Task
Journal Entry. The Journal function in Interact2 must be used. External journal sites are not permitted. If your country geo-blocks Interact2 website or your circumstance prevents you from accessing the Internet (eg. due to a disability or if you are in a correctional centre), please contact your lecturer immediately. If it is an office/organisation firewall preventing access, you must find an alternative Internet access point to complete this task.
Warning: Entering or editing data in this journal entry after 2359 hours on 10 May will result in deduction of marks.
Write a business report based on the following:
A group of ten hotel chains have decided to merge their business to combat market pressure for low priced hotel
accommodation. The new chain called StayTogether has over a thousand hotels from all categories (backpacker, bed
& breakfast homes to luxurious suites) around the world. It combats the sale of hotel rooms via popular web sites such as booking.com, hotels.com and so on which reduces their profits and waters down their corporate image.
Bookings will be from a single web site only (with a complementary mobile app) and prices are fixed through the year with peak pricing during popular periods.
Senior management has finalised on the following decisions:
1. A customer loyalty scheme called StayTogether Loyalty will reward customers with airport transfers, car parking on site and free nights.
2. If a kitchen and standard restaurant is on site, buffet breakfast and dinner is included in the hotel room price. This
is to add to the ******** value earned per guest. Exclusive restaurants on site will charge extra.
3. If travellers arrive by selected airlines, rebates are given. Customers can choose credit for free nights
or meals.
4. A corporate social responsibility programme to allow customers to nominate the charity where
they want the chain to donate to. 1% of their total (billable) expenses will go to this charity.
[Points 3 and 4 will be given to you by your lecturer 7 days before date due. This is to allow everyone to work in this
timeframe and to prevent unauthorised assistance with your work.]
Write a business report outlining the above case, stating assumptions you make at the beginning of your report. Provide critique into the management decisions substantiating with reference to literature. In your report, make the difference between Information Systems (IS) and Information Technology (IT) issues and how it will affect customer choice, continued patronage, brand loyalty, etc. Suggest how to attract new customers (from competitors) and any other new business opportunities that may arise with such a set up (eg. technological services on site, personalised automated tour guide, etc.). All these should be substantiated with references.
(hints and tips to write this assignment is available under Assignment tab of Interact2)
Rationale
This task meets Learning Outcomes 5 & 6:
Students will :
be able to critique management processes and involvement in planning for Information Systems and Information
Technology in an organisation;
be able to identify and co-relate emerging technology issues in management and provide a short balanced analysis
report.
Executive Summary
Word Limit: 250 words (4 marks)
Summary of the complete report well written for the reader to become acquainted with the body of the
material. Keeps to word limit. Summary covers some topics. Contains minor errors. Summary covers some
of the key aspects only.
Summary is an extended introduction.
4 marks 3 marks 2 marks 0 mark
Significance and contribution –
Body of Report,
Recommendations & Conclusion
Word Limit: 1800 words
(9 marks)
Report extremely well supported with relevant citation to literature. Recommendations appropriate and conclusion well presented. Any assumptions made are clearly noted. Report is supported with some citations whereas a few claims made are unsubstantiated with literature. Recommendations missing and/or conclusion poorly made. Report is supported with minimal citation.Recommendations and/or conclusion made disjointed from narrative in body of report. Report is not supported with relevant case study examples.
Any assumptions made are not noted.
9 marks 7 marks 5 marks 0 mark
Formatting, Writing Style and text structure
[Read Presentation Guide below]
(3 marks)
Meets formatting and presentation requirements as set out
No spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors.
Did not meet at least two formatting and/or presentation requirements.
Some spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors.
Wrote report using points or numbered lists. Formating and presentation rules not followed. Multiple punctuation and grammatical errors.
3 marks 2 marks 0 mark
Correct citation and referencing –
Minimum 5 references
(4 marks)
APA 6th edition referencing applied to a range of relevant resources. No referencing errors. Direct quotes used
sparingly. Sources all documented.
APA 6th edition referencing applied to mainly a range of web links only and/or
Two or more citation or referencing errors detected.
Direct quotes used sparingly. Sources all documented.
Referencing not done to the APA 6th edition standard. Over-use of direct quotes. Range of sources used is not
appropriate and/or not documented.
