As you will be working in groups of three for this assessment, the Unit Co-ordinator will assign you to a group as soon as possible. Your group can choose any business or organization operating in Australia. It can be a company that you work for, have worked for previously, one you want to work for or one that you own. For example you can choose Apple as the organisation. You may want to focus on how Apple distributes its Phones, Laptops or iPads. Alternatively, it can be Energizer a fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) organisation, that sells batteries, chargers and flashlights.Try to find a company using new channels to distribute its product to the customer in order to determine the effectiveness of these new channels based on meeting sales objectives.

Each group is required to research channel management of the organisation’s products. Discuss the current channel or the channel management strategies it uses and report on your findings in a structured business report format with a 1500 word limit. Groups must use peer-reviewed journals and support their findings with at least 10 academic references.

Use the following learning outcomes to guide the content for this assessment:

Recall and define key logistics functional areas and their value to markets and customers.
Investigate the concepts of logistics integration and trade-offs and their value to markets and customers.
Critically analyse the concept of organisations routes to market and how effectively they fulfil sales objectives.

Important: You need to get approval from the unit coordinator about your chosen company before you start working on your assessment.

The format for Assessment 1 will be as follows:

1. Title page with all group member names as shown in Moodle, student IDs, word count for sections 4 to 9

2. Executive summary (one page)

3. Table of contents

4. Brief introduction of the organisation and products

5. Description of the channels and strategies the organisation uses.

6. How do the channel management strategies of your chosen organisation differ to those of a main competitor?

7. Identify one or two key channel management issues that the organisation must address.

8. Recommendations for your chosen organisation.

9. Conclusion.

10. Reference list using APA formatting.

11. Appendices – only if absolutely essential.

Note that word count (1500 words) applies from sections 4 to 9.

A marking rubric developed by the Unit Coordinator will be used in assessing the report. This Rubric is available on the Moodle site, which consists of the following areas of assessment and the relevant marks:

Channel analysis - 20 marks
Channel external review - 20 marks
Channel internal review - 20 marks
Identification of key issues - 20 marks
Report writing and format - 10 marks
Citation and APA references - 10 marks

Penalties apply for exceeding word limit (1% mark will be deducted from the total mark for Assessment 1 for every 100 words over the allowed 1500 words limit).
Penalties apply for late submission (5% of the total mark will be deducted for Assessment 1 per day unless an approved extension has been granted).

This is an applied assessment and to be undertaken individually. In Assessment 2, students are required to conduct a Business Review of a company of your choice. In preparing your report, your approach should be that of a “management consultant” who is seeking to answer, "where is the organisation right now?” Please use the concepts that you were taught from Week 1 to Week 7 in reviewing the current position of the organisation. Use the following learning outcomes to guide the content that needs to be addressed for this assessment.

Investigate the concepts of logistics integration and trade-offs and their value to markets and customers.
Critically analyse the concept of organisations routes to market and how effectively they fulfill sales objectives.
Critically examine the channel gap analysis concept and complete an analysis.
Develop strategies for managing conflicts in supply chains between marketing, sales and logistics.

You are required to support your arguments with credible research from peer-reviewed journals, you are expected to have at least 12 references in addition to your textbook. The word count limit for this report is 1500.

The format for the assessment will be as follows:
1. Title page with all group member names as shown in Moodle, student IDs, word count for sections 4 to 9
2. Executive summary (one page)
3. Table of contents
4. Brief introduction of the organisation and products
5. Description of the channels and strategies the organisation uses.
6. How do the channel management strategies of your chosen organisation differ to those of a major competitor?
7. Identify one or two key channel management issues that the organisation must address.
8. Recommendations for your chosen organisation.
9. Conclusion.
10. Reference list using APA formatting.
11. Appendices – only if absolutely essential.

Students are required to choose an organisation that uses one of the three types of channel management approach: retail, wholesale or franchise. Discuss the challenges, benefits, issues, emerging trends and logistics issues that the organisation faces in that type of channel. Students are required to research about the chosen organisation supported with literature (at least 12 references from peer-reviewed journals).

A marking rubric developed by the Unit Coordinator will be used in assessing the report. This Rubric is available on the Moodle site which consists of the following areas of assessment and the relevant marks:

Channel analysis - 20 marks
Channel external review - 20 marks
Channel internal review - 20 marks
Identification of key issues - 20 marks
Report writing and format - 10 marks
Citation and references - 10 marks

Penalties apply for exceeding word limit (1% mark will be deducted from the total mark for Assessment 2 for every 100 words over the allowed 1500 words limit).
Penalties apply for late submission (5% of the total mark will be deducted for Assessment 2 per day unless an approved extension has been granted).

This is an individual assessment. In assessment 3, you are required to develop a strategic plan for an investor who has AUD $500,000,000 to spend on starting a retail business. As a consultant you are to develop a plan in the form of a business management report (with a 2000 word limit) to advise the investor of your findings and recommendations. You are required to support your work with research material from peer-reviewed journals, you are expected to have at least 12 references in addition to your textbook.

You will use all the theory and concepts that you have learned from this unit over the 12 weeks. You are required to apply a SWOT analysis of this new business.
You can choose from a range of products. The products may be cosmetics, toys or stationery that you are going to market through various channels. You need to clearly define the supply chain or value chain that is going to be applied in your recommendations.

Use the following learning outcomes to guide your content for this assessment:

Critically analyse the concept of organisations routes to market and how effectively they fulfil sales objectives.
Critically examine the channel gap analysis concept and complete an analysis.
Develop strategies for managing conflicts in supply chains between marketing, sales and logistics.

There is a marking rubric for this assessment, which will be adhered to by the Unit Coordinator.
Important: Unlike assessment 1 and 2, in Assessment 3, you need to make up your own company name and include your company name on the cover sheet.

The Business report format for assessment 3 will be as follows:

1. Title page with student name as shown in Moodle, student ID and company name, word count for items 4 to 9.
2. Executive summary (one page)
3. Table of contents
4. Brief introduction to the company
5. Proposed channels, supply chain and marketing strategy.
6. External audit
7. Internal audit
8. Identify one or two key strategic issues that the company must address
9. Conclusion
10. Reference list using APA for 12 academic references including peer-reviewed journal articles.
11. Appendices

Note that word count (2000 words) applies from sections 4 to 9.

A marking rubric developed by the Unit Coordinator will be used in assessing the report. This rubric is available on the Moodle site which consists of the following areas of assessment and the relevant marks:

Channel analysis - 20 marks
Channel external review - 20 marks
Channel internal review - 20 marks
Identification of key issues - 20 marks
Report writing and format - 10 marks
12 APA formatted academic references - 10 marks

Penalties apply for exceeding word limit (1% mark will be deducted from the total mark for Assessment 3 for every 100 words over the allowed 2000 words limit)
Penalties apply for late submission (5% of the total mark will be deducted for Assessment 3 per day late unless an approved extension has been granted)