Reference no: EM132687771

MK9709 Global Consumers and Marketplaces - Newcastle Business School

Assessment Component One:
You are required to produce a professional poster providing key information on the national market you have chosen, and the organisation chosen to enter that market. You do not need to print this poster. Instead, an electronic version must be submitted no later than the deadline, which will be advised via Blackboard announcement. You may use any file format which is compatible with university systems (e.g. - Word, Powerpoint).

Assessment Component Two (part i):

Video Proposal (20% of module weighting):
You are required to produce a 5 minute video which outlines and justifies your proposed market entry strategy. Please use the same organisation, and the same home and destination markets, that you have used in assessed component one (your poster). Your video should be concise, but your choice of strategy should be justified and substantiated by underpinning theory and consideration of the commercial and customer context, referring to academic articles and industry sources wherever necessary. Talk briefly about alternative strategies which you have considered but discarded, and why, being balanced and critical. The video may be filmed using Panopto, smartphone devices, tablets or any other suitable equipment. It must also be submitted in a format which is accessible from university computers, no later than the deadline, which will be advised via Blackboard announcement.

Please note that the default settings of Apple iPhones, and certain other devices, produce videos with very large file sizes which cannot be uploaded through our systems. Therefore, you are advised to use the Video Draft Submission folder to check that your file size is small enough before making your final submission and, if not, to adjust your device settings or use different equipment. This is usually achievable by changing your device setting to record using a lower picture quality, and you will not be penalised for this.

Assessment Component Two (part ii):
Market Plan Business Report
You are required to undertake a 2,000-word analytical business report of your chosen organisation.

Section 1 (40% of the Business Report marks): Critical evaluation of an organisation in one or more established markets
Section 1 accounts for 40% of the Business Report marks, and therefore the recommended word count is around 800 words, but at your discretion as long as the total word count for the report is observed.
• Identify an organisation which is strong and established in one or more markets.
• Analyse why it is currently strong, referring to its brand, products and/or services, marketing communications mix, use of media, Relationship Marketing strategies, and any other elements of its identity or operations which you feel relevant to its success.
• In particular, refer to its meaning towards, and relationships with, its customers.
• When analysing the organisation, use theories and academic sources critically.
• Provide commercial context underpinned by industrial sources (i.e. - information which is already in the public domain).
• Do not undertake any primary research.

Section 2 (60% of the Business Report marks): Proposal of strategies to enter a new market
Section 2 accounts for 60% of the Business Report marks, and therefore the recommended word count is around 1,200 words, but at your discretion as long as the total word count for the report is observed.
• Propose strategies for your chosen organisation to use when entering one specific country for the first time.
• Consider the needs and characteristics of the target market - in particular its consumers.
• Explain how these might differ from the needs and characteristics of the consumers it is currently selling to in its established territories.
• Use theory and academic sources critically to underpin your recommendations.
• Wherever possible, compare alternative strategies which you chose to discard with those which you chose to adopt, explaining their relative merits in the context of your organisation.
• When explaining your rationale, say what effects the recommended strategies might have upon the organisation, its brand, its performance, and its commercial sustainability - but also the effects upon the targeted consumers in the new market.

Choice of brand
You may choose any organisation apart from the following ones, which will be used by lecturers throughout the module to contextualise theory:
• Fjällräven
• Brewdog
• Fiat
• Ford
• Northumbria University
• Apple
• Coca-Cola
• Nike
• McDonald's
• Quorn
• Lush
• Yorkshire Tea
• Ben & Jerry's
• Caudalie
• Hamley's

Advice on undertaking the Business Report
As this is a report, it should not be presented in essay format. You should use full sentences and paragraphs, and be fluent, grammatically correct, balanced and critical. In-text citations should be used to substantiate ideas and show sources, and a reference list should be provided at the end of the document. Include relevant tables, graphs, diagrams, photos and screenshots to illustrate what you are writing, and to evidence what the brand is doing - please place these in the main body of the report, not as an appendix.
To undertake a critical evaluation, it is advisable to do the following:
• Say what the organisation does
• But do not just describe
• Analyse, compare and contrast
• Say why it does those things
• Say what works well and what works less well - judge quality
• Say why - give commercial and especially theoretical reasons for your judgments
• Be balanced. Criticise gently and tentatively. Few things are black and white - most are shades of grey
• Suggest possible organisational solutions and responses
• Explore relationships between themes, actions and strategies
• Try to assess situations / problems / the brand from multiple standpoints
• Assess the organisation and its actions in the context of its customers and stakeholders - how do the organisation's choices / strategies / actions affect those entities?
• Consider how the strategy is contributing to the organisation through its performance
• How does the organisation fare in an ethical and societal context?
• Consider the sustainability of the organisation - not just how it competes now, but how it will survive and prosper in the future
• Draw conclusions and make recommendations

Attachment:- Assessment Brief.rar