Operationalizing & Communicating Value – A2 Assignment – Final Individual Assignment

Assignment Question:

Please note: Assignment 2 is individually-completed and consists of 2 parts – ie.

Part A: Critical Reflection of Assignment 1 (weighting: 40%)

Part B: Combined Marketing/Operations question (weighting: 60%)

You must submit both parts of Assignment 2 as one submission.

• The two parts of this assignment are not related and need to be answered as separate parts.

• Therefore, it should be clearly identifiable for the marker where each of these two parts has been answered (i.e. present under separate headings: Part A and Part B).

The overall word count set for this assignment is 3000 words (maximum of 3300 words) to cover both parts A& B – however, please note the relative weightings of each part and ensure that the word count for Parts A & B reflect those weightings.

Note: Any assignment that is greater than the maximum word count set of 3300 words will be penalized in the marking process. Please refer to your Programme Handbook for details relating to word count penalties.

Please note: it is important that you read the accompanying ‘Guidance Notes’ provided below for each part, as well as the ‘General Guidance’ notes (provided on page 6).

Part A – Individual Critical Reflection of Assignment 1 (weighting: 40%) Having completed either:

• your workshop group-work based presentation, OR
• your individually-completed alternative workshop presentation (for those who did not attend the workshop)

… for Part A of Assignment 2, you are now required to prepare an individual critical reflection of this first assignment.

• You are required to write concisely to transmit your analysis. Please note the weighting set for Part A – i.e. 40% of this assignment task. Therefore, the length of your answer for Part A should reflect this (i.e. approximately 1200 words).

Initially, you should provide a brief introduction to set the context of your analysis. Please Note: you are advised to keep the ‘brief’ Introduction section for Part A to within 120 words.

• As you complete the task, please bear in mind that, as this is an individual critical reflection, the exact focus and emphasis is for you to determine. However, amongst other things, you will need to ensure that your answer clearly demonstrates what you have learned from the Assignment 1 task.

Note: do not just describe what you did (we already know that from your presentation). Focus rather on what you learned in deciding what content to include and how to apply it. For example, you could consider such issues as:

• Think about why you decided (as a group or as an individual) which theories to use.
  • Critically evaluate the appropriateness of the theories that you (as a group or as an individual) decided to use.
  • Consider if there were any challenges / difficulties that you (as a group or as an individual) experienced in applying the theories.
  • Could the chosen theories have been better utilised?
  • Could other theories have been drawn on to help you (as a group or as an individual) to better address the task?

• Therefore, do not just describe the theory or theories that you have applied – think about what you have learned and what you would do differently next time (and why!) – you need to be able to justify your decisions. As part of a critical reflection, you need to also consider the limitations of your work (not just the positives) – you need to think about the challenges that you faced (as a group or as an individual) and what improvements could have been made.

• For Part A, we would expect to see a minimum of 4 appropriate research sources (academic and / or industry) in addition to the core course textbooks (i.e. Kotler & Keller and Slack & Brandon-Jones) to support your answer.

• Provide appropriate examples to illustrate your points.

Part B – Combined Marketing/Operations Question (weighting: 60%)

For Part B of this assignment, you are asked to consider the organisation that you work for, or one that you are very familiar with.

Prepare a brief introduction for this assessment to identify your chosen organisation

– see ‘Note’ (1) below on page 3 for further guidance.

Assignment Task:

“The cross‐functional nature of the value adding process at work in the modern business cuts across departmental boundaries with an interdependent relationship between marketing and operations, requiring that they communicate, share their knowledge and experience to inform what the organisation produces and delivers to the customer.” (Piercy, 2007)

Critically examine the role of operations and marketing within your chosen organisation in terms of how it helps the organisation to build and maintain competitive advantage. You need to examine from both a marketing and operations perspective. Some areas that you might consider, but you are not limited to, include:

• Examine the extent to which operations and marketing work together to develop competitive advantage. What are the benefits to this interface in helping to develop competitive advantage?

• How successful is the interface between the organisation’s marketing and operations strategies to develop / maintain competitive advantage? Where and how can improvements be made to these strategies?

• Consider if there are any conflicts / challenges that occur between the two functions in developing and maintaining competitive advantage. How have these conflicts / challenges been overcome (or how might they be overcome)?

NOTE:

• You are required to write concisely to transmit your analysis. Please note the weighting set for Part B – i.e. 60% of this assignment task. Therefore, the length of your answer for Part B should reflect this (i.e. approximately 1800 words). The introduction should be no more than 200 words and should clearly and concisely set the context for your answer to Part B.
• In your answer, make full use of the range of material available in this course (including academic and industry sources). For Part B, we would expect to see a minimum of 6 academic references in addition to the core course textbooks (i.e. Kotler & Keller and Slack & Brandon-Jones) to support your answer.

• Make sure that you use clear and relevant examples to illustrate both marketing and operations elements.