ASSIGNMENT WRITING GUIDE

For Students

Australian Institute of Business . V2Mar11 CD:2011:10ed

Assignment Writing Guide

Contents

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................ 2
IMPORTANCE OF CITATION AND REFERENCING ............................................................................................... 2
USING PEER REVIEWED/SCHOLARLY JOURNAL ARTICLES ................................................................................. 3
A NINE-STEP APPROACH TO WRITING ASSIGNMENTS ...................................................................................... 3
BASIC FORMAT OF AN ASSIGNMENT REPORT .................................................................................................. 5
APPENDIX A EXAMPLE ASSIGNMENT WITH ADDED COMMENTS ................................................................... 9

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Assignment Writing Guide

INTRODUCTION
While your assignment comprises only 25% of your subject grade, it serves an important
function in helping you focus on the concepts and clarify your learning. In this sense, the
assignment prepares you for the exam, which is much more heavily weighted at 75%.
Scoring well on the assignment can sometimes mean the difference between a pass and a
fail for the subject or a high distinction versus just a distinction.
This Assignment Writing Guide consists of five parts:
1. Importance of citation and referencing
2. Using peer reviewed / scholarly journal articles;
3. A nine-step approach to writing assignments;
4. The basic format of an assignment; and
5. Appendix A - Example assignment with added comments

IMPORTANCE OF CITATION AND REFERENCING

1. Assignments must contain proper citations and referencing using the Harvard authordate style referred to in the AIB Style Guide, that is:
a. citations (or in-text references) of quoted and paraphrased materials to support
your arguments/comments; and
b. a reference list relating specifically to your in-text references.
2. Your grade will be adversely affected if there are no or poor citations and/or reference
list, as referred to above.
3. Your assignment should normally contain the following number of relevant references
from different sources in the reference list.
a. BBA assignments: 5 10
b. MBA assignments: 6 12
4. All references must be from credible sources such as books, peer reviewed journals,
magazines, company documents and recent articles. Students are highly encouraged to
use peer reviewed journal articles as this may contribute towards a higher grade.
5. You are encouraged to make use of the AIB online library (i.e., EBSCO Host) which can be
accessed through the AIB website.
6. AIB checks assignments with anti-plagiarism software. Please carefully check your
assignments before final submission to ensure that all quoted and paraphrased materials
are properly cited and referenced.
7. You are strongly advised to carefully read The AIB Style Guide for clarification of these
requirements.

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USING PEER REVIEWED/SCHOLARLY JOURNAL ARTICLES

Peer review is an academically accepted measure of quality. Peer reviewed journal articles
are normally considered more credible, authentic and reliable as they are evaluated and
recommended for publication by several experts in the field. It is therefore strongly
suggested that you use the most recent peer reviewed / scholarly articles for your
assignment. This will not only provide you with up to date knowledge but will also enable
you to produce quality work. The Refine your search option (as shown below) in the AIB
Online Library can help you to filter and view the peer reviewed / scholarly articles.
Preferably you should filter the publication date to within the last 3 to 5 years.

A NINE-STEP APPROACH TO WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

The following provides a recommended nine-step approach to writing assignments. It is

strongly recommended that you follow these steps in sequential order in order to address
your assignment requirements.
1. Read, understand and address the assignment question
Carefully read the assignment question and make sure you understand clearly what is
being asked. Your submission must be responsive to the assignment question. This is
the first and most important step. By doing this you will know what you need to do, how
to do it and whether you need some form of assistance to finish the assignment.
Furthermore, make sure you check the word count and make sure you understand what
is required. The word count should be used as a guide as to the desired length of your
written assignment. But, be mindful that submissions that exceed the word count guide
by more than 10% will have marks deducted. Then, consider the subject of the
assignment and who will read it. Do the assignment instructions suggest that the
assignment should be aimed at a particular manager of a particular organisation? If no
particular manager is mentioned in the instructions, assume that the instructor will be

