Critically appraise the information requirements for marketing planning and management at both operational and strategic levels.

Assessment Brief

Please read the whole assessment brief before starting work on the Assessment Task. 

The Assessment Task Purpose of the Assessment

The purpose of this assignment is to explore in academic and practical terms the nature of competitive advantage and to develop an effective one-year strategic marketing plan for a company or a brand of your choice with which you are familiar.

The strategic marketing plan will recognise the role and importance of the strategic planning process in a competitive environment.

Components of the plan:

·       Executive summary

·       Situational analysis – external, internal, TOWS, KMCs

·       Objectives - SMART

·       Strategy – growth options, targeting and positioning

·       Tactics - marketing mix

·       Action plan with budget

·       Control including metrics and implementation issues

·       References

·       Appendices

Additional Guidance

1.     The report should be based on the material studied on the module. However, there needs to be clear evidence of extensive additional academic reading and engagement with the topic at Master’s level.

2.     It should be of 2,500 words +/- 10%, excluding Contents page, Executive Summary and Appendices. The word count for the assignment should appear on the front page/cover sheet.

3.     This assignment should reflect a balance between:

a.         theoretical understanding evidenced by research from a range of academic journal sources - minimum 5.

b.         practical application of theory evidenced by application to marketing strategy to illustrate your discussion and evaluation.

4.     It is an important requirement of the task that you address the specific task stated in this brief and use your own words and ideas – avoid a high similarity score

Word Limits

The word limit for this assignment is 2,500 words

Where the submission exceeds the stipulated word limit by more than 10%, the submission will only be marked up to and including the additional 10%. Anything over this will not be included in the final grade for the assessment item. The contents page, executive summary, reference list, and appendices are excluded from any word limit requirements.

Where a submission is notably under the word limit, the full submission will be marked on the extent to which the requirements of the assessment brief have been met.

Learning Outcomes

The learning outcomes to be addressed through this assignment are a, c, d, e & f:

Subject-Specific Knowledge, Understanding & Application

a) Critically appraise the information requirements for marketing planning and management at both operational and strategic levels.

c)   Evaluate the inter-relationships of marketing management with other business functions and how marketing decisions at the strategic level affect organisational profits or other measures of success.

d)     Develop short, medium and long-term marketplace strategy compatible with

the organisation’s market situation and stakeholder expectations.

Employability & Changemaker Skills

e)    Explore an evidence-based approach to problem solving within a marketing and professional context.

f)     Effectively communicate marketing related issues and their solutions with specialist and non-specialist audiences.

Your grade will depend on how well you meet these learning outcomes in the way relevant for this assessment. Please see the Rubric under Assessment Information on the Nile site for further details of the criteria against which you will be assessed.

Assessment Support

Specific support sessions for this assessment will be provided by the module team and notified through NILE. You can also access individual support and guidance for your assessments from Library and Learning Services. Visit the Skills Hub to access this support and to discover the online support also available for assessments and academic skills

Academic Integrity and Misconduct

The work you produce must be your own, with work taken from any other source properly referenced and attributed. This means that it is an infringement of academic integrity and, therefore, academic misconduct to ask someone else to carry out all or some of the work for you, whether paid or unpaid, or to use the work of another student whether current or previously submitted.

For further guidance on what constitutes plagiarism, contract cheating or collusion, or any other infringement of academic integrity, please read the University’s Academic Integrity and Misconduct Policy. Other useful resources to help with understanding academic integrity are available from UNPAC - the University of Northampton’s Plagiarism Avoidance Course.

N.B. The penalties for academic misconduct are severe and include failing the assessment, failing the module and even expulsion from the university.

Assessment Submission

To submit your work, please go to the ‘Assessment and Submission’ area on the NILE site and use the relevant submission point to upload the assessment deliverables. The deadline for this is 11.59pm (UK local time) on the date of submission. Please note that essays and text- based reports should be submitted as word documents and not PDFs or Mac files.

Written work submitted to TURNITIN will be subject to anti-plagiarism detection software. Turnitin checks student work for possible textual matches against internet available resources and its own proprietary database.

When you upload your work correctly to TURNITIN you will receive a receipt which is your record and proof of submission. If your assessment is not submitted to TURNITIN, rather than a receipt, you will see a green banner at the top of the screen that denotes successful submission.

N.B Work emailed directly to your tutor will not be marked.

Late submission of work

For first sits, if an item of assessment is submitted late and an extension has not been granted, the following will apply:

· Within one week of the original deadline – work will be marked and returned with full feedback and awarded a maximum bare pass grade.

· More than one week from original deadline – grade achievable LG (L indicating late).

For resits there are no allowances for work submitted late and it will be treated as a non- submission.

Please see the Assessment and Feedback Policy for full information on the processes related to assessment, grading and feedback, including anonymous grading. You will also find Guidance on grades and resit opportunities from the main University website. Also explained there are the meanings of the various G grades at the bottom of the grading scale including LG mentioned above