BMGT6017 Design of a business model in a chosen sector

Assignment Brief

Assignment task – 100% of module mark

You are tasked with the design of a new business model that may compete successfully in one of your proposed 5 or 10 year scenarios for your chosen sector. This new model may be radically different from existing models or may reflect more incremental changes externally or internally.

 

Your individual submission should be in the form of a portfolio submitted online, which should contain the following sections (see next pages for details):

 

Question 1

Question 2

 

REQUIRED APPENDICES

ALLOWED APPENDICES

Question 1 (accounts for 40% of the marks awarded)

 

Your individual analysis of the process that you followed in arriving at the business model.

Your response to Question 1 should be no more than 800 words in total.

You should provide a detailed description and analysis of the process that you undertook from weeks 1-8. This should include:

• The selection of your chosen sector
• The environmental audit that was undertaken of the sector
• A scenario analysis looking at the changing dynamics of the sector over the next five years
• The selection of your ideal scenario
• The final selection and description of your Business Model

You are expected to make full use of a range of relevant models to illustrate this process and the rationale for your business model selection. It is expected that you will reference and apply the Ideal Final Result (IFR) model as part of this process.

Question 2 (accounts for 60% of the marks awarded)

Your critical evaluation of the new business model and its ability to create and deliver the Value Proposition in a competitive marketplace.

Question 2 should be no more than 1,500 words in total.

• You are required to produce and populate a Business Model Canvas illustrating the Value Proposition (VP) that your business model presents.
• You should identify what you consider to be the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) that must be met to ensure the viability of your Value Proposition as outlined in the Business Model Canvas, and conduct a Risk Analysis to illustrate the impact on the operational viability of the model where it is unlikely that the CSFs will be met.
• Drawing on concepts of competitive strategy, what changes need to be made to the Business Model and Value Proposition to ensure its adoptability to your chosen sector within the next 5 years? In addressing this question you should conduct an analysis of how competitors might react to the business model, and how robust the business model might be in withstanding that competition.

 

REQUIRED APPENDICES

1. a) A summary of the essential features of your business model.
2. b) An application of Osterwalder & Pigneur’s Business Model Canvas.

The above will be unmarked but are an essential requirement of the assessment.

 

ALLOWED APPENDICES – Students may append further working material (diagrams, data, etc.) that supports the analysis and evaluation in an “allowed” appendix. These are limited to a maximum of 8 pages (8 sides) of A4 equivalent, and will be unmarked.

 

Guidance notes on the assignment

• Structure of Report: The portfolio is not intended to be a business report or an essay. As such, there is no requirement for overall introductions or conclusions, executive summaries, etc.
• Format of Submission: Your online submissions should be in a single uploaded file in a PDF format (save your MS Word/Word Processor document to a pdf format before uploading the file).
• Business Model evaluation: Unlike (say) the Entrepreneurial Business modules, you are not evaluating a business start-up as such. The Business Model Canvas is a way of describing a type (or “pattern”) of business.
• A new business model could be launched by an established competitor in an industry, by a new entrant from a related industry, or by a completely new start-up. In answering task (2b) above you might consider the relative chances for success for new businesses versus established competitors in evaluating the competitiveness and sustainability of the business model, but the task is not to create the plan for a start-up….
• The importance of using course concepts, models and frameworks: The module is designed to teach you about the tools of business model design and how to USE Work that is essentially “descriptive” will fail, so please evaluate and prioritize your findings in all cases.
• Prior Knowledge of Business Strategy: Question 2 requires you to apply tools and concepts from the subject domain of business strategy, which you are expected to be familiar with from your prior studies. These resources can, of course, be complemented by business strategy concepts directly from the module (such as the various types of innovative business models identified). If you have any doubts of what might be required, or if you need to refresh your knowledge and understanding, the weekly readings from the core text (Grant) are considered a core part of the module, and are there to guide you.
• Individual Critical Evaluation: You should step back from the project team effort, and the shared perspectives you probably developed at that time. Instead, using the tools of evaluation, you (individually) should critically evaluate your team’s work and outputs.
• How to use the “allowed” appendices: You are encouraged to use appendices for the presentation of detailed research that supports your discussion, and for the detailed analysis using key models and concepts. Please ensure, however, that key findings and points of explanation are included in the body of your report. The marker will not award marks for the appendices as such, and will use these only for rapid reference (they will not be read in detail). These “allowed” appendices must be no longer than 8 pages of A4 equivalent in total.
• References and Sources: You will be aware of the business school’s rules on referencing and acknowledging sources. Coursework which fails to meet these requirements may be regarded as being in breach of the Academic Conduct Regulations (see section on “Cheating” also)

