MSc Management Leading Contemporary Organisations Coursework Assessment Brief
1. General Assessment Guidance
Your summative assessment for this module is made up of this one submission which accounts for 100% of the marks
Please note late submissions will not be marked.
You are required to submit all elements of your assessment via Turnitin online access. Only submissions made via the specified mode will be accepted and hard copies or any other digital form of submissions (like via email or pen drive etc.) will not be accepted.
For coursework, the submission word limit is 5,000 words. You must comply with the word count guidelines. You may submit LESS than 5,000 words but not more. Word Count guidelines can be found on your programme home page and the coursework submission page.
Do not put your name or contact details anywhere on your submission. You should only put your student registration number (SRN) which will ensure your submission is recognised in the marking process.
A total of 100 marks are available for this module assessment, and you are required to achieve minimum 50% to pass this module.
You are required to use only Harvard Referencing System in your submission. Any content which is already published by other author(s) and is not referenced will be considered as a case of plagiarism.
You can find further information on Harvard Referencing in the online library on the Hub. You can use the following link to access this information
BPP University has a strict policy regarding authenticity of assessments. In proven instances of plagiarism or collusion, severe punishment will be imposed on offenders. You are advised to read the rules and regulations regarding plagiarism and collusion in the GARs and UPPs which are available on the HUB in the Help and Support section under Documents and Forms.
Use of AI in assessments is only allowed for the purposes of reviewing a draft, correcting language errors or if specified in the summative assessment brief. If you have used AI for any of these purposes, you should indicate this on the Assignment Cover sheet. For more information regarding acceptable and unacceptable use of AI, please enrol onto the Generative AI Foundations course on the HUB.
You should include a completed copy of the Assignment Cover sheet. Any submission without this completed Assignment Cover sheet may be considered invalid and not marked.
2. Assessment Brief
You are working as a leadership and governance consultant appointed to conduct an independent evaluation of an organisation facing a complex set of leadership, governance, and ethical challenges. You will select one organisation from the following three:
Nucor Corporation
Tesco plc
BHP Group Limited
Your task is to produce a comprehensive report for the board of your selected organisation, focusing on how leadership, governance, ethics, and sustainability are contributing to (or hindering) long-term organisational success.
The board has commissioned your report to better understand:
Whether the organisation’s leadership approach is appropriate and effective.
How governance practices and regulatory pressures are influencing outcomes.
How ethical leadership and sustainable practices contribute to the organisation’s long-term value creation and resilience.
How well-informed and evidence-based your analysis is, drawing on a wide range of academic and management resources.
Your report should be analytical, applied, and grounded in the theories and frameworks explored in the Leading Contemporary Organisations module. It should provide clear, well-supported recommendations and demonstrate a critical approach to applying leadership and governance knowledge in a real-world business context.
Getting Started: Research Guidance
To conduct a high-quality analysis, you should begin by reviewing the most recent annual reports, investor presentations, and sustainability or ESG disclosures of your chosen organisation. These documents will help you understand the organisation’s leadership structure, board composition, strategic priorities, governance framework, and ethical commitments.
Additional insights may be found in:
Regulatory filings and corporate governance statements.
News coverage of leadership or governance issues.
Academic and professional case studies.
Reports from independent research organisations, ESG rating agencies, think tanks, and industry analysts.
Research from broader industry trends and changing macro dynamics.
Your ability to select and interpret relevant, credible material will directly impact the depth and quality of your analysis.
Task requirements on the next page.
Task 1: Leadership Evaluation (LO1)
Learning Outcome 1: Develop a critical understanding of key leadership concepts, theories and models applied to real business challenges.
Critically analyse the leadership approach in your chosen organisation by applying relevant leadership theories and models. Your analysis should demonstrate how the leader’s style, decisions, and behaviours have influenced the organisation’s strategic direction and culture, particularly in response to key business challenges.
Guidance:
Identify the key leader(s) and explain their leadership approach using relevant theories and models (e.g. transformational, transactional, servant leadership, ethical, authentic leadership).
Apply these theories and models to analyse how leadership behaviours and decisions have influenced the organisation’s strategic direction, culture, and stakeholder relationships, particularly during key moments such as crisis, transformation, or growth.
