Group Written Assignment Brief

Taylors University
Dual Award Programme

BUS2304 / MKT60104
Principles of Marketing
March 2015 Semester

Group Written Assignment (35%)

Company and Marketing Strategy : partnering to Build Customer Relationships
As an employee of a business consulting company that specialises in assisting clients who
want to start small business, you have been assigned to a client who is interested in
introducing a new concept in a health club that offers its customers both the usual exercise
and weight training opportunities coupled with certain related types of medical assistance
such as physical therapy, a weight loss physician and diagnostic testing. As you begin
thinking about the potential for success for this client, you realise that developing a
marketing plan is going to be essential.

Detail to the client a Marketing Plan consisting of the below sections:

Executive Summary (length : a page maximum)

Introduction (Mission Statement, Company Background; to name a few)
A SWOT analysis
Objectives and issues
A description of the target market(s) / customer analysis
Positioning strategy / strategies
An outline of the product strategies that satisfy the objectives and address the
target market.

You are free to create a fictitious company of the client and other information to embark and
complete this assignment. However, all the information provided must be sufficiently detailed
enough in your capacity as a consultant to this client. Please regard your work of 1200
words as a marketing plan to the owner of a live health club. Also, your work of 1200 words
must be in a report format; complete with relevant sections (such as the above), illustrations
and appendices of a marketing plan to a live health club.

Group formation : students are requested to form groups comprising of a maximum 3

students per group.
Assignment Format
This assignment must be typed with the following criterias:
Time News Roman font, sized 12 and double line spacing.
Length: 1200 words (plus minus 10%); not including reference list, tables, charts,
illustrations and appendices. Marks will be deducted for insufficient / excessive
length.
Please include the word count at the end of your assignment.
Number all the pages of your assignment. Staple all the pages (binding is not
required).
The assignment should also contain references from relevant books, journals and/or
magazines. The Harvard Referencing guidelines are to be followed and plagiarised
work will be penalised.

Submission of Group Written Assignment

Time and deadline : latest by 12noon; 28th of May 2015 (both hard and softcopy)

Late Submission of Assignments please refer to page 12 of the MIB for details.

You are required to submit your written assignment electronically via the Digital Dropbox in
TIMeS and a hardcopy submission into your tutors designated collection box outside the
Academic Services Office at Block E, Level 2.
Arrange the pages in the following order:
1. Assignment cover sheet for group assignment (see Appendix)
2. Marking rubric (see Appendix)
3. Content of the assignment
4. Turnitin report
5. Reference List
6. Appendices
As a returning student, we will not accept any excuses for the above not to be
complied.
Team Dynamics
YOU are responsible for making YOUR group work. This is a true reflection of a workplace
environment where people MUST work together. In situations where there is group conflict
take active steps to correct it BEFORE submission. This is YOUR responsibility NOT the
Lecturers.
Where conflict CANNOT be resolved within a group, then group members in consultation
with their Lecturer will determine the marks allocation for each member to ensure that
individuals within groups receive marks in line with their contribution. Marks will be adjusted
if there is group consensus that a member DID NOT CONTRIBUTE EQUALLY. This will only
be considered when there is a RECORD of meetings, attendance at meetings, medical
certificates and dates when documents are submitted by each group member as evidence of
contribution.

Zero CONTRIBUTION WILL = ZERO MARKS!

25% CONTRIBUTION WILL = 25% OF THE MARKS.

In addition, every student will need to complete a Peer Evaluation Form to assess himself /
herself and the other members of the same group / team. This form / document will be
used to arrive to a decision should there be a group conflict. Please download the form
from TIMeS and submit the forms to your respective tutor in week 7 during your
tutorial session.

