BUSM2562 Understanding the Business Environment Assessment 3: Case Study Analysis — Due date: Thursday, Week 10, 11:59pm (Melbourne Time) Weighting: 40% Word limit:1500 Words (+/-10%) Assessment type: Report Group or individual assessment: Individual — Overview This assessment task is a case analysis

BUSM2562 Understanding the Business

Environment

Assessment 3: Case Study Analysis

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Due date: Thursday, Week 10, 11:59pm (Melbourne Time)

Weighting: 40%

Word limit:1500 Words (+/-10%)

Assessment type: Report

Group or individual assessment: Individual

—

Overview

This assessment task is a case analysis. You are required to answer four out of the five case study

questions that have been provided to you. Each of the case study questions will ask you to use one

of the analytical tools covered in the course to answer the question.

Purpose

The purpose of this assessment is to develop your ability to select and apply business and

economic methods to analyse issues that impact firms or businesses.

This assessment allows you to draw out many of the concepts and tools you have learned about

during the whole course and is an opportunity for you to apply your analytical skills to the four case

studies chosen.

What do you need to deliver?

• 1 report addressing 4 questions

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Tools

• You need to read the case scenarios carefully to ensure you address what is being asked.

The various cases may provide a specific instruction (e.g. create a table) or may direct you to

use a particular tool or framework (e.g. “Using only ONE of PESTEL, SWOT or Porter’s 5

Forces) that should be followed. Where such visual aids are used in your response be sure

to then add a caption and narrative to explain and integrate into your answer.

Course learning outcomes

This assessment is linked to the following course learning outcomes:

CLO 1 Explain how business is affected by the many different types of environments in which it

operates, the main features of the business environment and its main institutions.

CLO 2 Analyse how different theories relevant to business apply to different components of the

business ecosystem.

CLO 3 Identify the different modes of engagement with international markets and explore the

interconnectedness between these and the economic, legal, governmental, political,

regulatory, cultural and other environments in which expanding companies operate

CLO 4 Use multiple perspectives to interpret and analyse real problems in a global business

environment.

CLO 5 Curate your personal, reflective Bachelor of Business eportfolio for a range of

narratives/uses including documenting achievement of the program learning outcomes and

for the purpose of future careers and employability skills.

Marking criteria

This assessment will measure your ability to:

• Translate the case study topic into a question or questions amenable to microeconomic

analysis (5%)

• Select relevant models and concepts from the course syllabus to analyse the case study

topic (10%)

• Apply relevant models and concepts covered in the course in order to analyse the topic

(15%)

• Draw correct and relevant conclusions from the analysis that inform recommendations for

business decision making and/or which inform strategy and policy development (10%)

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Assessment Details

To complete Assessment 3, you will answer four out of the five case study questions. If more than four

questions are answered, marks will be awarded for the first four answers only. You should use analytical

tools as directed OR where no specific tools are mentioned you can select what you believe to be a

relevant tool(s) from those covered as part of this course.

CASE 1

Proud Mary is a Melbourne (Australia) based company that supplies coffee beans (sourced directly from

their origin) to several local retail locations across Melbourne. In these cafes, a variety of beverages and

breakfast foods are served along with a range of brewed coffee beverages.

Perform a stakeholder analysis of Proud Mary. Identify who Proud Mary’s main stakeholder groups are

and explain how they affect Proud Mary. Also address how Proud Mary affects its stakeholders. What can

Proud Mary do to achieve its business objectives and how would its stakeholders be impacted? In your

answer identify consider the costs and benefits in pursuing such policies for Proud Mary as a business.

CASE 2

Melbourne boasts many more coffee shops (and better coffee) than most other cities in the world. One

reason may lie in its changing demographics: Melbourne is the fastest-growing city in the industrialised

world but is also increasingly known for its blossoming creative scene and generally sophisticated, worldly

urban population.

Using the demand-supply model, illustrate and analyse the likely effect of these demographic changes on

the Melbourne coffee shop market. Conclude your case by identifying and discussing any other factors

that may impact the demand and supply for coffee shops in Melbourne.

CASE 3

Proud Mary has grown since its inception in 2009 and is now considering the next stage of its

development. Leon Kennedy, the General Manager, has charged you with performing a basic strategic

analysis of the business. Use one of the following tools to undertake the analysis – PESTEL or SWOT or

Porter’s 5 Forces. Using your selected tool analyse how Proud Mary may best position its resources to

achieve both its desired economic and social objectives (i.e. balancing profits with doing good).

