evaluate the role and use of social media and applications in the given sector

Coursework deadline and submission

The coursework deadline is

You are to submit an electronic copy of your work through the module Blackboard site where the instructions can be found (i.e., Turnitin instructions).

Name your submission file with the name of your sector.

Do NOT include your name or student number within the filename or anywhere within your submission. The submission will be subject to anonymous marking. Having logged into Turnitin on Blackboard, the system will record your details anonymously and tutors will only see your name after the entire submission has been assessed and provisional marks have been released to all students at the same time.

 

Mitigating circumstances

Note that the Module Leader cannot grant any extensions to the hand-in date. Extension requests should be made to the Mitigating Circumstances Board and followed by appropriate evidence. For more information on this please contact the Registry, or your Course Leader.

 

Academic Offences

Academic offences, including plagiarism are treated very seriously. Plagiarism must be avoided at all costs and students who break rules, however innocently, will be penalised. It is your responsibility as a student to make sure that you understand what constitutes an academic offence, what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. Consult the Handbook of Academic Regulations for more information.

Task

You are to assume the role of an external consultant for your assigned sector* (see individual allocation of sector on Blackboard). You will need to research thoroughly the adoption of social media within your allocated field in order to determine how it has transformed the way organisations within your sector interact with their stakeholders, that is, their employees, partners, customers/clients, suppliers and other parties. Your report can include a comparison between three to four different companies in your allocated sector.

The result of your research will be a consultancy report that investigates the adoption and use of social media and social networks in your allocated sector and recommends a comprehensive social media strategy.

Your report should include a critical and an in-depth literature review on the adoption and existing use of social digital technologies in your sector. Your research should include a wide variety of social media technologies and their application, or potential application in your sector. The report should identify the business drivers involved in the adoption/use of social media platforms; explore their benefits and opportunities; outline potential obstacles and adoption issues, both internally and externally; cover impact analysis and explore metrics and their implementation; provide supporting evidence and justification, including audience needs, innovation issues and the role of user generated content.

 

Assessment Requirements

Your consultancy report should not exceed 4000 words (±10%). The limit excludes diagrams, references and appendices.

The structure of your report should have the following format:

  • Title page (with word count; no name, student id or course)
  • Executive summary (~80 words)
  • List of contents
  • Introduction (~500 words). The introduction should contain a brief description of the case, introduce the relevant sector, and set the context.
  • Main body (~2,000 words). This should contain a thorough and a critical review of the literature and practice; evaluation of the role and use of social media and applications in the given sector; identification of the most suitable solutions for the specific scenario; impact analysis; analysis of the findings.
  • Conclusions and recommendations (~1,000 words). This should contain the conclusions following your analysis, your recommendations and the proposed social media strategy.
  • References. Follow the link to find out how to reference correctly.