Creating Business Advantage

Assessment Briefing

Assignment question

Carry out a research to find current information about a company of your choice. Use books, newspaper business reports and the internet. You can choose any companythat you are able to gather information. Discuss how the companies are creating a competitive advantage by implementing human resources management practices and benefitingthe financial intermediaries. To define competitive advantage of the company, you should discuss management theory/theories which results and shapes the managerial approach of the company.

Your essay should be 2000 words (+/- 10 %) in length; it should be fully referenced using the Harvard referencing method.

Guidance on answering the assignment question

In answering these questions you should demonstrate:
• That you can research current information about a named company and present that information in your own words. This should include the nature of the business, size, ownership and where available, its turnover, growth and management model.
• That you understand how the company approaches and executes the organisational operations. You should present and explain relevant theories and frameworks by demonstration of practices from chosen company.
• That you can evaluate the organisation's human resources approach by discussing the human perspectives of the relevant management theories. You should demonstrate the approach of the chosen companythroughcompany practices.
• How chosen company benefits financial intermediaries to be competitive in the market.
• That you can understand and define the competitive advantage of the chosen company.

Resources
The basic theory needed to answer this question can be found in the lecture notes and the course textbook and additional resources (see reference below). The company's own website is a good starting point for researching the company but make sure that you present a balanced account by using other sources. Articles written in business journals and publications such as The Economist, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and Financial Times give reports on current developments in the world of business. Many of these are available free on the internet and are searchable. Through the university library you will also be able to gain access to a wide range of academic journals (see references below), national and international newspaper archives and market research reports. The University librarians are there to help if you are having trouble finding suitable references, either electronic or paper based - just ask. The information that you use for your coursework must come from reputable sources so you must be very careful when using the internet for research. If in doubt about the suitability of a particular website please ask your tutor.

Assessment Elements 2: Group Presentation

Choose acompany and identify the marketing strategy of this company. You should also discuss and present operational strategies of chosen company. You should submit and present this assessment as a group. One person on behalf of group could submit the work.
A presentation file (PowerPoint, Pdf, etc...)including references should be submitted before performing presentation. One person from each group could submit the file. Presentation is expected to take 10 minutes. Each group member should be involved in group study and presentation.