THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHAMPTON

NORTHAMPTON BUSINESS SCHOOL

MODULE: BUS3005 (All Cohorts) 2018-2019

Module Code Level Credit Value Module Tutor

BUS3005 6 20 Louise Atkinson

Assignment Brief
Select one company from the industry used in Assignment
1 - Essay

Part A (1): Critically evaluate the internal and external strengths

and weaknesses of your selected company highlighting competitive strengths,
position and areas where improvement may be required – 500 words

Part A (2): Using your evaluation propose future strategies for the same
company using appropriate tools to explain and justify your strategic choices
(using theory and practice based examples). Consider the company’s pursuit of
Assignment title:
competitive advantage in your discussion. Particular attention should be made
to business practice that considers social and environmental effects and impact
– 1200 words

Part B: Reflect upon the Strategy Process Model (diagram on NILE). Consider the
online learning activities <and in class workshops> and e-tivities. What have your
learnt from these? How has your thinking progressed when observing a holistic
strategic view of organisations in their markets? – 200 words

Weighting:
50%

Deadline: Please check the NILE site under ‘Assessment Information’

Feedback and Grades due:

Please check the NILE site under ‘Assessment Information’

Resit Date TBC: Resit brief is the same as the first sit
Purpose of the Assessment

The purpose of the assignment is to assess the student’s ability to identify key strategic issues facing a large
multinational organisation and use that information to build a strategy for the organisation to develop in its
competitive environment.
It will test the students understanding of theory within the subject and their ability to apply it to what is
happening in their chosen organisation today, as well as to use the application to make decisions and judgements
as to what the company should do moving forwards. This provides students with the skills for business decision
making and justification of those decisions at a managerial level.

Assessment Task

This assignment needs to be presented in a portfolio format. The word count is 2000 words. Please submit a
document using Verdana, 11pt font with 1.5 line spacing. Please include a title page including the full portfolio
title, your name, and student number.

Please refer to the link below for advice on academic writing: http://skillshub.northampton.ac.uk

The portfolio format does not need to be written as a report. It is your presentation of a collection of research
and analysis of your own material based on the overall title. You may choose to group this into themes with
subheadings that could be led by company examples or academic themes. Whichever way you choose to present
your research and analysis you must remain focussed on the over-arching title of the assessment. It is this that
must influence your analysis and conclusive discussion.

Content advice:
Advice #1: Part A (1) – use the research and analysis from assignment to build upon with further research and
insights to help you to gain depth of understanding as to what the KEY issues are that your chosen company
needs to focus on. The TOWs matrix is a
good way to cross reference internal and external situations to understand their interrelationship

Advice #2: Part A (2) - Consider the way that the organisations utilise key resources to create an advantage.
Where do the key strengths lie within the selected company’s? How can they use these strengths to exploit the
external environment to gain competitive advantage?
Consider your selection and use of theory. It should be appropriate to the selected company and its
environment. For example, Blue Ocean in a saturated market is NOT appropriate.

Advice #3: Part B – This reflects what you have learnt on the module. It is expected that you will be able to relate
taught material on the module to the current business and external environment. This can be written in first
person and it asks you to go back and review the strategy process diagram (Pryce & Ross 2016). It asks for your
perception of your own development. Where things have worked well, and what you feel you have gained from
the module that can be taken forwards in terms of your skills and knowledge. What challenges you have had and
how you may have overcome them.

Assessment Breakdown
Marks will be awarded in the following areas:

1. Student identifies and analyses strategic issues facing their chosen companies and the implications it
has on the competitive position of those companies
 2. Student successfully builds strategic recommendations based on their analysis of the company that are
robust and offer justification in the choices of the recommendation and theoretical underpinning.

3. Student demonstrates a consistently high standard of writing; knowledge of a range of quality sources,
and uses Harvard referencing correctly throughout

4. Particular attention is paid to the underpinning value that recommendations make to the company’s
and social and environmental impact too.

Assessment Submission

To submit your work, please go to the ‘Submit your work’ area of the Module NILE site. It is important that you
submit your work to the correct module NILE site, and that your work is submitted on time.

Assessment Guidance

Please refer to the advice notes for some clarity on what is needed within the assignment. The best assignments
are those that demonstrably use knowledge from the course material and explore a range of sources that are of
a high quality showing further reading and deeper knowledge. For advice on library resources please check the
reading list tab on NILE.

