Bachelor of Business (Hons)

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
(MGT301)

FEBRUARY 2025 SEMESTER

ASSIGNMENT (INDIVIDUAL) &

BUSINESS REPORT (GROUP)
ASSESSSMENT 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

Weightage 20%
Mode Literature Review (CLO1)
Format Essay
Length 2000 words
Assignment Journal articles search
Task
Due Date/ Week Submission date: 27th March 2025 (Week 7)

Assessment rationale

This assignment is designed in the form of literature review. The purpose of this literature review is to
establish current knowledge in operation management within the practices of any industry. Students
will be exposed to knowledge from previous research with regards to certain selected parts of operation
management. The areas could revolve around productivity, forecasting, capacity management, Just in
Time (JIT) and lean production. Students will describe key concepts, factors/variables, theories or
principles and relevant elements in literature review write up. From the literature review, students can
further explain the significance of study in future and forward their critical ideas as contributions.
ASSIGNMENT 2 : GROUP TERM PROJECT – BUSINESS REPORT

Weightage 30%
Mode Group Term Project (CLO3)
Format Business Report
Assignment Task Interview
Length 3500 words
Due Date/ Week Submission: 8th May 2025 (Week 13)

Rationale

This assignment is designed to give exposure to the students on assessing the operation involved in a
selected organization of their interest or small business operations of their choice. Students in their
own group are required to perform analysis on the selected business. Students will apply knowledge
from Operations Management and specific practical/technical skills and organization skills to complete
the assignment.
ASSESSMENT DETAIL

ASSIGNMENT 1: LITERATURE REVIEW (20%)

Objective: Operations Management (OM) involves a broad range of practices aimed at ensuring the
effective production and delivery of goods and services. Key OM sub-domains such as productivity,
forecasting, capacity management, Just in Time (JIT), and lean production play a critical role in helping
businesses control costs, enhance customer satisfaction, and optimize resource utilization. This
literature review assignment invites students to explore theories, principles, concepts, and tools
relevant to a chosen sub-domain, emphasizing its contribution to organizational success and
operational efficiency. Students can critically engage with academic literature, deepen their
understanding of core Operations Management concepts, and enhance their research and analytical
skills.

TASK REQUIREMENTS:

1. Topic Selection: Select one of the following approved sub-domains within Operations
Management:
o Improving Productivity
o Project Management
o Forecasting
o Capacity Management
o Just in Time (JIT) and Lean Production
Note: Submit your chosen topic for approval from your lecturer before proceeding.

2. Research Scope:
o Identify and review a minimum of FIVE (5) peer-reviewed journal articles published
between 2020 and 2025 relevant to your chosen topic.
o Your literature review should reflect the key themes and insights drawn from these
articles.

3. Literature Review Structure: Prepare a well-organized literature review following the

structure below:

Introduction:
o Provide a brief background on the topic, including its origins and definitions.
o Clearly outline the purpose, significance, and scope of the literature review.

Body:
o Explore theories, principles, concepts, or tools related to your chosen topic.
o Critically analyze how the selected sub-domain influences a firm's ability to control
costs, improve customer satisfaction, and optimize resources.
o Incorporate "so what?" summary statements throughout to emphasize the importance
and practical implications of your findings.

Conclusion:
o Summarize the major contributions of the reviewed studies and their relevance to the
body of knowledge.
 o Highlight potential areas for future research based on the insights gained from your
literature review.
o Conclude by discussing the broader relationship between the selected topic and the field
of Operations Management.

FORMAT OF REPORT

• Answers should be typed in report format, complete with tables, and relevant graphical
visualization where appropriate. Font type: Times New Roman, Font Size: 12, Line spacing:
1.5.

REFERENCES

• Minimum FIVE (5) journal articles required.

• All referencing must follow the APA (7th Edition) referencing system.
• Relevant and useful articles can be found in appropriate management journals. Make use of
the EBSCO Host Database - the electronic library, made available by HELP University.

SUBMISSION

1. Students must submit the assignment NO LATER THAN 27th March 2025 (Week 7) through
HLMS.

2. The submission MUST include the Turnitin Originality Report. http://turnitin.com.

• Submit SOFT COPY of the assignment to Turnitin to avoid high similarity index (Do
not include the cover page in the file. Please do not include the marking rubrics in
your submission), Turnitin similarity % should be not more than 15%.

3. Submit a SOFT COPY of the assignment to HLMS through the given submission link. For
the softcopy submission, please adhere and make sure to label your file according to the
following format:
Matric No._MGT301_Indv Assignment

4. Follow the sequence. The first page should be assignment cover page followed by
assignment rubric, report and Turnitin report.

5. Delay or postponement of submission is strictly NOT ALLOWED, without acceptable

reasons. A penalty of 10% reduction of the total marks granted to the assignment will be levied
for each day of late submission.

6. If you are having difficulty in completing work in time due to illness or extenuating
circumstances, you may apply for an extension through your lecturer with supporting
documentations e.g., medical certificate, police report etc. Applications for extensions on or
 after the due date of the assessment will not be considered. A deduction of 10% per day from
the marks awarded after the due date applies if the piece of work is submitted late without
an approved extension.

