Assignment Brief Academic Year 2022-23

Module code Business In Context and Module Segun Phillips

and title: its Management leader:

Assignment Poster Presentation (700 words, Assessment 100% consisting of:

No. and type: group-based activity). weighting: 35% Poster Presentation (all
Industry Trend Analysis (1,250 words, group members to receive
individual activity). same score)
Client Report (500 words, individual 50% Industry Trend Analysis
activity). and
15% Client Report

Submission Group Poster – Week 4, in-class Target 3 weeks from the date of final
time and date: presentation feedback submission
time and
Individual written assignment – before date:
23.59 UK time on the Monday 11
March 2024

Assignment task

Aim
To provide an insight into what tools business can use to define their business context and how they use
reactive and pro-active strategies to build and manage a competitive business.

This assignment has been designed to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your
achievement of the following module learning outcomes:

LO 1 Analyse a business context and its influence on management decision making;

LO 2 Apply a range of analytical tools to aid in defining a given organisation’s business context and
markets;

LO 3 Demonstrate an understanding of management practice in response to a business context

challenge;

LO4 Reflect on a response by management functions to a business challenge and describe an

alternative strategy.

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Assignment Brief Academic Year 2022-23

Task requirements

OVERVIEW

Both the economy as a whole and industries within the economy go through cycles of expansion and
contraction as part of the “business cycle”. The COVID -19 pandemic had a dramatic effect on some
industries. The hospitality industry suffered severely through restrictions on trading, whereas the E-
Commerce industry benefited from people working from home and the increased usage of tools such as
Zoom and Teams.

As a management consultant you have been contracted to provide recommendations and advice for
businesses seeking to formulate ‘post-pandemic’ strategic plans in one of the industries listed below.

1) Select an organisation from either High Street Retail, Automobile or E-Commerce

industries/sectors, and with reference to the economic business cycle, analyse how the trends in
the chosen industry were affected by the Covid pandemic. (Learning Outcomes 1, 2 & 3).

2) Produce a Poster Presentation recommending business strategies and approaches to be employed

by the organisation in the next five years. The business strategies you recommend should aim to
add value to the company, in terms of increased turnover, or increased market share vs
competitors, by improving both internal and external factors relevant to the company. (Learning
Outcome 4).

3) Produce a client report which summarises the information on the poster, and which outlines a
strategic plan for the client over the next five years, The Client report will be submitted as part of
the written work with the industry trend analysis in task 1. (Learning outcomes 1,2,3 &4)

DESCRIPTION OF THE TASK – WHAT YOU ARE BEING ASKED TO DO?

PART 1: GROUP Poster Presentation – Industry Trend Report (750 words)

1) The poster and its presentation will be completed in groups of 4 students. Each group must
complete their presentation in 10 minutes, each member of the group is required to speak for 2
minutes, concluding with a 5-10 minutes question and answer session. The poster should display
published, financial data relating to the company within the past three years of trading, showing
recent growth or decline in revenues through the Covid 19 pandemic, and then analyse the internal
environment for potential areas of improvement in organisational systems. The poster should then
analyse the external environment of the chosen company, using the tools discussed in this module.

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Assignment Brief Academic Year 2022-23

Finally, the poster should recommend business strategies and approaches to be employed by the
organisation in the next five years, to increase turnover or market share as described above.

For the internal environment: Discuss the competence of the organisation based on the past
three years of financial data, and how the business can improve its internal systems to meet
challenges, and take advantages of opportunities, using one of the following tools:

1. McKinsey’s 7S’s model,

2. VRIO Framework
3. Mintzberg 5P’s Theory

For the external environment: Identify three trends in the external environment in the past
three years of trading, based on research you conducted, using one of the following tools:

1. Market size (TAM, SAM, SOM),

2. The Business Cycle model,
3. Industry sector analysis
4. Blue Ocean strategy

Presentation times will be strictly observed, failure to present on the date specified will be considered a
non-submission. When presenting, each group must use a 1-slide poster which has been created by the
group for purposes of this assessment.

PART 2: Individual Report (1,750 words overall)

A. Continuation of the Industry Trend- Report – (1250 words)

Your analysis must cover the following topics:

a) External Environment Analysis:

Summarise the analysis carried out and the information you presented in the Poster
Presentation.

b) Managing change:
Describe why organisations need to manage change and how staff are often resistant to
change. Describe how, using one of the following frameworks, change in the organisation could
be successfully implemented:

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Assignment Brief Academic Year 2022-23

1. Kurt Lewin,
2. John Kotter,
3. Kubler Ross

c) Operational management:

Choose one of the following theoretical models, describe the main ideas expressed by the
model, and then describe how the model could be used by the company to achieve improved
performance of their operational management.

1. TQM
2. JIT
3. Kaizen
4. Six Sigma
5. Kanban
6. AGILE

d) Stakeholder analysis:
Identify the main stakeholders for the organisation and analyse the impact stakeholders may
have using a mapping tool such as a stakeholder power – interest relationship.

