Business Organisations and Environments in a Global Context
Format MLA Volume of 9 pages (2475 words) Description This is based on New Zealand, the company chosen is Apple Plan guide needed in 2 pages Business Organisations and Environments Reports Q. Where can I get relevant the background information on my chosen organisation? A. Various online sources including the organisation’s webpage and its accounts, as well as trade and newspaper/media articles. For instance, using the example of Waitrose: Company website: http://www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/about/waitrose.html Company accounts and annual reports: Trade articles: http://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2015/12/waitrose-expands-its-estate-both-at-home-and-abroad Newspaper/Media articles: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/7896314/Waitrose-takes-on-the-world.html Such sources should enable you to present some relevant background information on the organisation in terms of its size, financial performance, ownership structure/legal form and on its operations in other countries. Remember that your company should not originate from the country that you have been allocated as it should relate to a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) decision by a multinational company. This could be in terms of establishing the company in the country i.e. if the company does not currently operate in the country or an expansion of their current operations in the country. Either is fine, although analysing the specific scenario may be slightly more complex if the company already has an extensive presence in the country. You should then briefly discuss the particular business scenario that you are focusing upon i.e. whether it is the establishment or expansion of a company’s business operations within the allocated country in the introduction section of the final report. Q: Where can I get relevant the background information on my allocated country? A: Again there are lots of possible sources, although these are obviously different to those providing information on your selected organisation. These sources include the statistics and reports produced by national governments and international agencies such as the OECD, IMF, World Bank or Eurostat. Their websites should also allow you to provide more specific details on particular features of the country. Q: What analytical approaches should I include? A: You will be introduced to several environmental techniques in the lectures and seminars. Therefore, it is up to you to decide which of these to utilise within your report. However, please note that you are strongly advised not to use SWOT analysis (given that it is not covered in this module). Q: What types of graphs and tables should I include? A: Again this is up to you. A range of tables, graphs, charts and maps could be included in the three main sections. Students can create bespoke tables and graphs using the underlying data. However, images can also be pasted so long as they are sourced appropriately and the image is clear when embedded within the report. Graphs and tables can also be included in appendices, especially if they are large or include a lot of information, but as with other tables and graphs, they should be referred to in the text if they are to be included. Q: Should I write my report in the first or third person? A: The way that you write the report is entirely up to you, so it could either be in the first or third person (and neither would be incorrect). In some ways, it could depend on the fine details of the particular business scenario that you are setting up to produce your report, which you could then use to justify your choice. For example, it may be more appropriate to be written in the third person if you indicate that you are acting in a consultancy capacity for the company but in the first person if you indicate that you actually work for the company. You should also be aware from the assessment criteria that the writing aspect of the report is only worth 10% of the marks, whereas the elements relating to content are far more important. Q. How should I structure my report? A. You should see the document that provides a basic template for reports. You should also pay close attention to the assessment criteria (and weightings) for the reports: Assessment Criteria and Weightings
Assignment type : Reports
http://www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/financials/financial-reports/annual-reports.html
http://www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/financials/weekly-figures/latest.html
https://www.retail-week.com/waitrose-to-open-first-overseas-stores-in-uae/411530.article
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/06/30/waitrose-profits-slide-on-higher-pension-costs/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37363076
• Information on the selected business organisation (20%)
• Discussion of the allocated business environment (20%)
• Application of an appropriate analytical approach (25%)
• Use and application of appropriate data and examples (15%)
• Structure of and quality of writing in the report (10%)
• Presentation and referencing (10%)
In particular, you should ensure that the balance of your report is reflective of the weightings that have been apportioned to each of the criteria i.e. the same amount of marks will be allocated for the sections on the business organisation, the business environment and the analysis of the scenario.
In terms of writing the report then given that you have been allocated a country and have chosen your own company then the discussion in your report should essentially be unique to your scenario. However, general guidelines on report writing are available on the internet, such as those written by universities’ academic skills units including: http://www.bradford.ac.uk/academic-skills/media/academicskillsadvice/documents/academicskillsresources/writing-reports/Teach-Yourself-Report-Writing.pdf
Q. How should I reference my report?
A. Harvard (APA) referencing should be used. You should be familiar with this from your Extended Academic Induction module, both with regards to in-text citations and the reference list to include at the end of your report. However, further and more detailed information is available from the university’s referencing guide:
http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/uploadedFiles/Pages_Assets/PDFs_and_Word_Docs/Library/Harvard%20Full%20Guide%202014.pdf
Q. How many references should I include?
A. It is difficult to suggest a precise number but you should really be looking to include a reasonable number (these don’t all need to be academic studies but could be reports/online articles etc). Accurate referencing is more important than having a huge number of references and referencing these incorrectly, especially for this piece of coursework. However, you should cite relevant studies/sources if useful ones can be included.
Q. Can I go over the word limit?
A. The word limit for this assignment is 2500 words. This does not include the bibliography or appendix and you are able go 10% over (or under) without penalty. You should clearly state your word count and what exactly this number relates to on the first page.
Q. What is an acceptable Turnitin (Similarity Index) Score?
A. It is difficult to suggest a particular number as a fairly high similarity index (e.g. 25%) could be fine and a relatively low similarity index problematic as it depends on a range of factors including the length of the document and the concentration of the match(es). But as a rule of thumb then obviously a lower number is better and something below 20% shouldn’t be a problem (although this isn’t necessarily the case, as indicated above, especially if complete ‘chunks’ are copied and pasted from other sources). If reports are completed well ahead of the deadline then you can have a look at the Turnitin reports on multiple occasions to see if there are any potential problems before submitting the final document. However, it can take up to 24 hours to generate a Turnitin submission report so if you want to check your score before submitting a final version then you should have a completed document ready well before the deadline. Moreover, as previously indicated, your report should be unique in many ways so a fairly low similarity index should be expected.
Q: I can’t see the feedback on the plan that I submitted, why is this?
A: Its almost certain that feedback has been provided on your plan and its either because you are not using Moodle in the correct way to view your submission or you have problem with your Moodle account (either way you should contact Moodle support at the university). If it is neither of these then please contact the module convener and/or your seminar tutor.
