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Business Management Module 2 Critical Thinking Skills Assignment Brief Sep 2022
Business Management Module 2 Critical Thinking Skills Assignment Brief Sep 2022
Assignment Brief
Signature of
Harsha Subhashana
Assessor
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Module Description
Critical thinking is the ability to question what we read, hear and/or see. In all academic
disciplines, there are differences of opinion, conflicting evidence and uncertainty, and a key
skill in higher education is the ability to assess the evidence and arguments presented by
others. This involves researching the topic, analysing the arguments given by different
researchers in the field, and weighing up the evidence so that you can form your own
understanding and conclusions about whose point of view you agree with and why.
Assessment Tasks
There are TWO assignments to be completed in this module:
Assignment 1 – (Case Study) 2000 words +/- 10%
Total Weighting: 50%
Intended Learning Outcomes: 1 and 4
Is it too late for the UK government to meet its commitments on gender equality by 2030?
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were agreed in 2015. Technically, we should be
at the halfway point to achieving them. But even though activists and civil society
organisations have been setting out actionable and tangible steps for change, we couldn’t be
more off track from meeting the 2030 deadline.
This is particularly true for Goal 5 on gender equality which, in addition to being a vital
standalone priority, is an integral and catalytic part of the whole SDG Agenda. The impact of
Covid-19, climate change and rising insecurity combined with a retreat from multilateralism
and decisions to cut funding for development have thwarted progress on all 17 SDGs, but
particularly Goal 5.
With just eight years left to meet its commitments to achieve gender equality and implement
the SDGs, has the UK government missed its opportunity?
How have Covid-19, climate change and conflict impacted gender equality?
The short answer is exponentially. The UN estimates that 47 million women and girls have
been pushed into extreme poverty as a result of Covid-19. The pandemic has cost women an
estimated USD 800m in lost income; women’s unpaid and community work has increased;
and all types of violence against women have intensified. As with all crises, this has been felt
most by marginalised women and girls.
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Multiplying the impact of Covid-19, climate change continues to exacerbate the challenges
that women face in realising their rights. For example, a lack of land rights for women limits
their opportunities to participate in, contribute to and benefit from environmental policies
and programmes. The impact of long droughts and heavy rain increases girls’ vulnerability to
violence as deforestation has meant that they must travel further to obtain firewood for fuel.
Climate change, Covid-19 and violence against women and girls are happening everywhere,
but the effects are worst felt in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. This includes the conflict
in Ukraine, which has had a devastating impact on women and girls directly in these areas.
The rising price of fuel, oil and wheat has increased insecurity where there is already a high
level of instability. Unfortunately, in the landscape of 2022, it looks like these global shocks
are here to stay.
However, it's a shame tangible examples of the UK’s leadership on both the SDGs and gender
equality are few and far between, and often underfunded and short-term. This suggests that
while the UK government has the capacity and tools to respond effectively to these
challenges, the changing global landscape alongside a lack of prioritisation and political will
has led to gender equality being sidelined.
Decisions taken by the UK government have in fact worsened these crises, causing long-term
damage and making the chances of achieving the SDGs feel even less plausible. In 2021, in the
midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the UK government reduced its UK aid budget by £4.5 billion.
Of this £4.5 billion, over 40% of funding (£1.9 billion) was directly cut from gender equality
projects, which completely undermined the UK’s commitments to SDG5. This decision was
made with no civil society consultation and its disproportionate impact on women and
girls was devastating.
It’s time the UK government put gender equality at the heart of its approach to achieving the
SDGs – here’s how
The UK government’s International Development Strategy was published in May. While this
set out a clear commitment to women and girls, the strategy failed to integrate gender
equality throughout. This risks siloing efforts and opportunities to tackle the root causes of
gender equality and effectively respond to the disproportionate impact of global health crises,
climate change and conflict on women and girls.
