BUSS1000 Instructions: Consulting Report
Worth: 20% Due: Week 5 Sunday 11.59pm

USBS Consulting Report: Instructions

Refer to Module 1.4 for the Task Document

Summary of Task for Qantas:
1. Review of their current practices, are they CSR or CSV? Use theory/references to
justify and compare, have a clear stance of what Qantas is practicing.
2. Review of current best practices in CSV in the global aviation industry.
3. Provide one recommendation of an evaluated and justified CSV initiative for
Qantas to implement that will help improve their brand image with Australians.

In addition, the report must incorporate how at least two megatrends* are connected
to the practicing of CSV in the aviation industry and how those megatrends relate to
your recommendation.

*Sydney Business Insights Megatrends (see Module 1.12 and 1.13)
In a Consulting Report for a client, it is crucial that you integrate recent and relevant
research (including academic) and key BUSS1000 theories with evidence about the
client and its industry. This is then used to form an overall argument and position to
help our client as per the task. Integration refers to having a strong connection
between your theory, research, and evidence to help justify your review and
recommendation.

Referencing & Research
Referencing and research are critical with a requirement of:
• 2 peer-reviewed articles from the ABDC list (under 10 years of age/
published since 2014) needed to be cited; AND
• the two journal articles to be supplied by USBS (these will be announced
on Canvas by Monday Week 4).
Students are expected to additionally use further resources from a range of sources
including journal articles; companies, government, and industry reports; news
articles/reports and websites.
All items must be cited correctly and presented in the Reference List appropriately
using APA 7th ed. Marks will be lost for incorrect referencing or poor research.
Therefore, ensure you refer to the library’s guide on referencing:
https://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/citation.

BUSS1000 Instructions: Consulting Report
Worth: 20% Due: Week 5 Sunday 11.59pm

Professional writing & building an argument
Being a business report, third person tense must be used (for example you should
say: This report recommends…. NOT: I recommend). Ensure you check the correct
tense is used throughout the entire report while also checking for inconsistencies and
repetitive points.
Furthermore, it is critical that the report is not simply descriptive listing evidence and
information with little analysis or critical thinking. Our client is expecting a detailed and
well-written business report, not an essay. Simply repeating information, you have
found tells our client that you can repeat – not that you understand or are able to
conduct an analysis.
The Recommendation needs to be practical (can it really be done in the real world
and for this industry?) using research and evidence to justify and evaluate it. This
means students must consider the benefits and the challenges of each
recommendation.

CRITICAL REQUIREMENTS:
WORDCOUNT & FORMATTING
• The wordcount requirement is 2,000 words. You may go 10% over and 10%
under (1,800 to 2,200).
• The Reference list is EXCLUDED from the word count, but in-text citations are
included.
• Make sure to minimise quotes, instead you should paraphrase then cite
(reference) the original source. Quotes should be saved for definitions.
• As it is a report, use third person not first person. For example, use: This
report… don’t use: I think….
• Every page must have a page number and header/footer. Ensure you do not
have your name in the report, but rather use your SID.

REFERENCING
• Must use APA 7th ed. style
• The reference list must be in alphabetical order
• Only use page numbers in in-text citations when it is a direct quote
• A minimum two peer reviewed journal articles from the ABDC list (under 10
years old) AND the two journal articles provided by USBS must be used in the
Consulting Report. This is a minimum, meaning students should use more
than this.
• Research is key to have a strong analysis and a valuable recommendation.


BUSS1000 Instructions: Consulting Report
Worth: 20% Due: Week 5 Sunday 11.59pm

FORMATTING APA STYLE THROUGHOUT THE REPORT
For all text except title and within figures:
• Times New Roman 12pt Font
• Double line spacing
• Standard margins
• Typing is left justified only (ragged right)
• Indent first line of every paragraph
• Being a Business Report – every section MUST use numbers as part of the
heading. This will help a correct contents page to be created.

Proposed structure of Consulting Report
There should be at least four sections of the report. Below is a suggest wordcount for
each. However, USBS Consulting trusts their employees to determine how
large/small each section is and if they feel they need to break down the sections
further with subsections. You can also choose what you believe to be the best title for
each section:
• Introduction: 150-200 words
• Stance of what Qantas does (CSV vs CSR): 600-700 words
• CSV Best Practice in Industry overview: 400-500 words
• Recommendation: 600 words
Note:
• There is no need for a conclusion as the last part of the recommendation can
be used to end the report.
• The recommendation should build on the previous section referring to key
points from it to help justify your choice of recommendation and evaluation of
how and why it will work. This will help use the word count effectively.
For more information on the structure, refer to the separate document which is
the template for the report.
BUSS1000 Instructions: Consulting Report
Worth: 20% Due: Week 5 Sunday 11.59pm

Other Considerations
• After you finish writing your Consulting Report, review the marking guide –
this is how you will be marked. Make sure you meet all the requirements
especially in the criteria column you want to achieve e.g. HD or D.
• TURNITIN: All Consulting Reports will automatically go through Turnitin. You
will not receive a report about your matching rate. You can submit as many
times as you like prior to the deadline BUT after the deadline, the late penalty
will apply. There is NO specific matching rate that you need to be below as
academic dishonesty is determined by reviewing more than the matching rate
number.
• Assignments submitted late will attract a 5% penalty per day so ensure you do
not leave it until the last minute.
• Don’t write your Report then research. This will show in the disconnection
between your discussion and theory. Research BEFORE you start writing.
• Do not leave getting help to the last minute.
• Explore the use of PAGE BREAKS, SECTION BREAKS, CUSTOMISATION
OF PAGE NUMBERS, HEADINGS and AUTOGENERATION OF TABLE OF
CONTENTS. Skills that wi l l come in handy for future business
documents that you produce!
• Do not underestimate how long it takes to complete an ACCURATE
reference list. If you’re new to referencing and you have 10 sources to place in
the list, it can easily take you two hours to do the list correctly (sometimes
longer). The good news is in future assignments you will become quicker and
quicker with referencing as you are becoming an expert in this area.

Documents you can refer to:
- USBS Consulting Report Task (released Week 2)
- USBS Consulting Report Instructions (this document, released Week 3)
- USBS Consulting Report Template (released Week 3)
- BUSS1000 Consulting Report Rubric (released Week 4)
Good luck & get help early!

If you have questions, post them on Ed or make a consult with your manager.
Note: no drafts will be reviewed by your manager (tutor).