Posted: October 30th, 2022

SDG101 – Research Assignment

SDG101 – Research Assignment
Industry Sustainability Report

Overall Grade
30% (Late Submission Policy: 5 marks per 24hr)
Academic Integrity
By submitting this assignment, I affirm that I have not given or received any unauthorized help and that all work submitted is my own. I have abided by Seneca’s Academic Integrity Policy and I understand that any violation of academic integrity will be subject to the penalties outlined in the policy.
Please review the following link from Seneca College on Plagiarism and Citing.
Assignment Overview
This is an individual assignment. For this sustainability research project, you will be choosing an industry sector to focus on (agriculture, manufacturing, services telecommunications Information technology, etc.)
You will be responsible to research the sustainability priorities and challenges for this sector.
After researching the stainability priorities and challenges, you will be offering recommendations for how a company in this sector can improve their sustainability. Agriculture, manufacturing, services, telecommunications, information technology, and other industries
You will be in charge of researching the sector’s sustainability priorities and challenges.
You will make recommendations for how a company in this sector can improve its sustainability after researching the sector’s sustainability priorities and challenges.
The Content
After some thought you decide that your research report should answer the following questions:
1. What is sustainability and CSR? Provide a definition for each of these terms.
2. What THREE sustainability challenges are most relevant to businesses in your sector in Canada? Why are they relevant?
3. What are businesses in your sector doing to manage those challenges? Please provide a description of THREE companies demonstrating best practices.
4. Based on the above, describe THREE sustainability actions you would recommend a company in your sector of choice undertake considering your research.
Clarifications
● Sector/Company: You should choose a real industry sector for the recommendations that you will make for a company operating in the sector.
● Audience: Remember that your audience may not be familiar with the concepts of sustainability and CSR. You should be clear in your discussion and definitions
● Question 3: When mentioning best practice examples, you should focus on what specific businesses do (or say they do). You may refer to what other actors such as the government or other organizations do to help businesses in this area, but this is not what is being asked here.
Assignment Structure
Note that it is the contents that counts, rather the length of the assignment. However, a thorough examination of this topic will probably require 4-5 single-spaced pages (12-point font) to adequately discuss this topic. Please do not exceed 5 pages. Figures are not part of the page count so feel free to use them to support your report. The body of the paper should be divided into appropriately numbered sections, sub-sections, sub-sub-sections, etc., each with descriptive titles. Please follow the following order:
Title Page (1 page)
The title of your report should be informative and specific to draw the reader’s attention.
Executive Summary (No more than 1 page)
Here you should summarize the main points of your report to give your reader a whole picture of the research when they have no time to read it all. This should be at the beginning of the paper, as it is a summary of your paper, you should write this section after you have completed the research and recommendations.
Introduction (No more than 1/2 page)
The introduction should provide the context for this report: why it was written and why the topic that you will present in the rest of the report is important. You should also define the objectives that will guide the rest of the report. You should also describe the sector you have chosen so that the readers know what to expect.
Research Questions 1-3 (No more than 2.5 pages)
This is the main part of your assignment where you present the findings of your research. You may use the research questions (1 through 3) as the basis to structure this part.
1. What is sustainability and CSR?
2. What THREE sustainability challenges are most relevant to businesses in your sector in Canada? Why are they relevant?
3. What are businesses in your sector doing to manage those challenges? Please provide a description of THREE companies demonstrating best practices.
Your description of your research must be well-documented. Make liberal use of tables, figures, and diagrams (with appropriate captions), and include literature references appropriately. Be concise and informative.
Recommendation (No more than 1 page)
Based on Questions 1 to 3, describe in detail Three Sustainability Actions you would recommend that a company in the sector undertake based on your research. This is essentially answering the last research question.
References (Depending upon the number of references used)
Use MLA Style to format your references AND in-text citations. It is expected that 5-10 references are adequate for this kind of assignment. THIS IS NOT AN OPINION PAPER. You MUST support points made with outside research and all information found MUST be referenced (see below instructions).
Notes on Plagiarism & Style
Please note that just listing the references at the end of the assignment is not adequate!
You should also provide proper (MLA style) and frequent citations throughout your text. Failing to do so will result in missing marks and possibly a plagiarism case. Also, please note that through Safe Assign it is extremely easy to see whether you have copied text (without proper citation) from web sources or from other students. More information and help: https://seneca.libguides.com/mla
The following are examples of phrases that are signs of writing styles that are not appropriate for a research assignment:
1. “I believe…”: when used in any part other than the “Your Recommendations” part. A research assignment is based on your research findings rather than your beliefs.
2. “Research shows…”: when used without citations. What research? This is what a research assignment is all about!
3. “CSR in Canada is adequate/non adequate…”: when this is not supported by your research findings but only on your intuition or prior knowledge on the subject.
Submission
Please refer to the Course Information section on Learn@Seneca (Blackboard) for the due date of this assignment. Upload your report to Learn@Seneca. Email assignments will not be graded.
Grading Criteria
1. Title: 5 marks
2. Executive Summary: 15 marks
3. Introduction: 15 marks
4. Description of Sustainability/CSR (Q1): 15 marks
5. Relevant sustainability and CSR issues for your sector (Q2): 15 marks
6. Canadian sustainability/CSR best practices (Q3): 15 marks
7. Recommendations (Q4): 15 marks
8. Overall writing style, structure and format: 5 marks

Potential Deductions: Improper or lack of in-text citation, works cited, frequent grammar and spelling mistakes– Maximum 10 marks
Late submission policy 5 marks/24hrs

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