Instructions on Assessment:

The module will be assessed by two individual assessments, a presentation and formal report.

Report (end of semester)

Context:

Recent Government initiatives have set aside substantial amounts of money to fund staff training and skills development in the hospitality sector. (see http://blogs.bis.gov.uk/ukces/2014/11/05/how-ukces-are- addressing-the-skills-gaps-in-the-retail-and-hospitality-sectors/ ). The government considers that investment and improvements in hospitality skills will benefit local economies in the future.

In order for companies to access this funding, they need to submit a Funding Request Report (approx. 3000 words)

As Managing Director of your organization, you are required to write a report to access funding in order to
support staff development. Your request can focus on one of the four areas of development:

• Enhancing resources e.g. training, recruitment, diversity, entrepreneurship.
• Enhancing guest experiences e.g. service quality, satisfaction management
• Investing in technology e.g. distribution, marketing, social media.
• Environmental management e.g. sustainability, certification, supply chain management.

  When writing your bid you need to provide explicit information:

• Project title;
• Proposal summary;

Assessment Brief – Newcastle Business School

• A clear business case for the project, including:
  o The problem or need and who will benefit from the project;
  o The demand for the project;
  o What you want to achieve;
  o How you will do it;
• How you will monitor your results;
• Discussion how the training will benefit the wider hospitality and tourism economy in the region.

Note:

You do NOT need to provide details about the funding sources, costs or the bidding process. Your work will be marked entirely on the content of your report and the justification provided. Justification can be demonstrated by citing previous research, cases, data / statistics evidencing improvements etc.

The company can be based in a location of your choice, but supporting evidence for your bid must relate to that region.

Appendices should be limited to 4 pages.
You must submit your final version of your report to TurnItIn. This must be identical to the hard copy submission. TurnItIn will be available for draft submissions until the hand in date.

Late submission of work

Where coursework is submitted without approval, after the published hand-in deadline, the following penalties will apply.

For coursework submitted up to 1 working day (24 hours) after the published hand-in deadline without approval, 10% of the total marks available for the assessment (i.e.100%) shall be deducted from the assessment mark.

For clarity: a late piece of work that would have scored 65%, 55% or 45% had it been handed in on time will be awarded 55%, 45% or 35% respectively as 10% of the total available marks will have been deducted.

The Penalty does not apply to Pass/Fail Modules, i.e. there will be no penalty for late submission if assessments on Pass/Fail are submitted up to 1 working day (24 hours) after the published hand-in deadline.

Coursework submitted more than 1 working day (24 hours) after the published hand-in deadline without approval will be regarded as not having been completed. A mark of zero will be awarded for the assessment and the module will be failed, irrespective of the overall module mark.

For clarity: if the original hand-in time on working day A is 12noon the 24 hour late submission allowance will end at 12noon on working day B.

These provisions apply to all assessments, including those assessed on a Pass/Fail basis.

Word limits and penalties

If the assignment is within +10% of the stated word limit no penalty will apply.

The word count is to be declared on the front page of your assignment and the assignment cover sheet. The word count does not include:

Assessment Brief – Newcastle Business School

• Title and
  Contents page
• Reference list
• Appendices
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Quotes from interviews and focus groups.
• Appropriate tables, figures and illustrations

Please note, in text citations [e.g. (Smith, 2011)] and direct secondary quotations [e.g. “dib-dab nonsense analysis” (Smith, 2011 p.123)] are INCLUDED in the word count.

If this word count is falsified, students are reminded that under ARNA page 30 Section 3.4 this will be regarded as academic misconduct.

If the word limit of the full assignment exceeds the +10% limit, 10% of the mark provisionally awarded to the assignment will be deducted. For example: if the assignment is worth 70 marks but is above the word limit by more than 10%, a penalty of 7 marks will be imposed, giving a final mark of 63.

Students must retain an electronic copy of this assignment (including ALL appendices) and it must be made available within 24hours of them requesting it be submitted.

Note: For those assessments or partial assessments based on calculation, multiple choice etc., marks will be gained on an accumulative basis. In these cases, marks allocated to each section will be made clear.