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the audience. Whoever the reader is, aim the assignment at them and their
requirements and knowledge.
2. Do background reading and jot down notes
Do some brief background reading around the topic, starting with your textbook, jotting
down the main concepts and ideas that seem relevant. Is there any relevant history
related to your topic? Or is there any important detail that will be of high significance to
the future? Are there any important people involved? Knowing such details will give you
a better idea as to how to start and finish your assignment.
3. Organise your assignment
Make a tentative, organized list of headings and some sub-headings and topics about
important issues that will have to be addressed. Inform yourself as to how Table of
Contents (TOC) fields are formatted in MS Word, or other word processing application
you may be using; and how to update the page numbers for your Table of contents as
your composition grows and evolves. Fine-tune your listing of subject headings as you
start gathering information about the assignments topics. Organisation is always the key
to a well-written assignment. It not only gives you direction as you write, but it also gives
your paper a certain level of professionalism.
4. Collate information and note your sources for proper citation and referencing
Gather information from articles and other credible sources (preferably from peer
reviewed journal articles). Take notes and write down reference information about your
sources (you may forget or lose them, otherwise). The AIB Style Guide has details of
what information is required for referencing in the assignment; make sure you collect all
that information when you first have your hands on the source of information. Collecting
all the necessary information for proper citation and referencing as soon as you
encounter the source will save you precious time during the course of your writing. The
list will also come in handy if you want to double check information.
5. Organise your notes bearing in mind the marking criteria
Organize your notes and finalise the outline with its headings and sub-headings and
topics. Consult the Assignment Cover Sheet and Assessment Sheet and the marking
criteria for your assignment with weightings for concepts, application of concepts and so
on. Bear these in mind as you plan and write the assignment. Comparing your outline
with the Assignment Cover Sheet and Assessment Sheet will let you know if you have
covered everything that the assignment requires or if you have included something that
is irrelevant. It will give you a chance to finalize your outline before proceeding with the
actual writing.
6. Start writing the assignment
Then, and only then, start writing the assignment. The notes below about the format of
an assignment have details of how each part of the assignment should be written (and
include the recommended length of some sections). For your assignment writing, we
recommend you use the Office Word Format/Font command to set Times New Roman
Regular 12 point font, and the Format/Paragraph command to set 1.5 line spacing refer
to the AIB Style Guide.

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7. Re-read and re-write your assignment ensuring you adhere to the word count
Re-writing is essential. Make sure you add or delete appropriate words or paragraphs
and check the spelling and grammar. Prior to re-writing, read and re-read your draft.
Check whether the flow of thoughts is clear and maintains continuity. Check for any
grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and/or improper use of periods, commas or
question marks. Make sure you read your assignment carefully to check for errors or
omissions. Lastly, ensure that you adhere to the required word count, and add / delete
words as necessary.
8. Write the Executive Summary
Now write the Executive Summary. This is the summary of the entire assignment.
Include only salient points of your assignment. It is called a summary because it is
supposed to be brief and comprehensive.
9. Write the References
Add the References according the requirements of the AIB Style Guide, and submit the
assignment to AIB, remembering to provide a word count which includes the
Introduction section through to the beginning of the References section (that is, do not
include the Executive Summary/Abstract, References or Appendices in the word count).

BASIC FORMAT OF AN ASSIGNMENT REPORT

This section will explain how you should develop the sections of your assignment. An
example assignment that follows this format is provided at Appendix A.
Title page
Give your assignment a title and type out the main words from the assignment for the
marker to know what the assignment is all about. Include the name of the business
investigated if you are writing a case study. The title of the assignment should be
comprehensive enough to give the reader an idea about the coverage of the assignment.
Also, you need to place the word count (which includes all text from the Introduction section
to the end of the Conclusion section) here.
Executive summary
This tells your reader what the assignment is about because it describes the topics or issues
discussed, as well as providing a summary of the conclusions and recommendations and
reasons for them. Before going through the entire assignment, readers first want to see the
summary. In fact in many busy business situations, sometimes decisions are often made
solely on the basis of executive summary if it is persuasive. Your executive summary should
include what you did, how you did it, what your main findings were and what are your key
recommendations. Although the executive summary appears as first section of the

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assignment, it should be written last after completing the assignment. Do not include any
sub headings in this section. It is usually one or two paragraphs and should not be more than
250 words. Remember to not include these words in the word count, except if you are
asked to write a marketing plan. As the executive summary is part of the marketing plan, it is
included in the word count.

