Assessment Guidelines for MKT8002 2016
Assessment details
Description Marks out of Wtg(%) Due date
REPORT 1 100 40% Wednesday 20th April 2016
REPORT 2 100 60% Wednesday 8th June 2016
We expect you to submit your assignments on time.
Managing your time is an important skill to develop and extend. To help you to manage your time here are some tips:
• Place all assignment due dates in a calendar (smart phone and/or diary) • Note any assessment items with similar or competing due dates.
• Develop a strategy for ensuring you keep to the assignment deadlines, as having too many assignments is not ground for an extension.
• Allocate 2-3 hour blocks of time per week to work on each assignment, put these blocks of time in your calendar. Make this a priority.
Regarding extensions requests:
Circumstances are considered to be beyond the control of a student if a situation occurs which a reasonable person would consider is not due to the Student's action or inaction, either direct or indirect, and for which the Student is not responsible. The situation must be unusual, uncommon or abnormal.
Students seeking extensions must provide appropriate documentation to support their request before the due date of the assignment.
Please view the USQ policy on this matter:
• Assessment – Assignment (Late Submission) Procedure:
http://policy.usq.edu.au/documents.php?id=14749PL#4.2_Assignments
Reports
There are two reports: Report 1 is worth 40% and Report 2 is worth 60% of the overall assessment respectively. These two reports are inter-related and when completed will form the strategic international marketing plan. The reports are to be completed individually. Detailed information on the reports will be provided at the subsequent section.
IMPORTANT NOTE: It is essential that students read through and understand the requirements for Reports 1 and 2 prior to working on them. When grading a report, the marker does not need to read more words than the stipulated word limit.
Submission details
Electronic assignment submission
You are required to submit your reports electronically via links provided on the UConnect Study Desk for your course. Be sure to label your files carefully and as follows:
o Family name_student number o For example: Miller_123456
Please ONLY use the ABOVE FORMAT when labelling your file for submission. If you labelled it as, for instance, as “Assignment 1” on your computer then please SAVE AS a new file name. The new file name should be as above and use your family name and student number. You will receive a confirmation message when your report has been successfully submitted. By submitting your assignment using your student name and number we can track your assignment submission should something unusual occur. Doing this will protect you.
Note
If you are unable to submit your reports electronically please contact your course team leader to make alternative arrangements.
Examination
There is no end-of-semester examination for this course.
Assessment guidelines
Strategies to avoid unintentional plagiarism
All Australian universities take a strong stance in relation to academic dishonesty.
‘Plagiarism’, allowing the reader of your assignment to assume that other people's work is your own, is arguably the most common instance of academic dishonesty. This impression can be unintentional, so it is advisable to carefully review your work prior to submission.
Carefully read the plagiarism information for students which can be accessed at
http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing/what-is-plagiarism to identify strategies that you can use to ensure that you do not unintentionally leave the impression in your readers’ mind that material you have incorporated from elsewhere is your own work.
Referencing other works in your report
Referencing other works in your written work, citations or in-text references are used to inform the reader of the source of your information. In this course, the Harvard AGPS referencing style is to be used for acknowledging the publications that you have used in your written work.
Presentation
Please view the USQ Library Harvard AGPS referencing presentation for this course.
If you need further information about referencing please refer to the USQ Library web site http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing .
Report 1
Description Marks out of Wtg(%) Due date Objectives assessed
REPORT 1 100 40% Wednesday 20th April 2016 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Topic – Strategic international marketing plan (Part A)
There are two tasks to be completed in Report 1. It is important that students follow the format and guidelines as outlined below.
Task 1 – Strategic international marketing plan
Length: No more than 3000 words (When grading a report, the marker does not need to read more words than the stipulated word limit.)
This is the first of a two part strategic international marketing plan for a product or service to be launched in a foreign country market. Students are required to choose a product or service, and the new foreign country market that it will be launched in. For example, exporting chilled beef from Australia to China.
The objective is to provide students with the opportunity to apply the key concepts of international marketing to a real world marketing challenge. This first part of the strategic international marketing plan emphasizes the need to understand the global environments as an essential first step in preparing a strategic international marketing plan.
Format and guidelines
The report should be structured according to the following format and also in accordance with the presentation guidelines (pp. 11–13) as outlined in the Communication skills handbook (2010).
Strategic international marketing plan
? Letter of transmittal
? Title page
? Table of contents
? Introduction – this section should clearly state the purpose, limitations and scope of the report.
? Background – this section should introduce the product or service to be marketed in the foreign country market you have selected and provide relevant information about its background. The following issues should be addressed.
? Introduce the company that will launch the product or service.