Critically evaluate the suitability and effectiveness of the leadership approach in context, by discussing its strengths and limitations, drawing on evidence such as performance outcomes, media coverage, stakeholder feedback, or internal controversies.
Your discussion should reflect critical engagement with leadership literature and supporting evidence, such as investor statements, company press releases, media coverage, leadership speeches, analyst commentary, and academic analysis.
Task 2: Ethics and Sustainability Evaluation (LO3)
Learning Outcome 3: Develop a critical appreciation of the role of ethics and sustainability on long-term business success.
Select one major ethical or sustainability challenge your chosen organisation has faced in the last five years. Critically assess how the organisation’s leadership responded and evaluate the effectiveness of their actions in promoting long-term stakeholder trust, reputation, and resilience.
Guidance:
Identify and discuss a clear ethical or sustainability challenge and analyse the leadership response.
Consider how the response advanced or fell short of the Triple Bottom Line and identify which SDGs, if any, were impacted by the challenge or the response. Was the organisation’s action consistent with global sustainability goals?
Conclude with your evaluation of whether the leadership response enhanced the organisation’s resilience, reputation, and strategic success – or whether it introduced ethical, reputational, or operational risks, including perceptions of greenwashing or bluewashing.
Use evidence from sustainability reports, leadership statements, media coverage, regulatory actions, and academic or NGO analyses.
Task 3: Corporate Governance and Regulatory Impact (LO2)
Learning Outcome 2: Critically evaluate the impact of corporate governance and the regulatory context on the success of an organisation.
Select and critically evaluate key internal and external corporate governance mechanisms in your chosen organisation (such as board structure, oversight practices, shareholder influence, or regulatory obligations. Analyse how these mechanisms have shaped the organisation’s strategic decision-making, reinforced or weakened accountability at leadership level, and influenced its ability to achieve defined goals (e.g. financial stability, ethical conduct, stakeholder confidence, or crisis resilience). Support your evaluation with relevant governance theories and evidence.
Guidance:
Critically evaluate the selected internal and external governance mechanisms that are most relevant to your chosen organisation (e.g. board structure, executive oversight, investor influence, regulatory frameworks). Explain why these are significant to your case.
Apply appropriate theoretical frameworks (such as agency theory, stakeholder theory, or information asymmetry) to analyse how governance has shaped strategic decision-making, reinforced or weakened leadership accountability, and influenced corporate behaviour.
Assess the impact of governance on organisational success, clearly defining what success means in your context (e.g. financial results, sustainable growth, crisis response, ethical conduct, stakeholder trust). Reflect on how governance practices have contributed to or constrained that success and reflect on any weaknesses or controversies.
Support with evidence: Use board reports, regulatory filings, shareholder statements, media coverage, and academic commentary to underpin your analysis.
Task 4: Independent Learning and Critical Resource Use (LO4)
Learning Outcome 4: Apply a wide range of relevant management resources to direct and shape their own learning experience.
Select and reflect on up to five key resources that you used to support your analysis throughout this assignment. Evaluate how these shaped your understanding of leadership, governance, ethics, or sustainability, and how they contributed to your ability to engage with complex organisational issues.
Guidance:
Select three to five key resources that significantly informed your assignment. These can include academic articles, governance codes, annual reports, ESG ratings, board evaluations, or industry analyses.
Justify your selection and evaluate each resource’s contribution. Explain why you chose it, how it supported your understanding of leadership, governance, ethics, or sustainability, and critically assess its usefulness and any limitations.
Demonstrate independent judgement: Highlight any strategic choices you made in balancing sources to show different perspectives or how you adopted your approach as the assignment developed.
Presentation and Structure
Well-organised report with a logical structure and clear section headings and subheadings.
Professional, concise, and coherent writing style throughout.
Consistent and accurate use of Harvard-style referencing, demonstrating a strong range of credible sources across the report and any appendices.
Do NOT include an executive summary, introduction, or conclusion.
Your report must be submitted in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format. Submissions in other formats may not be accepted or may be subject to compatibility issues.
