6

5. Corporate entrepreneurship ............................................................................................. 7

6. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 8

References ........................................................................................................................... 9

Comment [A6]: If you have sub-

headings then you should include them in

the table of contents as well.



1 Introduction

Entrepreneurs are typically thought to start up small businesses that confront bigger and older

business. For example, Virgin Air is a small specialist airline that attracts some customers

away from more established airlines. But is this picture of entrepreneurs correct?

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the characteristics of an entrepreneur are

irreconcilable with a corporate career and whether the bureaucratic nature of large

organisations promotes an environment where the entrepreneur cannot survive.

The paper has three sections. First, I will define entrepreneurship. Then I will assess the

characteristics of entrepreneurs and their fit within a corporate management structure, and

then analyse the concept of corporate entrepreneurship. The conclusion ties the arguments

together into a final position about the place of entrepreneurship within some though not all

corporate structures.

2. What is entrepreneurship?

To begin the discussion, entrepreneurship needs to be defined. Our textbook has this

comprehensive definition that is not limited to small business ventures and so is appropriate

for this general discussion: “An entrepreneur is an innovator or developer who recognises

and seizes opportunities; converts those opportunities into workable/marketable ideas; adds

value through time, effort, money or skills; assumes the risks of the competitive marketplace

to implement these ideas; and realises the rewards from these efforts” (Kuratko & Hodgetts

2007, p. 32). Note that this paper follows that definition’s emphasis on ‘marketable ideas’

and focuses on new ideas and creative solutions in business situations, to delimit the

discussion to the word limit of the assignment.

One disadvantage of adopting this rather general definition of entrepreneurship is that there

are as many as six schools of thought that focus on just one of these many activities of

entrepreneurs (Kuratko & Hodgetts 2007). Most entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial activity

must have regard for each of these six schools of thought. However, there are clear examples

of individual entrepreneurs who are influenced more strongly by a particular school of

thought.

Comment [A7]: This Introduction is

appropriately short. It should be about half

a page at the most.

Comment [A8]: These very few

sentences give the background to the

assignment and orient the reader to what

the assignment is all about.

Comment [A9]: The Introduction

should say explicitly what its aim, objective

or goal is near the beginning, just like this

example does.

Comment [A10]: The use of first

person “I” should be avoided, e.g. First, the

entrepreneurship will be defined followed

by assessing the characteristics of ….

Comment [A11]: The Introduction

should very briefly outline the assignment.

This paragraph about the sections is slightly

too long. But this summary about the

sections is good in that it says something

about the final conclusion to which the

whole assignment is heading.

Comment [A12]: Note that there is a

capital letter at the start of only the first

word in this and all the headings. This is

correct.

Comment [A13]: This delimitation is OK

provided it is justified (which it is here in

the comment about the word limit)

Comment [A14]: The examples are

very good and were asked for in the

assignment.

The assignment says explicitly things like

‘For example,..’ This shows the linkage

between the ideas and what the examples

illustrate.



For example, the displacement school helps explain why John Ilham was a driving force

behind his Crazy John mobile phone retail business. He grew up in a struggling, migrant

family and suffered racist taunts at school. He claimed that his commitment to focusing on

opportunities was cemented when a primary school teacher told him: “As for you young man,

you have not got much of a future” (‘John Ilham Biography’ n.d.).

In turn, Richard Branson appears to be a champion of the venture opportunity school of

thought. Branson has taken his Virgin brand over enormous territory (music, airlines, mobile

phones, financial services etc.) (‘Richard Branson Virgin Group’ n.d.). He has developed a

business method he refers to as branded venture capital where-by the major thrust of his

activities is to recognize opportunities, develop companies to realize those opportunities under

the Virgin brand while partners provide most of the investment.

In brief, entrepreneurship is a complex and wide-ranging set of activities.

3. The characteristics of an entrepreneur

Considerable research has been undertaken regarding common attributes of successful

entrepreneurs (Timmons & Spinelli 2007). In one study, high achieving entrepreneurs that

there were three principle reasons behind their success: the ability to respond positively to

challenges and learn from mistakes, personal initiative, and great perseverance and

determination. In addition, Timmons and Spinnelli (2007) state that the many characteristics

of entrepreneurs can be segmented into some core, desirable and non-entrepreneurial

attributes.

Core attributes include commitment and determination, leadership, opportunity obsession,

risk tolerance, creativity and adaptability, and the motivation to succeed. Desirable attributes

include the capacity to inspire, intelligence, appropriate values, and emotional stability. Non-

entrepreneurial attributes include impulsiveness, perfectionist tendencies, authoritarianism

and ‘machoism’.

Note that entrepreneurs do not seem to be driven intensely by financial benefits. In fact, most

entrepreneurs desire greater autonomy, broader skill utilization and the possibility to pursue

their own ideas rather than financial rewards (Benz 2006).

