Details of Assessment 2

This assessment requires students to consider the role and practice of the marketing concept/planning in a company of their choice. The report should be backed by secondary and primary data.

The report should demonstrate a critical evaluation of marketing and the relevance of its best practice to the way the organization functions.

If the student decides to continue with the topic selected for assignment 1 (i.e. group presentation), there is a need to specify the outcome of your earlier analysis and seek primary feedback about the veracity of the results or not. The data gathering should consider all 3 dimensions of the module (marketing, communication, and operations). Hence it is important that the selected organization should offer information linked to these three dimensions.

The student will need to evaluate the selected company from a marketing perspective and highlight the level of success or failure in implementing a marketing approach to the whole business. The approach should be both top-down (working from corporate aims and translating them in terms of marketing strategy and implementation) and bottom-up in terms of continuously benefiting from field information.

The student needs to adopt a marketing planning perspective that capitalizes on the resources available to the company to maximize the chances of its success. These need to take into account macro, micro, and tactical dimensions.

The report should demonstrate the benefits that the student has derived from this study and how they may help him develop into a more savvy marketer and business manager among others.

The report should make use of theories associated with general marketing, marketing communications, and operations with a view to linking these dimensions in an integrated and clear conceptualization that informs the application steps. In particular, the following aspects should be reflected in the report:

• The identification of a clear plan, with associated steps on how the challenge will be addressed.
• A clear background analysis of the business and its environment (micro and macro) with a clear exposition of positive and negative dimensions of the business derived from the analysis
• A strategic perspective
• A systematic yet critical exposition of the marketing, communication and operational dimensions that may inform the selected business.
• A systematic analysis of the options available to the business in terms of way forward.
• A recommendation to the business backed up by both secondary and some primary information. The primary information may be in the form of an investigation of a selected stakeholder group such as a selected group that the company failed to attract etc
• Provide recommendations to the business of how they could use theory e.g. model/ approach/ theories to improve their business
• Support this report with appropriate theoretical referencing and evidence of wider investigation and research.

Reflection 

• In a separate section, after the report, you should determine how the study may have had an effect on the personal and career level. At a personal level, you may identify personal attitudes such as making unwarranted assumptions that have been addressed. At the career level, you may identify new skills or knowledge (such as the steps of developing your business ideas including adopting a more action research perspective) that may help you be more effective in the future, particularly at a professional level.
• About 500 words should be dedicated to this dimension.
• You should identify your current skill set and demonstrate how your learning on the module has enhanced your own personal learning – your report should include a 500 words summary of your learning

The academic report must include substantial evidence of theoretical underpinning and research as well as a clear application to practice and correct Harvard referencing.

Reassessment Information

It is very important to submit assignments on or before the due date. If you fail to achieve a pass in the two assignments then students will have to repeat one or both of the assignments.

University Regulations allows one more attempt at each assignment through the reassessment process. However, the reassessment mark is capped at 50%. If it is failed on this second attempt, the student will have failed the module and have to repeat it. This means that the student will need to re-enrol and pay the appropriate fee.