Critically evaluate a range of different schools of leadership and management practice in relation to the chosen sector or industry you wish to enter at a graduate,. Participate in a career development activity and reflect

Assignment No. and type:

CW1 – Selective Portfolio of any ONE of the following:

a.     15 Minute presentation OR

b.     2000-word Report OR

c.      Poster with 15- minute viva OR

d.     15-minute Film Report OR

e.     3000-word Portfolio.

Assessment weighting:

100%

Submission time and date:

Friday 05 June 2026 at 14:00

Target feedback time and date:

Friday 26 June 2026 at 14:00

Assignment task

You are required to identify a specific sector or industry you may wish to enter when you graduate.  You are to then develop an in-depth comprehension of the challenges organisations may face in relation to leadership and management. You should consider how your individual developmental activities, and self-leadership, can assist you in securing a graduate role.

The Activity:

You are required to engage with ONE of the following:

1.     An organised internship.

2.     Building an industry or sector market intelligence portfolio that will assist you in identifying organisations, challenges and solutions that could be show cased during interview/assessment events.  This could be a local, national, or global portfolio.

3.     Participating in a public speaking or debating event to build your confidence in presenting and participating in discussions.

4.     Attending an industry conference to learn about the latest developments within your chosen sector/industry to build your commercial acumen.

5.     Completion of a MOOC that builds your knowledge and or skills in the use of specific skills such as leadership, confidence, decision making, commercial acumen.  The choice of what to develop is personal to you so choose either a big developmental activity or a series of three or four smaller developmental activities.

6.     Taking on a mentoring role within the university to develop your personal communication and emotional intelligence skills.

7.     Volunteering with a local charity to build your resilience and confidence as well as interpersonal skills.    

8.     Taking on a project with an existing employer that assist in your development such as becoming a team leader or deputising for a manager, training new staff or delivering a training event, participating in a recruitment activity/panel.

9.     Joining a local chapter of your industry professional body such as CIPD, CIMA, ACCA, CMI, and taking on an active role that pushes you out of your comfort zone. 

10.  Other…, please discuss with the module lecturer as the options here are varied and there is not a one size fits all approach. 

                Whichever activity you choose – you MUST agree this with the tutor in advance.

The Task:

Applying one of the activities outlined in (1) to (10) above you are to:

·        Critically evaluate a range of different schools of leadership and management practice in relation to the chosen sector or industry you wish to enter at a graduate,

·        Participate in a career development activity and reflect upon your experience in relation to how the activity has assisted you in developing your employability, noting any specific key lessons learned that you take away from the experience both positive and negative and anything that you would do differently. 

·        Critically evaluate your learning journey as an undergraduate on your degree course and identify the key skills, knowledge, and behaviours you have developed that will assist you in your chosen future career. 

The Assessment:

You may choose to complete ONE of the following:

11.  15 Minute presentation OR

12.  2000-word Report OR

13.  Poster with 15- minute viva OR

14.  15-minute Film Report OR

15.  3000-word Portfolio.

If you are registered with the Disability and Inclusion Services or have a disability, please contact your module leader to discuss how your reasonable adjustments will be applied to this assignment.

Getting Support for Your Assignment

Your first point of advice should be the person setting the assignment or the module leader.

If you need more general support with your studies (e.g. academic writing, referencing, critical thinking) then the Student Learning and Achievement Team can support development of your academic skills.

This assignment has been designed to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your achievement of the following module learning outcomes:

LO1: Critically evaluate the different schools of leadership and management practice.

LO2: Complete an internship or personal career development activity.

LO3: Critically assess their own performance as an undergraduate and their future career aspiration.

Successful completion of the assignment(s) for this module will enable you to meet the CMI Unit 525 below:

1. Understand the value of reflective practice to inform personal and professional development

2. Know how to apply reflective practice to inform personal and professional development

Practicalities: Referencing, presenting, and submitting your work

Please ensure that your work is referenced in Harvard. Guidance on using this style correctly is available at https://www.citethemrightonline.com/.

Presenting your work 

The presentation of your assignments should complement and support the communication of your ideas. Where assignments have specific presentational requirements, these will be outlined as part of the instructions in your assignment briefs. Otherwise, it is recommended that you adopt the following approach to the presentation of your work:  

·        For written work, use Gill Sans Nova, Times New Roman or Arial and font size 11.

