communication skills
Essay 2 (10%)
1. The question and requirements
This assessment task is to be undertaken individually.
It is designed to assess your problem-solving skills, your capacity to source and analyse relevant
information and your written communication skills.
Now that you have completed the empathy and wicked problem immersion phase of the subject you
will notice that lectures and tutorials are moving on to issues of ideation and the framing of a business
solution to address a need in the wicked problem space.
The share economy company you are developing for your group assignment due at the end of the
semester will leverage on the experiences of a range of existing share economy businesses. In this 2nd
short essay you have the opportunity to critically assess the process whereby one such business has
sought to develop its value proposition with reference to the Business Model Canvas (BMC). This is
important for your own group work as through engaging with the BMC you will for example begin to see
how firms match up customer segments with their value proposition, whilst also appreciating the ways
that a firms cost structure relate to revenue streams, resources and key partnerships etc.
You will notice as you begin to search on line for case study work to base this second essay on that there
are no shortages of case studies, often in the form of blogs and other opinion pieces, which have sought
to apply the BMC to Share Economy Businesses. You should feel free to tap into this existing material
(always, however, with a critical eye to the veracity of the claims being made). In addition students
should engage with information provided by their targeted company, along with relevant academic
literature relating to the BMC and business feasibility.
While there will be no writing workshops provided for this assessment, there will be discussion boards
on UTS Online.
The Task
In your lectures and tutorials you have seen numerous examples of share economy businesses. Using
one real world business1 as a case study discuss how the business model canvas approach can provide
researchers with a framework for assessing the feasibility of a businesses’ design.
Note: Your tutors will be expecting that the case study business you focus on will be a share economy
business. It is important that this requirement is followed in that all share economy businesses have a
1 Note this word was written as company in your subject guide. This was a typo.
unique characteristic when applied to the BMC. That is that in contrast to many mainstream businesses
share economy businesses actually have two market segments (the owner and the end consumer).
Understanding the ways that businesses will structure their offerings to appeal to both these groups is an
important outcome from this essay.
In preparing your response, you should:
a. justify the statements you are making by referring to sources of information you have
independently researched;
b. provide examples to support your points;
c. refer to at least ten sources from valid and reputable published literature (n.b. this does not just
have to be academic literature);
d. present your references using the Harvard system of referencing;
e. limit your response to 1000 words – not including references (give or take 10%). The ability to
present your point of view within a prescribed number of words is an important skill which will be
assessed in this task; and,
f. edit your work prior to submitting it to ensure it is written with accurate grammatical structure,
spelling and punctuation.
You must submit your final work through Turnitin on UTS Online by April 17. Work will be assessed
according to the criteria summarised in Table 1 (pto).
Some Suggested Readings
Business model canvas:
http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/downloads/businessmodelgeneration_preview.pdf
http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/canvas/bmc
http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/downloads/business_model_canvas_poster.pdf
Berkers, F., Hendrix, G., Chatzicharistou, I., de Haas, T., & Hamera, D. (2010, October). To share or not
to share?. In Intelligence in Next Generation Networks (ICIN), 2010 14th International Conference on (pp.
1-9). IEEE.
Krueger, N. F. (1993). The impact of prior entrepreneurial exposure on perceptions of new venture
feasibility and desirability. Entrepreneurship theory and practice, 18(1), 5-21.
Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., Oliveira, M. A. Y., & Ferreira, J. J. P. (2011). Business Model Generation: A
handbook for visionaries, game changers and challengers. African Journal of Business Management,
5(7).
Thompson, A. (2005). Business Feasibility Study Outline. Enterpreneurship and business innovation: The
art of successful business start-ups and business planning.
Trimi, S., & Berbegal-Mirabent, J. (2012). Business model innovation in entrepreneurship. International
Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 8(4), 449-465.
2. Assessment Criteria
Table 1 provides a detailed description of each assessment criteria.
TABLE 1
MARKING
CRITERIA
Weighting BELOW
EXPECTATIONS
MEETS EXPECTATIONS EXCEEDS
EXPECTATIONS
/100 Z P -> C D -> HD
1. Discusses the
central
characteristics of
the Business Model
Canvas
20
No Provides details of some or
all of the characteristics
with reference to
supporting evidence
Characteristics are
comprehensive and
illustrated with
supporting examples
2. Explanation of
how the Business
Model Canvas can
be used to assess
business feasibility.
30
No Limited application to
business issues and
practice
Extensive analysis of
the concepts in relation
to business issues and
practice
3. Uses a critical
analytical approach 20
No / little evidence of a
critical or analytical
approach
e.g. The writing is often
subjective; lacks logic;
overlooks bias*
inconsistencies,
omissions of sources
Includes no/little
interpretation
Yes, to some extent
Writing is mainly objective;
logical
Minimal bias,
inconsistencies and
omissions reflected from
sources
Attempts interpretation
Yes, to a great extent
Writing is objective;
logical
Explicitly recognises
bias, inconsistencies
and omissions
reflected in sources
Interpretation is
comprehensive
4. Coherent format
and structure;
communicative
effectiveness
10
Incoherent; paragraphs
non-existent
Unrelated ideas/points
Sentences and/or
paragraphs not
sequenced logically
Irrelevant material
detracts from the main
argument
Yes, the writing is mostly
logically sequenced
Mainly clear links between
sentences and paragraphs
Material is relevant to the
argument and supported
with examples;
paragraphs and topic
sentences introduce,
develop, and exemplify
main ideas/points
The essay is very
well structured,
coherent, and easy to
understand.
No irrelevant material
Paragraph and
sentences are
cohesive and coherent
throughout
5. Usage (literacy)
10
Writing difficult to
follow
Errors in spelling,
grammar, sentence
structure and/or
punctuation make the
Writing can be followed
throughout.
Occasional errors in
spelling, grammar,
sentence structure and
punctuation have minimal
effect on meaning
Minimal errors in
spelling, grammar and
punctuation. Uses a
variety of clear and
concise expression of
ideas
6. Use of
supporting material
& Harvard UTS
referencing
10
Little, inaccurate, or no
citation
Material is identified and
supported; citation is
mostly accurate and
appropriate; some
omissions or uncited
material
Consistent and
accurate citation
used throughout as
necessary