COMP3219 Deferral/Referral Assignment
Module: comp3219 Engineering Management and Law Lecturer: amg@ecs
Assignment: Advice for ETC Company Management Weight: 100% Effort: ~100 hours
Learning Outcomes (LOs)
This assignment gives you the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of
i) the nature, scope and impact of managerial roles, skills, ethics and decision-making, supporting effective project
work, change management, appraisal methods, and evaluation
ii) manufacturing, projects and systems management, operations management and quality management
iii) activity based costing, budgeting, financial control, investment appraisal, and calculations of commercial risks
iv) the commercial context for engineering processes and business models that are socially responsible and
environmentally sustainable
v) legal systems relevant for engineering: contract law, intellectual property and tort, both nationally and
internationally
vi) professional bodies, codes of conduct, conflicts of interest and other ethical dilemmas
It is also expected that this module will enable you to
vii) plan and manage project and manufacturing/service processes, taking into account personnel, budgetary
requirements, and potential risks
viii) recognise and explore key legal requirements for engineering including IPR, health & safety, privacy, and
professional indemnity insurance
ix) assess market needs and contribute to marketing and pricing strategies addressing business opportunities and the
achievement of customer satisfaction through innovation and entrepreneurship
x) critically analyse new products and technologies in light of management theory, professional, regulatory, social,
ethical and legal obligations
Instructions
You are asked to provide advice on running an Engineering, Technology or Computing (ETC) company
successfully. You should start by reviewing the on-line lecture materials for this module available via
Blackboard. You should then select 10 key ideas, one for each of the learning outcomes above, and drawing
on lecture material from each week of teaching. Research these using the taught content together with the
directed reading for this module and other relevant sources you find yourself.
You should then write and submit an essay titled “10 Things You Need to Know if you want to Run a
Successful ETC Company”. The audience for your essay is a teenager applying for an ETC degree. They
would like to understand why study of Engineering Management and Law is a professional requirement for
any accredited engineering degree programme, and how knowledge of these topics can enhance the positive
economic and social impact of engineering, technology and computing. For each of your 10 topics, you
should provide one or two motivating examples, and two or three supporting references.
Your essay should be written using ACM/IEEE conference paper format, two column, with a bibliography
listing your sources in IEEE standard format. Your essay and bibliography must fit on 4 sides of A4. In
addition include an appendix showing which topic(s) cover each outcome and each week of teaching.
Submission
Please submit your essay using the ECS electronic hand-in system by 4pm on 19th August. Your submission
must be in searchable PDF format. Failure to follow these instructions, handing in late, or exceeding the
page limit of 4 sides of A4 (excluding the appendix) will result in a lower overall mark.
Marks Breakdown
Your work will be graded using the University assessment descriptors as summarised below. These cover
knowledge of the discipline, analysis and enquiry, evaluation and argument, communication and
presentation, citation and referencing. Each grade will be converted to a mark and these marks will be

aggregated to give your final percentage for this report. Note that if your writing is repetitive you will gain
fewer marks for the repeated material. To achieve higher marks, therefore, your essay should cover a broad
range of ideas, and make use of a broad range of examples and sources.
Assessment Descriptors

Grade and
mark range
Coherent and
Detailed
Knowledge
Analysis and
Enquiry
Evaluation
and Argument
Communication
and Presentation
Citation and
Referencing
A+ 80 – 100 Exceptional
systematic
knowledge of
key ideas and
techniques of
the discipline
Extensive
reading,
excellent
judgement,
independent
thought
Excellent
contextualised
evaluation,
and very well
sustained
argument
Sophisticated
communication
of information
and ideas,
presented in a
professional
format
Accurate,
consistent, using
an appropriate
professional
format. Very
broad range of
sources
A 70 – 79 Excellent
knowledge of
key ideas and
techniques of
the discipline
Significant
reading, very
good
judgement
and thought
Very good
evaluation
and well
sustained
argument
Excellent
communication,
presentation and
format
Accurate,
consistent, using
an appropriate
format. Broad
range of sources
B 60 – 69 Very good
knowledge of
the discipline
Well-read,
good
judgement
and thought
Good
evaluation
and well
sustained
argument
Very good
communication,
presentation and
format
Accurate,
consistent and
appropriate
citation and
referencing.
Good breadth of
sources
C 50 – 59 Good
knowledge of
the discipline
Well-read,
competent
judgement
and thought
Competent
evaluation
and argument
Good
communication,
presentation and
format
Good citation
and referencing.
Some variety of
sources
D 40 – 49 Acceptable
knowledge of
the discipline
Acceptable
reading,
judgement
and thought
Acceptable
evaluation
and argument
Competent
communication,
presentation and
format
Mostly accurate
citation and
referencing.
Sources are
relevant
E 25 – 39 Little
knowledge of
the discipline
Little
reading, poor
judgement
and thought
Poor
evaluation,
and argument
Borderline
communication,
presentation and
format
Borderline
citation and
referencing
F 0 – 24 Very little
knowledge
Inadequate
reading,
judgement
and thought
Inadequate
evaluation
and argument
Inadequate
communication,
poor presentation
and format
Very poor or
absent

See also https://www.southampton.ac.uk/quality/assessment/framework/principles_and_definitions.page