ECONOMICS AND FINANCE FOR BUSINESS

Paper submission PowerPoint submission Peer review (group presentation) Reference List

Your goal: to advise them on how to be cost-efficient, be more competitive in the market, grow the business, and design their pricing and non-pricing strategies.

In essence: you will develop ideas to make that business more successful, and more resilient and long-lasting, even in fierce competitive situations or in very difficult economic conditions. You will present it in a report (see sample report in the ‘Questions: research report’ document.

> Thus, write a research report using data you collect from:
(i) published data you find about the business on the Internet— their website, possibly with photographs of their premise, location, how many staff they employ (you can just judge this yourself, if that information is not available), online information about their products or services. See the ‘questions: research report’ document again, instruction no. 3.
You may not be able to get all of these but get as much information as you reasonably can. Use your judgement for the rest or rely on past visits to the shop or store (or what people told you about visits to the store). You do not need to be very precise.

(ii) the business should be a business in Sydney or Manly.
How to carry out a ‘critical analysis’? > Analysis is important to get good marks. To do this, don’t just describe what you saw.
> Use your data or observations about the business to develop your proposals in an intelligent, creative, yet realistic way. Be critical about your own proposals. Don’t just say, “Based on my analysis, I believe the best way for the business to outcompete its rivals is to tear down the main façade of the shop and build a fresh one with shiny marble”; what issues, challenges and problems might the business face if it were to do that? > Thus critical analysis is more than just describing what you saw. It is not just saying, “I saw this or that” or “the business should do that or this”. Imagine if you were advising a real business: won’t you be realistic and honestly and openly discuss all aspects of a proposal, the good and the bad sides?
How do I avoid committing plagiarism? > ICMS takes the issue of copying and plagiarism seriously.
> Write the report entirely on your own. Do not reveal your report to your friends or group members.
> Do not copy the work of other students and authors.
> The penalties for doing the above include a ‘fail’ grade for the assignment or the subject.
> Read the college’s policy on plagiarism and academic integrity and honesty. Know what the penalties for plagiarism are.
Figures and tables in the report > The report may contain figures (figures include images/photographs/diagrams) and tables.
> If you have a figure or table, you must mention it in the text. It is incorrect to have a figure or table, but nothing in the text refers to it or discusses what it is about.
Here’s the proper way to do it:
“The café has many products that are made with “premium ingredients” (according to its website; also see Table 1 for menu). However, because its façade looks shabby and old (Figure 1), it is unlikely to attract the attention of customers who might go to the rival café across the street”.
> Table 1 and Figure 1 should then appear immediately after the paragraph in which you mention them.
> All figures and tables must be in the body of the report. Don’t use appendices. All figures and tables musts have labels/captions describing what they are about. For example, immediately above or underneath a table or figure, you should have a caption like this:
“Figure 1: A fur coat at H&M with a Hollywood movie-star brand name and design (non-pricing strategy)”.
In what style should the report be written? > The report must be written professionally but in a clear way.
> The structure of the report must be neat. The formatting must be consistent. Imagine you are selling your consultant’s report to a client. How would you make it look like? Be proud of your work.
What if you do not submit your report on time?
> You risk getting a fail grade of 0%.
> See the college’s policy on late submissions. In general, 5% will be deducted if you are late by one day, 10% (two days), 15% (three days) and so on. If you are late by seven days, you fail with 0%.