Bachelor of Business (Hons)

SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

(MGT200)

FEBRUARY 2025 SEMESTER

ASSIGNMENT 1 & ASSIGNMENT 2

Assignment 1: Business Report

Due date: 17 March 2025

Value: 20% of total assessment
Word limit: Between 1300 and 1700 words

Task:

Conduct a research on any service oriented business of your choice with emphasis on the target
customers, industry and competitive analysis.

Your answer should cover the following aspects:

No. Structure Word limit (a guide)

1 Introduction 100
2 Industry and Competitive analysis 450
3 Target customers 300
4 Marketing concepts and analysis 450
5 Discussion 150
6 Conclusion 50

Total word limit 1500

Assessment criteria

Please refer to the assignment marking guide below.

Instructions:

1 This assignment should be done in a report format.

2 Your assignment should be typed using font-size 12, Times New Roman, and 1.5
spacing.
3 Write a report of between 1300 and 1700 words in length. This excludes references,
Executive Summary and appendices (if any).
4 It should contain complete references by using the APA referencing method for all
citations made in the paper (including internet citations). An essay without citations
would be considered as plagiarism and would be awarded a failed grade.
5 Turnitin originality – Do Not Exceed 20%
6 The assignment should be submitted online via HLMS. Send a hardcopy to the
department.
7 Failure to submit the assignment by the stipulated date would result in your
assignment not being marked or marked as zero.
8 Prohibited website sources
• Wikipedia
• Investopedia
Assignment 2: Business Plan

Due date: 12 May 2025

Value: 30% of total assessment
Word limit: Between 2800 and 3200 words

Task:

Pursuant to Assignment 1, where you had done a research of on a service oriented business, you are
now required to prepare a comprehensive business plan to start a similar business.

Your answer should cover the following aspects:

No. Structure Word limit ( a guide)

1 Registering your business 200

2 Industry Analysis, Competitor Analysis and Target Customer 400
3 Marketing Plan 400
4 Operations and Development Plan 800
5 Management Team 200
6 Critical Risks 250
7 Exit Strategy 250
8 Financial Plan 450
9 Conclusion 50
Total word limit 3000

Assessment criteria

Please refer to the assignment marking guide below.

Instructions:

1 This is an individual assignment.

2 Your assignment should be typed using font-size 12, Times New Roman, and 1.5
spacing.
3 Write a report of between 2800 and 3200 words in length. This excludes references,
Executive Summary and appendices (if any).
4 It should contain complete references by using the APA referencing method for all
citations made in the paper (including internet citations). An essay without citations
would be considered as plagiarism and would be awarded a failed grade.
5 Turnitin originality - Do Not Exceed 20%.
6 The assignment should be submitted online via LMS. Send a hardcopy to the
department.
7 Failure to submit the assignment by the stipulated date would result in your
assignment not being marked or marked as zero.
8 Prohibited website sources
• Wikipedia
• Investopedia

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Assignment marking guide (/100%)
The following assessment criteria and marking guide applies to all assignments.

1. Scope & 0-9% 10-12 % 13-14% 15-16% 17-20%

structure
Topic not covered, Balanced summary Fuller and more Comprehensive Well-structured
20% discussion too brief, of the issues, main systematic treatment treatment of the description. Sets
copied, unreflective, issues flagged up of the topic. topic. the scene in an
little explanation, no front, logical flow of outstanding and
or confused layout. ideas. sophisticated way.
2. Synthesis 0-14% 15-19 % 20-23% 24-26 27-30%

