This is a group assignment. Students will be allocated to groups within tutorial sessions. The group size will be nominally four students.
The assignment will address both the marketing and operations disciplines. The assignment has three elements:-

Element          Target Word Count            Weighting
Integration         500                                         20%
Marketing           1,000                                     40%
Operations         1,000                                      40%

In each of the three elements, it is permissible to go 10% over the target word count. Any material that goes beyond this point, however, will not be considered during the marking process.
Please Note: in line with faculty guidelines, stepped marking will be employed (i.e., only the trailing digits 2, 5 and 8 will be used). The final weighted sum will be rounded to the nearest percentage point.
You are expected to employ suitable published material that should be referenced using the Harvard style to support the assignment.
You will need to select a product or a service. This needs to be chosen such that it provides the necessary scope to allow all elements of the assignment to be undertaken. Furthermore, the product/service needs to be known to the group.

Examples of potential products/services could include:-
• A particular type of mobile phone
• A particular type of car
• A particular type of laptop/tablet
• A train service
• A supermarket
• An on-line retailer
• An insurance company
• A restaurant or leisure outlet or chain
A formative tutorial session dedicated to the assignment have been scheduled (see unit timetable on Moodle). At this session, the tutors will do their best to answer any questions you might have and if you have any outlines of work then tutors will comment. This last point is particularly relevant to element one and the design of the questionnaire and the subsequent analysis of the data. In addition, time has been built into the majority of tutorials for the groupwork.

Unit Learning Outcomes Assessed.
1. LO1. Demonstrate practical knowledge of marketing principles and basic operations
Management.
2. LO2. Evaluate the applicability of marketing and operations techniques to particular real-world situations.
3. LO3. Identify the links and planning processes that enable the coordination of the marketing and operations functions.

Element One – Integration
Element one has two parts.
1. Consider how the operational performance of the chosen product/service (it its existing form), compares to the market requirements. A key aim of this part of the element is to build skills in conducting surveys. Because of the ethics policies of MMU, it is not practical to actually collect data in this unit. You will need to create some hypothetical data, but the rest of the exercise should be realistic. You should explain how you would collect the data in the real-world. In addition, you will need to analyse the data you created. The results should be presented on a polar diagram (i.e., experience vs expectations). You should discuss the polar diagram in terms of how this would influence operational improvement priorities. This is the most important part of element 1.
2. In addition to part 1 above, briefly discuss, in general terms, how the operation and marketing functions will relate to one another for the product/service selected.
Because data is being created artificially rather than collected from actual people, you do not need to engage with the ethical policies of MMU. It should be noted, however, that if you do collect data in the future (e.g., for a 3rd year project) then it will be necessary to comply with MMU’s policies on ethics.
There is no expectation that any literature will be cited in connection with element one. This element of the assessment can be marked by any of the tutors.
Element Two – Marketing
Using the product/service selected above, identify how you would create enhanced competitive advantage and/or a unique product or service offering for that product, focusing on augmentation and differentiation. This should include:
 An introduction to the product or service overviewing its current position as determined by element one.
 An analysis of the marketing issues the organisation currently faces, presented as a PEST and SWOT in the form of a table and including appropriate objectives.
 An explanation of your augmentation idea and how it could be implemented, set out using appropriate marketing theory and models such as ONE of the marketing mix, the service marketing mix or Porters 5 forces, as appropriate.
 A further analysis of the opportunity created by your augmentation idea utilising relevant marketing theory such as ONE of either the BCG Matrix or the product life cycle.
There is an expectation that literature will be cited for element two based on reading that students have undertaken independently. The two sources below, however, may be a useful starting point:-

Palmer A. (2012), “Marketing Research” (Chapter 5) in Introduction to Marketing, Oxford: OUP
Palmer A. (2012), “Developing the Product” (Chapter 8) in Introduction to Marketing, Oxford: OUP
This element of the assessment will be marked by a specialist marketing tutor.
Element Three – Operations
Critically discuss one key piece of operations management theory (taken from the bullet point list below). The discussion should very briefly indicate why the theory selected might be important to produce/provide the augmented product/service described in element 2. The areas of theory from which you should select are:-
 Quality Management
 Forecasting
 Inventory management
 Just-in-time and Lean Thinking
The principal focus of element 3 should be on the literature. It is expected the vast majority of material presented in element 3 will be supported by reference to the literature (using the Harvard style of course). To illustrate the fundamental nature of operation that will produce/provide the augmented product/service, you should present an Input-Transformation-Output diagram at the start of element 3.
As with element two, there is an expectation that literature will be cited based on reading carried out independently. Indeed, it is expected a significant amount of time will be spent in this regard. Nonetheless, because of the fact it is readily available, the eBook is a useful starting point. The next step would be to consult a general operations management text, reviewing the chapter relevant to your choice of topic. Good examples would be:-
Slack N, Chambers S and Johnson R (2009), Operations Management, Prentice Hall, 6th Edition.
Hill A and Hill T (2012), Operations Management, Palgrave McMillan, 3rd Edition.
The next step is to other identify sources relevant to your specific topic. Examples of such sources include:-
Hoyle D (2007), Quality Management Essentials, Butterworth Heinemann.
Hanke JE and Wichem DW (2014), Business Forecasting, Person Custom Library.
Water D (2003), Inventory Control and Management, Wiley.
Chiarini, A (2013), Lean organization.: from the tools of the Toyota Production System to Lean office, Springer.
In many cases, it will be appropriate to review suitable journal articles.
This element of the assessment will be marked by a specialist operations tutor.

Early Career/ World Class Professional Skills (PLOs) being assessed or developed/assessed.
PLO 2. Demonstrate communication skills at the appropriate level.
Note: No PLOs are directly assessed in this assignment.
Rationale: All jobs require communications skills. There are obvious benefits of acquiring these skills at the earliest possible stage of a professional’s career.