Taking a siloed approach is problematic. Not only are women and girls are disproportionately
impacted by all crises, but they are experts in designing and driving forward effective solutions
and responses. The UK government must take a consultative, integrated and holistic approach
to gender equality if it is to achieve both SDG5 and the 2030 Agenda as a whole.
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There is still space for change. This year is a unique one for the UK government, with its
Women and Girls Strategy and new Action Plan on Women Peace and Security due to be
published in the coming months. They provide an opportunity for the UK government to set
out an ambitious, coherent and synchronised plan for achieving gender equality. To reach
their SDG commitments, the UK government must:
1. Fund work on gender equality and women’s rights organisations: Guarantee funding
for gender equality and the rights of women and girls, including by increasing the
provision of accessible, and flexible long-term funding for women’s rights organisations.
2. Listen to and partner with women: Meaningfully engage with women and women’s
rights organisations to support solutions driven forward by their experiences and
expertise.
3. Invest in evidence and data: Invest in unofficial data sources to ensure progress on
gender equality leaves no one behind.
Women's rights activists and organisations are providing viable alternative solutions for
recovery that can sustainably address the systemic inequalities the pandemic, climate change
and ongoing conflict have exposed. Now is the time to listen to these solutions and put them
at the heart of recovery to achieve SDG5.
Without gender equality, we have no chance of meeting the SDGs by 2030. This is a final
opportunity for the UK government to prioritise a holistic integrated approach to gender-
transformative change. The clock is ticking.
Assignment Task:
Perform the Case Study evaluation by providing a correct response to the following:
1. In a short introductory statement, describe the purposes of applying critical thinking to
the above case study
[20 Marks]
2. Demonstrate an understanding of critical thinking skills by examining claims made in the
given case study based on your research and understanding of the topic
[40 Marks]
3. Using your developing critical thinking skills, evaluate the ideas expressed in the
case study based on your research and understanding of the topic
[40 Marks]
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Assignment 1 – Indicative Marking Criteria [Total: 100 Marks]
Grade Criteria
80%+ An excellent answer will have the following attributes:
High First • An excellent explanation of the purpose of applying critical thinking
• An excellent examination of claims demonstrating a depth of
engagement with the subject matter
• An excellent evaluation of ideas presenting coherent and persuasive
arguments
• Excellent reading comprehension and academic writing
• Excellent reading of primary and secondary sources
• Excellent structure and presentation of the report
• Excellent use of Harvard style of referencing
A 70 - 79% All components will have been submitted, and the remaining criteria will be as
First Class noted for the 80%+ marking band. However, in one or two areas student may
not have demonstrated the skills as noted in band 80%+
B 60 - 69 % The answer in this band of marks will have the following attributes:
Upper Second • A very good explanation of the purpose of applying critical thinking
• A very good examination of claims demonstrating a depth of
engagement with the subject matter
• A very good evaluation of ideas presenting coherent and persuasive
arguments
• Very good reading comprehension and academic writing
• Very good reading of primary and secondary sources
• Very good structure and presentation of the report
• Very good use of Harvard style of referencing
C 50 - 59% All components will have been submitted, and the remaining criteria will be as
Lower Second noted for the 60-69% marking band. However, there will be some gaps in
knowledge and analysis.
