How power relations between government and civil society
Instructions for Analytical Report and Essay:
The assessment for this course will examine the student’s capacity to apply the core concepts of business and government relationships covered in this course, and to analyse how power affects business and government interactions in real situations.
The assignment should be approached as if the student is working as a consultant for a small firm which is interested to develop its operation into the relevant topic area.
Topic 1: Examine how power relations between government and civil society affect the startup of a social enterprise. Examine this question in Australia and one other country of your choice. The assessment should be approached as a request from a small firm interested to expand its operation and start a social enterprise.
OR
Topic 2: Compare and contrast how power relations influence the growth of the renewable energy industry. Examine this question in Australia and one other country of your choice. The assessment should be approached as a request from a small firm interested to expand its operation into renewable energy.
OR
Topic 3: Compare and contrast how power relations affect the management of the fishing industry in Kiribati. In your answer, examine the power relationships between Kiribati and powerful countries in the Pacific Ocean, especially Japan and China. The assessment should be approached as a request from a small firm interested to expand its fishing related activities into the Pacific.
Assessment task:
Prepare a report to the CEO making and justifying a recommendation on the chosen topic. The report will be presented in two parts.
Part 1: Report, 750 words.
This is a succinct report for the CEO. A report summarises your analyses, presents the important issues the CEO should consider and makes a recommendation. The report will offer at least 2 but not more than 3 options for the CEO to consider. Each option should discuss the short and long term benefits and risks for the firm if the decide on this course of action. Your report should conclude by recommending one of the options. There is no need to justify why you choose that option – that is usually done during a discussion with the CEO. In this assignment you will justify your recommendation in the essay.
Note: this report is very short so allocate your word limit carefully. The report may contain tables, diagrams and dot points. The conventional format uses these headings:
• Front cover (with a brief title and your name and student number)
• Executive summary (a very short summary of the main points)
• Issues for consideration
o sub heading for issue 1
o sub heading for issue 2 etc
• Options for expansion
o Option 1 (state what the option is)
– benefits
– risks
o Option 2 (state what the option is)
– benefits
– risks
• Recommendation – a simple short statement of what you recommend.
Part 2: Analytical essay, 1500 words.
An analytical essay is a persuasive piece of writing aimed to convince the reader of a point of view. An essay has an argument, that is, the author presents and justifies their ideas and stance on a particular topic.
This essay is where you provide evidence to justify your analysis and recommendation. You will aim to convince the reader of the logic of your analysis of the situation and recommendation. You will present your analysis, including the power relationships relevant to the topic. You should identify the important issues beyond those presented in the report to the CEO. Then, construct and justify an argument, using reliable sources of information: the set readings, at least three papers from peer reviewed journals, statistics or other information from trustworthy sources.
