WRITING YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

• This assignment must be completed individually.
• The Harvard Referencing System must be used.
• Your work must indicate the number of words you have used. Do not exceed the maximum number of words specified above; all assignments which do so will be penalised. The penalty will be the deduction of marks at the Marker’s judgement.
• Assignment submissions are to be made anonymously. Do not write your name anywhere on your work. Write your student ID number at the top of every page.
• Where the assignment comprises more than one task, all tasks must be submitted in a single document
• You must number all pages.

SUBMITTING YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

• You must submit your assignment using Turnitin software and obtain a receipt. Work cannot be uploaded on Turnitin after the stated date and time, and will receive a mark of 0% unless an extension has been approved in advance of the deadline.
• Requests for short-term extensions will only be considered in the case of illness or other cause considered valid by the Student Adviser. These must normally be received and agreed by the Student Adviser in writing at least TWENTY-FOUR (24) hours prior to the deadline.

Assignment Scenario/case study

Prepare a management report of 3,000 words* on one organization within one of the following industry-sectors:

• Hospitality (Hotels, restaurants etc)
• Healthcare
• PC Manufacturing and I.T
• Fashion
• Electric Cars

This report should assess the impact of external business environmental factors on the organisation and evaluate the organisation’s position and responses. In the case of a large organization it is permissible to confine your report to part of the organisation. An organization’s activities may range beyond the designated industrial sector in which case the focus of your report must be on the organisation’s activities within the designated sector.

* This word limit does not include the executive summary, organisation profile, tables, diagrams, appendices or references. (Include a word count on your title page.)

Please note: It is not permitted to choose Fast-food ‘restaurants’ or Whitbread plc (as this company was covered during the interim assessment).

ASSESSMENT TASK

Task 1.

Using each of the following four themes:

a) Changing lifestyles and Societal Trends. (20 Marks)
b) Innovation. (20 Marks)
c) The importance of business law. (employment law, consumer law, health and safety, intellectual property etc). (20 Marks)
d) Environmental Management (Going Green). (20 Marks)

In relation to each of the above themes:
i. Explain each theme in detail and analyse its impact on your chosen industry sector.
ii. In relation to your chosen organization, analyse the impact it has had on the functions of this business (e.g Operations, Human Resources, Sales and Marketing etc) and evaluate the effectiveness of the organization’s response.
iii. Where possible, demonstrate some areas for improvement in the response of the organization to these external challenges.

Conclusions (10 Marks)

Presentation and Referencing (10 Marks)

Assessment Criteria

This assignment requires you to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of:

Primary external influences to which the organization is subject to, and the particular importance of each to the organization:

• Changing lifestyles and Societal Trends.
• Innovation.
• Importance of business law. (employment law, consumer law, health and safety, intellectual property etc).
• Environmental Management (Going Green).

Where you are asked to: analyse, evaluate and recommend in a task it is important that your answers are not descriptive in nature but should provide clear evidence of a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding the task under consideration. Your answers to these tasks must be supported by evidence of wider academic reading,
business and industry reports etc.

The assignment also requires you to demonstrate various skills such as Intellectual, Practical and Transferable skills. These skills include aspects such as intellectual originality, imagination, presentation and communication. Please see the Grading Criteria sheet below for more detail about what skills are expected at each grade.

Your paper must comply with the business report format and the Harvard referencing guidelines.

There is no correct number of academic references to be utilised as the student must draw on as many references as required to provide a high quality answer. However, a minimum of 8 academic sources are expected, and a majority of these should be current, internationally peer reviewed articles/journals or accredited textbook references. Sources such as Wikipedia are not accepted.

You must be mindful that marks will be allocated based on the level of information and understanding and on your ability to define, explain, apply, analyse and evaluate the key concepts.

Specific Module Guidance

To achieve a pass level mark. A typical answer would include a:

A limited, incomplete explanation of the themes in question with some analysis of the impact of these on the industry as a whole. There would be a basic analysis of the impact of these trends on the chosen organisation with some reference how these impact key business functions. In terms of evaluation on the organisation’s response, this would be of a basic standard with a small number of improvements put forward.
Basic use of secondary research evident.

To achieve a mark typical of a good quality academic degree (60+) In addition to the requirements to achieve a pass mark, a typical answer would include:

A good explanation of the impact of the themes in question with a good analysis of the impact on the industry as a whole. Insightful at times. There would be a good analysis of the impact of these trends on the chosen organisation with sufficient reference as to how these impact key business functions. In terms of evaluation on the organisation’s response, this would be of a good standard with a number of distinct, relevant improvements put forward. Good use of secondary sources evident.

To achieve a mark typical of a top quality academic degree (70+) explanation, analysis and evaluation would be of a very detailed, highly relevant nature. There would be an excellent information base and very high level of understanding of the various topics. Work would be professionally presented, demonstrating excellent intellectual originality. Excellent use of secondary sources evident.

To attain marks available for referencing and effective communication, your work will need to be referenced according to the Harvard Referencing System and produced in essay format. In addition, your ideas will need to be expressed clearly and fluently using a style of writing appropriate to the subject area. Sentences and paragraphs
will need to be relevant, well-structured and incorporate the correct terminology. Ideally, there should be no errors of spelling, punctuation or grammar.

Further Details:

• This assignment must be completed individually
• Assignment submissions will be made via Turnitin. Please ensure you have your user login and password well before the submission date.
• If you share your work or, parts of your work, with another student this is an academic offence (collusion) and will result in a fail grade.
• You must use Harvard Referencing (Citations in-text) to acknowledge your sources of information and provide a reference list (and bibliography where appropriate). Failure to do this is an academic offence and will result in a fail grade.
• Any bibliography provided must be included as an appendix.
• Marks will be awarded for the professionalism of the report.