Return of Assignment
Marked assignments and a feedback form will be returned to you within four weeks of
submission.
Referencing and Plagiarism
You need to ensure that you comply with Harvard referencing conventions in preparing this
assignment and that plagiarism is not an issue.
You must fully acknowledge the sources of information (books, articles, reports, etc.) that
you use in the completion of the assignment. To do this you must use the Harvard
Referencing System which tells you (a) how to acknowledge your sources in the body of
your text, and (b) how to list your sources in your reference section. You can refer to the link
below for information and learn about the Harvard Referencing System:
http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/resources/general/info_study_skills/harvard2.htm
A reference list must be attached with your assignment. You are expected to adhere to high
standards of academic integrity and all assignments submitted in this course may be
checked for plagiarism, using Turnitin. Plagiarism is regarded as a serious issue within the
university system with severe consequences for students who have been found to have
plagiarised. Any duplication should be less than 25% or it will constitute as plagiarism. You
can check as many times as possible and amend necessarily to ensure that duplication is
absolutely at a minimum level. Submission of assignment must be accompanied with a copy
of your Turnitin report.

List of students (State full name & tutorial group in block capital)

1. . ..
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Dual Award Programme
Group Assignment Cover Sheet
Fold corner of EACH copy separately and seal to obscure your name

Please complete the form (in capital letters) and attach it securely to the front of your assignment before
submitting your assignment.
Student ID: Student ID: .
Student ID:
Name of module: Principles of Marketing

Module code:

Name of tutor:

Assignment title:
..
We have read and understood the TU Dual Award Regulations on cheating, plagiarism and collusion. We declare that this
piece of work is our own and does not contain any unacknowledged work from any other sources.
We authorise the University to test any work submitted by us, using text comparison software, for instances of plagiarism.
We understand this will involve the University or its contractor copying our work and storing it on a database to be used in
future to test work submitted by others.
Note: The attachment of this statement on any electronically submitted assignments will be deemed to have the same
authority as a signed statement.

Signed:

Signed:

Signed:

Date:

BUS2304/MKT60104 Principles of Marketing

Group Members:

1. ___________________________________

Group Assignment Marking Rubric

Criteria

Possible
%

Actual
%

2. ___________________________________

Excellent
(75-100%)

Good
(65-74%)

Satisfactory
(50-64%)

Weak
(40-49%)

Unsatisfactory
(0-39%)

0-1

3.____________________________________

Excellent synopsis of the plan

Good synopsis of the plan

Satisfactory synopsis of the plan

Weak synopsis of the plan

10

Excellent write up of an introduction

Good write up of an introduction

Satisfactory write up of an
introduction

Weak write up of an introduction

Unsatisfactory write up of an
introduction

20

Excellent analysis for the SWOT section

Good analysis for the SWOT section

Satisfactory analysis for the SWOT

section

Weak analysis for the SWOT section

Unsatisfactory analysis for

the SWOT section

10

Excellent discussion about the objectives &

issues

Good discussion about the

objectives & issues

Satisfactory discussion about the

objectives & issues

Weak discussion about the objectives &

issues

Unsatisfactory discussion
about the objectives & issues

Target
Market

20

Excellent identification & justification in this

section

Good identification & justification in

this section

Satisfactory identification &

justification in this section

Weak identification & justification in this

section

Unsatisfactory identification &

justification in this section

Positioning
Strategies

10

Excellent analysis and justification in this

section

Good analysis and justification in this

section

Satisfactory analysis and justification

in this section

Weak analysis and justification in this

section

Unsatisfactory analysis and

justification in this section

Product Strategies

20

Excellent analysis and justification in this

section

Good analysis and justification in this

section

Satisfactory analysis and justification

in this section

Weak analysis and justification in this

section

Unsatisfactory analysis and

justification in this section

Overall

Good referencing, grammar, flow of

ideas

Satisfactory referencing, grammar,

flow of ideas

Weak referencing, grammar,

flow of ideas

Unsatisfactory referencing,
grammar,
flow of ideas

Exec Summary

Introduction

SWOT

Objectives&Issues

Excellent referencing, grammar, flow of

ideas

Total marks (100%)

Unsatisfactory synopsis of
the plan

Total marks (35%)

100

35