? Description of the product or service including its features and benefits.
? Rationale for selecting this product or service.
? Background on the selected foreign country market.
? Rationales/reasons for introducing the product or service into the selected foreign country market (e.g. growing trend in the selected foreign market).
? Environmental analysis – this section is to analyse the external environment (i.e. economic and financial, cultural, political and legal) of the selected foreign country market and should address the following:
? Analyse the relevant factors in the economic and financial environment and discuss the outcomes and their potential marketing implications for your company or product/service.
? Analyse the relevant factors in the cultural environment and discuss the outcomes and their potential marketing implications for your company or product/service.
? Analyse the relevant factors in the political and legal environment and discuss the outcomes and their potential marketing implications for your company or product/service.
? Conclusions – this section should essentially summarise the main points and findings of the report.
? List of references – this section should include all reference materials used in the report. Harvard AGPS referencing style should be used in the report.
Link to the Harvard AGPS referencing exercises to help you review this referencing style.
Marking criteria for Report 1
Report 1 – Marking criteria available on the Course Study Desk
Report 2
Description Marks out of Wtg(%) Due date Objectives assessed
REPORT 2 100 60% Wednesday 8th June 2016 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Topic – Strategic international marketing plan (Part B)
Length: No more than 4000 words – excluding the content in Report 1 which is to be integrated into Report 2. Please refer to the ‘Format and guidelines’ section below for more detailed information. (When grading a report, the marker does not need to read more words than the stipulated word limit.)
This is the second part of the strategic international marketing plan to be developed by students which extends Report 1 – Task 1. With the background information and the understanding of the environment in Report 1, the emphasis of this second part of the strategic international marketing plan is on the target market and competitive analyses, and the development of appropriate market entry strategy as well as the international marketing mix strategies for the product or service that will be launched in the selected foreign country market (as identified in Report 1).
Format and guidelines
The report should be structured according to the following format and also in accordance with the presentation guidelines (pp. 11–13) as outlined in the Communication skills handbook (2010).
? Letter of transmittal
? Title page
? Executive summary – this section should state the major purpose, the method of analysis, the findings and recommendations of the entire report (including those presented in Report 1). It should not be more than 1 page in length.
? Table of contents
? Introduction – this section should clearly state the purpose, limitations and scope of the report.
? Background – include this section from your Report 1 with minimal changes. This particular section WILL NOT be assessed but rather to provide the reader with the necessary background information.
? Environmental analysis – include this section from your Report 1 with minimal changes. This particular section WILL NOT be assessed but rather to provide the reader with the necessary information.
? Target market and competitive analysis – this section should identify ONE target market segment (within the selected foreign country market in your Report 1) and provide adequate justifications for its selection, and analyse the competitive situation facing the company in the selected target market segment. The following issues should be addressed.
? Identify the target market segment and provide appropriate justifications to its selection. Your selected target market segment can be based on a combination of: demographic (e.g. gender, income, education), geographic (e.g. region, city size, climate), psychographic (e.g. lifestyles, personality attributes) or behavioural (e.g. price sensitivity, end use, occasion, benefit expectations) variables.
? Analyse the target market segment conditions (e.g. demand and potential, consumer/business buying habits).
? Describe and analyse the key competitors (preferably 2 most significant ones).
? Compare and contrast the product or service with the key competitors’ product or service (e.g. features, packaging, pricing, promotional and advertising methods).
? Target market entry strategy – this section is to identify the appropriate market entry strategy for the target market. Adequate justifications to the market entry strategy are essential.
? Recommendations – this section should provide recommendations on appropriate international marketing mix strategies (i.e. the 4Ps strategies) for the selected target market. Justifications on the recommendations are required. The following issues should be addressed.
? Discuss the international product strategy (e.g. product standardisation, product adaptation, product branding) and provide appropriate justifications for your recommendation.
? Discuss the international pricing strategy (e.g. market skimming, market pricing, penetration pricing) and provide appropriate justifications for your recommendation.
? Discuss the international promotional/communication strategy (e.g. advertising, sales promotions, direct marketing) and provide appropriate justifications for your recommendation.
? Discuss the international logistics and distribution strategy (e.g. distribution system, channel and relationships, integrated, independent logistics, transportation, warehousing) and provide appropriate justifications for your recommendation.
? Conclusions – this section should essentially summarise the main points and findings in the entire report, including the recommendations.
? List of references – this section should include all reference materials used in the report.
Harvard AGPS referencing style should be used in the report.
Link to the Harvard AGPS referencing exercises to help you review this referencing style.
Marking criteria for Report 2
Report 2 – Marking criteria available on the Course Study Desk
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