MGMT 3031, Business Strategy and Policy - Semester 2, 2023-24

Lecturer: Dr. Marcia Nathai-Balkissoon

Course Project Guidelines and Rubric

This document provides the guidelines and rubrics for:

1) the group project report AND group project presentation to be submitted
a) in .doc or .pdf electronic format (for project report) and .ppt or .pdf electronic format (for
presentation slides) via Turnitin portal in myelearning by Tuesday March 26, 2024 at 10:59
p.m.
b) as separately printed and bound hardcopies of both the project report and presentation
slides by Wednesday March 27, 2024 at 4.45 p.m.
2) the group presentation to be made in class, starting promptly on Wednesday March 27, 2024 at
5.00 p.m. Presentations may extend to the following Wednesday, at the lecturer’s discretion.
The group project report is worth 15% of the course mark and the group project presentation is
worth 15% of the course mark.

The remaining assessment for the course will be a Multiple Choice Exam weighted at 10% and
taking place on Wednesday March 20, 2024.

Author: Marcia Nathai-Balkissoon

Date: January 27, 2024
 GUIDELINES: Group Project
Here is a guide to help you move ahead with the conceptualisation of ideas and development of the
documented business strategy for your projects. These steps are only basic recommendations and
you should feel free to add your own elements to the undertaking to take it even further.
Your project must be based on a single company (MUST BE located locally), and informed by your
research about other companies in its field. You may obtain your information through any suitable
means, which may include direct interaction with owner(s) and online research. Just sending a
questionnaire to be filled out by company representatives will not be acceptable for data collection.
You MUST be more hands-on and involved in getting to know about the company and its operations
to understand the company well.
Your focus must be to evaluate the scope of the company and make recommendations to improve
the company’s sustainable competitive advantage. Your improvement ideas must be informed by the
analyses and research you have performed specific to the company. You may also rely on research
about rivals etc. to give you ideas for improvement.
Plagiarism will be dealt with severely, so DO NOT DO IT. Be sure to state ideas in your own words,
giving credit to all sources using proper citation style. Also, come up with your own interpretations
and recommendations relevant to the company’s situation and needs. This is very important.
As a minimum, you are required to include the following elements in your project report:
a) Cover
b) Table of Contents
c) Brief intro to company and focus of project, including objectives of the project
d) Horizontal scope, Vertical scope, diversification status and details of each
e) Internal environment analysis and External environment analysis
(Perform (1) a SWOT analysis, (2) at least 1 other internal environment AND (3) at least 1 other
external environment analysis.)
f) Generic competitive model
g) International Operations, Collaborations (Look at if the company operates internationally, and if it
has collaborations like partnerships.)
h) Marketing (Consider how the company does its marketing, whether it is suitable and sufficient,
and how it can be improved.)
i) Recommendations for strategic (including financial) improvement, as well as an execution plan
(detailed action plan consisting of action items, responsibilities, and deadlines)
j) Throughout the assignment, brief rationales/discussion should be included related to analyses,
judgments, recommendations, and plans. Photos of products/elements discussed.
k) Conclusion against each objective.
l) References
m) Appendix: summary of roles assigned per group member & if delivered/extent delivered.

Note: Marks for the project report as well as the presentation will be determined as a combination of
the individual contribution and the overall group project. So someone who has not done his/her part
sufficiently will be earning less than others who worked on the group project.

Be warned: PLAGIARISM BY EVEN 1 PERSON WILL EARN YOUR GROUP 0 marks!!