Table of contents
After the title page and the executive summary, you should show a table of contents with a
list of the numbered sections and subsections of the assignment, with their page numbers.
Numbered appendices, tables and figures with their titles should also be presented in the
table of contents. MS Word provides a function for inserting an automatic table of contents.
Please ensure the table of contents is updated before you submit the completed
assignment.
To update the page numbers in the contents table, when you have completed your
assignment:
left click on the table
right click and select Update Field
ensure Update page numbers only is selected
click OK

Introduction
The introduction tells your reader what you are going to tell them in the body of your
assignment. The first paragraph of your introduction gives the background to the
assignment and why it is useful. Then your second paragraph should say what the aim,
purpose or objective of the assignment is, any limitations and a very brief summary of the
sections (no more than about two lines for this summary of the sections). The whole
Introduction section should not take more than about half a page or so.

Discussion
The sections after the Introduction are where you begin the discussion, outlining relevant
facts and events. A rule of thumb is that there should be at least one section or subsection
heading per page. These sections after the Introduction will follow a logical pattern of
thought. Make your headings longer than just one or two cryptic words, so that they also
help the reader to quickly understand the sections and flow of the assignment. Present
information in a logical order. Use information from a number of credible sources to support
your findings and try not to include numeric calculations in the main body of the assignment.
Instead, include these as an appendix to the assignment. This is to prevent interrupting the
flow of the assignment. Acknowledge all sources using the Harvard author-date style.
The start of each section should make obvious its link to previous sections; for example, The
previous sections discussed strengths; this section turns to weaknesses. Transition words
are especially useful for this linking of paragraphs; for example, moreover, furthermore, in
addition, consequently, so, on the other hand, in contrast, but, however, nevertheless. After

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this linkage has been established, the purpose of the section should be made clear in a
theme sentence at the start of each paragraph, for example, This section aims to discover
those areas where threats could affect strategies.
The main body of the report will include headings, sub-headings and topics such as in the
example below:

1 Heading
Under the primary level heading, the first paragraph of this section begins like this.

1.1 Sub-heading topic

Under the secondary level heading, the first paragraph of this section begins like this.
1.1.1 Sub- sub-heading topic. Following the tertiary level heading, the first paragraph of
this section begins like this.

2 Heading
Under the primary level heading, the first paragraph of this section begins like this.

2.1 Sub-heading topic

Under the secondary level heading, the first paragraph of this section begins like this.
2.1.1 Sub-sub-heading topic. Following this tertiary level heading, the first paragraph of
this section begins like this.
Tables and figures
Tables and figures are an excellent way of illustrating and justifying your argument.
However, they must complement the written words discussed in the sections above and
should not replace that discussion. Make sure all the important points in your arguments are
in your text and that the reader does not have to search in a table or figure for those points.
A figure such as a pie chart, a bar chart or a line chart is especially useful for showing
relationships between variables. Each table and figure should have:
a number and a title at the top - the title should be long enough to make the table or
figure self-contained so that its conclusion can be grasped without referring back to the
text of the assignment; for example, Figure 3: plume path for a nuclear power plant
incident based upon wind blowing from the top. No pollution extends beyond ten miles.
a legend clearly showing what each line or symbol in a figure stands for
axes titles and column headings that clearly describe the variables involved, including the
scale used; for example, sales revenue in $00s
axes scales which are clearly marked, and which have a clear break if the scale is not
continuous from zero.
More details about tables and figures are in Appendix A.

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Conclusion
The conclusion has two paragraphs or so, and takes up to three quarters of a page and no
more. This conclusion should summarise and tie together the whole of the assignment,
without introducing new material. The conclusion should briefly describe the assignments
recommendations that are detailed in the next section. A final sentence should demonstrate
that the purpose of the assignment that was stated in the Introduction section has been
achieved.

Recommendations
In some assignments, you may be asked to make some recommendations or you may think
that you will get more marks if you do so, especially if the assignment is about an
organisational strategy or a managerial decision. These recommendations are drawn from
your conclusions above. Your recommendations outline the specific actions that are
required. When detailing your recommendations, you may also need to consider who will
action them; how they will be measured; and the timeframe for the recommendations. The
priority that you place on each recommendation may also be required.

References
A listing of all resources referred to in the assignment, assembled in author alphabetical
order, should be provided. This is not included in the word count. Refer to Appendix A and
the AIB Style Guide for details.

