You are employed by Avocet Sports plc which is a fictitious sports company engaged in the design, development, manufacturing, worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel

UNIT 1 -The Contemporary Business Environment

Formative Submission date for LO1 AND LO2 is 27^th of October

                           PART A – Critical Analysis (Fact Sheets + Flow Chart)

Submission Format

The first part of the assignment submission is in the form of:

• three fact sheets should be written using comprehensive holistic writing that summarises and highlights key information and data. The recommended total word limit for the three factsheets is between 1000 and 2000 words, although you will not be penalised for going under or exceeding the total word limit.
• an organisational flow chart together with a written explanation of the organisational flow chart.

o You are required to make use of headings, paragraphs, and subsections, as appropriate.

o All work must be supported with research and be referenced correctly using the Harvard referencing system. You will also need to provide a bibliography using the Harvard referencing system

o Please ensure that all sources of information are appropriately cited. This includes acknowledging any Al-supported tools (ChatGPT or Grammarly, for example) that contributed to content generation, editing, or research assistance.

Vocational scenario

oYou are employed by Avocet Sports plc which is a fictitious sports company engaged in the design, development, manufacturing, worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories and services for a range of sports. Avocet have operated since 1975 and have developed a reputation for good quality sports products and services at competitive prices.

o As of January 2025, the company employed more than 55,000 people worldwide and the company brand alone was valued more than £30 billion, making it one of the most valuable brands among sports businesses.

o Strategic Planning teams keep the company moving in the right direction by leading the strategic business planning process and spearheading transformational projects across the businesses and geographies. Strategic professionals are embedded in teams across the company to explore complex business issues; conduct consumer, competitive and market analyses; create financial models and develop action plans.

o Organisational flows are vital in keeping business operations smooth and the interrelationships between purchases, sales and inventory control are a vital part of this.

o Marketing staff play a pivotal role in securing customers and they must ensure that they have an excellent understanding of the company`s products and how they can meet customers` needs and well as identifying what customers want so the business is able to produce this to the quality and quantity require by the customer base. The communication of Marketing and Customer Experience Managers with Quality Controllers and Product Managers is essential. The Strategic Planning teams help write the future of sports by charting the company`s path forward.

o Role

You are employed as a Junior Insights Strategist for the Strategic Planning team. The team acts as a key partner to senior leaders, the executive team and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). It provides thought leadership and an external perspective on the most critical strategic initiatives and pressing challenges facing the company.

Your key roles include the following:

• supporting data and business analyses to develop business plans
• measuring business performance to compare actual data to forecasted values
• executing market research projects and gathering intelligence on current industry, technology and consumer trends in relation to the sports goods and services industry.

In your role as a Junior Insights Strategist for Avocet Sports plc., you are required in Part A to create an industry insight analysis, and after you have done that your line manager has given you another project in Part B. 

Assignment activity and guidance

PART A

Critical analysis

You have been tasked with conducting a critical analysis that focuses on the sports industry to access industry perspectives, best practices from other high-performing companies and insight into high-growth sectors.

You will present your analysis to your line manager and to the management team in the form of a portfolio of three fact sheets/documents and a flow chart and a written explanation of the flow chart.

`The critical analysis will involve the research and critical analysis of overall market size international and national), different types of business from across different sub-sector (public, private, voluntary), and the organisational mapping of one of the highest-performing businesses.

Organisations to be considered will include public (national and local sports organisations, local leisure centres, private (gyms, sporting goods, retailers, manufacturers) and voluntary (local clubs and teams).

Fact sheets

You will present a portfolio of `insights` fact sheets, to analyse the market size and the growth of the sports and leisure industry, selecting an organisation from each sector. Each fact sheet will include background information about:

• the organisation`s vision, mission and business objectives
• its organisational and legal structure
• its stakeholders

to show how these link to the products and services it supplies.

Flow chart

For business modelling purposes, you will also need to examine the various business functions in one organisation and create an organisational chart to explore and illustrate the interrelationships between the different functions and then write an explanation about the organisational flow chart.

Discussion of findings

Your critical analysis of different organisations and structures will then be professionally discussed with your line manager, using the visual mapping across the flow chart to discuss how internal departments, for example. Finance and marketing, work together to meet business objectives and how these interrelationships are defined by the organisational and legal structure.

Conclusions should be drawn to show how different business structures and internal business functions can successfully fulfil overall business objectives.

You need to create 3 fact sheets and 1 organisational flow chart with explanation.

Word limit overall: 1000–2000 words across all three fact sheets.
Style: concise, professional, well-structured with headings/subsections. 

Step 1-What the fact sheets should cover

Each fact sheet = 1 organisation from a different sector of the sports and leisure industry:

1. Public sector → e.g., Sport England, UK local leisure centre.

1-Background of chosen Organization

2-Vision, mission & objectives → Why does the organisation exist? What are its goals?

3-Organisational & legal structure → Is it a government agency, private company, charity, CIC, or trust?

4-Stakeholders → Who benefits? (e.g., customers, community, government, sponsors).

5-How these link to products & services → Show connection between aims and what they deliver.

2.   Private sector → e.g., Nike, JD Sports, PureGym.

1-Background of chosen Organization

2-Vision, mission & objectives → Why does the organisation exist? What are its goals?

3-Organisational & legal structure → Is it a government agency, private company, charity, CIC, or trust?

4-Stakeholders → Who benefits? (e.g., customers, community, government, sponsors).

5-How these link to products & services → Show connection between aims and what they deliver.

3. Voluntary sector → e.g., local football, charity-run sports team.

1-Background of chosen Organization

2-Vision, mission & objectives → Why does the organisation exist? What are its goals?

3-Organisational & legal structure → Is it a government agency, private company, charity, CIC, or trust?

4-Stakeholders → Who benefits? (e.g., customers, community, government, sponsors).

5-How these link to products & services → Show connection between aims and what they deliver.

Step – 2- Organisational Flow Chart

• Choose one high-performing business (could be Nike, JD Sports, or Sport England etc .)
• Create a visual chart showing its internal departments.
  Example: CEO → Finance → Marketing → HR → Product → Sales.

Step -3 Write an explanation about structure

• How departments are connected.
• How functions like Finance + Marketing work together to achieve objectives. Please discuss all the departments within the organization

🔹 Discussion of Findings

At the end of Part A, write a short reflection/conclusion:

• Compare the 3 different sectors → how do they operate differently?
• Show how their business structure + internal functions help them achieve goals.
• Highlight best practices Avocet or the company of your choice can adopt

Link for different Types of business organisations

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zpx7gdm/revision/