Author: Marcia Nathai-Balkissoon

Date: January 27, 2024
 GROUP PROJECT REPORT: (WORTH 15% OF FINAL MARK)
The project report must give the following information. The list below is only a minimum guide as to
content. If you include additional considerations, be sure to highlight the extra elements addressed.
(a) Cover and Title Pages (must, at minimum, include project title, course code and name, group
name, all member IDs and names (in alphabetical order of surname) and date of submission.)
(b) Table of Contents
(c) Introduction: (includes brief history/overview of company, focus/SMART objectives of project)
(d) Data Collection and Analysis/ Application of tools and techniques: Includes evaluation of
Internal and External Environment (SWOT Analysis, at least one other significant internal
environment, and one other external environment analysis tool/technique applied, review of
major marketing aspects in place), description of company’s vertical and horizontal scope,
Identification of company’s generic competitive strategy and diversification status. Consider
whether the company operates internationally and whether it has any collaborations. Proper
referencing used in-text.) Diagrams do not go in the appendices.
(e) Interpretation and Discussion/ Critique (can be incorporated in a single section for (d) and (e),
eg. “Analysis and Discussion”: Identification and discussion of strong and weak aspects emerging
from the analysis done. (Systematic interpretation of all analysis outcomes performed and
summary of findings developed.)
(f) Recommendations AND ACTION PLANS: How should company strengthen its sustainable
competitive advantage? Your Proposed Action Plan for Execution should be reasonable and put
forward creative and progressive business strategy elements recommended based on analysis,
pros, and cons, consideration of change drivers and uniqueness drivers. Execution plan should
consist of action items, responsibilities, and deadlines as a minimum.
(g) Conclusion: Includes logical conclusions drawn; conclusions must be linked back to project
objectives.
(h) References: Chicago (author-date) style (This is the only style acceptable for this project).
(i) Appendices: Summary of roles assigned to each group member and whether delivered/extent
delivered.
Further notes:
1) At appropriate points in your report, you should provide a rationale/ discussion related to
analyses, judgments, recommendations, and plans. This would include brief justification for the
selection of all tools, charts/diagrams to support analyses where applicable, photos of products.
Charts/diagrams should not be reproduced from source material, but created to illustrate
company-specific elements.
2) Feel free to make additions to the suggested content to enhance the
professionalism/structure/content of your report.
3) Be sure to use the marking scheme (rubric) in conjunction with this guidance, to give yourself the
chance to earn maximum marks.
4) Do not use diagrams from texts. Doing this will result in penalties. Your diagrams must reflect
your analysis and insights.
5) Your completed report should not exceed 25 pages (not including the cover, table of contents,
references, and appendix), and should be 1.0 or 1.5 spaced with Calibri or Arial size 10 font at
smallest. An appendix must only contain supplementary information, and never information that
makes up some of the actual work to be marked. A list of contributions made by each member
must be included in a table in the appendix.
Author: Marcia Nathai-Balkissoon
Date: January 27, 2024
 RUBRIC: Group Project Report (worth 15%)

Group Name:______________________________ Company: ___________________________

Category Poor Fair Very Good Excellent Max Score
(Description of desired output) Mark
Introduction: Brief history, overview of 0-1 marks 2 marks 3 marks 4-5 marks 5
company, scope/objectives of project Seldom or Evidences Evidences Evidences
never desired desired desired
Conclusion: Logical conclusions drawn, evidences qualities qualities at qualities
conclusions linked to project objectives desired about 50% least 70% consistently
qualities of the time of the time
Application of tools and techniques: 0-15 16-25 26-35 36-45 45
Evaluation of Internal and External marks marks marks marks
Environment, Vertical Scope, Horizontal Scope, Seldom or Evidences Evidences Evidences
Marketing, Generic Competitive Strategy, never desired desired desired
Corporate Diversification and evidences qualities qualities at qualities
Internationalisation status, and Strategic desired about 50% least 70% consistently
partnerships/alliances. qualities of the time of the time

Critique: Identification and discussion of

Strengths and Weaknesses: Systematic
interpretation and discussion of all analysis
outcomes, Strengths and weaknesses
recognised.
Recommendations: How should 0-10 11-18 19-27 28-35 35
company strengthen its sustainable marks marks marks marks
competitive advantage? Reasonable and Seldom or Evidences Evidences Evidences
forward-thinking business strategy elements never desired desired desired
recommended based on analysis, strengths evidences qualities qualities at qualities
and weaknesses, consideration of change desired about 50% least 70% consistently
drivers and uniqueness drivers. qualities of the time of the time