Your report structure should include the following sections:
Cover page (University cover sheet)
Table of Contents
Task 1 – Leadership Evaluation (LO1)
Task 2 – Ethics and Sustainability Evaluation (LO3)
Task 3 – Corporate Governance and Regulatory Impact (LO2)
Task 4 – Independent Learning and Critical Resource Use (LO4)
References
Appendix (if appropriate)
Suggested Word Count Guide
Task 1 – Leadership Evaluation: 1,250 Words Task 2 – Ethics and Sustainability Evaluation: 1,250 Words Task 3 – Corporate Governance and Regulatory Impact: 1,250 Words Task 4 – Independent Learning and Critical Resource Use: 1,250 Words Total: 5,000 Words
The maximum word count for this assignment is 5,000 words. Any content exceeding this limit will not be marked. The word count includes all content within the main body of the report but excludes the cover page, table of contents, references, and appendices.
3. Marking Guide
Table 2: Assessment Marking Rubric
Learning Outcome Fail (0% – 39%) Marginal Fail (40% – 49%) Pass (50% – 59%) Merit (60% – 69%) Distinction (70% – 79%) High Distinction (80% – 100%)
LO1: Develop a critical understanding of key leadership concepts, theories and models applied to real business challenges. Weak or Inadequate understanding of leadership theories or models. Little or no effort to link concepts to the selected organisation. Analysis is vague, overly descriptive, or irrelevant. No critical evaluation or application to real business challenges. Limited understanding of leadership theories or models. Basic or incorrect application to the chosen organisation. Evaluation lacks depth and fails to demonstrate a meaningful connection between theory and practice. Limited evidence of academic engagement Satisfactory understanding of leadership theories and models, with some accurate application to the selected organisation. Shows awareness of how leadership relates to business challenges, though analysis may be general or uneven. Some use of academic sources Good understanding and clear application of relevant leadership theories. Thoughtful evaluation of how leadership approaches affect the organisation’s direct and performance. Integration of theory and real-world examples is mostly effective. Good use of academic sources. Excellent and well-supported application of multiple leadership concepts or models. Strong critical evaluation, with clear links between theory and specific business challenges. Excellent structure, clarity, and academic engagement, with high-quality sources and evidence. Outstanding critical understanding and nuanced application of leadership theory to the organisation’s challenges. Deep, original insight into how leadership dynamics influence organisational direction and performance. Exceptional integration of academic literature, theory, and practical context.
LO 3: Develop a critical appreciation of the role of ethics and sustainability on long-term business success. Weak or inadequate understanding of the ethical or sustainability issue selected. Inadequate analysis of how leadership responded to the challenge. Weak or no connection to long-term business success. No meaningful use of frameworks such as the SDGs or Triple Bottom Line. Minimal or no use of relevant evidence or academic sources. Limited identification of an ethical or sustainability challenge relevant to the organisation. Limited analysis of the leadership response, with underdeveloped or unclear links to stakeholder trust, resilience, or strategic risk. Little or no reference to ethical frameworks. Limited use of evidence, lacking depth or relevance. Satisfactory identification of an appropriate ethical or sustainability issue. Demonstrates an adequate understanding of how leadership addressed the issue and some appreciation of its implications for long-term business outcomes. Makes satisfactory use of one or more frameworks such as the SDGs or Triple Bottom Line. Some relevant evidence is provided, though analysis may lack depth. Good evaluation of the leadership response to a significant ethical or sustainability issue. Demonstrates a clear understanding of the relationship between ethical conduct, sustainability practices, and long-term value creation. Applies appropriate frameworks effectively. Supports the analysis with relevant evidence and shows awareness of stakeholder perspectives and reputational risk, including greenwashing or bluewashing. Excellent, balanced, and well-structured evaluation of an ethical or sustainability challenge and the leadership response to it. Demonstrates excellent understanding of how ethics and sustainability contribute to strategic resilience and stakeholder trust. Applies sustainability frameworks with clarity and insight. Uses strong, relevant evidence throughout and shows critical awareness of reputational risks and public scrutiny. Outstanding critical analysis of a complex ethical or sustainability issue and a leadership response that shaped organisational outcomes. Demonstrates deep understanding of long-term value creation through ethics and sustainability. Integrates frameworks such as the SDGs and Triple Bottom Line seamlessly into the analysis. Offers outstanding insight into risks of greenwashing or bluewashing and the reputational, ethical, and strategic dimensions of leadership. Supported by excellent academic and real-world evidence.