D 40 – 49% The answer in this band of marks will have the following attributes:
Third Class • A limited explanation of the purpose of applying critical thinking
• A limited examination of claims demonstrating a depth of engagement
with the subject matter
• A limited evaluation of ideas presenting coherent and persuasive
arguments
• Limited reading comprehension and academic writing
• Limited reading of primary and secondary sources
• Limited structure and presentation of the report
• Limited use of Harvard style of referencing
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F 30 - 39% The answer in this band of marks will have the following attributes:
Fail • A poor explanation of the purpose of applying critical thinking
• A poor examination of claims demonstrating a depth of engagement
with the subject matter
• A poor evaluation of ideas presenting coherent and persuasive
arguments
• Poor reading comprehension and academic writing
• Poor reading of primary and secondary sources
• Poor structure and presentation of the report
• Poor use of Harvard style of referencing
F 0 – 29% The answer in this band of marks will have the following attributes:
Poor Fail • Largely inaccurate or irrelevant material. Little or no evidence of critical
thinking. No or little evidence of correctly interpreting or evaluating the
case
• Structure very weak or lacking
• Many mistakes in grammar or sentence construction
• Citations and bibliography are incorrect or missing
• The work may be incomplete or too brief
The U.S. clean energy sector has been soaring so far in the aftermath of the Senate’s passage
of a historic climate and energy bill that experts have hailed as the largest investment in
fighting climate change ever made by the country. Dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, the
bill allocates $369 billion to renewable energy with the American Clean Power
Association estimating it could more than triple clean energy production, cut emissions by
40% by 2030, and create 550,000 clean energy jobs. The Inflation Reduction Act will extend a
number of tax credits already available for renewable energy and also create new incentives
for investment in clean energy technology or energy generation. For the first time ever,
would-be investors in clean energy have assurances in the form of a decade of subsidies from
the federal government.
But make no mistake about it: hundreds of billions of dollars continue flowing into fossil fuels
every year, with no signs of the trend changing any time soon.
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The latest climate report endorsed by 505 organizations from 51 countries around the world
reveals that the world’s 60 largest banks have reached a staggering $4.6 trillion in the six years
since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, with $742 billion going into fossil fuel
financing in 2021 alone. The report says that even though net-zero commitments have been
all the rage, the financial sector has continued its business-as-usual driving of climate
chaos.Related: Barclays Slashes Oil Price Forecast To $103 Per Barrel
Dubbed Banking On Climate Chaos, the report says that overall, JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Wells
Fargo, and Bank of America are the world’s leading fossil fuel financiers, together accounting
for one quarter of all fossil fuel financing over the last six years. RBC is Canada’s worst banker
of fossil fuels, with Barclays the worst in Europe and MUFG the leading financier in Japan. The
report laments the fact that these banks continue to tout their commitments to helping their
clients transition, and yet the 60 banks profiled in the report funneled $185.5 billion in 2021
into the 100 companies doing the most to expand the fossil fuel sector, such as Saudi
Aramco and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM)--even when carbon budgets make clear that we
cannot afford any new coal, gas, or oil supply or infrastructure.
Here are some key highlights from the report, extracting only the data (without the politics):
Oil sands: Alarmingly, oil sands saw a 51% increase in financing from 2020–2021, to
$23.3 billion, with the biggest jump coming from Canadian banks RBC and TD.
Arctic oil and gas: JPMorgan Chase, SMBC Group, and Intesa Sanpaolo were the top
bankers of Arctic oil and gas last year. The sector saw $8.2 billion in funding in 2021,
underscoring that policies restricting direct financing for projects don’t go far enough.
Offshore oil and gas: Big banks funneled $52.9 billion into offshore oil and gas last year,
with U.S. banks Citi and JPMorgan Chase providing the most financing in 2021. BNP
Paribas was the biggest banker of offshore oil and gas over the six year period since the
Paris Agreement.
Fracked oil and gas: Fracking saw $62.1 billion in financing last year, dominated by
North American banks with Wells Fargo at the top, funding producers like Diamondback
Energy and pipeline companies like Kinder Morgan.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG): Morgan Stanley, RBC, and Goldman Sachs were 2021’s
worst bankers of LNG, a sector that is looking to banks to help push through a slate of
enormous infrastructure projects.
Coal mining: The Chinese lead the financing of coal mining, with China Everbright Bank
and China CITIC Bank at the top of the list as of last year, and with big banks providing
$17.4 billion to the sector last year overall.
Coal power: Despite the fact that coal is supposed to be targeted for phase-out, this
segment has remained largely flat over the past three years in terms of financing, with
some $44 billion in financing, again led by Chinese banks.