RUBRIC

Please refer to Rubric on how this assignment will be assessed. Rubric for Literature Review will
also be posted in HLMS.

Note: If you are having difficulty in completing work in time due to illness or extenuating
circumstances, you may apply for an extension through your lecturer with supporting
documentations e.g., medical certificate, police report etc. Applications for extensions on or
after the due date of the assessment will not be considered. A deduction of 10% per day from
the marks awarded after the due date applies, if the piece of work is submitted late without
an approved extension
 SCORE (100%)
ASSIGNMENT MARKING RUBRIC (LITERATURE REVIEW REPORT 100%)

Criteria & Needs Max Marks

Excellent Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory
Qualities Improvement Marks Obtained
Clear, engaging, and Lacks clarity and 15
Clear and informative Adequate introduction
thoroughly sets the stage Weak introduction fails to set the
but could be more with minor gaps in
Introduction for the literature review. with limited context stage.
engaging. clarity.
(4-6).
(10-12) (7-9)
(13-15) (1-3)
Comprehensive coverage Good coverage with Adequate coverage but Limited coverage Superficial
of the topic with critical some critical analysis lacks depth and with minimal critical coverage with no 25
Content
analysis and depth and minor gaps. analysis. insights. analysis.
(21-25). (16-20) (11-15) (6-10) (0-5)
Strong summary with 25
major contributions of Good summary with
Adequate summary
reviewed studies and mostly clear Weak summary with No clear summary,
with limited discussion
their relevance to the contributions and vague contributions contributions, or
Conclusion of contributions and
body of knowledge relevance. and limited relevance relevance.
relevance.
clearly articulated. (6-10). (1-5)
(11-15)
(16-20)
(21-25).
Adequate quality but Weak quality with Poor quality and
High-quality, current, Good quality and
some sources lack several outdated or insufficient sources. 10
and highly relevant peer- mostly relevant peer-
Quality of Literature relevance. irrelevant sources.
reviewed sources. reviewed sources.
(9-10). (7 -8)
(5-6) (3-4) (1-2)
Strong alignment Good alignment with Adequate alignment Weak relevance and Studies are
between chosen studies minor gaps in but some studies lack limited connections irrelevant or 5
Relevance of Studies
and topic with clear relevance. connection. between studies. disconnected.
connections. (4) (3) (2) (1)
 (5)
Adequate organization 5
Excellent flow and Weak organization
Good flow but minor but some sections Disorganized with
logical sequencing of with significant gaps
Organization gaps in sequencing. could be better unclear structure.
ideas. in flow.
(4) structured. (1)
(5) (2)
(3)
Good transitions but Weak transitions 5
Seamless transitions that Adequate transitions Poor or no
slightly abrupt in leading to fragmented
Transitions enhance readability. but could be smoother. transitions present.
places. flow.
(5) (3) (1)
(4) (2)
Exceptionally clear, Clear writing with Poor clarity with 5
Adequate clarity with Weak clarity with
concise, and well- minor areas needing significant
Clarity of Writing occasional confusion. frequent ambiguity.
interpreted literature. refinement. misinterpretations.
(3) (2)
(5) (4) (1)
Perfect adherence to Adequate APA format Significant APA 5
Minor APA formatting Weak adherence with
APA style with no but some errors or failure to
APA Format errors. frequent errors.
errors. inconsistencies. follow format.
(4) (2)
(5) (3) (1)

Grading Scale:
• Excellent (90-100%)
• Good (80-89%)
• Satisfactory (70-79%)
• Needs Improvement (60-69%)
• Unsatisfactory (<60%)
ASSIGNMENT 2 : BUSINESS REPORT (30%)

REQUIREMENT:

1. In a group of 3 to 4 students, identify any small business in an industry of your own interest
in Hanoi to study its operations management. It can be product based or service-based
business.

• Students must get primary information on the areas that they must cover.
• Please also consider access to the location in your decision.

2. Interview its owner/operations manager/authorized officer with regards to some key

operations management which consists of TQM, process design, layout choices, past
strategies undertaken to enhance their operations and customer added value, and
challenges faced in managing operation of the business.

• Plan and prepare a checklist of questions with regards to the information/area that
you want to know for the purpose of assessment.
• Show the draft and finalized version of questions before conducting the interview to
your lecturer.

3. Based on the feedback and your observation, assess the real practice and situation in the
company including employees’ access to the resources, process flow and customer access to
the product and service (if any).

A. REPORT
Prepare a business report according to the following guideline:

1. Executive summary
A brief overview of the operations management practices assessed. It covers the purpose of
the report, background information, key findings, recommendations and conclusions.

2. Operation management in the company

• A description of how the company manages its operations. It includes whether it has a
specific unit/person who manages the operation.
• Discussion on findings:
o Critically discuss your findings on how the chosen company manages quality,
process design insight, location decision, and management of inventories. Include
operational challenges faced by the company.
o Explain strategies undertaken to enhance their operations. Determine any value-added
activity introduced or being practiced by the company.
o Support your discussion with relevant literature. A minimum of TEN (10) credible
references is required.
 3. Recommendation
From your analysis and critical review, recommend at least THREE (3) improvements
that can be made to operations management in the chosen context.