B. CLIENT REPORT (500 words)

a) Outline the conclusions of the analysis conducted from section A.
b) Provide strategic recommendations to the organisation by suggesting a business strategy using
one of the following approaches:

1. Plan, Do, Check Act (PDCA)

2. OODA Loop
3. Strategic Planning cycle.

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Assignment Brief Academic Year 2022-23

Summary of Assessment Tasks:

Part Element Word Limit Tasks Weighing Submission

1. Group Poster 1 Power Point i. Analysis of the last 35% By group presentation to the class,
slide only, 700 three years of 10 mins group presentation, all
words financial data for the group members must speak, + 5-10
organisation. mins question and answer session.
ii. Analysis of internal
environment using
one tool only.
iii. Analysis of the
external environment
using one tool only.
iv. Recommend
suitable business
strategies to improve
internal and external
factors.
2A Industry Trend 1250 words i. Summarise 50% By essay assignment through
analysis information Turnitin on the Moodle, together
presented on the with the Client report as 1
poster. document.
ii. Describe why
change is needed in
the company, why
staff may oppose
change, and describe
one framework for
instigating successful
change.
iii. Describe one
model that could be
used to improve
operational
management.
iv. Analyse the main
stakeholders in terms
of a power and
interest relationship.
2B Client Report 500 words i. Summarise the 15% By essay assignment through
conclusions of the Turnitin on the Moodle, together
industry trend report. with the Industry Trend Analysis,
ii. Give strategic as one document.
planning and strategic
recommendations
using one of the tools
available.

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Assignment Brief Academic Year 2022-23

Referencing and research requirements

Please reference your work according to the Harvard style; you can access guidance on this here:
https://libguides.uos.ac.uk/academic/referencing/Harvard

How your work will be assessed

Your work will be assessed on the extent to which it demonstrates your achievement of the stated learning
outcomes for this assignment (see above) and against other key criteria, as defined in the University’s
institutional grading descriptors. If it is appropriate to the format of your assignment and your subject area,
a proportion of your marks will also depend upon your use of academic referencing conventions.

This assignment will be marked according to the grading descriptors for Level 4

Submission details

This assignment should be submitted electronically via Moodle (module tutors will discuss this process with
you during class time).

 Please ensure that your work has been saved in an appropriate file format (Microsoft Word or PDF
are the most widely used). Your file must also contain at least 20 words of text, consist of fewer
than 400 pages and be less than 40MB in size.

 You can submit your work as many times as you like before the submission date. If you do submit
your work more than once, your earlier submission will be replaced by the most recent version.

 Once you have submitted your work, you will receive a digital receipt as proof of submission, which
will be sent to your forwarded e-mail address (provided you have set this up). Please keep this
receipt for future reference, along with the original electronic copy of your assignment

 You are reminded of the University’s regulations on academic misconduct, which can be viewed on
the University website: https://www.uos.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Academic-Misconduct-Policy.pdf. In
submitting your assignment, you are acknowledging that you have read and understood these

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Assignment Brief Academic Year 2022-23

regulations

Submission date and time

This assignment should be submitted before 23.59 UK time on the Monday after the final lecture.

You should submit all work for summative assessments by the above deadline. Work submitted up to three
working days after the deadline will be accepted and marked, but the mark will be capped at the pass mark
(40%) unless there is a valid reason for the late submission (i.e., having been granted an extension to the
deadline or a deferral under the terms of the Extenuating Circumstances Policy).

Work submitted more than three working days after the deadline without a valid reason will not be
accepted and will be recorded as 0% RN (refer, no work submitted).

For more information please refer to:

http://studenthandbook.uos.ac.uk/index.php/student-guides/assessment-the-basics-undergraduate

Feedback and marks for this assignment will be available in three weeks from the deadline.

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Assignment Brief Academic Year 2022-23

General Grading Criteria

Level 4

In accordance with the FHEQ, at the end of Level 4 students will be expected to have a sound knowledge of the basic underlying concepts and principles
of a subject, and an ability to evaluate and interpret these within the context of that area of study. They should be able to present, evaluate and interpret
qualitative and quantitative data in order to develop lines of argument and make sound judgements in accordance with basic theories and concepts of
their subject(s) of study. They will have learned how to take different approaches to solving problems and will be able to communicate the results of their
study/work accurately and reliably, and with structured and coherent arguments.

