phyllis young

16 Jun phyllis young

This document is for Coventry University students for their own use in completing their assessed work for this module and should not be passed to third parties or posted on any website. Any infringements of this rule should be reported to acreg.fbl@coventry.ac.uk

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Assignment Brief

Module Title: Integrated Business Management Assignment Number Coursework Two

Module Code: 115SAM Assignment Title Report

Submission Date and Time:

6th Jan 2017 (Friday) 23:55 Module Leader Anna Michalska

Submission Place: Submission through Turnitin ONLY Module Team

Tammy Mudd Anitha Chinnaswamy Steve Jewell Rob Milford Alfred Akakpo

Please note the following: If you do not submit your assignment by the submission date without an approved extension or deferral request you will fail this module, and you will not be allowed a resit attempt. The extension or deferral request must have been approved prior to the deadline for submission. Any work submitted late will be given a mark of zero. Your work must be handed in electronically via the TURNITIN icon on the 115SAM Moodle page, by the above deadline at 23:55. GUIDELINES AND BACKGROUND TO THE ASSIGNMENT: This assignment is designed to assess learning outcomes 1-3 and accounts for 50% of the overall module mark. The intended learning outcomes are that on completion of this module the student should be able to:

1. Understand the organisational context – commercial, voluntary, public sectors and interdependencies between them.

2. Identify the basic principles of business including the way in which businesses operate and the factors that influence the process of making managerial decisions.

3. Demonstrate an understanding of the core concepts in each of the business functional areas and their integration within the broader organisational context.

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The case study Background Shoe-Makers Ltd produces fashion boots and industrial footwear, which are sold under the brand name of “Big Boots”. This footwear brand can only be bought in specialist retail outlets throughout the UK or from their own shop, which is situated in the heart of Manchester.

During the 1990s the company achieved huge successes. Their footwear range was particularly popular with the student segment of the market, because of their durability. Sales to other segments of the market were also increasing, as were their profits. The managers of the company decided to expand their factory to cope with this increased demand, which also meant doubling their production workforce.

The present situation The factory is situated in a rural area approximately 100 miles from their Manchester store. New employees were recruited from the locality and are given two day’s training in the production process when they first started. Management introduced a ‘single-piece’ rate, which means all employees are paid for each item of footwear they produce. The managers believed this system is an incentive to increasing productivity. However, the new recruits were making many mistakes leading to rejection of many boots by quality managers. The experienced workers started rushing their work in order to increase their wages and this led to an increased number of consumer complaints regarding faulty or poor quality goods. Added to this was the increased competition from other manufacturers. The “Big Boots” brand saw its sales figures drop by 50 per cent within two years, which resulted in a loss of market share. Two-thirds of the workforce has now been made redundant. Those remaining feel very insecure and are unhappy with their current working conditions. Production has been reduced, which means they are losing out on wages. The equipment in use is constantly breaking down, leading to further time lost for which employees are not being paid. The remaining workers have asked the management to change their payment system to a guaranteed weekly wage for the hours they work. They have threatened to withdraw their labour if conditions do not improve. Coursework Questions: Considering the present situation of Shoe-Makers Ltd, prepare a report which discusses the actions that could be taken by each of the following functions to ensure that the business will be successful:

• Operations • Marketing • Human Resource • Accounting/Finance • Senior Management

You are expected to use relevant theory from both lecture materials and your own self-directed academic study to underpin your answer. Word limit: 2,000 words

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This document is for Coventry University students for their own use in completing their assessed work for this module and should not be passed to third parties or posted on any website. Any infringements of this rule should be reported to acreg.fbl@coventry.ac.uk

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Report Guidelines (with expected word count limits)

• Table of contents [not included in a word count] • Executive summary [approx. 200 words] • Introduction (overview of the case study / what the report will be about) [approx. 200-300 words] • The main content of the report (hint: you could use subheadings to show which business function you

are focusing on OR you can analyse the case study by the issues you identify) [approx. 1200-1400 words] • Conclusions [approx. 200-300 words] • References (in CU Harvard Reference format) [not included in a word count]

Assessment Guidance The report should clearly indicate an understanding of business functions and their relevance; the current state of knowledge and opinion; and the questions to be addressed. It should be well presented, informative to the reader and not contain any serious errors of grammar, spelling and technical content. Criteria for Assessment This table details the weightings of the five criteria by which your work will be assessed.

