Task
As you are a marketing consultant, analyse the marketing tactics adopted by:
MDX (MiddleSex University London) Business School, especially for BA Business and Management courses, and propose ways to improve student educational experience. Address your consultancy report to your client, MDX Vice Chancellor, Prof. Nic Beech.
OR
your choice of company, and propose ways to enhance customer experience and increase revenue. Address your consultancy report to your client, the CEO of your chosen company.
Word count: 3,000 words maximum: approximately, executive summary 300 words; introduction 500 words including introduction to MDX OR your chosen company, main body 1,900 words (analysis 900 words, proposal 1,000 words), conclusion 300 words. These are inclusive of in text references. Anything you wish not to be included within the 3,000 words should be in the appendix. Therefore, if you include tables and figures in the text, these will count towards the 3,000 words.
Assessment: Individual Report Marking Criteria (fill in your student number and attach this to the front of your Individual Report if you are not using the format provided in the UniHub).
Student No: ______________________
Marking criteria
Feedback
Mark (%)
Critical analysis and evaluation of 7Ps adopted by MDX Business School for BA Business and Management courses (MDXBS)OR your chosen company, and link to the appropriate theory
The mark will depend on the analysis of marketing tactics adopted by MDX Business School for BA Business and Management courses (MDXBS) OR by your chosen company, and on the understanding of theory.
Distinction (21 and above) = Excellent and well-informed understanding of theories and concepts involved. Most if not all of marketing tactics are analysed based on theory.
Merit (18-20) = Good understanding of theories and concepts involved. Majority of marketing tactics are analysed based on theory.
2:2 (15-17) = Demonstrates satisfactory knowledge and understanding theories and concepts. Identified half of marketing tactics based on theory
Pass (12-14) = Adequate content; limited depth of knowledge and understanding shown. Presented mere description of what MDXBS/of your chosen company does.
Fail (11 and below) = Inadequate content; limited depth of knowledge and understanding shown. Unable to identify relevant marketing tactics adopted by MDXBS/by your chosen company.
/30%
Appropriateness, practicality, and depth of the proposal
The mark will partly depend on how well you have identified marketing tactics of MDXBS/of your chosen company, and partly how well you have supported your ideas, opinions, and/or arguments in the proposal.
Distinction (21 and above) = Proposals are appropriate for MDXBS/your chosen company, and are practical as well as are supported by credible (both academic and commercial) sources.
Merit (18-20) = Proposals are appropriate for MDX/your chosen company, and are practical as well as are supported by some credible (both academic and commercial) sources.
2:2 (15-17) = Practical proposals with credible sources for half of marketing tactics, or fewer practical proposals with fewer credible sources for most if not all of the marketing tactics adopted by MDXBS/your chosen company.
Pass (12-14) = Some practical proposals, or proposals are practical but there is no supporting evidence based on some identified marketing tactics.
Fail (11 and below) = unsuitable proposals for MDXBS/your chosen company, or fail to identify marketing tactics adopted by MDXBS/by your chosen company, then the proposals will not achieve a pass in this category.
/30%
Evidence of academic reading beyond module material and core textbook
This criterion looks at the no. of academic sources, AND depth of your understanding of the sources used. Merely a large number of academic readings do not achieve a distinction in this category. You need to demonstrate your in-depth understanding of those readings as well.
Distinction (7 and above) = Broad and relevant academic readings examined and used selectively in the report
Merit (6) = Good range of appropriate academic references used in the report
2:2 (5) = Conventional academic references and readings used in the report
Pass (4) = Adequate but limited use of academic references in the report
Fail (3 and below) = Report rely on one or no references; evidence of unexamined personal opinion
/10%
Use of supporting data/evidence/ contemporary examples
This criterion looks at how well you use company website, newspapers, magazines, Mintel data, or any secondary data for supporting your ideas, arguments, and/or opinions. Hence, if you provide an example which is entirely your own opinion, it will not achieve a pass in this category.
Distinction (7 and above) = Broad and relevant supporting data/evidence/ contemporary examples examined and used selectively in the report
Merit (6) = Good range of appropriate supporting data/evidence/ contemporary examples used in the report
2:2 (5) = Conventional supporting data/evidence/contemporary examples used in the report
Pass (4) = Adequate but limited use of supporting data/evidence/contemporary examples in the report
Fail (3 and below) = Report rely on one or no supporting data/evidence/ contemporary examples; but on unexamined personal opinion
/10%
Integrity of sources
This criterion focuses on whether sources you used are credible.