(Critical Little or no analysis Some analysis of Analysis lacks a Good attempt to Excellent critical
analysis and of theory, and trying theory., with convincing analyze critical analysis of the
creative to put things back explanation, and argument. Need to issues. Some theory. Well-
synthesis) together, and add illustration, and justify more. Greater conviction but could argued case.
individual value. some attempt to put attempt put things do with more. Sound Excellent attempt
30% Assignment has too things back together, back together, and attempt to put things put things back
many significant and add individual add individual back together, and together, and add
faults to be regarded value. value. add individual individual value.
as a University Assignment is Assignment is value. Assignment is
standard piece of adequate but still without serious Assignment is faultless and has
work. has significant faults faults but without almost faultless and conviction, and is
and your are advised conviction. The has some conviction based on
to make sure that lecturer can follow -the lecturer may extensive
you understand what your argument but well be persuaded to research. It builds
they are and if he/she is not agree with your a sound argument
necessary get help to convinced by it; OR position. using analysis,
improve in your it may be written explanation and
weakest areas. with some interpretation. It
conviction but with includes some
too many faults! original thinking
based on clearly
evaluated
evidence.
3. Summary 0-4% 5% 6% 7% 8-10%
(Conclusion)
Weak conclusions. Weak conclusions. Adequate attempt to Sound conclusions. Strong conclusion
10% Do not follow from Do not follow from bring it all together. Well brought succinctly and
discussion. discussion. together. excellently
presented.
4. Sources 0-9 % 10-12 % 13-14% 15-16% 17-20%

Literature Little or no reading, Subject materials Accurate reference Accurate reference Accurate
(Amount & no or poor only used. Accurate list attached. list attached. reference list
type sourced) integration of reference list Extra references Extra references attached.
literature into the attached. included. included integrated Wide range of
20% text of assignment. into the text. relevant literature
sourced and
integrated into the
text. . It uses
sources critically
and carefully. It is
creative and
thorough in its use
of supporting
evidence.
5. Style 0-9 % 10-12 % 13-14% 15-16% 17-20%
(Referencing
Presentation Little or no attempt Most presentation Few flaws. Style is Virtually free of Error free. Style
and writing) to reference in an requirements met in concise and lucid. errors. Style is is exceptionally
appropriate way. a basic way. concise and lucid. concise and lucid.
Major flaws. It is well written.
20% Difficult for the It flows clearly
reader to get the from point to
point. point.

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ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Honesty and Responsibility

Academic integrity is an important tenet for HELP University (the “University”). In pursuit of the
highest standards of academic integrity, the University holds its students to the highest ethical
standards defined by the Rules and Regulations section of the Academic Handbook. All students
studying a HELP University programme are subjected to and are bound by the Student Academic
Misconduct Rule to assure academic honesty. Students are required to sign a pledge on the
assignment cover sheet before submitting your assignments.

What is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism is academic dishonesty or academic theft, and it is a serious academic offence. Plagiarism
includes, but is not limited to, the followings:
1. quote, paraphrase or summarise someone else’s ideas, theories or data, in whole or in part,
without appropriate acknowledgement;
2. borrow ideas, opinion or words, in whole or in part, from other sources without properly
crediting the author(s);
3. use any facts, statistics, diagrams or graphs, in whole or in part, without acknowledging the
source clearly;
4. claim or imply original authorship of someone else’s ideas, theories or data, in whole or in
part, as your own;
5. employ or allow someone to help to revise, amend or write your work and pass off as your
own original work;
6. collaborate with or allow other students to copy your work; and
7. draw on sources more than what you have acknowledged by citations.

While a student is not discouraged to discuss an assignment with his/her friends or classmates, the
work he/she submits must be done by the student alone. If a student shares his/her assignment with
other students and they plagiarise it, the student is as guilty as those students who plagiarised his/her
assignment. All parties to plagiarism are considered equally guilty. Under no circumstances should
a student be involved in collusion with other students unless he/she is permitted to work on an
assignment jointly by the lecturer/tutor. If a student is unsure what constitutes plagiarism, he/she is
obliged to consult the lecturer/tutor on the matter before submission of his/her assignment.

When and How to Reference?

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Knowing when and how to cite is a student’s responsibility. If he/she is in doubt or need more help
on this matter, the student may consult the lecturer/tutor. The following list comprises some of the
sources a student will need to reference. The list is by no means exhaustive, but simply consists of
the most common sources used by students to complete their work.