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All-In Energy Policy
Wall Street marches on in the energy sector, straddling oil and gas financing and the
increasingly attractive clean energy prospects. According to Dealogic, the amount of money
raised through bonds and loans for green projects and by oil-and-gas companies was nearly
identical at about $570 billion in 2021. Fundraising may have slowed a bit, but that’s largely
because of market volatility rather than dirty-vs-clean energy. Dealogic says that the ratio of
green-to-fossil-fuel financing has stayed roughly similar.
Many investors say that it’s next to impossible to fully forego fossil-fuel investments, because
oil, gas and coal still account for about 80% of the world’s energy. Energy and food shortages
driven by the war in Ukraine have hammered home this reality while highlighting the risks of
hasty or haphazard shifts away from fossil fuels in many European countries.
The IRA bill passed last Friday by the House of Representatives appears to take a similar tack,
with principal backer Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) and others dubbing it an “all-in energy
policy."
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“The answer is not either-or, it’s all of the above," Megan Starr, global head of impact at
private-equity firm Carlyle Group Inc., has told the Wall Street Journal. It’s true that some in
the oil industry have taken issue with the Biden administration’s new regulations, such as
higher taxes for methane leaks and other aspects of the IRA; however, plenty of others view
it as a major opportunity for the energy section–and not just the clean segment.
Sources of information
1. Aghion, P. et al. (2016), “Carbon taxes, path dependency, and directed technical
change: Evidence from the auto industry”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 124/1,
pp. 1-51, https://doi.org/10.1086/684581.
2. Bergek, A. et al. (2008), “Analyzing the functional dynamics of technological
innovation systems: A scheme of analysis”, Research Policy, Vol. 37/3, pp. 407-
429, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2007.12.003.
3. Calvino, F. and M.E. Virgillito (2017), “The innovation‐employment nexus: A critical
survey of theory and empirics”, Journal of Economic Surveys, Vol. 32/1, pp. 83-
117, https://doi.org/10.1111/joes.12190.
4. Coulomb, L. and K. Neuhoff (2006), “Learning curves and changing product attributes:
The case of wind turbines”, Cambridge Working Papers in Economics, University of
Cambridge, Cambridge, United
Kingdom, https://www.eprg.group.cam.ac.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2014/01/eprg060
1.pdf.
5. Díaz Anadón, L. (2012), “Missions-oriented RD&D institutions in energy between 2000
and 2010: A comparative analysis of China, the United Kingdom, and the United
States”, Research Policy, Vol. 41/10, pp. 1742-
1756, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2012.02.015.
6. Dowd, J. (2017), Aggregate Economic Return on Investment in the U.S. DOE, US
Department of Energy, Washington,
DC, https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2017/11/f46/Aggregate%20ROI%20im
pact%20for%20EERE%20RD%20-%2010-31-17%20%28002%29%20-%2011-
17%20%28optimized%29.pdf.
7. Fleming, L. et al. (2019), “Government funded research increasingly fuels innovation”,
Science, Vol. 364/6446, pp. 1139-1141, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw2373.
8. Gallagher, K.S. (2014), The Globalization of Clean Energy: Lessons from China, MIT
Press, Cambridge, MA, United States.
9. Gallagher K.S. et al. (2012), “The energy technology innovation system”, Annual
Review of Environment and Resources, Vol. 37, pp. 137-
162, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurevenviron-060311-133915.
10. Grubler, A. et al. (2012), “Policies for the energy technology innovation system (ETIS)”,
Chapter 24 in: Global Energy Assessment: Toward a Sustainable Future, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, United States and
the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria, pp. 1665-
1744, https://doi:10.1017/CBO9780511793677.030.