·        Use headings and sub-headings within the work and provide a contents page where applicable.

·        An executive summary may be required for students that elect to submit a report for this assignment.   

·        Insert page numbers at the bottom of each page. 

·        You must have a cover sheet with your student ID, Name, and word count.  

·        Do not submit your work as a PDF document.

Submitting Your Work

Your work should be submitted electronically via Turnitin using the submission point provided before the deadline set above.

Confidentiality

You should maintain and respect confidentiality in relation to the protection of personal, technical and/or commercial information of a sensitive nature in your assessed work.

For further information and guidance, please see the University Academic Confidentiality guidance.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity means taking responsibility for your own work and not acting in a way to give you an unfair advantage over another learner. This includes writing in your own words and acknowledging sources you have used. It also covers the appropriate use of Artificial Intelligence.

When you submit an assignment, you are making a declaration that it is your own work and that you have acknowledged the contribution of others and their ideas in its development (for example, by referencing them appropriately).

For further information, please see the following student facing guidance on the University website:

BNU Student Academic Integrity Guidance

BNU Artificial Intelligence Guidance for Students

There are also links to resources to support your understanding of Academic Integrity within your Blackboard module sites in the Assessment Information area.

Criterion 1 (LO1) 33% weighting

Critically evaluate the different schools of leadership and management practice.

This should include evidence of:

§  A range of relevant reading around the topics of leadership and/or management.

§  Critical analysis of the subject matter in relation to a chosen sector/industry.

The work does not include reference to any relevant sources related to the subject matter.

There are no analysis or synthesis of the subject matter and no clear links to an identified sector/industry are evident.

The work only uses inappropriate literature sources for an academic assignment (e.g. blogs, newspaper articles) none from academic journal articles that relate to the topic and weak relevance to the task.

The work presents limited/weak analysis and synthesis of the subject matter and partial links to an identified sector/industry are evident offering no original insight and thought leadership opportunities.  

The work uses a small number of appropriate literature sources (e.g. textbooks, trusted websites) some of which are from academic journal articles that loosely relate to the topic and some limited relevance to the task.

The work presents satisfactory analysis and synthesis of the subject matter and some links to the identified sector/industry are evident but offers little original insight and thought leadership opportunities.  

The work uses a range of relevant appropriate literature sources (e.g. textbooks, trusted websites), some of which are from academic journal articles that loosely relate to the topic that are mostly relevant to the task.

The work presents a good analysis and synthesis of the subject matter and links to the identified sector/industry but does not offer much original insight and thought leadership opportunities.  

The work uses a wide range of relevant appropriate literature sources (e.g. textbooks, trusted websites) and some academic journal articles that mostly relate to the topic that are mostly relevant to the task, some of which may be at the cutting edge of academic and professional knowledge.

The work presents very good analysis and synthesis of the subject matter and links to the identified sector/industry that could offer original insight and possible thought leadership opportunities.  

The work uses a wide range of relevant appropriate literature sources (e.g. textbooks, trusted websites) and some academic journal articles which are highly relevant to the task some of which may be at the cutting edge of academic and professional knowledge.

The work presents an excellent analysis and synthesis of the subject matter and links to the identified sector/industry that offer some original insight and thought leadership opportunities.   

The work uses a wide range of relevant appropriate literature sources (e.g. textbooks, trusted websites) and many academic journal articles which are highly relevant to the topic, some of which are at the cutting edge of academic and professional knowledge.

The work presents an outstanding analysis and synthesis of the subject matter and links to the identified sector/industry that offers original insight and thought leadership.

Criterion 2 (LO2)

33% weighting

Complete an internship or personal career development activity.

This should include evidence of:

§  Completion of an appropriate activity.

§  Demonstration of developmental need and links to chosen sector/industry.

§  Evaluation of performance and lessons learned from completion of the activity.

No completion of a career development activity or activities.

No links to the skills required for the sector/industry is evident with no evidence of academic underpinning, and no links to the latest thinking in skills development are presented.

No self-evaluation of the student’s performance and critical reflection from the chosen activity/activities, no use of a critical self-reflective tool or tools have been attempted.

Partial completion of a career development activity or activities.

Weak link to the skills required for the sector/industry is evident with limited evidence of academic underpinning, and no links to the latest thinking in skills development are presented.

