ARAB OPEN UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF BUSINESS STUDIES
SYS280 – BUSINESS DYNAMICS: SYSTEMS THINKING AND MODELLING FOR A COMPLEX WORLD
TMA SUMMER 2022/2023
Please read these instructions carefully and contact your tutor if you require any further clarifications. You should submit your completed assignment to your tutor to arrive no later than the cut-off Date (TBC).
Please use standard A4 size paper for submitting the hard copy of your TMA. Your name, personal identifier, course and assignment numbers must appear at the top of each sheet. A soft copy of your TMA must be uploaded to the university Moodle within the indicated cut-off date. The hard & soft copies must be identical. Please leave wide margins and space at the end of each sheet for tutor comments. It is better to use double spacing so that you can easily handwrite corrections to your drafts and tutors have space to include their feedback on the script. Start each question in the assignment on a new page. Any extended text should ideally be word-processed, but diagrams and accompanying notes may be hand drawn and handwritten on an A4 paper.
Completing and sending your assignments
When you have completed your TMA, you must fill in the assignment form (PT3), taking care to fill all information correctly including your personal identifier, course code, section & tutor, and assignment number. Each TMA and its PT3 form should be uploaded on the AOU branch Moodle within the cut-off date. Late submissions require approval from the branch course coordinator and will be subject to grade deductions. All assignments are treated in strict confidence.
If you feel that you are unable to meet the cut-off date of the TMA because of unusual circumstances, please contact your tutor as soon as possible to discuss a possible extension to the cut-off date.
Plagiarism
University Definitions of cheating and plagiarism
According to the Arab Open University By-laws, “the following acts represent cases of cheating and plagiarism:
· Verbatim copying of printed material and submitting them as part of TMAs without proper academic acknowledgement and documentation.
· Verbatim copying of material from the Internet, including tables and graphics.
· Copying other students’ notes or reports.
· Using paid or unpaid material prepared for the student by individuals or firms.
· Utilization of, or proceeding to utilize, contraband materials or devices in examinations.
Penalty on plagiarism:
The following is the standard plagiarism penalty applied across branches as per Article 11 of the university by-laws:
1.Awarding of zero for a TMA wherein more than 50% of the content is plagiarized.
2.Documentation of warning in student record.
3.Failure in the course to dismissal from the University.
All University programs are required to apply penalties that are consistent with the University by laws.
Examples of Plagiarism
Copying from a single or multiple source, this is where the student uses one or more of the following as the basis for the whole, or a good part, of the assignment:
1. Published or unpublished books, articles or reports
2. The Internet
3. The media (e.g.TV programs, radio programs or newspaper articles)
4. An essay from an essay bank
5. A piece of work previously submitted by another student
6. Copying from a text which is about to be submitted for the same assignment
General Mark’s deductions of 20% as follows
· PT3 Form (failure to use the PT3 completely filled) (deduct up to 5% marks)
· TMA Presentation and Structure, and word count (untidy, work way below or above the word count, no display of word count) (deduct up to 5% marks)
· Referencing and in-text citation (poor referencing and in-text citation, without plagiarism, (deduct up to 10% marks).
TMA instructions:
1- This is a group project TMA. Each team will consist of 3-4 students. This is a good opportunity for students to enhance their professional skills in terms of team working, communication, coordination, and time management skills. STUDENTS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO WORK INDIVIDUALLY.
2- Teams should be formed from members with the same tutor.
3- Each team should elect a TEAM LEADER.
4- Only the Team Leader should upload the TMA answer file on LMS before the cut-off date.
5- Your TMA consist of two part
a. A report submitted in word document through the LMS.
b. Power point presentation (should not be submitted through the LMS) it should be presented on the day of the presentation when announced.
6- You should conceptualise your case by utilising the steps discussed in Chapter 5 of your book.
7- Insure to use system language.
TMA QUESTIONS
Part A:
Q1.Detailed report that describe the problem and discuss how systems dynamic modelling can be used to improve our understanding of the ways in which an organization’s performance is related to its internal structure and operations policies, including those of customers, competitors, and suppliers and then to use that understanding to design high leverage policies for success. To do so, you should conceptualise your case by utilising the steps discussed in Chapter 5 of your book (1500 words, 50 marks).
Q2. Draw the causal diagram for the above complexity and discuss the limitations of the causal diagram. Then explain who it might be used for policy analysis in your case. Support your answer with practical advices for the successful application (500 words, 10 marks).
Q3. Project Summary: You have to submit an overall summary for your tutor that summarise the full project and reflect your learning and applications used in SYS280. (MAX 500 words, 20 Marks):
Part B:
In a power point presentation: You must submit an overall summary of the full report and reflect on your learning and applications of the SYS280 concepts (20 marks),
Your presentation must include the following
A. List of Names and roles of each member.
B. The summary of the report.
C. Challenges and difficulties faced in investigating and analysing the complexity.
D. Presentation for 6-10 minutes, where every single member must participate
Good Luck
END OF SYS280 TMA QUESTIONS