1. Books
2. Chapters in books
3. Journal articles
4. Conference papers
5. Newspaper articles
6. Magazines
7. Websites
8. Study guide

Students are advised to cite in the following cases [1]:

1. When he/she quotes two or more words verbatim, or even one word if it is used in a way that
is unique to the source;
2. When he/she introduce facts that he/she have found in a source;
3. When he/she paraphrase or summarise ideas, interpretations, or conclusions that he/she find
in a source;
4. When he/she introduce information that is not common knowledge or that may be considered
common knowledge in your field, but the reader may not know it;
5. When he/she borrow the plan or structure of a larger section of a source’s argument (for
example, using a theory from a source and analysing the same three case studies that the
source uses);
6. When he/she build on another’s method found either in a source or from collaborative work
in a lab;
7. When he/she build on another’s program in writing computer code or on a not-commonly-
known algorithm; and/or
8. When he/she collaborate with others in producing knowledge.

In general, a referencing system requires two parts:

1. In-text citations
This is information about a source within the text of an assignment.
2. List of references

1
http://www.yale.edu/bass/writing/sources/plagiarism/warning.html, accessed May 18, 2008.

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 This is a list of all sources a student has used to research his/her assignment. It is
alphabetically arranged by author surname and appears immediately after the last page of an
assignment.

Different faculties or departments may have different requirement on how referencing for an
assignment should be done. The various formats used for in-text citations and list of references are
available in the following websites:
1. Harvard System
(http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/library/subjectsandsupport/referencemanagement/harvard))
2. Chicago Style (http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/index.html)
3. American Psychological Association or APA Style (http://www.apastyle.org)
4. Modern Language Association of America or MLA Style (http://www.mla.org/style)

Once a student has selected a referencing style for his/her assignment, he/she must follow the same
style consistently throughout the assignment. We strongly suggest that the student consults the
lecturer/tutor about which method to use before submission of his/her assignment.

Penalties for Plagiarism

The Turnitin Similarity Index for all programmes offered should be not more than 15%.

Penalties for plagiarism ranges from mark reduction for the assignment to expulsion from the
University. If plagiarism has been found to have occurred, the action(s) taken will be determined by
the forms of plagiarism implicated:

1. Complete plagiarism
Verbatim copying another person’s work without acknowledgement
- To be referred to a panel2 for further investigation. If the student is found to be
guilty, a grade “FL” is to be awarded for the subject.

2. Substantial plagiarism (Turnitin Similarity Index ≥ 30%)

Near-verbatim copying another person’s work by simply altering the order of the sentences
or the format of presentation or by changing a few words or phrases without
acknowledgement.
- Based on a report submitted by the lecturer in charge of the subject, a Zero mark will
be awarded for the said assessment.

3. Minimal plagiarism (Turnitin Similarity Index ≥ 15%)

Paraphrasing by changing and/or eliminating some words without proper acknowledgement.
- Based on a report submitted by the lecturer in charge, a deduction of up to 50% of
marks the student is entitled to receive for the said assessment.

2
The panel consists of the HoD as the Chair and 2 to 3 senior academic staff.

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Pleading ignorance or unintentional plagiarism does not constitute valid reasons for plagiarism and
will not avoid the penalties from being imposed. Excuses for acts of plagiarism such as the
following, but not limited to, will not be entertained:
1. I don’t have time to do the assignment
2. I have too many assignments due on the same day
3. I don’t know, I really didn’t do it
4. I am not aware
5. I don’t understand what plagiarism means
6. I have no intention to plagiarize
7. I forgot to cite the reference
8. I forgot to include the bibliography
9. My English is not good
10. My lecturer/tutor did not explain to me
11. In my country, it is alright to copy someone else’s work
12. My friend copied my assignment when I let him/her to look at my assignment
13. My friend copied my assignment when I allow him/her to use my laptop
14. I did my assignment in the computer lab, someone must have copied my work
15. I asked my friend to submit my assignment and he/she copied my work
16. I discussed my assignment with my friends, so our answers are the same/similar
17. Even though I do not have in-text citation but I have bibliography/reference list

Students should be reminded that it is their responsibilities to take due care throughout their written
work to effectively reference or cite when they use others’ ideas from any source.