When your sources are all credible, then it will be a 100% in this category.
Wikipedia is not a credible source hence will not achieve a pass in this category.
5 = All of your sources are credible.
3.5 and above = 70% of your sources are credible.
3 = The majority of your sources are credible.
2.5 = Half of your sources are credible.
2 = Few of your sources are credible.
1.5 and below = Wikipedia or blog is used as a reference
/5%
Presentation, structuring of ideas including language and grammar
Please follow the submission guide. Failure to do so may result in a fail in this category depending on the level of breach.
Use of informal language and/or ungrammatical sentences may also result in a fail in this category depending on the extent of the usage.
For a distinction in this category, the report should flow from the beginning to the end.
Lack of flow and/or repetition may cause a fail in this category depending on how serious they are.
7 and above = The report is very well expressed, with appropriate language and grammar for a consultancy report, offers a tightly structured, logical and cogent argument, and has adopted the submission guidelines.
6 = The report is very well expressed with some spelling errors and/or informal language. Most of the submission guidelines are followed.
5 = The report is clearly expressed with observable structure, but with spelling and grammar errors, and/or informal language. Some of the submission guidelines are followed.
4 = Expression is reasonably clear but structure is loose with some spelling and grammar errors and/or informal language. Some of the submission guidelines are followed.
3 and below = The report is unclear, poorly structured and expressed, lacks flow and/or is repetitive and confusing with grammatical and spelling errors. The submission guidelines are rarely followed
/10%
Harvard Referencing
For a distinction in this category, the great majority of references in-text and in the reference list must be Harvard system. Inconsistent use of Harvard system will only likely to achieve a pass in this category depending on the extent of inconsistency.
5 = All references in-text and in the reference list are Harvard system.
3.5 = the great majority of the references in test and in the reference list are Harvard system.
3 = The majority of the references in-text and in the reference list are Harvard system.
2.5 = Half references in-text and in the reference list are Harvard system.
2 = Some references in-text and in the reference list are Harvard system.
1.5 = Most of the references are not Harvard system.
/5%
Within 3,000 words?
Yes/No
Final draft submitted on time?
Yes/No
Screenshot of completed online quiz for each lecture attached?
Yes/No
A short paragraph answering to one question for each seminar attached?
Yes/No
Total Mark
/100%
1st Marker:
2nd Marker:
Executive summary (300 words)
This section is not an introduction. An executive summary is a summary of the whole report so that here, you have the introduction, MDXBS/your chosen company background, findings, recommendation and the conclusion. Please be brief and concise. Write this after you finish your report.
Introduction (500 words including a short introduction to MDX OR your chosen company with the website address)
Introduce your report as to what you are going to write, and introduce MDX OR your chosen company in terms of the followings:
1. Four categories of service wks1-2 (choose the one that MDX OR your chosen company belong to)
People processing
Possession processing
Mental stimulus processing
Information processing
2. Marketing challenges related to characteristics of services wks1-2 (discuss those specifically related to MDX OR your chosen company)
Intangibility/lack of ownership
Heterogeneity/variability
Inseparability/simultaneity
Perishability
3. Service attribute wk2 (choose the one that MDX OR your chosen company belong to)
Search attributes
Experience attributes
Credence attribute
4. Moment of truth/service encounter wk2 (choose the one that MDX OR your chosen company belong to)
Technology free service encounter
Technology assisted service encounter
Technology facilitated service encounter
Technology mediated service encounter
Technology generated service encounter
5. segmentation, targeting and positioning wk2 (discuss those specifically related to MDX OR your chosen company)
How markets are segmented
Common characteristics of customers
Positioning in the market
WK No. refers to the teaching week in which the topic will be covered.
Analysis of marketing tactics (900 words)
No need to provide references in the analysis. All theories and concepts: you do not need to explain what they mean. References in analysis will not count toward to the mark, but will count toward to the word count of 3,000 words.