Criteria Proportion of overall module mark Content (and Learning Outcomes) 25% Knowledge and understanding/application of theory 50% Evidence of reading, use of resources and research 15% Accurate citations and referencing 5% Presentation, grammar and spelling 5%

Total 100% Please refer to the Marking Scheme for information on how work is assessed and graded. How to pass this assessment In order to pass this module, you need to:

• ensure that you have fully met all the learning outcomes and tasks as detailed in this Assignment Brief (if you do not meet one or more of the learning outcomes, you will not be able to pass)

• cover all the assessment criteria sufficiently • submit all the work required by the given deadline

How to submit your assessment The assessment must be submitted via Turnitin by 23:55 on 6th January 2017. No paper copies are required. You can access the Turnitin link through the module web.

• Your coursework will be given a zero mark if you do not submit a copy through Turnitin. Should you submit work on time but fail the assignment, you will be offered a resit opportunity but the resit mark will be capped at 40%.

• All work submitted after the submission deadline without a valid and approved reason (see below) will be given a mark of zero. Please note that a non-submission is not the same as a failed submission; a failed submission counts as an attempt whereas an absent mark does not necessarily allow you to resit the coursework.

mailto:acreg.fbl@coventry.ac.uk
This document is for Coventry University students for their own use in completing their assessed work for this module and should not be passed to third parties or posted on any website. Any infringements of this rule should be reported to acreg.fbl@coventry.ac.uk

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• Short deferrals (extensions) of up to three calendar weeks can only be given for genuine “force majeure” and medical reasons, not for bad planning of your time. Please note that theft, loss, or failure to keep a back-up file, are not valid reasons. The short deferral must be applied for on or before the submission date. You can apply for a short deferral by submitting an Examination/ Coursework Deferral Application Form. Application Forms along with the supporting evidence should go to the relevant Student Support Office. For a longer delay in submission a student may apply for a long deferral.

• Students MUST keep a copy and/or an electronic file of their assignment. • Checks will be made on your work using anti-plagiarism software and approved plagiarism checking

websites. Word Count Limit You must indicate the number of words you have used on the front page of your Assignment Submission Sheet. When you calculate this you must include any quotations and footnotes you have used but you do not need to count the Bibliography or any Appendices. If you go more than 10% over or under the word count limit stated in the Assignment Brief you risk losing marks as a 10% penalty applies. Plagiarism As part of your study you will be involved in carrying out research and using this when writing up your coursework. It is important that you correctly acknowledge someone else’s writing or thoughts and that you do not attempt to pass this off as your own work. Doing so is known as plagiarism. It is not acceptable to copy from another source without acknowledging that it is someone else’s writing or thinking. This includes using paraphrasing as well as direct quotations. You are expected to correctly cite and reference the works of others. The Centre for Academic Writing provides documents to help you get this right. If you are unsure, please visit www.coventry.ac.uk/caw. Assessors are able to spot cases of plagiarism. The School insists that coursework is submitted through a plagiarism detection system known as Turnitin. Copying another student’s work, large sections from a book or the internet are examples of plagiarism and carry serious consequences. Please familiarise yourself with the CU Harvard Reference Style and use it correctly to avoid a case of plagiarism or cheating being brought. If you are unsure please refer to your tutor. Return of Marked Work You can expect to have marked work returned to you 3 weeks after the submission date. Marks and feedback will be provided online. As always, marks will have been internally moderated only, and will therefore be provisional; your mark will be formally agreed later in the year once the external examiner has completed his/her review. Marking and Assessment Scheme

Mark range Guidelines

70 – 100%

In order to secure a mark in this range, a candidate must submit an outstanding answer that could hardly be bettered. In addition to the criteria identified below for a mark between 70-85%, an answer scoring a mark of 85-100% would show an excellent level of understanding and critical/analytic skills and originality. For example, such an answer would include new insights into Integrated Business Management which are not drawn from the literature but from the student’s own critical thinking, and which add something to the existing literature.

