EE5005 Professional Practice
Approved coursework for: EE5005 – Professional Practice
CW Assignment: Individual Essay
Word Count: 5,000 words maximum (excluding title page, contents page, references
and any appendices)
Contributes: 100% to final module grade.
Submission type and Deadline: MS Word document to be submitted via Moodle by
10:00 (GMT) on Thursday, January 5, 2023
Assignment Information
Objectives
The objective of this assignment is for you to demonstrate your understanding of at least one of the themes covered in EE5005.
Task
Choose ONE of the following four subjects and follow the instructions given:
• Write a short business plan for a new business (real or imaginary) that you want to start and for which you need funding. Using this as an example, describe how a business plan should be structured, what content should be included, why that structure and content are important and what core skills are required to write and implement plans successfully
• Outline the main strategic and operational challenges that businesses face, in particular relating to engineering and technical projects, and describe tools and working practices used by them to respond to these challenges. How effective are these tools and working practices?
There are several strategic and operational challenges that businesses face when it comes to engineering and technical projects. Some of the main challenges include:
Managing complexity: Engineering and technical projects often involve complex systems and processes, which can be challenging to manage and coordinate.
Ensuring quality: Ensuring that projects are completed to a high standard and meet all necessary quality standards is crucial for businesses.
Managing costs: Controlling costs and staying within budget is important for businesses, particularly when it comes to large engineering and technical projects.
Meeting deadlines: Time is often a critical factor in engineering and technical projects, and it’s important for businesses to be able to meet project deadlines in order to keep their operations running smoothly.
To respond to these challenges, businesses use a range of tools and working practices. Some of the most common include:
Project management software: This type of software helps businesses plan, schedule, and track progress on engineering and technical projects.
Collaboration tools: Collaboration tools, such as online whiteboards and project management platforms, allow team members to work together and share information in real-time, regardless of location.
Quality management systems: Quality management systems help businesses ensure that their products and processes meet all necessary quality standards.
Lean principles: Lean principles, such as the Lean Six Sigma methodology, focus on maximizing efficiency and reducing waste in order to improve overall performance.
• Prepare a report for the CEO of a large (real or imaginary) engineering company, explaining and recommending policies and actions to ensure the company becomes a leading example of how to operate in a sustainable, environmentally friendly, well
governed and socially responsible way.
• “Continuing professional development in technical, managerial and social skills, is essential for career success and personal satisfaction”. Write a persuasive briefing for students in higher education, encouraging them to take this statement seriously.
Describe relevant concepts, principles and theories, as discussed in class and as described in the literature. Show how these concepts, principles and theories are applied in practice, as far as you can by using real-life examples.
Include in your essay brief discussions of how each of the three other subjects in the above list is
relevant to your chosen subject.
Ensure your essay is clearly written and well structured, with logical arguments that are well
supported by evidence from the literature.
Format
Write and submit your essay in Microsoft Word (not PDF). Aim for a length (excluding title page,
list of references and any appendices) of between 4,500 and 5,000 words. The maximum length
is 5,000 words; remember, anything you write beyond 5,000 words will not be marked.
Begin your essay with a title page showing the essay title (which should show which one of the
four subjects you have chosen), the date on which you are submitting the assignment, the
module (EE5005) and your Candidate Number. Number the pages, at the bottom of each
page.
Make sure that the essay is all your own work. Remember, the penalties for plagiarism are
severe. Whenever you include material or ideas taken from somewhere else, include a
reference to the source, in the form Smith (2016) or (Smith, 2016). At the end, include a list of
references e.g., “Smith, T. J., 2016: Principles of disruption, Harvard Business School Press, ISBN
958 345 678”.
Assessment
Marking is anonymous: this means that the markers will mark each essay without knowing who
wrote it. The essay MUST show your Candidate Number on the title page and must NOT show
your name or Student ID number anywhere in the document or in its filename.
Once the marking process is complete, you will receive your mark and written feedback on
your essay, via Moodle.
In addition to the generic coursework assessment criteria, the assessment of your essay will use
the following criteria which are specific to this assignment:
• Understanding of the concepts, principles and theories in the chosen subject, as
discussed in class and as described in the literature
• Awareness of how these concepts, principles and theories are applied in practice
• Ability to show the relevance of the other three subjects in the list above to the subject
chosen.
End