Having now established the skills, characteristics and attributes most likely to be found in

entrepreneurs, we will now assess the compatibility of those skills with a corporate career.

Comment [A15]: This is the citation of

an Internet source and the n.d. means no

date because the date of the creation or

last revision of the Internet source is not

known. If it was known, the date should

have been put in there.

Refer to the AIB Style Guide for how all

these citations and references are to be

written.

Comment [A16]: This short summary of

the position that the student is trying to

establish is a good idea.

Comment [A17]: Correctly, this

paragraph is the only one-sentence

paragraph in the whole document.

Paragraphs should usually have around

three or four sentences about one idea.

Comment [A18]: This theme sentence

at the start of the paragraph summarises

what the whole paragraph is about, is very

useful and strongly recommended for your

writing.

Comment [A19]: A short sentence that

summarises what has been established and

introduces the next section is OK.



4. Compatibility of entrepreneurial characteristics with a corporate career

Most large organizations tend to be highly structured and hierarchical with a hierarchy that

facilitates effective monitoring of performance and control (Casson 1994). Job requirements

are clearly defined, accountability is clear and the chain of command is known.

However, this control system will block the wide-ranging and innovative nature of

entrepreneurs described above. They would be likely to find their commitment and

determination restricted within their job specification. Their inclination to identify

opportunity may be suppressed by conservative managers who hold more senior positions

within the organization structure. Their motivation may be suppressed by the organization

setting low, achievable and unchanging goals.

For example, Ray Borda, proprietor of Macro Meats, is an entrepreneur who was not able to

survive in the traditional organization structure. Borda established a chain of pet shops in

South Australia in the 1980’s known as Petstop. Whilst the chain was popular, Borda rolled

the stores out at a faster rate than company profits justified and he was eventually declared

bankrupt. Borda returned to the salaried work force in a company that sold kangaroo meat for

pet consumption throughout SA.

However, Borda then identified an emerging opportunity to provide kangaroo meat for the

human consumption market. Despite his vision, Borda was unable to convince management

of the company to change direction. Consequently, Borda took his vision outside of the

company and successfully convinced some investors to purchase the company and change its

direction. Today, Macro Meat is the largest wholesaler and retailer of human consumption

kangaroo meat in Australia.

Another frustration that may be encountered by those with entrepreneurial attributes would be

to find themselves in an organisation owned and/or controlled by an entrepreneur who does

not require the organisation to be entrepreneurial. He just needs the organization to support

his creativity and innovation.

For example, Kerry Packer built an empire on the back of his own capacity to sense

opportunity (‘Kerry Packer: Empire builder’ n.d.). His recognition of the commercial

potential of cricket, his affinity for knowing when to sell and buy, his intricate understanding

of the television and media market and his recognition of the emerging power of the wagering

and gaming market are all examples of his entrepreneurial capacity. But, for all of this, there

Comment [A20]: Where is the citation

and reference for this story? It should be

included. How can we believe the story

without its source being provided?



is little evidence of entrepreneurial behaviour being practiced below him in the organization

structure. Instead, Packer tended to surround himself with skilled but loyal lieutenants who

concentrated on the implementation of his vision.

In brief, evidence seem to show that that those with entrepreneurial attributes are likely to find

that traditional corporate organizations restrict their natural attributes and so detract from their

job satisfaction level. But the budding entrepreneur may still have scope as the next section

about corporate entrepreneurship shows.

5. Corporate entrepreneurship

Nevertheless, there are some organizations where those with entrepreneurial tendencies are

encouraged and are able to flourish. One of the world’s most successful advertising agencies,

Crispin, Porter and Bogusky is an example (‘Chuck Porter Crispin, Porter + Bogusky’ n.d.).

Although employing 300 people at its Miami USA base, the company has a very flat

organization structure. Chuck Porter, senior partner, has discouraged subservience and

promotes creativity and interaction. Departments that work most with each other are located

furthest apart so as to encourage people to move and develop large internal networks and

relationships. Day to day management is kept to the minimum. Porter is quoted as stating:

“We make sure we employ people as smart as us and don’t try to manage people; really good

people are unmanageable anyway” (‘Chuck Porter Crispin, Porter & Bogusky’ n.d.).

The emerging influence of this kind of corporate entrepreneurship is likely to intensify as the

world’s economy continues to become more competitive and more demanding. More

managers will be expected to develop the drive and enthusiasm of entrepreneurs and more

entrepreneurs will be expected to learn the methodical disciplines of the manager (Heller

2007).

Thus corporate entrepreneurship is an attempt to take the mindset and the skill set of the start

up entrepreneur and seed these characteristics into the culture and activities of a large

company. Indeed, “corporate entrepreneurship is quickly becoming a weapon of choice for

many large companies” (Thornberry 2002, p. 201). Corporate entrepreneurship can offset

large company staleness, lack of innovation and the inertia that often takes over large, mature

organizations.

