ASSESSMENT BRIEF COURSE: Bachelor of Business / Bachelor of Accounting Unit: Business Strategy Unit Code: BSRE301 Type of Assessment: Assessment 3 – Individual Report Length/Duration: 2000 words – around 5 pages - not including the title page, executive summary, table of contents and references list. Unit Learning Outcomes addressed: 1. Explain the key concepts of business strategy 2. Identify and critically evaluate strategy options 3. Select and apply strategic models to analyse an industry 4. Evaluate and select options to grow a business 5. Appraise international growth options for businesses Submission Date: Friday, 5pm, Week 9. Assessment Task: You are to conduct an environmental analysis of Blackmores Limited, an Australian health product manufacturer, through the strategy lens. Total Mark: 100 marks Weighting: 30% Students are advised that any submissions past the due date without an approved extension or without approved extenuating circumstances incurs a 5% penalty per calendar day, calculated from the total mark E.g. a task marked out of 40 will incur a 2 mark penalty per calendar day. More information, please refer to (Documents > Student Policies and Forms > POLICY – Assessment Policy & Procedures – Login Required)ASSESSMENT DESCRIPTION: You are to conduct an environmental analysis of Blackmores Limited, an Australian health product manufacturer. The report will analyse the internal business environment and its external operating environment and will make a conclusion about the performance and outlook of the company. The analysis must be about the company now, not 5 or more years ago. The key sections to be included in the report are: Title page; Executive summary; Contents, Introduction; Internal Analysis (Senior managers quality; Resources & Capabilities); External Analysis (Macro and Micro); Conclusion; Bibliography and Appendix. Appropriate facts and figures on the market and competitors must be included, as well as appropriate and relevant data on consumer preferences and market trends. It is essential to avoid general, unsupported statements. Graphs of the company’s 5-year history of sales, profits and share price must be included. It is essential to reference all material used – both in-text and at the end of the report. References must follow the Harvard referencing style. Refer to the Academic Learning Skills handout on Report writing. Please see Academic Learning skills staff for assistance with this, or any assignment. RESEARCH: A minimum of six separate sources must be included, including the text. It is essential to avoid general, unsupported statements & unreferenced material. To gain an overall pass grades at least five peer reviewed academic sources need to be cited together with in-text referencing of sources. ASSESSMENT SUBMISSION: The assessment must be submitted online in Moodle. All materials MUST be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word format. Other formats (e.g., pdf or MAC file) may not be readable by markers. Please be aware that any assessments submitted in other formats will be considered LATE and will lose marks until it is presented in MS Word. No paper based or hardcopy submission will be accepted. Our Academic Learning Support (ALS) team would be happy to help you with understanding the task and all other assessment-related matters. For assistance and to book one-on-one meeting please email one of our ALS coordinators (Sydney [email protected]; Melbourne [email protected] ). For online help and support please click the following link and navigate Academic Learning Support in Moodle. http://moodle.kent.edu.au/kentmoodle/course/view.php?id=5Kent Institute Australia Pty. Ltd. Assessment Brief ABN 49 003 577 302 CRICOS Code: 00161E RTO Code: 90458 Version 1: 22nd December, 2016 TEQSA Provider Number: PRV12051 MARKING GUIDE (RUBRIC): Total /100 Marking Criteria. Fail (0-9.9) Pass (10-12.5) Credit (13-14.5) Distinction (15-16.5) High Distinction (17-20) Research /20 Little evidence of research. Sources are missing, inappropriate, poorly integrated or lacking credibility. Lacks clear link of sources to arguments. Basic and sound research. Basic use of sources to support ideas, generally well integrated, most sources are credible. May be weaknesses with paraphrasing or integration/application. Research is generally thorough. Good use of sources to support ideas, mostly well integrated, sources are credible. May be weaknesses with paraphrasing or integration/ application. Thorough research is indicated. Very good use of sources to support ideas, well integrated, sources are credible. May be minor weaknesses with paraphrasing or integration/application. Thorough research is indicated. Professional use of sources to support ideas, well integrated, sources are credible. Very minor, if any, weaknesses with paraphrasing or integration/application. Information / Content /25 Lacks coherence; topic is poorly addressed; little analysis. Is generally coherent; topic is addressed; analyses in reasonable depth with some description. There are some inconsistencies and weaknesses with flow. Is coherent and flows well; topic is addressed quite thoroughly; analyses in considerable depth. There may be some inconsistencies and weaknesses with flow. Is very coherent and flows well; topic is