4. Conclusion
Conclude your report.

5. References list
th
• All referencing must follow the APA referencing system (7 edition)
• A minimum of TEN (10) references from credible sources are required.
• Relevant and useful articles can be found in appropriate management journals. Make
use of the EBSCO Host Database - the electronic library, made available by HELP
University.
• Please refer to Rubric on how this assignment will be assessed. Rubric for Group
Assignment will also be posted in LMS.

SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENT

1. Students must submit the assignment NO LATER THAN 8th May 2025 (Week 13). Please
refer to HLMS.

2. Submission of the assignment shall be of the following format:

7. Word format, Font in Times New Roman and of size 12, line spacing of 1.5 with the
normal pagemargin on A4 paper. All pages must be properly aligned and justified.
8. Single sided.
9. All pages <except cover page if there is one> must be numbered. Use only one side ofthe paper,
and the page numbering shall be placed at centre bottom of the page.
10. Turnitin similarity %: not more than 15%
11. To use cover page answer sheet and attach assignment evaluation form. A penalty of 5 marks
will be levied if fail to do so.
12. Delay or postponement of submission is strictly NOT ALLOWED, without acceptable
reasons. A penalty of 10% reduction of the total marks granted to the project report will be
levied for each day of late submission.
13. Students are required to submit the assignment in TWO procedures:

❖ Submit SOFT COPY of the assignment to Turnitin to avoid high similarity

index (Do not include the cover page in the file. Please do not include the
marking rubrics in your submission), and a complete set of write up
(single file) to HLMS through the given submission link.

• If you are having difficulty in completing work in time due to illness or extenuating
circumstances, you may apply for an extension through your lecturer with supporting
documentations e.g., medical certificate, police report etc. Applications for extensions
on or after the due date of the assessment will not be considered. A deduction of 10%
per day from the marks awarded after the due date applies if the piece of work is
submitted late without an approved extension
 ASSIGNMENT MARKING RUBRIC (BUSINESS REPORT- 100%) TOTAL
MARKS/100

Criteria/ Maximum Marks

Very Poor Poor Fair Above Average Excellent
Description Marks Obtained

Clearly and concisely

Does not summarize the Minimal summary; Includes some key Summarizes most key summarizes the report's key
report; irrelevant or missing important points; points but lacks clarity points; generally clear and points; engages the reader
Executive Summary
incoherent. unclear. or focus. informative and provides a strong
5
(0-1) (2) (3) (4) overview.
(5)
Presents detailed, well-
Findings are missing, Findings are unclear or Findings are somewhat Findings are clear and
supported findings with
unclear, or irrelevant to minimally supported; relevant but lack depth mostly supported;
Findings
objectives. weak relevance. or clarity. relevant to objectives.
clear relevance to the report 20
objectives.
(0-4) (5-8) (9-12) (13-16)
(17-20)
No evidence of Demonstrates excellent
Limited analysis; insights Some analysis is Shows good analytical
analytical skills; analytical skills; insights are
are superficial or poorly present but lacks depth skills; insights are logical
Analytical Skills insights are absent or
connected. or integration. and mostly relevant.
profound and well- 15
incorrect. integrated into the report.
(4-6) (7-9) (10-12)
(0-3) (13-15)
Provides insightful,
No recommendations Recommendations are Recommendations are Recommendations are practical recommendations
provided or completely unclear or only loosely vague or not well- practical and mostly that are clearly derived
Recommendations
irrelevant. connected to findings. supported by findings. linked to findings. from the findings and
10
(0-2) (3-4) (5-6) (7-8) analysis.
(9-10)
No conclusion or Weak conclusion; fails to Conclusion is present Summarizes key points
Effectively summarizes the
Conclusion completely irrelevant to summarize key points but lacks clarity or and implications well;
report’s key points and
10
the report’s content. effectively. depth. generally effective.
 (0-1) (2) (3) (4) implications; leaves a
strong impact.
(5)
There is moderate
There is no evidence of There is little evidence of There is fair evidence of There is excellent evidence
evidence of originality
Originality originality and insight. originality and insight. originality and insight.
and insight
of originality and insight. 10
(0-2) (3-4) (5-6) (9-10)
.(7-8)

Organization/Form
atting, Poorly structured and Somewhat structured but Fairly structured with Well-structured and Excellently structured with
Grammar/Spelling/ presented. lacks clarity. minor errors. minimal errors. no errors. 15
Punctuation, (0-3) (4-6) (7-9) (10-12) (13-15)
Length

Citation, Poor citation and Limited citation and poor Good citation and Excellent citation and a
Fair referencing with
Referencing referencing; minimal adherence to referencing referencing with credible wide range of credible
sources. style.
some credible sources.
sources. sources.
15
Format, Wide (7-9)
Range of Sources (0-3) (4-6) (10-12) (13-15)
TOTAL
100
MARKS
 Department of Business
Studies
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?

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

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 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
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%.

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

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.
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
18. 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

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

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