It is important to break down the requirements of your assessment task before you start searching for information so that you can plan your approach.

At this first stage, you need to work out:

• what the assessment is asking you to do
• how you are going to search for answers to the question

The best place to find this information is your Subject Outline. You should carefully read all elements of the assessment information available. If you are confused or unsure about the assessment topic, ask your lecturer or tutor who will be happy to talk it through with you.

For help undertaking a Topic Analysis jump to this Search Strategies page.

Your MGT382 assessment 1 is a 2,500 word report:

When undertaking an assessment of a company's industry and competitive environment, there are a number of aspects to assess.

Using an industry of your choice, assess the following aspects:

a)  assess the strength of the industry's competitive forces using the five forces model of competition (check out the Find Industry Information page for tips)
b)  identify the industry's driving forces of change, and assess the impact they will have on the industry;
c)  based on the above analysis of competitive forces and driving forces of change, what assessment can be made about the future attractiveness of your chosen industry?

Note - the information here is a summary of what is in your subject outline. It is here as a guide, not a replacement for your full assessment information.

You should use chapter 3 of the textbook as the starting point for your research. You must use information sources to support your discussion, such as websites, newspaper and magazine articles, journal articles, and books. Each information source used must be referenced correctly in the body of the paper, and in a reference list. Please note that you should not use 'wiki' sites as references for this assignment. These sources may provide useful background reading, but they are not suitable as academic references.

Don't forget:

• This assignment is to be completed in report format. Include an introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion.
• Use at least ten reference sources
• ALL texts must be of academic standard and be from credible sources. You may use journal articles, text book, text book chapter, conference paper proceeding, credible websites. Assess the quality of content in web sources very carefully.
• Do not reference Wikipedia as this is an unreliable source.
• Use in-text citations to identify other people’s ideas and words. These in-text citations must follow the APA (7th ed.) referencing style.

So where do you find this information?

The following pages of this guide will help you locate the information you need using a range of library databases and free websites.

Remember, no matter where you find your resources you still need to evaluate them to ensure they are reliable and suitable to use. Check the Evaluating Information page for tips.