Analyse MDXBS OR your chosen company (be critical, and clearly point out what the problems are) in terms of the followings:
6. Product wk4
Core service
Enhancing supplementary services
Facilitating supplementary services
For example, what they offer is as good as or better/worse than the competitors, and is what customers want? If not, why not?
7. Place – Distribution wk4
Physical vs. online distribution
For example, how suitable the distribution to the rest of marketing tactics? How is the distribution coverage, e.g., geography, and no. of customers?
8. Pricing strategy wk5
Cost, competition, value-based pricing
Fences
Customer value perception
Associated/related monetary cost
Non-monetary cost
For example, which pricing strategy adopted? Is the adopted strategy suitable for the target market, and align with the rest of the marketing tactics?
9. Promotion wk5
Problems of Intangibility
Promotional mix
Strategies to stimulate positive WOM
Educating customers
For example, has the suitable promotion adopted? Is the adopted promotion suitable for the target market, and align with the rest of the marketing tactics?
10. Service Process wk6
Blueprint (if any, supply in Appendix)
Customer participation, SSTs
For example, is the process failure free? Has any part of the process require customer participation/SSTs? How many possible failure points can you identify in the process?
11. Physical environment wk6
Exterior
Interior
Ambient
Spatial layout
For example, has physical environment tangibilised intangible? If not, why not? Has the four main purposes of service environments (as known as servicecape) been fulfilled in Dr Beckett dental service?
12. HRM wk7
Recruitment & selection
Training
Empowerment
Teamwork
Performance appraisals & reward
Communication
For example, is service teams successful? Is employee empowerment necessary? What are the advantages and disadvantages of employee empowerem? How well HRM supports the marketing tactics? Does Gap 3 contribute to Gap 5?
13. Quality and productivity wk8
Gap model
Underlying causes & improvement
Productivity improvement strategies
For example, how perceived quality and customer satisfaction are measured at the moment? Are those measurements adequate?
14. Demand and capacity wk8
Capacity constrains
Adjust capacity to match demand
Adjust demand to match capacity
For example, how do they manage productivity at the moment? Demand and capacity: how well do they handle the number of customers they have?
No of wk refers to the teaching week in which the topic will be covered.
You can focus on all of the topic above, or can concentrate on 7Ps in the MKT3014 lectures with more in-depth analysis.
Proposals (1,000 words)
Supply as many references as you can to support your recommendations. When your recommendations are supported by reliable sources (academic and/or commercial), they will count towards the mark.
Please be realistic about your recommendations.
References to other publications in your text should be written as follows:
Single author: (Adams, 2006)
Two authors: (Adams and Brown, 2006)
Three or more authors: (Adams et al., 2006)
There is no limit for the number of recommendations, but it should match the analysis. For example: If you did not analyse non-monetary costs such as time cost, physical cost, psychological cost and sensory in the previous section, but have recommendations for these aspects in the proposal, then you do not get full mark.
Product
Place – Distribution
Pricing strategy
Promotion
People
Service Process
Physical environment
HRM
Quality and productivity
Demand and capacity
Conclusion (300 words)
Summarise what you have written. Do not introduce new ideas here.
Appendix(ces) if any (do not count towards the word count of max. of 3,000 words)
Supply a blueprint if you wish, but make sure that you discuss it in the analysis and proposal sections.
References (do not count towards the word count of max. of 3,000 words)
Please make sure all references are credible.
Also please.
Also please adopt Harvard system and supply a reference list in alphabetical order using the style guidelines below. Where a DOI is available, this should be included at the end of the reference. If not sure, check here https://www.citethemrightonline.com/.
For books
Surname, initials (year), title of book, publisher, place of publication.
e.g. Harrow, R. (2005), No Place to Hide, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.
For book chapters
Surname, initials (year), “chapter title”, editor’s surname, initials (Ed.), title of book, publisher, place of publication, page numbers.
e.g. Calabrese, F.A. (2005), “The early pathways: theory to practice – a continuum”, Stankosky, M. (Ed.), Creating the Discipline of Knowledge Management, Elsevier, New York, NY, pp.15-20.
For journals
Surname, initials (year), “title of article”, journal name, volume issue, page numbers.
e.g. Capizzi, M.T. and Ferguson, R. (2005), “Loyalty trends for the twenty-first century”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp.72-80.