An unsatisfactory self-evaluation of the student’s performance and critical reflection from the chosen activity/activities, no use of a critical self-reflective tool or tools have been attempted.

Completion of a satisfactory career development activity or activities.

Some link to the skills required for the sector/industry is evident with some evidence of academic underpinning, but no links to the latest thinking in skills development are presented.

A satisfactory self-evaluation of the student’s performance and critical reflection from the chosen activity/activities, some use of a critical self-reflective tool or tools have been attempted but there are some errors/omissions evident.

Completion of a good career development activity or activities.

Some link to the latest thinking in skills development for the chosen sector/industry, supported by academic and professional sources some of which may be at the cutting edge of thought leadership.

A good self-evaluation of the student’s performance and critical reflection from the chosen activity/activities, use of a critical self-reflective tool or tools have been attempted but there are some errors/omissions evident.

Completion of a very challenging career development activity or activities.

Clear link to the latest thinking in skills development for the chosen sector/industry, supported by academic and professional sources some of which may be at the cutting edge of thought leadership.

Comprehensive self-evaluation of the student’s performance and critical reflection from the chosen activity/activities, use of a critical self-reflective tool or tools have been attempted but there are some errors/omissions evident.

Completion of a very challenging career development activity or activities.

Clear link to the latest thinking in skills development for the chosen sector/industry, supported by academic and professional sources that are at the cutting edge of thought leadership.

Comprehensive self-evaluation of the student’s performance and critical reflection from the chosen activity/activities, using a recognised critical self-reflective tool or tools.

Completion of an extremely challenging career development activity or activities.

Clear link to the latest thinking in skills development for the chosen sector/industry, supported by academic and professional sources that are at the cutting edge of thought leadership.

Comprehensive self-evaluation of the student’s performance and critical reflection from the chosen activity/activities using a recognised critical self-reflective tool or tools.

Criterion 3 (LO3)

33% weighting

Critically assess their own performance as an undergraduate and their future career aspiration.

This should include evidence of:

§  Critical self-reflection of academic performance and graduate skills development.

§  Comprehension of the graduate career pathway for their role and/or sector/industry.

§  Graduate career planning for the next 12 months.

No critical self-reflection of the student’s academic performance using any performance metrics.

No overview or awareness of the graduate career pathway within a chosen sector that has no links to the student’s future career role if identified.

No graduate career plan has been provided.

An unsatisfactory critical self-reflection of the student’s academic performance using a limited range or single performance metric providing limited insight.

An unsatisfactory overview with limited awareness of the graduate career pathway within the chosen sector that has partial links to the student’s future career role.

A graduate career plan has been provided that demonstrates partial insight into the process of securing a graduate role/future career role.  

A satisfactory critical self-reflection of the student’s academic performance using a range of different performance metrics providing satisfactory insight.

A satisfactory overview with some awareness of the graduate career pathway within the chosen sector that has some links to the student’s future career role.

A graduate career plan has been provided that demonstrates some insight into the process of securing a graduate role/future career role.  

A good critical self-reflection of the student’s academic performance using a range of different performance metrics providing good insight.

A good overview of the graduate career pathway within the chosen sector that is has some links to the student’s future career role.

An informative graduate career plan that demonstrates good insight and thinking into the process of securing a graduate role/future career role.  

A very good critical self-reflection of the student’s academic performance using a range of different performance metrics providing very good insight.

A very good overview of the graduate career pathway within the chosen sector that is clearly linked to the student’s future career role.

A detailed and informative graduate career plan that demonstrates very good insight and thinking into the process of securing a graduate role/future career role.  

An excellent critical self-reflection of the student’s academic performance using a range of different performance metrics providing outstanding insight.

An accomplished and possibly publishable overview of the graduate career pathway within the chosen sector that is clearly linked to the student’s future career role.

A highly detailed and informative graduate career plan that demonstrates excellent insight and thinking into the process of securing a graduate role/future career role.  

A comprehensive critical self-reflection of the student’s academic performance using a range of different performance metrics providing outstanding insight.

An accomplished and publishable overview of the graduate career pathway within the chosen sector that is clearly linked to the student’s future career role.

A highly detailed and informative graduate career plan that demonstrates outstanding insight and thinking into the process of securing a graduate role/future career role.