Appendices
The appendices include appropriate, related materials. They are not included in the word
count. These are optional for the reader, that is, the reader can choose whether they look at
an appendix or not. So you should explicitly refer to an appendix in the text of the body of
your assignment, with a very brief outline of its contents.

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APPENDIX A EXAMPLE ASSIGNMENT WITH ADDED COMMENTS

Title: Entrepreneurship and corporations

Comment [A1]: Notice that the font is

appropriately set to 12 point Times New
Roman, with 1.5 line spacing.

Assignment topic

Comment [A2]: The assignment topic is

placed here just in case the marker did not
have the assignment topic handy when he
or she was marking the assignment.

The characteristics of a typical entrepreneur are irreconcilable with a corporate career.

Large organisations are by their nature bureaucratic and as such promote an
environment in which the entrepreneur cannot survive.

Prepare a discussion paper in essay style in which you survey the arguments for and against
the above quotation, and then justify your own position. In your answer, provide very many
examples of entrepreneurs and corporate managers, from your reading and your own
experience, to illustrate the points you are making. When you refer to an example, provide
enough details about the person so that a reader who does not know about the person, can
understand the points about that person that you are trying to make. You will have to provide
a definition of entrepreneurship in the introduction to your paper.

Word count (from the start of the Introduction section to the end of the Conclusion section):

1584 words

Comment [A3]: Please note that

current word limit is 2500 words for every
MBA assignment and 2000 words for BBA
assignments.

Executive summary

Entrepreneurship and corporate structures appear to be incompatible. This paper considers

that apparent compatibility and concludes that entrepreneurship and corporate structures can
be compatible in some cases. The paper first defines entrepreneurship and characteristics of
entrepreneurs. It then looks at why these entrepreneurs may not fit into corporations. It then
establishes that some corporations can incorporate entrepreneurs in what is called corporate
entrepreneurship. Examples like Kerry Packer and Richard Branson are used to illustrate the
arguments.

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Comment [A4]: This summary was only

about 60 words and it is usually one or two
paragraphs of only 100 or so words. But it
covers the main points well enough, albeit
rather succinctly.
Comment [A5]: Nice short sentence
that orients the reader to the main idea of
the assignment

Assignment Writing Guide

Table of contents

1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 4
2. What is entrepreneurship? ............................................................................................... 4
3. The characteristics of an entrepreneur ............................................................................ 5
4. Compatibility of entrepreneurial characteristics with a corporate career ....................... 6
5. Corporate entrepreneurship ............................................................................................. 7
6. Conclusion....................................................................................................................... 8
References ........................................................................................................................... 9

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Comment [A6]: If you have subheadings then you should include them in
the table of contents as well.

Assignment Writing Guide

1 Introduction

Comment [A7]: This Introduction is

appropriately short. It should be about half
a page at the most.

Entrepreneurs are typically thought to start up small businesses that confront bigger and older
business. For example, Virgin Air is a small specialist airline that attracts some customers
away from more established airlines. But is this picture of entrepreneurs correct?

Comment [A8]: These very few

sentences give the background to the
assignment and orient the reader to what
the assignment is all about.

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the characteristics of an entrepreneur are
irreconcilable with a corporate career and whether the bureaucratic nature of large
organisations promotes an environment where the entrepreneur cannot survive.

Comment [A9]: The Introduction

should say explicitly what its aim, objective
or goal is near the beginning, just like this
example does.

The paper has three sections. First, I will define entrepreneurship. Then I will assess the
characteristics of entrepreneurs and their fit within a corporate management structure, and
then analyse the concept of corporate entrepreneurship. The conclusion ties the arguments

Comment [A10]: The use of first

person I should be avoided, e.g. First, the
entrepreneurship will be defined followed
by assessing the characteristics of .

together into a final position about the place of entrepreneurship within some though not all
corporate structures.

Comment [A11]: The Introduction

should very briefly outline the assignment.
This paragraph about the sections is slightly
too long. But this summary about the
sections is good in that it says something
about the final conclusion to which the
whole assignment is heading.