Academic Practice
This is an individual assignment. The University of Northampton policy will apply in all cases of copying, plagiarism
or any other methods by which students have obtained (or attempted to obtain) an unfair advantage.
Support and guidance on assessments and academic integrity can be found from the following resources

SkillsHub: http://skillshub.northampton.ac.uk
CfAP: http://tinyurl.com/UoNCfAP

Learning outcomes

The learning outcomes being addressed through this assignment are:

Subject Specific Knowledge, Understanding and Application
d) Apply research to make informed judgements and evaluation to develop a strategic
plan

Employability and changemaker skills

e) Present and discuss opportunities for business to engage in positive social and
environmental change by offering alternative management strategies in a complex
professional business environment

Critically reflect upon your own personal development in order to

f) identify transferable skills and knowledge

Below is the grading rubric that will be used when marking your portfolio:
Grading Rubric No submission / no
Fail Pass Commended Merit Distinction
evidence

Learning Outcomes addressed Work submitted is of Evidence included Of satisfactory Of sound quality, Of high quality, Of very high quality,
through this no academic value / or provided but quality, demonstrative which demonstrating demonstrating
assignment nothing submitted missing in some demonstrating is sufficient and evidence which is evidence which is
very important evidence of appropriate to the rigorous and strong, robust and
aspects. achieving the task or activity convincing, consistent, appropriate
requirements of
appropriate to the to the task or activity
the learning
task or activity
outcomes
LO: Apply research to make Shows strong evidence of
informed judgements and research from
Shows some evidence of Shows evidence of commendable and high-
evaluation to develop a strategic Lacks evidence of
Shows evidence of research from research from quality sources of
plan consultation with a
No submission / research from a range commendable and good commendable and information. Informed
range of sources.
submission is of sources of quality sources of high-quality sources of judgements and
Requires information.
limited to title information. information. Informed recommendations are
improvement in the Recommendations are Judgements and
page and minimal word judgements and made in developing an
validity of the made in developing a recommendations are
count recommendations are extremely viable business
business plan business plan. made in developing a solid made in developing a plan.
proposals business plan. viable business plan.

LO: Present and discuss There is evidence There is strong

throughout the evidence throughout
opportunities for business to engage
strategic plan the strategic plan
in positive social and environmental demonstrating support
demonstrating
change by offering alternative support for social for social and
There is some environmental
management strategies in a complex There is some and environmental
Lacks evidence of discussion and developments that are
discussion developments that
professional business environment clear social and evidence positive, well thought
demonstrating are positive and
No submission / environmenta demonstrating out and supported
l strategies in the support for social supported with
submission is support for social and with analysis of
planning. A lack of and environmental some analysis as to
limited to title environmental feasibility and
theory and planning in the the feasibility and practicality.
page and minimal word planning in the
evidence to strategic plan. This is practically of their Theory underpins the
count strategic plan. This is
support this supported by some implementation . discussion effectively to
supported by some
learning objective. theory to justify the Evidence of theory reinforce the student’s
theory to justify the
ideas discussed. in the discussion ideas
ideas discussed.
 shows some
reinforcement of
the student’s ideas.

LO: Critically reflect upon your own No submission / The student does not The students shows The student shows some The student is clearly The student is extremely
submission is limited to satisfy the criteria of satisfactory level of selfawareness and raises self-aware and has selfaware and has
personal development to identify
title page and minimal the reflective section awareness of their some points for highlighted some points highlighted a range of
transferable skills and knowledge consideration
word count or has not included academic development that are pertinent to points pertinent to their
this section. There is and recognition of that link to their their development development both
a lack of transferable skills for academic development academically and in academically and in terms
selfawareness and employment. The and employability skills. terms of transferable of transferable skills for
analysis of the articulation of the The articulation of the skills for employment. employment. The
module in terms of reflective section is to a reflective section is to a The articulation of the articulation of the
its relevance towards satisfactory standard. solid standard reflective section is of a reflective section is of an
the students own good standard. extremely high standard
development as a
learner and graduate
employee candidate.

Academic quality & rigour No submission / Unsatisfactory An excellent structure and

submission is limited to structure and flow is flow towards argument
title page and minimal presented. Sources A satisfactory structure development. Sources are
word count fail to be cited & and flow towards A solid structure and flow Very good structure consistently cited and
referenced to a argument towards argument and flow towards referenced correctly using
satisfactory development. Sources development. Sources are argument Harvard style referencing.
standard. Support in are generally cited and usually cited and development. Sources
academic writing referenced using referenced correctly using are mostly cited and
and referencing is Harvard style Harvard style referencing, referenced correctly
recommended. referencing, though though there may be using Harvard style
there may be technical some technical errors. referencing.
errors.