For example, Rupert Murdoch is a recognized entrepreneur who believes there is a

relationship between change, competing and innovation. He also believes that organisations

Comment [A21]: Another good theme

sentence that introduces the paragraph

well.

Comment [A22]: This and all the other

examples are great.

Comment [A23]: Note that the student

first put his ideas into his own words in the

previous sentence, before introducing the

supporting quotations. This approach

shows the student had thought about the

meaning of the quotation and had

incorporated it into his own thinking. In

other words, he was not ‘free-loading’ off

the quotations.



need to be structured and equipped to act innovatively. Once he said “The world is changing

very fast, big will not beat small anymore, it will be the fast beating the slow” (‘Rupert

Murdoch’ n.d.).

Of course, not all big businesses are capable of corporate entrepreneurship. To do it,

businesses must follow four steps: (1) set explicit goals, (2) establish a system of feedback

and reinforcement, (3) place an emphasis on individual responsibility and (4) reward results.

Thus the concept needs to be anchored in procedures, structures and systems. Recruitment,

management development and flexible job content needs to complement the overall change

(Jansen & Van Wees 1994).

6. Conclusion

From the evidence above, we can conclude that many entrepreneurs would find traditional

corporate organizations stifling because of their creative and innovative inclinations.

However, the emerging acceptance of corporate entrepreneurship as a management concept to

deal with a fast changing and globalised economy provides considerable scope for those with

entrepreneurial qualities. Properly developed, corporate entrepreneurship can incorporate

entrepreneurs who will have management discipline as well as flair and innovation.

References

Benz, M 2006, The International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer,

Boston., viewed 17 December 2007, <http://springerlink.com/content/klh7535q0864817v/>

Casson, M 1994, International Journal of the Economics of Business, vol. 1, iss. 1, viewed 17

December 2007, <http://informaworld.com/smpp/content-content=a758540499>.

‘Chuck Porter Crispin, Porter + Bogusky’, 26 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs, Inc. Magazine,

viewed 17 December 2007, <http://www.inc.com/mazazine/20050401/26-porter.html>.

Heller, R 2006, ‘Entrepreneurial management: what’s the difference between management

and entrepreneurship?’ viewed 19 December 2007,

<http://thinkingmanagers.com./management/entrepreneurial-managers>.

Comment [A24]: This short conclusion

quickly summarises what has been done

above and then comes to the concluding

position of the whole assignment.

Comment [A25]: This final sentence

sums up what the whole assignment has

achieved - very good.

Comment [A26]: The

Recommendations section normally goes

here after Conclusion and before

References but the assignment topic did

not ask for one and so the student did not

offer one. The student may have opted to

do so if the assignment was about an

organisational strategy or a managerial

decision.

Comment [A27]: Refer to the AIB Style

Guide for more examples of how to

reference the citations.



Jansen, PGW & Van Wees, LLGM 1994, ‘Conditions for internal entrepreneurship’, Journal

of Management and Development, vol.13, no. 9.

‘John Ilham Biography’, Woopidoo Biographies Business Leaders, viewed 17 December

2007, <http:// www.woopidoo.com/biography/john-ilhan/index.html>.

‘Kerry Packer: Empire builder’ ABC News Online 27 December 2005, viewed 17 December

2007, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200512/s1538281.html>

‘Kerry Packer Biography’, Woopidoo Biographies Business Leaders, viewed 17 December

2007, <http://www.woopidoo.com./biography/kerry-packer.html>.

Kuratko, DF & Hodgetts RM 2006, Entrepreneurship: Theory/Process/Practice, 7th

edn,

Thomson South Western, Mason.

‘Richard Branson Virgin Group’, 26 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs, Inc. Magazine, viewed

17 December 2007, <http://www.inc.com/manazine/20050401/26-branson.html>.

‘Rupert Murdoch’, Woopidoo Biographies Business Leaders, viewed 17 December 2007, <

http://www.woopidoo.com./busincss_quotes/authors/rupert-murdoch>.

Thornberry, N 2003, ‘Corporate entrepreneurship: teaching managers to be entrepreneurs’,

Journal of Management Development, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 23-34.

Timmons, JA & Spinelli, S 2007, New Venture Creation Entrepreneurship for the 21st

Century, 7th

edn, McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York.

(Thanks to the AIB MBA student whose assignment provided the foundation for this

exemplar.)

Please note: The above example does not purport to represent a comprehensive step by

step guide regarding how to write any assignment. It depends on the subject, requirements

of the assignment and other issues. It is also accepted that there are numerous alternative

acceptable approaches to assignment writing other than those outlined here. If in doubt,

please contact AIB Support.

Comment [A28]: The page numbers of

an article should have been included here.

It is acceptable to not have page numbers

for an Internet reference because it is

often hard to determine their page

numbers, but an article from a journal

should include the page numbers.

Documents

AIB Assignment Writing Guide for Students - V8Dec2013