4 marks 3 marks 0 mark
Presentation
After you "Create Journal Entry", please click "Post Entry"
You are given full editing rights even after you post – even the ability to delete that Post.
It will also enable the lecturer/marker to provide you assistance prior to deadline.
If you "Save Entry as Draft", only you can see it and in the past, many students forget to
click on "Post Entry" which means you have not submitted your assignment at all when the
de************ pass************: Some students prefer to cut-and-paste from a word processor, and
depending on their settings, this may cause formatting problems later.
Journal Presentation Formatting Requirements:
1. Journal space on Interact2 presentation text width between 85-95 characters including spaces.
2. Font types and sizes consistent (use Arial 12pt) throughout and paragraphs well formed.
3. Submit answers to all work in one journal entry.
4. No attachments to journal entry allowed.
Other Presentation Requirements:
1. Avoid using dot points, bulleted points, numbered points in your work. Lists do not display your
understanding of the subject matter and may even appear disjointed to the reader/marker.
2. Meet word limits in each question (allowance of +/- 5%). Table of contents are not required and
the Reference list are not included in the word count.
(Failure to follow all the above rules, eg. if you do not meet word limit for Q3 but meet for the others,
this is considered as not meeting word limit for all: no partial mark allocated.)
3. Use either UK spelling or USA spelling but do not mix both.
4. All work presented should be carefully proofed, so that spelling and typographical errors are
corrected.
5. All language used should not be sexist.
6. If acronyms and jargon are used, please explain them in the first instance, then use the
abbreviated form in the rest of the report.
7. Appendices are not to be used.
8. Use of headings and sub-headings can be used for clarity.
9. It is important to get the balance right between the citing of referenced material and your
own interpretation and ideas. When using your own thoughts and ideas, you can signal the
reader by using words and phrases such as 'it can be argued that…", "it is evident that…" and
"it seems as though…"
10. Writing in the third person is expected in all pieces of work.
11. Do not submit multiple copies (or versions) of your work. If you do, the marker will only
pick the one with the lowest mark awarded. You have full editing rights, kindly remove all
unnecessary material before date due.
12. All date/time mentioned and used is in Australian Eastern Standard Time (or Australian
Eastern Daylight Savings Time) or Sydney time.
Business report format
Readers of business reports expect certain information to be in certain places. They do not expect to search for what
they want and the harder you make it for them the more likely they are to toss your report to one side and ignore it.
So what should you do?
1. Follow the generally accepted format for a business report: Title, Executive Summary, Introduction, Main Body,
Conclusion and Reference List.
2. Organise your information within each section in a logical fashion with the reader in mind, usually putting things in order of priority – most important first.
Report Title. This is simply up at the beginning of your report.
Executive Summary. Give a clear and very concise account of the main points, main conclusion (and recommendation). Keep it very short (see word limit). Some people, especially senior managers, may not read anything else so write as if it were a stand-alone document. It isn't but for some people it might as well be. Keep it brief and free from jargon so that anyone can understand it and get the main points. Write it last, but do not copy and paste from the report itself; that rarely works well.
Introduction. This is the first part of the report proper. Use it to paint the background to 'the problem' and to show the reader why the report is important to them. Then explain how the details that follow are arranged.
Write it in plain English.
Main Body. This is the heart of your report, the facts. It will probably have several sections or sub-sections each with its own subtitle. It is unique to your report and will describe what you discovered about 'the problem'. These sections are most likely to be read by experts so you can use some appropriate jargon but explain it as you introduce it. Arrange the information logically, normally putting things in order of priority — most important first. In fact, follow that advice in every section of your report. Do not write in dot points or numbered points as this will appear disjointed and look like notes taken in a meeting.
Conclusion. Present the logical conclusions of your investigation of 'the problem'. Bring it all together and maybe offer options for the way forward. Many people will read this section.
Recommendations. What do you suggest should be done? Don't be shy; you did the work so state your recommendations in order of priority.
References. As your business report must be academically sound as well as making good business sense, it is essential that your report is supported by accurate in-text referencing and the inclusion of a reference list. Although some business reports in the workplace do not require full referencing (and some students may be used to this), it is a requirement in the academic environment. This is equitable for all students.
