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GENERAL REMARKS – Don't ever call an assignment "Assignment 1" when you hand it in. – Provide "road marks". Explain what you are going to do, but don't overdo it. – Make a bit of an effort to "tell the story". – Very often, there are no really absolutely correct answers. In these cases, don't try to show that your way of doing it is right. Show that your way of doing it makes sense and that you have seen which other arguments play a role. – Connect to the literature, but do it when it's appropriate not just because you know you should. – Whenever you claim something, back it up with a reference. Preferably: find an empirical reference. Be careful with using references that simply have claimed it (without empirical reference) before you. Example: you need a reference when you claim that the pharmaceutical industry is less developed than the software industry. Add the reference or numbers that back this up. – Don't over-emphasize the interpretation of the networks. That firms are distant in the given network need not mean that they are not doing business together at all. In your line of reasoning, it does not hurt to show that you know that the alliance network picture is just one of the snapshots of interconnectedness.

INTRODUCTION Start with a proper introduction, not just "for this first part". Connect to a (scientific) research question. (Normally, your introduction starts with the scientific background as to why this is interesting and ends with the research question that is going to be answered.)

DATA AND ANALYSIS Introduce the data Check your data. Explain what you did with potential data weirdness (there are some double alliances in there) Start out with with a (graphical) overview of the networks Make tables. And make them self-contained and looking good. Don't argue against your own numbers. ("A has much more connections than B, even though you don't see that very well in the table") Get and give a sense of ”metric”.

DATA AND ANALYSIS (2) Don't calculate all possible network measurements. Choose, but justify your choice. Several measures might be different depending on, for instance, whether you include also the non-connected parts of the network. Instead of dwelling at length at what to do, try if it makes a difference at all.

The “choosing the business partner” part Enclose your argument in a strategy. Do a bit more than just saying: "they should choose this one, because then X (or Y) will go up". Run an analysis to show the reader the numbers if there would be that extra alliance that you suggest.

WRITING STYLE Scientific paper style: "I am comparing these networks, connect them to the literature, and interpret their differences in the light of that literature". "I look a these data and wonder (and think out loud)” "I am doing this because I have to"

TELL-TALE SIGNS + noting inconsistencies among theoretical predictions + noting inconsistencies among your own arguments (don't sweep stuff under the rug, be honest) + going the extra mile (e.g., calculating the network measurements given the new alliances you proposed) - hardly any references, or references with lots of direct quotes, but no interpretation- too many references - incomplete (no Word count etc) - elaborately explaining the software you used

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