Group Assignment 1

Faculty Name: Economic and Management Sciences

Department: Business Management
Module Code: EBMA3715
Module Name: Strategic Marketing
Module Leader: Dr T.F. Rukuni
Internal Moderator: Mrs N. Fernandes
External Moderator: Prof. E.T. Maziriri
Total Marks: 100
Submission Date: 11 March 2024
Class presentation: 12, 13, 15, 19 & 20 March 2024

This module is presented on NQF level 7.

Please note this Assignment contributes 20 % towards the final mark of the module.

Instructions to Student

1. Remember to keep a copy of all submitted assignments.

2. All work must be typed.

3. Please note that you will be evaluated on your writing skills in all your
assignments.

4. All work must be submitted through Turnitin and the full Originality Report
should be attached to the final assignment. Negative marking will be applied if

1
 you are found guilty of plagiarism, poor writing skills or if you have applied
incorrect or insufficient referencing.

5. Each assignment must include a cover page, table of contents and full
reference list.

6. Use the cover sheet template for the assignment.

7. Students are not allowed to offer their work for sale or to purchase the work of
other students. This includes the use of professional assignment writers and
websites, such as Essay Box.

8. At least 20 references are required for third year students in this assignment.

9. Additional reading is required to complete this assignment successfully. You

need to include the following additional information sources:

• Printed textbooks/e-books

• Printed/online journal articles

• Academic journals in electronic format accessed via the prescribed databases

• Periodical articles e.g. business magazine articles

• Information or articles from relevant websites

Note
• It is crucial that students reference all consulted information sources, by means
of in-text referencing and a bibliography, according to the applicable referencing
method.
• Negative marking will be applied if a student commits plagiarism i.e. using
information from information sources without acknowledgement and reference
to the original source.
• In such cases, negative marking, also known as ‘penalty scoring’, refers to the
practice of subtracting marks for insufficient/incorrect referencing.

2
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Question 1 Marks: 42
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1.1 You are required to carry out a competitor analysis within the commercial vehicle
industry in South Africa giving special attention to TATA Commercial Vehicles
(Trucks and Buses). It is, therefore, required that you compare and contrast TATA
Commercial Vehicles with at least two other Commercial Vehicles (i.e., Scania, Volvo,
Mercedes Benz, DAF, IVECO, Freightliner) directly competing with TATA. Your
competitor analysis should pay special focus on the following seven Ps:

1.1.1 Product [6]

1.1.2 Price [6]

1.1.3 Promotion [6]

1.1.4 Place [6]

1.1.5 Physical evidence [6]

1.1.6 People [6]

1.1.7 Process [6]

Important points to note

• Provide a detailed account of why competitors are doing well than TATA
Commercial Vehicles in the above mentioned attributes.
• You need to carry out research from at least ten customers for TATA
Commercial Vehicles so that you obtain insight regarding the organisation.
• Only trucks and buses form part of TATA Commercial Vehicles. It is, therefore,
important to note that private passenger vehicles (i.e., TATA Indica) do not
form part of this assignment.
• You have to hunt for published articles on TATA Commercial Vehicles so that
you get enough information on the activities of the organisation.
• You need to provide a realistic account.

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Question 2 Marks: 58
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2.1 You are required to execute a detailed internal and external environmental analysis for
TATA Commercial Vehicles. Ensure that this analysis includes:

2.1.1 Strengths [14]

2.1.2 Weaknesses [15]

2.1.3 Opportunities [15]

2.1.4 Threats [14]

Important points to note

• Strengths and weaknesses focuses on the internal side of the organisation (i.e.,
vision, mission, products, processes, people, price, promotion, place, physical
evidence, functional departments).
• You need to ensure that you identify both strengths and weaknesses from the
internal environment as indicated in the previous point.
• Opportunities and threats refer to the external environment of the organisation
(i.e., political, economic, social, technological, environment, legislative,
competitors, suppliers, intermediaries).
• Ensure that you clearly identify opportunities and threats while providing
strong justification for the provided answer.

Sub Total: [58]

Grand Total: [100]
This assignment should be written in two parts.
First Part
The first part is a write-up that should be well structured with headings and paragraphs
of the different components of the answer.
Second Part
The second part is a class presentation where members of the group will be expected
to explain their findings using PowerPoint slides.