For published conference proceedings
Surname, initials (year of publication), “title of paper”, in editor’s surname, initials (Ed.), title of published proceeding which may include place and date(s) held, publisher, place of publication, page numbers.
e.g. Wilde, S. and Cox, C. (2008), “Principal factors contributing to the competitiveness of tourism destinations at varying stages of development”, in Richardson, S., Fredline, L., Patiar A., & Ternel, M. (Ed.s), CAUTHE 2008: Where the ‘bloody hell’ are we?, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Qld, pp.115-118.
For unpublished conference proceedings
Surname, initials (year), “title of paper”, paper presented at [name of conference], [date of conference], [place of conference], available at: URL if freely available on the internet (accessed date).
e.g. Aumueller, D. (2005), “Semantic authoring and retrieval within a wiki”, paper presented at the European Semantic Web Conference (ESWC), 29 May-1 June, Heraklion, Crete, available at: http://dbs.uni-leipzig.de/file/aumueller05wiksar.pdf (accessed 20 February 2007).
For working papers
Surname, initials (year), “title of article”, working paper [number if available], institution or organization, place of organization, date.
e.g. Moizer, P. (2003), “How published academic research can inform policy decisions: the case of mandatory rotation of audit appointments”, working paper, Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, Leeds, 28 March.
For encyclopaedia entries (with no author or editor)
Title of encyclopaedia (year), “title of entry”, volume, edition, title of encyclopaedia, publisher, place of publication, page numbers.
e.g. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1926), “Psychology of culture contact”, Vol. 1, 13th ed., Encyclopaedia Britannica, London and New York, NY, pp.765-771.
(for authored entries, please refer to book chapter guidelines above)
For newspaper articles (authored)
Surname, initials (year), “article title”, newspaper, date, page numbers.
e.g. Smith, A. (2008), “Money for old rope”, Daily News, 21 January, pp.1, 3-4.
For newspaper articles (non-authored)
Newspaper (year), “article title”, date, page numbers.
e.g. Daily News (2008), “Small change”, 2 February, p.7.
For archival or other unpublished sources
Surname, initials (year), “title of document”, unpublished manuscript, collection name, inventory record, name of archive, location of archive.
e.g. Litman, S. (1902), “Mechanism & Technique of Commerce”, unpublished manuscript, Simon Litman Papers, Record series 9/5/29 Box 3, University of Illinois Archives, Urbana-Champaign, IL.
For electronic sources
If available online, the full URL should be supplied at the end of the reference, as well as the date that the resource was accessed.
Surname, initials (year), “title of electronic source”, available at: persistent URL (accessed date month year).
e.g. Weida, S. and Stolley, K. (2013), “Developing strong thesis statements”, available at: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/1/ (accessed 20 June 2018)
Standalone URLs, i.e. those without an author or date, should be included either inside parentheses within the main text, or preferably set as a note (Roman numeral within square brackets within text followed by the full URL address at the end of the paper).
For data
Surname, initials (year), title of dataset, name of data repository, available at: persistent URL, (accessed date month year).
e.g. Campbell, A. and Kahn, R.L. (2015), American National Election Study, 1948, ICPSR07218-v4, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (distributor), Ann Arbor, MI, available at: https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07218.v4 (accessed 20 June 2018)
(I have copied a relevant section from the Author Guidelines from IJCHM website)
Please supply a screenshot or a snip copy of completed online quiz for each lecture (do not count towards the word count of max. of 3,000 words)
Wk2 Introduction to Service Marketing Management, and Consumer Behaviour in Competitive Markets
Wk4 Service Products and Distribution
Wk5 Price and Promotion
Wk6 Service Process and Environment
Wk7 Managing people for service advantage
Wk8 Quality, Productivity, Demand and Capacity
Wk9 We ALL deserve a 2nd Chance! And Quick recap of all topics
Please supply a short one paragraph answer to one question for each seminar (do not count towards the word count of max. of 3,000 words)
Wk2 supply your chosen question here then answer below
Wk4 supply your chosen question here then answer below
Wk5 supply your chosen question here then answer below
Wk6 supply your chosen question here then answer below
Wk7 supply your chosen question here then answer below
Wk8 supply your chosen question here then answer below
Wk9 supply your chosen question here then answer below