Proposed Action Plan for Execution and

any actual Implementation done:
Recommendations operationalised through a
structured execution action plan. Reflection on
any of your recommendations that have been
implemented/are being implemented as a result
of your intervention.
Project Report: Organisation, 0-6 marks 7-8 marks 9-12 marks 13-15 15
Presentation, Grammar, and Referencing Seldom or Evidences Evidences marks
Professional; well organised; consistent, logical never desired desired Evidences
section and page numbers; proper numbering evidences qualities qualities desired
and titling of figures and tables; excellent desired about 50% about 70% qualities
spelling and grammar; appropriate fonts and qualities of the time of the time consistently
images; table of contents; Chicago-style format
and referencing; max report size 25 pages)
TOTAL SCORE /100 MARKS
TOTAL COURSEWORK SCORE /15%
Note: Lecturer may approach company representatives/other persons for info that may influence project marking.
Author: Marcia Nathai-Balkissoon
Date: January 27, 2024
 RUBRIC: Group Presentation (worth 15%)
Sometimes students want help with their in-person presentation skills. I suggest recording yourself and looking at the video; opportunities for improvement will
immediately become clear. Each time you record and watch and try again, you will improve incrementally. You might eventually choose to do a trial presentation to a
group of colleagues or friends and get their comments about your strengths and weaknesses. I will be using the following detailed rubric to evaluate your group
presentations. This rubric can help you earn high marks, and it could also help you to improve your presentation capabilities for your work functions.

NOTE: ALL STUDENTS IN THE GROUP MUST PRESENT DURING THE 10-MINUTE GROUP PRESENTATION AND ANSWER QUESTIONS POSED BY THE LECTURER.

VERY GOOD GOOD WEAK UNSATISFACTORY

CRITERIA
(4 marks)
Student relaxed, self-confident,
enhances connection with audience
using consistent eye-contact, fluid
Non-verbal
movements, and gestures that help
Attributes
to convey the presentation’s
message. Only refers to notes
infrequently.
Student speaks clearly, naturally,
enthusiastically, and uses
Verbal vocabulary and jargon suited to the
Attributes subject area. Student’s language
and grammar are flawless.
Multiple audio/visual media/tools
Use of
used along with PowerPoint to make
Audio/Visual
technical material user-friendly, or
Aids* within
underscore key points in relevant
presentation
ways
Presentation is logical, informative,
Organisation and interesting. There are no
and Structure spelling or grammar errors in the
of Content text.
(3 marks)
Student relaxes over time, makes
good eye contact, but breaks
contact often because of frequent
reliance on notes. Student uses
gestures to boost connection with
audience.
Student has clear and audible
voice, and is positive about the
subject. Student uses a good
vocabulary range but little or no
subject-related jargon. Grammar is
consistently good.
1 relevant audio/visual medium/tool
used along with PowerPoint to
make technical material user-
friendly, or underscore key points
Presentation is logical and
structure allows audience to follow
along, but lacks appeal. 1-2
grammar/ spelling errors in the
text.
(2 marks)
Student reads more than half of the
time, and has poor eye contact with
audience. Movement is unnaturally
stilted and student appears
uncomfortable.
Student’s voice wavers, audience
sometimes unable to hear
presentation, Student shows little
interest in the subject, has a limited
range of vocabulary, and
occasionally uses poor grammar.
Only PowerPoint-type slides used to
supplement the effectiveness of the
content within the presentation
Presentation does not flow logically;
student hops to unrelated points
intermittently, thus challenging for
audience to follow/get interested. 3-
4 grammar/spelling errors.
Total
(0-1 mark)
The entire presentation is read
from the notes and student does
not move around at all. There is
almost no eye contact with the /4
audience. Student is very tense or
nervous.
Student mumbles, speaks too
quietly, and has poor
pronunciation. There is an obvious
/4
lack of interest in the subject, uses
limited range of vocabulary, and
consistently uses poor grammar.
No added audio/visual media used
within the video to make the
presentation clearer, more /4
interesting, or more appealing.
Presentation is disjointed and
unable to capture audience
interest. 5+ grammar/spelling /4
errors made in the text.
Total Score /16 marks /16 =
Total Coursework Score /15%

* Make every effort to not only use your slides with diagrams and graphics, but to also incorporate at least 2 additional audio media
and/or visual media/tools/activities during your presentation.

Author: Marcia Nathai-Balkissoon

Date: January 27, 2024