2. What is entrepreneurship?
To begin the discussion, entrepreneurship needs to be defined. Our textbook has this
comprehensive definition that is not limited to small business ventures and so is appropriate
for this general discussion: An entrepreneur is an innovator or developer who recognises

Comment [A12]: Note that there is a

capital letter at the start of only the first
word in this and all the headings. This is
correct.

and seizes opportunities; converts those opportunities into workable/marketable ideas; adds
value through time, effort, money or skills; assumes the risks of the competitive marketplace
to implement these ideas; and realises the rewards from these efforts (Kuratko & Hodgetts
2007, p. 32). Note that this paper follows that definitions emphasis on marketable ideas
and focuses on new ideas and creative solutions in business situations, to delimit the
discussion to the word limit of the assignment.

Comment [A13]: This delimitation is OK

provided it is justified (which it is here in
the comment about the word limit)

One disadvantage of adopting this rather general definition of entrepreneurship is that there
are as many as six schools of thought that focus on just one of these many activities of
entrepreneurs (Kuratko & Hodgetts 2007). Most entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial activity
must have regard for each of these six schools of thought. However, there are clear examples
of individual entrepreneurs who are influenced more strongly by a particular school of

Comment [A14]: The examples are

very good and were asked for in the
assignment.

thought.

The assignment says explicitly things like

For example,.. This shows the linkage
between the ideas and what the examples
illustrate.

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For example, the displacement school helps explain why John Ilham was a driving force
behind his Crazy John mobile phone retail business. He grew up in a struggling, migrant
family and suffered racist taunts at school. He claimed that his commitment to focusing on
opportunities was cemented when a primary school teacher told him: As for you young man,
you have not got much of a future (John Ilham Biography n.d.).
In turn, Richard Branson appears to be a champion of the venture opportunity school of
thought. Branson has taken his Virgin brand over enormous territory (music, airlines, mobile
phones, financial services etc.) (Richard Branson Virgin Group n.d.). He has developed a
business method he refers to as branded venture capital where-by the major thrust of his

Comment [A15]: This is the citation of

an Internet source and the n.d. means no
date because the date of the creation or
last revision of the Internet source is not
known. If it was known, the date should
have been put in there.
Refer to the AIB Style Guide for how all
these citations and references are to be
written.

activities is to recognize opportunities, develop companies to realize those opportunities under

the Virgin brand while partners provide most of the investment.
In brief, entrepreneurship is a complex and wide-ranging set of activities.

Comment [A16]: This short summary of

the position that the student is trying to
establish is a good idea.

3. The characteristics of an entrepreneur

Considerable research has been undertaken regarding common attributes of successful
entrepreneurs (Timmons & Spinelli 2007). In one study, high achieving entrepreneurs that
there were three principle reasons behind their success: the ability to respond positively to
challenges and learn from mistakes, personal initiative, and great perseverance and

Comment [A17]: Correctly, this

paragraph is the only one-sentence
paragraph in the whole document.
Paragraphs should usually have around
three or four sentences about one idea.
Comment [A18]: This theme sentence
at the start of the paragraph summarises
what the whole paragraph is about, is very
useful and strongly recommended for your
writing.

determination. In addition, Timmons and Spinnelli (2007) state that the many characteristics
of entrepreneurs can be segmented into some core, desirable and non-entrepreneurial
attributes.
Core attributes include commitment and determination, leadership, opportunity obsession,
risk tolerance, creativity and adaptability, and the motivation to succeed. Desirable attributes
include the capacity to inspire, intelligence, appropriate values, and emotional stability. Nonentrepreneurial attributes include impulsiveness, perfectionist tendencies, authoritarianism
and machoism.
Note that entrepreneurs do not seem to be driven intensely by financial benefits. In fact, most
entrepreneurs desire greater autonomy, broader skill utilization and the possibility to pursue
their own ideas rather than financial rewards (Benz 2006).
Having now established the skills, characteristics and attributes most likely to be found in
entrepreneurs, we will now assess the compatibility of those skills with a corporate career.

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Comment [A19]: A short sentence that

summarises what has been established and
introduces the next section is OK.