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This document is for Coventry University students for their own use in completing their assessed work for this module and should not be passed to third parties or posted on any website. Any infringements of this rule should be reported to acreg.fbl@coventry.ac.uk

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Mark range Guidelines

An essay in this range will demonstrate a strong understanding of theories, concepts and issues relating to Integrated Business Management. There will be evidence of wide-ranging reading from a variety of valid sources (as described and presented in the marking criteria for 60-69%). The assignment must be written in a clear, well-structured way with a coherent and seamless flow and show evidence of independent, critical thought. It must show extensive relevant reading on the subject and intelligent use of the material to present a well- balanced and well-argued assignment. For example, the student will have considered a range of relevant issues and be able to assess the strength and weaknesses of various approaches/arguments and put forward a confident and articulate view of their own.

60 – 69%

An essay in this mark range will demonstrate a good understanding of the requirements of the assignment and of theories, concepts and issues relating to Integrated Business Management. An assignment in this percentage range will include a balanced discussion of issues central to the question, how these are addressed by different authors or sources and some critical thinking into their relative merits or shortcomings. The answer will be contain few errors and little, if any, irrelevant material. It will show evidence of reading from a variety of sources (i.e. more than 3 or 4) but not so many sources that the discussion loses focus and becomes unclear or irrelevant. All sources should be of some academic merit (e.g. books, journals, reports, media publications). Unreferenced material from non-credible internet sources MUST be avoided. All sources must be included and properly referenced in the references. The assignment will be well-organised and clearly written/presented overall.

50 – 59%

The answer will demonstrate some reasonable understanding of relevant theories, concepts and issues relating to Integrated Business Management but also some minor errors of fact or understanding. The assignment will not be based on an extensive range of sources (for example few references are included), or much evidence that they have been read closely or well- understood. For example, the assignment will retell sources rather than analyse them. The assignment may be quite general in part. Some errors may be present and some irrelevant material may be included. The essay may not be particularly well-structured, and/or clearly presented and contain some spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. A few sentences may be unclear.

40 – 49%

A mark within this percentage range will be given to an essay which: – shows some limited basic understanding of the subject but is incomplete e.g. if it

answers one part of a question but not the rest – makes only very general statements – includes some factual errors or misunderstandings e.g. confusion between different

companies or misuse of certain key terms – shows limited use of material with limited reading/research on the topic and includes

only a very small number of references, not all of which are included in the references

mailto:acreg.fbl@coventry.ac.uk
This document is for Coventry University students for their own use in completing their assessed work for this module and should not be passed to third parties or posted on any website. Any infringements of this rule should be reported to acreg.fbl@coventry.ac.uk

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Mark range Guidelines

– includes spelling mistakes, is poorly structured with no clear argument and grammar mistakes making it difficult to understand

– includes some irrelevant material

35 – 39% A mark within this percentage range will be given to an assignment which: – includes only a limited amount of relevant material – shows little evidence of reading/research on the topic e.g. the essay includes only very

few references, and relies only on material or case studies used during the course – shows only a very basic understanding of the subject – is poorly presented with bad grammar, some spelling mistakes and an incomplete

reference list – has a poor structure and does not flow e.g. if there is no conclusion or new facts are

introduced in the conclusion rather than introduction or main discussion – contains some fundamental errors

20 – 34%

0 – 19%

A poor fail on this assignment means the assignment submitted: – is poor and suggests that the student has spent very little time on it e.g. if the answer is

considerably under the word requirement and/or presented in note form rather than as a fully written up essay

– bears little relation to the assignment topic – shows a poor understanding of theories, concepts and issues relating to Integrated

Business Management and to the learning outcomes detailed in this document – contains some or many fundamental errors and misunderstandings of the academic or

other material used e.g. many of the facts cited are incorrect – uses literature or other material which is largely irrelevant or has no academic value – is poorly structured and poorly presented e.g. sentences may be hard to understand and

contain many spelling or grammatical mistakes – contains no references Work within this mark range shows a complete failure to meet the requirements of the assignment. A mark in this range will be given for an essay which: – is below 500 words in length – bears no link to the question chosen and shows very little or no knowledge or

understanding of any of the theories, concepts and issues relating to Integrated Business Management. The answer may be fundamentally wrong or trivial

– contains no references and/or evidence of relevant reading – shows little understanding of the requirements of the assignment and only a vague

knowledge of the subject area – includes numerous fundamental errors in the understanding or presentation of the

material discussed. There is a general lack of facts/evidence and what is provided is mostly incorrect and/or irrelevant

– is poorly structured and poorly presented. Spelling and grammar are poor. Many sentences are incomprehensible

– the examiners do not feel could be described as a serious attempt by any reasonable standards

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