Literature Review – International Business Research
This assessment is a 2,500-word individual Literature Review for the International Business module. The assignment requires students to select an international business-related research topic, develop a suitable research question and critically examine existing academic literature relevant to the proposed area of research. The purpose of the assessment is to demonstrate knowledge of the selected subject area, evaluate existing research, identify important debates and inconsistencies, examine research methodologies and theoretical frameworks, and establish a clear research gap that can provide the basis for further investigation. Students must obtain tutor approval for their chosen research topic before completing the Literature Review. The selected topic should have clear relevance to international business and should address an issue that is academically significant and practically relevant. Students are expected to use high-quality academic sources, with particular emphasis on peer-reviewed journal articles. The assessment guidance expects students to critically discuss a minimum of five and a maximum of eight journal articles, although additional academic sources may be used to support the discussion and critique. The Literature Review consists of three main sections: Introduction, Literature Analysis and Conclusion. The Introduction should be approximately 300 words and should introduce the research topic, explain why the issue is important, establish the main research question and demonstrate its relevance to international business. Students should also briefly discuss the potential implications of the proposed research for the advancement of knowledge, theory and practice. The Literature Analysis should be approximately 1,900 words and forms the main part of the assessment. Students should move beyond simply describing individual articles and instead analyse, evaluate and synthesise the literature. For each selected journal article, students should consider its contribution to existing knowledge, theoretical frameworks, research methodology, suggested research gaps and relationship to the proposed research question. The literature should be compared and contrasted to identify areas of agreement, disagreement, methodological differences, theoretical differences and unresolved issues. The analysis should demonstrate critical engagement with the literature rather than providing separate descriptive summaries of each source. The Conclusion should be approximately 300 words and should bring together the major agreements, disagreements and themes identified in the literature. Students should use the conclusion to justify their proposed research by demonstrating how it can address one or more of the research gaps identified through the literature review. The assessment is worth 100% of the final module grade and requires Harvard-style referencing. Students must provide a complete reference list and ensure that sources are appropriately acknowledged throughout the review. The assessment criteria evaluate knowledge of the subject area, analysis of research and methodologies, critical evaluation of literature, communication of complex ideas and professional referencing. High-quality work is expected to demonstrate a well-defined international business topic, strong critical analysis, comparison and synthesis of academic literature, clear identification of a research gap and a logically justified direction for future research.
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