Assignment Writing Guide

4. Compatibility of entrepreneurial characteristics with a corporate career

Most large organizations tend to be highly structured and hierarchical with a hierarchy that
facilitates effective monitoring of performance and control (Casson 1994). Job requirements
are clearly defined, accountability is clear and the chain of command is known.
However, this control system will block the wide-ranging and innovative nature of
entrepreneurs described above. They would be likely to find their commitment and
determination restricted within their job specification. Their inclination to identify
opportunity may be suppressed by conservative managers who hold more senior positions
within the organization structure. Their motivation may be suppressed by the organization
setting low, achievable and unchanging goals.
For example, Ray Borda, proprietor of Macro Meats, is an entrepreneur who was not able to
survive in the traditional organization structure. Borda established a chain of pet shops in
South Australia in the 1980s known as Petstop. Whilst the chain was popular, Borda rolled
the stores out at a faster rate than company profits justified and he was eventually declared
bankrupt. Borda returned to the salaried work force in a company that sold kangaroo meat for
pet consumption throughout SA.
However, Borda then identified an emerging opportunity to provide kangaroo meat for the
human consumption market. Despite his vision, Borda was unable to convince management
of the company to change direction. Consequently, Borda took his vision outside of the
company and successfully convinced some investors to purchase the company and change its
direction. Today, Macro Meat is the largest wholesaler and retailer of human consumption
kangaroo meat in Australia.
Another frustration that may be encountered by those with entrepreneurial attributes would be
to find themselves in an organisation owned and/or controlled by an entrepreneur who does
not require the organisation to be entrepreneurial. He just needs the organization to support
his creativity and innovation.
For example, Kerry Packer built an empire on the back of his own capacity to sense
opportunity (Kerry Packer: Empire builder n.d.). His recognition of the commercial
potential of cricket, his affinity for knowing when to sell and buy, his intricate understanding
of the television and media market and his recognition of the emerging power of the wagering
and gaming market are all examples of his entrepreneurial capacity. But, for all of this, there

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Comment [A20]: Where is the citation

and reference for this story? It should be
included. How can we believe the story
without its source being provided?

Assignment Writing Guide

is little evidence of entrepreneurial behaviour being practiced below him in the organization
structure. Instead, Packer tended to surround himself with skilled but loyal lieutenants who
concentrated on the implementation of his vision.
In brief, evidence seem to show that that those with entrepreneurial attributes are likely to find
that traditional corporate organizations restrict their natural attributes and so detract from their
job satisfaction level. But the budding entrepreneur may still have scope as the next section
about corporate entrepreneurship shows.
5. Corporate entrepreneurship
Nevertheless, there are some organizations where those with entrepreneurial tendencies are
encouraged and are able to flourish. One of the worlds most successful advertising agencies,
Crispin, Porter and Bogusky is an example (Chuck Porter Crispin, Porter + Bogusky n.d.).

Comment [A21]: Another good theme

sentence that introduces the paragraph
well.

Although employing 300 people at its Miami USA base, the company has a very flat
organization structure. Chuck Porter, senior partner, has discouraged subservience and
promotes creativity and interaction. Departments that work most with each other are located
furthest apart so as to encourage people to move and develop large internal networks and
relationships. Day to day management is kept to the minimum. Porter is quoted as stating:
We make sure we employ people as smart as us and dont try to manage people; really good
people are unmanageable anyway (Chuck Porter Crispin, Porter & Bogusky n.d.).

Comment [A22]: This and all the other

examples are great.

The emerging influence of this kind of corporate entrepreneurship is likely to intensify as the
worlds economy continues to become more competitive and more demanding. More
managers will be expected to develop the drive and enthusiasm of entrepreneurs and more
entrepreneurs will be expected to learn the methodical disciplines of the manager (Heller
2007).
Thus corporate entrepreneurship is an attempt to take the mindset and the skill set of the start
up entrepreneur and seed these characteristics into the culture and activities of a large
company. Indeed, corporate entrepreneurship is quickly becoming a weapon of choice for
many large companies (Thornberry 2002, p. 201). Corporate entrepreneurship can offset
large company staleness, lack of innovation and the inertia that often takes over large, mature
organizations.
For example, Rupert Murdoch is a recognized entrepreneur who believes there is a
relationship between change, competing and innovation. He also believes that organisations

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Comment [A23]: Note that the student

first put his ideas into his own words in the
previous sentence, before introducing the
supporting quotations. This approach
shows the student had thought about the
meaning of the quotation and had
incorporated it into his own thinking. In
other words, he was not free-loading off
the quotations.

