Research Essay Assignment

Statement
“We live in a data-driven culture which continuously seeks evidence to
support information and operations management decisions rather than
‘gut feeling’. Therefore, business intelligence systems can stifle
organisational innovation.”
Critique the above statement within an Information and Operations
Management (IOM) context
with reference to material covered in Units 1-7
and additional external sources from your own research.
Marks: 45%
You are required to write a
1500 word (excluding references in this word
count) academic research essay to
critique the above statement.
You must develop your own structure for the essay. You are also encouraged
to refer to academic articles for examples to structure your essay.
The core focus of this assignment is to examine your ability to critique, e.g. a
detailed analysis and assessment, of the above statement while drawing on
material covered across
Units 1-7. You should carryout research using
external sources to support your claims to on
one of the following options:
a) Support the above statement (e.g. 1500 words excluding references);
or
b) Argue against the above statement (e.g. 1500 words excluding
references);
Referencing material is key to support your claims. Therefore, you should
avoid general discussion or sweeping statements. You should support claims
with
researched and referenced material in your essay.
Your article should use the
Harvard Style of referencing
(

pport/Citing-Guide-Harvard-style-24062014.pdf
) and you should support your
answer by referring to key concepts and terminology throughout Units 1-7 that
support your claims.
You are also encouraged to demonstrate the relevance of your work by
providing links to appropriate cases or news items to illustrate your answers.
Please include images/graphs to support your answers where possible.

Review Criteria
(This review criteria report will be used to grade your research essay)
Student Name:
ID Number
:

Criteria (100%)
Overall logical flow / clarity of
report (including critique,
grammar and academic tone of
essay).
__ / 10%
Supporting critique by linking
report to lecture material covered
in Unit 1-7 and external resources
(academic articles, industry
reports, etc.).
__ / 20%
Critique on data-driven culture in
an IOM context.
__ / 20%
Critique on the role of business
intelligence systems in an IOM
context.
__ / 20%
Critique on the role of business
intelligence and innovation /
business trends in an IOM context.
__ / 20%
References (Harvard style)
/examples to course material and/or
external sources.
__ / 10%
Total and final review comment. ___/ 100%

Score
Comments
Total marks out of 45% = ________________