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FASH 1139:
FUNDAMENTALS OF LOGISTICS
BRAND RESEARCH PROJECT
This major project has two equal parts worth 30% of the total grade for this course. Professor Aldo Forgione will assign a clothing brand to each student and the student is responsible for researching the brand and its logistics (see the scope of the report and presentation as outlined below). If you have not received a brand name to research by November 1, 2021, please email XXX.
The first part worth 15% requires each student to write and submit a report or newsletter (minimum 1000 words) about the brand assigned and addresses the questions or areas mentioned below. All students are required to submit their brand research report or newsletter by no later than 10 pm on Wednesday, December 1, 2021.
The second part of this project is also worth 15% with 2/3rds of the marks being earned by transforming your brand report into a presentation (PowerPoint or video) that will be posted on the course’s Blackboard as a Discussion Board. The other 1/3rd of the marks relate to the comments and posts by classmates. Each student is expected to read, watch and post comments to at least five (5) of the presentations of their classmates. Students may deliver their PowerPoint, pdf or multimedia presentation as early as December 4 but no later than 6 pm on Sunday December 12, 2021…. earlier postings are encouraged due to a portion of each student’s evaluation being attributed to class comments and feedback.
The written submission is to be emailed to XXXXX whereas the brand presentation is to be submitted through Course Messages….please submit the presentation in a format that can be easily displayed within the BB Discussion Board.
For Part 1 of this Major Logistics Research Assignment, each student must write a report or newsletter from the perspective of the fictional position of Chief Logistics Officer for the company/brand that has been assigned to you. All of the assigned brands use global suppliers in Asia, Africa or South America and it is the task of the student to research and find out information about the brand’s product producers and suppliers and the nature of the supply chain for the brand’s apparel products. The report or newsletter to be submitted should start with an introduction of the brand and the Company that owns the brand and then proceed to describe the following for the brand:
Business strategies (cost leadership or differentiation or focus) with relevant financial and business information that show the brand’s revenues in Canada;
Criteria or considerations used for evaluating global suppliers and the company’s initiatives, if any, in the field of ethical and sustainable sourcing;
and your report should also describe at least two of the following elements of logistics:
Demand Forecasting, Transportation, Enterprise Resource Planning Software, Warehousing, Inventory Management, Customer Service, Reverse Logistics, Packaging, Total Cost Analysis and/or Order Management.
The Part 1 report or newsletter must be a minimum of 1,000 words to receive a Pass. You MUST work on this Newsletter by yourself and please use your own words throughout. Students should not parrot or copy the brand’s marketing hype; students are encouraged to present a behind-the-scene-look at the assigned brand. Reference sources and citations (if any) may be placed as endnotes in your Part 1 report or newsletter.
For Part 2, if your Presentation will be comprised of PowerPoint with no audio, there must be a minimum of 20 slides. If your presentation has a voice or audio file that accompanies the PowerPoint, the minimum requirement is 15 slides; and for any video or other multi-media presentation, the minimum length to obtain a pass grade is 5 minutes.
Students are permitted a broad scope in respect of their brand presentation. For the presentations due in December 2021, students are asked to present some insights and analysis as to how Covid19 has affected the brand’s approach to this year’s holiday season and whether you believe the company/brand will change its demand forecasts for certain products or make any changes to its supply chain to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and/or other health and ethical sourcing initiatives….and students are asked to end their presentations with a description of the opportunities and challenges presented to the Brand and possibly a prediction of the direction or path the Brand will take over the next 3 – 5 years.
Guidelines for Assignments and Presentations:
Written submissions must be minimum 1,000 words, not counting endnotes, graphs and other referenced materials;
Photos, quotes and graphs are encouraged but please remember to cite all copied and researched materials with a reference to the source shown beside the materials; for the written report, please show reference materials as endnotes;
NOTE that plagiarism of any part of this research project will result in grade of zero for this project and possible expulsion from the program.
Creativity in respect of your presentation is encouraged! Multimedia presentations typically receive A and A+ grades
Students will be required to post responses in respect of at least 5 student presentations; students may receive participation marks for additional comments and posts beyond the minimum of 5 intelligent and considerate posts.
Presentations to be submitted to Professor through Course Messages