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Perform the Case Study evaluation by providing a correct response to the following:
1. Apply an understanding of logical reasoning to analyse the arguments presented in
the above article
[40 Marks]
2. Apply your developing critical evaluation skills to evaluate the sources of information
in the above article
[40 Marks]
3. In your conclusion, comment on a systematic and rigorous process carried out in
producing the above article
[20 Marks]
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D 40 – 49% The answer in this band of marks will have the following attributes:
Third Class • A limited application of logical reasoning with an excellent analysis of
key arguments
• A limited evaluation of data or information used in the article
• A limited commentary on a systematic and rigorous process carried out
when developing the article
• Limited reading comprehension and academic writing
• Limited reading of primary and secondary sources
• Limited structure and presentation of the report
• Limited use of Harvard style of referencing
F 30 - 39% The answer in this band of marks will have the following attributes:
Fail • A poor application of logical reasoning with an excellent analysis of key
arguments
• A poor evaluation of data or information used in the article
• A poor commentary on a systematic and rigorous process carried out
when developing the article
• Poor reading comprehension and academic writing
• Poor reading of primary and secondary sources
• Poor structure and presentation of the report
• Poor use of Harvard style of referencing
F 0 – 29% The answer in this band of marks will have the following attributes:
Poor Fail • Largely inaccurate or irrelevant material. Little or no evidence of logical
reasoning. No or little evidence of correctly interpreting or evaluating
the case.
• Structure very weak or lacking.
• Many mistakes in grammar or sentence construction.
• Citations and bibliography are incorrect or missing.
• The work may be incomplete or too brief.
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Please Note: Make use of information on assignment preparation and command verb usage
in your Moodle Platform.
Helpful information
Core Texts
• Butterworth, J., Thwaites, G. (2013), Thinking Skills: Critical Thinking and Problem-
Solving. Cambridge, CUP
• Chatfield, T. (2017), Critical Thinking: Your Guide to Effective Argument, Successful
Analysis and Independent Study. London, Sage Publications
• Coterell, S. (2017), Critical Thinking Skills: Effective Analysis, Argument and
Reflection. Basingstoke, Red Globe Press
• Fisher, A. (2011), Critical Thinking: An Introduction. Cambridge, CUP
• Thompson, A. (2008). Critical Reasoning. Oxford, Routledge
Additional Texts
Fahim, M., Teimourtash, M. A. (2012) Critical look at the notion of critical thinking from a new
personality trait perspective: Midtrovert. Advances in Digital Multimedia, 1, (3), 149-152.
Lau, J. F. (2011). An introduction to critical thinking and creativity: Think more, think better.
New Jersey: Willy.
Hosseini, E., Sarfallah, S., & Dolatabadi, H. (2012). Exploring the relationship between critical
thinking, reading comprehension and reading strategies of English university students. World
Applied Sciences Journal, 17 (10), 156-158.
Wallace, M. and Wray, A. (2016). Critical reading and writing for postgraduates. 3rd Edn.
London: SAGE.
Author’s name and initials are listed first, followed by a year of publication in brackets. Then
there is the title of the article and the journal where the article appears, which is in italics.
Finally, state the volume and issue number (in brackets) along with the pages where the article
can be located. Include at least two in-text citations and references in each assessment
criterion. Further information on the Harvard System of referencing is on your Moodle
Platform.
Note: Do not use Wikipedia as a source of reference.
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Make sure you read over your work carefully and ensure that all sources of information have
been acknowledged to avoid any untoward investigations that would result in a delay in your
achievement of the module. Further information on plagiarism and potential consequences
are available in your student handbooks.
Presentation
Present a document with a word count of 2000 words (+/- 10%) (Assignment 1) and 2000
words (+/- 10%) (Assignment 2) excluding references, bibliography, images, diagrams, tables
and appendices. The word count should be stated in the assignment cover sheet, and please
note you will be penalised for exceeding the word limit. Work must be submitted in a folder,
word-processed in a suitable format of 12-point font, 1.5-line spacing and pages numbered.
Submission
When submitting your assignment, you must include:
An Assignment Submission Sheet/ Assignment Front Cover
Other documents required by your lecturer as evidence of achievement
All assignments should be submitted via Turnitin
Submission deadlines must be strictly observed. Therefore, disciplined time management is
very important when producing this assignment. Failure to meet deadlines will be considered
a failure by non-submission. You will only have the opportunity for one resubmission of a
different assignment. Refer to the Student Handbook for more information
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