Assignment Writing Guide

need to be structured and equipped to act innovatively. Once he said The world is changing
very fast, big will not beat small anymore, it will be the fast beating the slow (Rupert
Murdoch n.d.).
Of course, not all big businesses are capable of corporate entrepreneurship. To do it,
businesses must follow four steps: (1) set explicit goals, (2) establish a system of feedback
and reinforcement, (3) place an emphasis on individual responsibility and (4) reward results.
Thus the concept needs to be anchored in procedures, structures and systems. Recruitment,
management development and flexible job content needs to complement the overall change
(Jansen & Van Wees 1994).
6. Conclusion
From the evidence above, we can conclude that many entrepreneurs would find traditional
corporate organizations stifling because of their creative and innovative inclinations.

Comment [A24]: This short conclusion

quickly summarises what has been done
above and then comes to the concluding
position of the whole assignment.

However, the emerging acceptance of corporate entrepreneurship as a management concept to

deal with a fast changing and globalised economy provides considerable scope for those with
entrepreneurial qualities. Properly developed, corporate entrepreneurship can incorporate
entrepreneurs who will have management discipline as well as flair and innovation.

Comment [A25]: This final sentence

sums up what the whole assignment has
achieved - very good.

References

Benz, M 2006, The International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer,

Boston., viewed 17 December 2007, <http://springerlink.com/content/klh7535q0864817v/>

Casson, M 1994, International Journal of the Economics of Business, vol. 1, iss. 1, viewed 17
December 2007, <http://informaworld.com/smpp/content-content=a758540499>.

Chuck Porter Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, 26 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs, Inc. Magazine,
viewed 17 December 2007, <http://www.inc.com/mazazine/20050401/26-porter.html>.

Heller, R 2006, Entrepreneurial management: whats the difference between management

and entrepreneurship? viewed 19 December 2007,
<http://thinkingmanagers.com./management/entrepreneurial-managers>.

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Comment [A26]: The

Recommendations section normally goes
here after Conclusion and before
References but the assignment topic did
not ask for one and so the student did not
offer one. The student may have opted to
do so if the assignment was about an
organisational strategy or a managerial
decision.
Comment [A27]: Refer to the AIB Style
Guide for more examples of how to
reference the citations.

Assignment Writing Guide

Jansen, PGW & Van Wees, LLGM 1994, Conditions for internal entrepreneurship, Journal
of Management and Development, vol.13, no. 9.

John Ilham Biography, Woopidoo Biographies Business Leaders, viewed 17 December

2007, <http:// www.woopidoo.com/biography/john-ilhan/index.html>.

Kerry Packer: Empire builder ABC News Online 27 December 2005, viewed 17 December
2007, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200512/s1538281.html>

Kerry Packer Biography, Woopidoo Biographies Business Leaders, viewed 17 December

2007, <http://www.woopidoo.com./biography/kerry-packer.html>.
Kuratko, DF & Hodgetts RM 2006, Entrepreneurship: Theory/Process/Practice, 7th edn,
Thomson South Western, Mason.

Richard Branson Virgin Group, 26 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs, Inc. Magazine, viewed
17 December 2007, <http://www.inc.com/manazine/20050401/26-branson.html>.

Rupert Murdoch, Woopidoo Biographies Business Leaders, viewed 17 December 2007, <
http://www.woopidoo.com./busincss_quotes/authors/rupert-murdoch>.

Thornberry, N 2003, Corporate entrepreneurship: teaching managers to be entrepreneurs,

Journal of Management Development, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 23-34.
Timmons, JA & Spinelli, S 2007, New Venture Creation Entrepreneurship for the 21st
Century, 7th edn, McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York.

(Thanks to the AIB MBA student whose assignment provided the foundation for this
exemplar.)
Please note: The above example does not purport to represent a comprehensive step by
step guide regarding how to write any assignment. It depends on the subject, requirements
of the assignment and other issues. It is also accepted that there are numerous alternative
acceptable approaches to assignment writing other than those outlined here. If in doubt,
please contact AIB Support.

Australian Institute of Business.

16

V8Dec13

Comment [A28]: The page numbers of

an article should have been included here.
It is acceptable to not have page numbers
for an Internet reference because it is
often hard to determine their page
numbers, but an article from a journal
should include the page numbers.