Assessment Brief

Module Name:

Please read this assessment brief in its entirety before starting work on the Assessment Task.

The Assessment Task

The assessment task is to write a 2000-word literature review on the following topic –  

“The relationship between leadership and organisational performance” 

Students could narrow down the scope of the literature review on to specific aspects of leadership such as types, styles, etc and its inter-relationships with specific facets of organisational performance such as financial performance, innovation performance, sustainability and responsibility, and so on. Another way to narrow down the scope of the review is to focus on a particular industry and evaluate the relationship between leadership and organisational performance in that industry.  

The literature review must critically evaluate and synthesise the current state of knowledge on the given topic. Therefore, it is recommended that only articles published in the last 5 to 7 years be reviewed for this assessment as it will provide an overview of the contemporary debates on the topic. It is also recommended to use articles published in the top-ranked academic and practitioner journals given in Table 1.  

Visit the links below for detailed information on literature review and critical writing –  

• https://skillshub.northampton.ac.uk/literature-reviews/ 
• https://skillshub.northampton.ac.uk/critical-thinking/  

Mandatory requirements  

1. A 100-word abstract must be presented. The abstract is excluded from the word count.  
2. All citations and references must be in the Harvard referencing format (https://skillshub.northampton.ac.uk/referencing/). References are excluded from the word count.  
3. The assessment must be submitted in Microsoft Word format.  

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this assessment, you will be able to:

1. Critique debates on contemporary issues in business that influence leadership, strategic decision making, and responsible management. 
2. Contextualise, synthesise, and critically evaluate the inter-disciplinary literature in business and management 
3. Develop and support an argument using evidence, analysis, and critical reflection based on academic and practitioner literature. 
4. Communicate management concepts and arguments effectively to specialist and non- specialist audiences. 

Your grade will depend on the extent to which you meet these learning outcomes in the way relevant for this assessment. Please see the grading rubric on NILE for further details of the criteria against which you will be assessed.

Assessment Support

Specific support sessions for this assessment will be provided by the module team and notified through NILE. You can also access individual support and guidance for your assessments from Library and Learning Services.  Visit the Skills Hub to access this support and to discover the online support also available for assessments and academic skills.

Academic Integrity and Misconduct

Unless this is a group assessment,the work you produce must be your own, with work taken from any other source properly referenced and attributed. For the avoidance of doubt this means that it is an infringement of academic integrity and, therefore, academic misconduct to ask someone else to carry out all or some of the work for you, whether paid or unpaid, or to use the work of another student whether current or previously submitted.

For further guidance on what constitutes plagiarism, contract cheating or collusion, or any other infringement of academic integrity, please read the University’s Academic Integrity and Misconduct Policy.  Also useful resources to help with understanding academic integrity are available from UNPAC .

N.B. The penalties for academic misconduct are severe and can include failing the assessment, failing the module and expulsion from the university.

Assessment Submission

To submit your work, please go to the ‘Submit your work’ area on the NILE site and use the relevant submission point to upload your report. The deadline for this is 11.59pm (UK local time) on the date of submission. Please note that essays and text based reports should be submitted as word documents and not PDFs or Mac files.

Written work submitted to TURNITIN will be subject to anti-plagiarism detection software.  Turnitin checks student work for possible textual matches against internet available resources and its own proprietary database. Work

When you upload your work correctly to TURNITIN you will receive a receipt which is your record and proof of submission.  If your assessment is not submitted to TURNITIN, rather than a receipt, you will see a green banner at the top of the screen that denotes successful submission.

N.B Work emailed directly to your tutor will not be marked.

Late submission of work

For first sits, if an item of assessment is submitted late and an extension has not been granted, the following will apply:

• Within one week of the original deadline – work will be marked and returned with full feedback, and awarded a maximum bare pass grade.
• More than one week from original deadline – grade achievable LG (L indicating late).

For resits there are no allowances for work submitted late and it will be treated as a non-submission.

Please see the Assessment and Feedback Policy for full information on the processes related to assessment, grading and feedback, including anonymous grading.  You will also find the generic grading criteria for achievement at  University Grading Criteria.  Also explained there are the meanings of the various G grades at the bottom of the grading scale including LG mentioned above.

Extensions

The University of Northampton’s general policy with regard to extensions is to be supportive of students who have genuine difficulties, but not against pressures of work that could have reasonably been anticipated.

For full details please refer to the Extensions Policy.  Extensions are only available for first sits – they are not available for resits.

Mitigating Circumstances

For guidance on Mitigating circumstances please go to Mitigating Circumstances where you will find detailed guidance on the policy as well as guidance and the form for making an application.

Please note, however, that an application to defer an assessment on the grounds of mitigating circumstances should normally be made in advance of the submission deadline or examination date.

Feedback and Grades

These can be accessed through clicking on the Feedback and Grades tab on NILE. Feedback will be provided by a rubric with summary comments.