Supply Chain Management: A Critical Analysis

This assignment is an individual coursework for the Contemporary Management Module, weighted at 60%. Students are required to choose one of three questions: Supply Chain Management, Managing Globalisation, or Franchising. The chosen question must be critically analyzed and evaluated, with solutions recommended for current/potential problems faced by the company/organisation. The assignment must adhere to standard academic documentation standards, including proper citations and referencing, and demonstrate original thinking supported by evidence of extensive research.

BM011-3-3-CONTM Individual Assignment Page 1 of 3
Assignment Description
This is an individual coursework weighted at 60% for the Contemporary Management
Module.
Section A: Learning Outcomes
Students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate a systematic understanding of modern developments within business
management.
2. Justify the recommendation of alternative approaches to Management.
3. Demonstrate knowledge and application of international standards relating to
sustainability, values and norms and business ethics within a global context.
Choose ONE (1) of the following question and write a report of 2,500 words. You are to
save a softcopy of your answer in a CD and attach together with your written
assignment when submitting it on the due date .
Section B: Questions
QUESTION 1: Supply Chain Management
Zigiaris (2000) asserted that Supply Chain Management encompasses all of those
integrated activities which can bring a product to market. Select ONE (1) company,
critically analyse how that particular company competes in terms of their supply chain
management. Evaluate the supply chain management problems and recommend
solutions for the current/potential problems faced by the company.
QUESTION 2: Managing Globalisation
Organisations in the 21st century are faced with challenges from their external and
internal environments. Using ONE (1) organisation of your interest, critically evaluate
how a model of competition is used to compete successfully in a globalised environment.
QUESTION 3: Franchising
Franchising involves granting permission to produce a product and to use its name,
trademark or copyright. In producing a product, the franchisee is usually required to
follow a specific set of procedures, methods, and quality guidelines (Pizanti and Lerner,
2003). With reference to some franchised outlets of a particular franchisor brand,
critically discuss the challenges faced by the franchisees to adapt themselves to different
environments in the global market.
Level 3 Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation 201611

BM011-3-3-CONTM Individual Assignment Page 2 of 3
Section C: Requirements
The assignment must adhere to standard academic documentation standards. (Failure to
do so will result in loss of marks in the Format, Citations and References criterion.)
 You are to write the citations and references following the Harvard Referencing
System.
 You are required to use Times New Roman as the font type and 12 pts as the
font size.
 Vertical/line spacing is to be 1.5 spacing.
 You are required to provide page numbers to your pages.
 You must use enough of your own words to convince that you understand what
you are writing. Evidence of originality in your writing reflected by effort of
paraphrasing and use of own personal expression in your individual analysis and
evaluation. You should not submit a “copy and paste” work as you may only be
awarded at most a PASS even though proper citations and referencing are given.
 You may include diagrams, figures, tables etc. without word penalty. If you are to
present information in table format, ensure the information is presented briefly.
You are not to write paragraphed information in the table in order to avoid word
count.
 You must ensure that your writing is clear and concise as quantity does not
always guarantee quality. Therefore, you should not expect by writing more will
enable you to get a high mark unless the information is presented with clarity and
it is relevant with high degree of analysis and evaluation shown.
D. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
 Due to the limitation of the word count, you may be required to choose specific areas
of focus if you find the scope for your answer is too wide.
 In order to gain a DISTINCTION, you are required to source information other than
those materials made available by the lecturer and tutor. This is to indicate your
effort in doing research and your competency in selecting the relevant information.
This, however, is only a part of the requirement to get a distinction. Other
requirements are:
- High depth of analysis and evaluation present in the assignment
- Proper format, citation and referencing
- Good use of language evidenced by clarity in writing and minimal
grammatical and spelling errors
 You are encouraged (but not limited) to use the electronic database such as Emerald,
Proquest, IEEE and ACM portal.
 Other relevant and recommended sources are:
1. The Economist, www.economist.com,
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BM011-3-3-CONTM Individual Assignment Page 3 of 3
2. Business Week, www.businessweek.com
3. BNet, www.bnet.com
4. Social Science Research Network, www.ssrn.com/mkt/index.html
5. Fastcompany, www.fastcompany.com
 You can use information from blogs but are required to check whether the author(s) is
in a position of authority. To do this, you are to assessed whether the author(s):
- Has written any books or academic articles
- Is in high level executive position and is well known in the business circle
E. MARKS ALLOCATION
Criteria
No.
Item Percentage of
marks allocated
1 Knowledge and understanding –
familiarity with the subject matters and
evidence of original thinking supported by
evidence of extensive research
40%
2 Analysis and evaluation – quality of
argument or reasoning; depth of analysis;
expansion of ideas/arguments;
recognition of wider context/complexity of
topic(s); consistency of focus and
organisation of ideas; coherency of the
flow of ideas and information
45%
3 Overall Quality-Referencing, styles and
format
15%
TOTAL 100%
Level 3 Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation 201611