LO2: Critically evaluate the impact of corporate governance and the regulatory context on the success of an organisation. Weak or Inadequate understanding of corporate governance structures or regulatory context. No meaningful evaluation of how these influence the organisation. Lacks clarity, accuracy, or relevance. Fails to identify or analyse governance mechanisms or their impact. Limited analysis of internal and external governance mechanisms. Basic or incorrect understanding of regulatory factors. Evaluation is superficial or disconnected from the organisation’s actual context. Minimal use of evidence or theory. Satisfactory evaluation of governance and regulation, with some relevant examples. Demonstrates an awareness of how governance structures influence the organisation, though analysis may be generalised or lacking depth. Uses a small range of sources Good critical evaluation of both internal governance (e.g. board structure, accountability) and external regulation (e.g. codes, investor pressure). Shows a clear understanding of how these elements affect strategy and organisational performance. Good use of sources and real-world evidence. Excellent, well-structured evaluation of corporate governance and regulation. Demonstrates a strong understanding of their strategic implications for leadership, accountability, and performance. Integrates theory and practical evidence convincingly. Excellent range and quality of sources. Outstanding and insightful critical evaluation of governance and regulatory factors, showing depth, originality, and rigour. Makes sophisticated connections between governance dynamics and business outcomes. Outstanding use of evidence, theory, and academic literature.
LO4: Apply a wide range of relevant management resources to direct and shape their own learning experience. Weak or Inadequate use of relevant resources. Shows no clear structure or planning of independent learning. Fails to justify resource selection or demonstrate reflection on the learning process. No evidence of strategic thinking or autonomy. Limited use of academic and practitioner sources. Some attempt at planning and direction of learning, but lacks depth or coherence. Minimal reflection on how the selected resources shaped insights. Weak justification of resource choices. Satisfactory engagement with a range of resources. Some structure in how learning was directed and shaped. Demonstrates basic justification for resource selection and shows some awareness of how these informed analysis. Good use of a wide range of credible resources. Shows clear evidence of autonomy and judgement in directing learning. Good justification of resource choices and thoughtful integration into the analysis. Demonstrates reflective awareness of the learning process. Excellent use of high-quality academic, industry, and regulatory resources. Demonstrates clear independence and strategic thinking in shaping learning. Excellent justification of how sources were used to support insight and critical analysis. Outstanding engagement with a rich mix of sources, selected and used with exceptional judgement. Shows leadership-level reflection and demonstrates original insight into how learning was shaped. Evidence of deep, self-directed inquiry, initiative, and intellectual curiosity.
Research Skills Weak or poor research skills exhibited through an overreliance on some sources and limited use of academic sources. Limited research skills exhibited through the use of a narrow range academic sources – and corporate sources and annual reports where appropriate. Satisfactory demonstration of research skills exhibited through the use of some academic sources – and corporate sources and annual reports where appropriate. Good demonstration of research skills through the use of a somewhat broad range of academic sources – and corporate sources and annual reports where appropriate. Excellent demonstration of research skills through the use of a broad range of academic sources – and corporate sources and annual reports where appropriate. Incorporates wider reading and evidence of engagement beyond the reading list. Outstanding demonstration of research skills through the use of a broad range of academic sources – and corporate sources and annual reports where appropriate. Incorporates the module reading list and extensive additional references that are integrated into the work.
Presentation and Structure Weak presentation, inadequate structure, weakly referenced. Limited presentation and structure with inappropriate references. Limited expression. Presentation and structure are satisfactory with full and appropriate references (possibly limited in quantity; largely correct Harvard referencing style). Structured layout and mainly accurate expression. Presentation and structure are good with precise, full and appropriate references and correct Harvard referencing style. A good example of structured layout and professional and accurate expression. Presentation and structure are excellent with precise, full and appropriate references extensively used. An exemplar of structured layout and professional and accurate expression. Inclusion of sources outside of the prescribed course reading. Presentation and structure are outstanding with precise, full and appropriate references extensively used. An exemplar of structured layout and professional and accurate expression. Inclusion of sources outside of the prescribed course reading