 

Assessment criteria

The feedback on your assignment will be delivered through Turnitin on the BMGT6017 VLE. As this assignment is structured as a portfolio, in most cases, the marker will discuss the assignment section by section, and will always try to identify pathways for you to improve going forward. They will, however, consider your work against these criteria:

•  The task scope and focus of the response You must focus on the requirements of the question and address the purpose of the task, including comprehending and following explicit instructions. 15%
•  The nature, quality and range of research and sources You must do enough varied research to address the tasks. In addition, you should consider the reliability and validity of sources you use – How biased are they? How reliable? What data have they been compiled from? What is the source’s own purpose? Can the sources be evaluated? The module is concerned with future knowledge, so it is understood that sources based on (say) logical projection may be more appropriate than a restrictive, or narrow historical evidence-based paradigm for sources – however, you must always evaluate these and understand the implications of relying on them. 20%
•  Knowledge & understanding of course concepts We expect you to know the concepts in the course textbooks. We do not expect you to describe these concepts to us in the assignment, but rather use them in your analysis and evaluation. Your understanding of concepts will be demonstrated by the way you use them. 20%
•  Analysis and application of course concepts You are expected to add value through the way you use course concepts and tools to analyse data and insights. The way you combine concepts and tools, and the choices you make over which frameworks to use (and which to omit) will demonstrate this. 20%
•  Argument, synthesis and evaluative conclusion You should connect findings and evidence from your analysis into a logical line of discussion that leads to a critical individual evaluation of the work of your project team. Ideally, the disparate parts of your work “synthesize” into a distinctive viewpoint or insight. This is the added value that we look for in your work. 15%
•  Structure, organization, presentation and adequacy of referencing The structure of your portfolio should support your discussions and arguments as they address the tasks, above all else. You should distinguish between what you want to say to answer the question, and the work that you do to provide the answer. A professional standard of presentation is expected, and the overall report should be written with the reader in mind. You must communicate clearly and succinctly. You are required to follow the standards set by the Harvard system of referencing used by the Business school. Please read the regulations. 10%

Presenting coursework for assessment

When presenting assignments, your primary presentation goal should be to make the piece easy to follow, and the messages clear. The variety of formats in the portfolio makes precise guidance difficult, but in general, the following should guide your submissions:

• For ease of reading, text-based sections of the assignment should, at a minimum, be presented in 11pt Arial font with 1.5 point spacing.
• All pages must be numbered
• The assignment must be presented with a completed assignment statement of originality, have a front cover showing the programme title, module number and name, title of the assignment, student number and submission date
• Margins for text-based sections should be as follows: Top: 1 inch, Bottom: 1 inch (2.5 cm), Left: 1.25 inches, Right: 1.25 inches (3.2 cm)

Assignment length

• The length of an assignment is limited by a set number of words to contribute towards the development of writing skills and to ensure all work is assessed equitably. We therefore require you to complete your assignments within the number of words specified in the assignment brief.
• You will need to think carefully about how best to explain your case within the permitted number of words, using, for example, an appropriate mix of text, drawings, diagrams and tables, supplemented by information contained in appendices.
• Please also remember that a report can be enhanced or damaged through layout, for example, placing all tables and drawings in appendices can hamper the flow of discussion. Decisions therefore need to be made about the most appropriate place to use tables etc, to support your case.
• The specified word count refers to the main body of the report and does not include front cover, title page, contents page, executive summary, reference list, bibliography or appendices. The word count does include headings, tables and in-text citations, but not equations or diagrams.
• Appendices themselves will not be marked. However, inappropriate use of appendices will be taken into consideration when awarding the final mark.
• Words that exceed the maximum allowed will not be marked. If in doubt, you should discuss this with the Module Leader before