addressed thoroughly; analyses in depth. There may be minor inconsistencies and weakness with flow. Professional work. Argument is very coherent and flows well; topic is addressed thoroughly; analyses in great depth. Very minor, if any, inconsistencies and weaknesses with flow. Critical analysis /25 Material is descriptive and generally poorly sequenced. Concepts are generally applied appropriately to the case material and is logically sequenced; some weaknesses. Concepts and are mostly clearly applied to the case and are supported with evidence from the case and relevant external research. Material is logically and clearly sequenced; few or minor weaknesses. Concepts and are appropriately applied to the case and are supported with evidence from the case and relevant external research. Arguments are clear and persuasive. Arguments and supporting evidence and research is of an outstanding quality. Language/ Presentation /15 Poor standard of writing. Word limit may not be adhered to. Basic and sound standard of writing; some errors in punctuation, grammar and spelling Good standard of writing; few errors in punctuation, grammar and spelling. Very good standard of writing; very few or minor errors in punctuation, grammar and spelling. Professional standard of writing; no errors in punctuation, grammar and spelling. Referencing /15 No referencing is evident or, if done, is inconsistent and technically incorrect. No or minimal reference list, mixed styles. Basic and sound attempt to reference sources; may be some inconsistencies and technical errors in style. Reference list is generally complete with 1 or 2 references missing. Good attempt to reference sources; inconsistencies and technical errors in style. Few inaccuracies in reference list and all references listed. Very good attempt to reference sources; very minor inconsistencies and technical errors in style. Thorough and consistent reference list and all references listed. Professional level of referencing and acknowledgment; no errors of style evident.Thorough and consistent reference list and all references listed.Kent Institute Australia Pty. Ltd. Assessment Brief ABN 49 003 577 302 CRICOS Code: 00161E RTO Code: 90458 Version 1: 22nd December, 2016 TEQSA Provider Number: PRV12051 GENERAL NOTES FOR ASSIGNMENTS Assignments should conform to report-writing conventions, and incorporate an Executive Summary, Introduction, Conclusion, and a References list. The work must be fully referenced with in-text citations and a reference list at the end. We strongly recommend you to refer to the Academic Learning Skills materials available in the Moodle. For details please click the link http://moodle.kent.edu.au/kentmoodle/course/view.php?id=5 and download the file “Harvard Referencing Workbook”. Appropriate academic writing and referencing are inevitable academic skills that you must develop and demonstrate. We recommend a minimum of FIVE references, unless instructed differently by your lecturer. Unless specifically instructed otherwise by your lecturer, any paper with less than FIVE references may be failed. Work that includes sources that are not properly referenced according to the “Harvard Referencing Workbook” will be penalised. Marks will be deducted for failure to adhere to the word count – as a general rule you may go over or under by 10% than the stated length. GENERAL NOTES FOR REFERENCING High quality work must be fully referenced with in-text citations and a reference list at the end. We recommend you work with your Academic Learning Support (ALS) site (http://moodle.kent.edu.au/kentmoodle/course/view.php?id=5) available in Moodle to ensure that you reference correctly. References are assessed for their quality. You should draw on quality academic sources, such as books, chapters from edited books, journals etc. Your textbook can be used as a reference, but not the lecturer notes. We want to see evidence that you are capable of conducting your own research. Also, in order to help markers determine students’ understanding of the work they cite, all in-text references (not just direct quotes) must include the specific page number/s if shown in the original. Before preparing your assignment or own contribution, please review this ‘YouTube’ video by clicking on the following link: Plagiarism: How to avoid it PLAGIARISM: HOW TO AVOID IT You can search for peer-reviewed journal articles, which you can find in the online journal databases and which can be accessed from the library homepage. Wikipedia, online dictionaries and online encyclopaedias are acceptable as a starting point to gain knowledge about a topic, but should not be overused – these should constitute no more than 10% of your total list of references/sources. Additional information and literature can be used where these are produced by legitimate sources, such as government departments, research institutes such as the NHMRC, or international organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO). Legitimate organisations and government departments produce peer reviewed reports and articles and are therefore very useful and mostly very current. The content of the following link explains why it is not acceptable to use nonpeer reviewed websites: Why can't I just Google? (thanks to La Trobe University for this video).