Pass mark, demonstrating achievement of all associated learning outcomes Marginal fail Fail
Assessment
category 1st: 70% – 100% 2:1: 60% – 69% 2:2: 50% – 59% 3rd: 40% – 49% 35% – 39% 20% – 34% < 20%

Change High quality work Very Good quality Good quality work satisfactory quality Poor quality work unsatisfactory Highly
managemen showing detailed work showing good showing sufficient work showing limited showing limited quality work unsatisfactory
t and understanding of the understanding of the understanding of the understanding of the understanding of the showing limited quality work
summary of analysis carried out analysis carried out analysis carried out analysis carried out analysis carried out understanding showing limited
in the presentation in the presentation in the presentation in the presentation in the presentation of the analysis understanding
poster and excellent and very good and good and satisfactory and poor carried out in of the analysis
presentatio assessment of the assessment of the assessment of the assessment of the assessment of the the carried out in
n impact of change impact of change impact of change impact of change impact of change presentation the
using appropriate using appropriate using appropriate using appropriate using inappropriate and very poor presentation
and recommended and recommended and recommended and recommended theory assessment of and very poor
theory theory theory theory the impact of assessment of
change using the impact of
inappropriate or change using
irrelevant inappropriate or
theory irrelevant

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Assignment Brief Academic Year 2022-23

Pass mark, demonstrating achievement of all associated learning outcomes Marginal fail Fail
Assessment
category 1st: 70% – 100% 2:1: 60% – 69% 2:2: 50% – 59% 3rd: 40% – 49% 35% – 39% 20% – 34% < 20%
theory

Operational Excellent assessment Very good assessment Good assessment of Satisfactory Poor assessment of Very poor Unsatisfactory
managemen of the effectiveness of of the effectiveness of the effectiveness of assessment of the the effectiveness of assessment of assessment of
t (12.50) operational operational operational effectiveness of operational the effectiveness the effectiveness
management using the management using the management using the operational management. Used of operational of operational
relevant/recommende relevant/recommende relevant/recommende management using the the management management
d theory- TQM, JIT, or d theory- TQM, JIT, or d theory- TQM, JIT, or relevant/recommende relevant/recommende and not used and not used
Kaizen Kaizen Kaizen d theory- TQM, JIT, or d theory- TQM, JIT, or recommended recommended
Kaizen Kaizen theory- TQM, JIT, theory- TQM, JIT,
or Kaizen or Kaizen

Stakeholder Excellent analysis of Very good analysis of Good analysis of their satisfactory analysis of Poor analysis of their Weak analysis of Unsatisfactory
analysis their impact on the their impact on the impact on the selected their impact on the impact on the selected their impact on analysis of their
(12.50%) selected organisation selected organisation organisation using the selected organisation organisation using the the selected impact on the
using the using the Stakeholder’s mapping using the Stakeholder’s mapping organisation selected
Stakeholder’s mapping Stakeholder’s mapping tool. Identified mostly Stakeholder’s mapping tool. Identified some using the organisation
tool. Identified all tool. Identified all appropriate tool. Identified some appropriate Stakeholder’s using the
appropriate appropriate stakeholders appropriate stakeholders mapping tool. Stakeholder’s
stakeholders stakeholders stakeholders Identified mapping tool.
inappropriate Identified
stakeholders inappropriate
stakeholders

Client report Excellent summary of Very good summary of Good summary of the Satisfactory summary Poor summary of the Very Poor Unsatisfactory
(20%) the analysis conducted the analysis conducted analysis conducted in of the analysis analysis conducted in summary of the summary of the
in section A and use of in section A and use of section A and use of conducted in section A section A and use of analysis analysis
appropriate theory to appropriate theory to appropriate theory to and use of appropriate inappropriate theory conducted in conducted in

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Assignment Brief Academic Year 2022-23

Pass mark, demonstrating achievement of all associated learning outcomes Marginal fail Fail
Assessment
category 1st: 70% – 100% 2:1: 60% – 69% 2:2: 50% – 59% 3rd: 40% – 49% 35% – 39% 20% – 34% < 20%

provide strategic provide strategic provide strategic theory to provide to provide strategic section A and section A and
recommendation. recommendation. recommendation. strategic recommendation. use of use of
recommendation. inappropriate inappropriate
theory to theory to
provide strategic provide strategic
recommendation recommendation
. .

GROUP Highly effective Competent Work is structured in a Ordered presentation The poster Work is poorly Work is
Poster presentation of work presentation with a largely coherent in which relevant ideas presentation is loosely, presented in a extremely
Presentatio that is coherently selection of manner and used the / concepts are and at times disjointed and disorganised,
n (42%) structured and appropriate tools to right tools to analyse reasonably expressed. incoherently, incoherent with much of the
selected appropriate analyse the external the external and structured, with manner. content
tools to analyse the and internal internal environment irrelevant poorly pre. Information and confusingly
external and internal environment using ideas are very expressed. Very
environment using data no older than 3 poorly poor English
data no older than 3 years expressed, with and/or very
years weak English inappropriate
and/or tools to analyse
inappropriate the external and
tools to analyse internal
the external and environment.
internal
environment.

* Work that significantly exceeds the specified word limit may be penalised.

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Assignment Brief Academic Year 2022-23

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