CASE 4

The latest Melbourne suburb to have achieved “hip” status is Footscray. Gentrification and an influx of

young professionals mean that there is growing demand for quality espresso beverages from a familiar

Melbourne boutique brand. Assume that as a result of the increased demand, the coffee shop market in

Footscray can now sustain one new coffee shop. If there were more than one new coffee shop, the

greater number of entrants would mean losses for all. Proud Mary and another popular brand, Industry

Beans, are considering making the considerable investment necessary to set up a retail cafe in Footscray.

Analyse the interaction between the two businesses using game theory. Present a payoff matrix to model

the situation and perform an analyse to identify the Nash equilibrium. What can Proud Mary do increase

the likelihood of achieving the outcome in its best interests?

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CASE 5

Proud Mary is considering producing its own coffee beans by establishing a new coffee farm. Using

concepts and theories from the course covered in ‘the global context of the firm’, advise Proud Mary about

how it can best expand its business into coffee bean production. Also in your analysis address which

countries should be considered as the target of this investment and why. Identify relevant social,

environmental, and economic issues that need to be considered given its mixture of economic and social

objectives.

Target Audience and writing tips

For each case question position yourself as an internal business analyst that is preparing a report to be

delivered to Proud Mary’s senior leadership team. Adopt a formal tone and consider the writing tips below.

• Be concise without sacrificing the detail needed to clearly articulate your repoonse.

• Where required support your answers with visualisations that will help the senior leaders reading

your report to understand points being made

Note: Your online facilitator will cover this in weekly webinars too and provide some tips for a good report

writing approach.

Recommended Length and Structure

What you need to do to complete Assessment 3:

1. Choose four out of the five case study questions.

2. Select the method to answer the question - these methods can be any framework, concept, model,

theory or business tool from the course modules or tutorials.

3. Provide a short summary or description of the method that you have chosen.

4. Apply the method to your issue. Report the different steps of your analysis and your findings. You

should apply the tools from the relevant topics to your specific case and use relevant diagrams or

models as they answer the question better than using only words. If your chosen method comes

with such models (e.g., diagrams or graphs), not using these in your assignment will result in a

significant loss in marks.

5. Your conclusion will directly answer the question, and maybe look at the big picture - the

significance and limitations of your work. Provide answer to questions like: What have you learnt

from your analysis for business or government policy? So what?

You are encouraged to use the Folio tool in Canvas to document your answers to the questions you

selected for future reflection.

A suggested approach for meeting the 1500-word count is as follows

1. Cover sheet

2. Executive Summary

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3. Introduction identifying the 4 key questions being addressed (100-150 words)

4. Question A (300 words)

5. Question B (300 words)

6. Question C (300 words)

7. Question D (300 words)

8. Summary (100 – 150 words)

9. References

Required references

Both contemporary academic and some media references are required.

Referencing Guidelines

Use RMIT Harvard referencing style for this assessment.

If you are using secondary sources, include these as a reference list in your report.

You must acknowledge all the sources of information you have used in your assessments.

Refer to the RMIT Easy Cite referencing tool to see examples and tips on how to reference in the

appropriate style. You can also refer to the Library referencing page for other tools such as EndNote,

referencing tutorials and referencing guides for printing.

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Submission instructions

The assessment will be submitted in Canvas as a file upload here.

Your submission should be a word-processed document (i.e. Word) not exceeding 1,500 word (+/-

10%) limit. Any diagrams you wish to use can be inserted into this document in any way you like, i.e.

created in the word-processing software itself, or inserted as a photograph of a pencil drawing, or

from another software.

Label your figures and tables, including numbers, and refer to them in the text by their numbers.

For every 10% word count (not counting bibliography) over the limit, you will lose 10% of the

assignment marks until it reaches zero. There is no discretionary margin above this limit. There is no

minimum, but you are advised to use all the words to allow for a more developed and detailed

analysis.

As per University regulations, late assignments receive a 10% penalty per day until the mark

reaches zero.

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Academic integrity and plagiarism information

Academic integrity is about honest presentation of your academic work. It means acknowledging the

work of others while developing your own insights, knowledge, and ideas.

You should take extreme care that you have:

• Acknowledged words, data, diagrams, models, frameworks and/or ideas of others you have

quoted (i.e., directly copied), summarised, paraphrased, discussed, or mentioned in your

assessment through the appropriate referencing methods

• Provided a reference list and /or bibliography of the publication details so your reader can

locate the source if necessary. This includes material used from Internet sites.

If you do not acknowledge the sources of your material, you may be accused of plagiarism because

you have passed off the work and ideas of another person without appropriate referencing, as if they

were your own.

RMIT University treats plagiarism as a very serious offence constituting misconduct.

Plagiarism covers a variety of inappropriate behaviours, including:

• Failure to properly document a source

• Copyright material from the internet or databases

• Collusion between students

For further information on our policies and procedures, please refer to the University website.

Assessment declaration

When you submit work electronically, you agree to the assessment declaration