HIGHER CERTIFICATE IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

FUNDAMENTALS OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT

Please refer to the Academic Calendar for the assignment submission dates.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS AND ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS

• Ensure that your first name, surname, student number, the course code number and total number of pages appear on the front cover of your assignment.

• Assignments must be submitted online via the Turnitin link on your course subject page. Assignments may not be submitted via e-mail.

Here is an example of the assignment submission link:

• You will find instructions on how to upload assignments in the Turnitin guide to submitting papers

• Answer this assignment according to the guidelines in the Assignment Submission Guide, which you can download
• Ensure that you have a thorough understanding of the frequently used terms in assessments. For an explanation of assessment terminology

• Start this assignment as soon as possible. It will help you focus on important parts of the subject content early in your studies.

Assignment format

Programme assignment submission guidelines	Assignment body length in words – excludes cover page, tables of contents and references	Minimum references required in bibliography	Maximum similarity index permitted
Masters	5,000-6,000	15	15%
Postgraduate diploma	4,500-5,500	10	15%
Third year	3,500-4,500	7	20%
Second year	3,000-4,000	5	20%
First year and higher certificate	2,500-3,500	3	20%

Assignment document settings

	Main heading	Subheadings	Body text
Font	Arial	Arial	Arial
Text size	18 pt	12 pt	11 pt
Line spacing	Single	Single	Single
Margins	2 cm top, bottom, left and right

• Write your responses in ESSAY AND PARAGRAPH FORMAT. Avoid bullet-type responses.
• Appendices may be a maximum of three pages each. The information in them must be relevant to the assignment, summarised, with links provided so that your assessor can evaluate your sources.
• Respect the introduction, body and conclusion format for answering questions. It counts for marks.

MARK ALLOCATION GUIDELINES
Introduction and conclusion	Up to 5% for clear statement of purpose, clear outline of aspects covered in assignment, summarising key issues in the assignment; relevance of summary to assignment
Referencing	No in-text	Minimal	Referencing	Depending on	Perfect in-text
	referencing or	referencing	evident but	application of	referencing,
	reference list	evident	inconsistent,	referencing	reference list,
	= 0%	= 1%-4%	incomplete,	techniques in	variety and
			and fewer than	text, in	number of
			required	reference list,	references
			= 5%	and variety and	consulted and
				number of	substantially
				references	exceeding the
				consulted –	minimum
				substantially	number of
				exceeding the	references
				minimum	required = 10%
				number
				required
				= 6%-9%
Body	The marks awarded for the questions you answer or tasks you perform will be calculated out of 100. These will be recalculated to count for 85% of the total assignment mark.
More details on mark allocation can be found in the assignment submission guidelines

Referencing

• Plagiarism is a serious offence. Do not copy directly from any text unless absolutely necessary. Enclose quotes in inverted commas to indicate that they are not your words, and include an in- text reference with each quote. Paraphrase all the reference comments that you use and include appropriate reference and page numbers.

• Use the in-text referencing method prescribed by Regenesys under guidelines and policies on the student portal. Consult the referencing mark allocation guide for the minimum number of references needed for this assignment.

• Full referencing of all sources, including page numbers in in-text referencing, is essential. For example: (Gitman, 2010:15) in text, and then in your reference list:

Gitman, L.J. (2010) Principles of Managerial Finance. Pearson Education.

• Extensive and credible academic references are required to demonstrate that you have researched the topics fully and so that you can substantiate your arguments critically.

You may work on this assignment in a group BUT you must write the assignment individually, and in your own words. If NOT, you will be told you have copied and you will have to do a brand new assignment. The mark will be capped at 60%, and you will have to pay a resubmission fee.

INTRODUCTION TO THE ASSIGNMENT • This assignment consists of ONE case study and FOUR sections You run a string of tuck shops in your neighbourhood that sells items for everyday use and useful items and accessories for households (electronic and homeware). For the past three years your businesses have been successful and growing fast and are now thinking of branching off into other areas of business-like butcheries and hardware. To accomplish this, you need to be familiar with various practices, principles and concepts that will provide you with the tools and skills to run this growth effectively. Answer these questions.

ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

SECTION 1 – INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS MANAGEMENT                                                                                                                                    [35 MARKS]

1. As a business owner, you need to be aware of elements of the microenvironment and how each of these will impact your business and its potential growth and development.

Discuss each of these elements of the microenvironment:

• Competitors;
  • Suppliers;
  • The market;
  • Intermediaries; and
  • Customers

In your discussion, look at how each of these affect the daily operations of your business and what sort of impact these will have on your company branching off into other areas.

Note: Consider your organisation’s CSR initiatives and how these will add value to your expansion plans

Here is an article to help you get started in understanding the value of CSR initiatives for an organisation:

• Toba, B. (2012, April 13). 3 ways to get value from CSR initiatives. Network for Business Sustainability. (accessed 4 November 2021).

(20)

TOPIC	POOR = 0%-24%	ROOM TO DEVELOP = 25%-50%	PROFICIENT = 51%-74%	MASTERLY = 75%-100%
CRITERIA
Discuss the elements of the microenvironment and their impact on business operations	Discussion of how the environments affect business is not clear and has no direction.	Discussion of these environments has been made but barely plausible.	Discussion has been made to illustrate how each of these affect the daily running of business and the impact they will have on branching off.Attempt made to consider CSR initiatives.	A coherent and thorough discussion has been made to illustrate how these affect the daily running of business and the sort of impact these will have on the company branching off into other areas.Discussion clearly and methodically considers the company’s CSR initiatives.

(1.2) Now that you have discussed the five elements of the microenvironment, how each of the five elements will impact daily operations, and the branching of your company, you will need to pay close attention to the macroenvironment.

Select any three environments under the macroenvironment and examine how each of these will impact the move.

Note: In your examination, consider the elements of the microenvironment which you discussed in the previous section and think of what sort of impact the environment being discussed will have on these elements.

(15)

TOPIC	POOR = 0%-24%	ROOM TO DEVELOP = 25%-50%	PROFICIENT = 51%-74%	MASTERLY = 75%-100%
CRITERIA
Select three environments under the microenvironment and examine their impact	Student has selected three environments under the microenvironment.No attempt has been made to examine how each of these will impact the move.	Student has selected three environments under the microenvironment.Attempt has been made to examine how each of these will impact the move but barely plausible.	Student has selected three environments under the microenvironment.The impact of the three environments has been made.Attempt has been made to consider elements of the microenvironment.	The three most relevant and applicable environments under the microenvironment have been selected.The impact of the three environments to the organisation and its move has been thoroughly and carefully examined.Elements of the microenvironments discussed in the previous question have been attentively and methodically considered.

SECTION 2 – THE EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT                                                                                                                                    [30 MARKS]

Now that you have assessed the micro- and macroenvironment elements and how they may affect your plans, you need to think about the various management theories, and which are best applicable to your organisation.

Select any two theories that you think would be most applicable to your organisation and provide three reasons, with relevant examples under each theory, of why you think it would be effective in your company.

TOPIC	POOR = 0%-24%	ROOM TO DEVELOP = 25%- 50%	PROFICIENT = 51%-74%	MASTERLY = 75%-100%
CRITERIA
Select two management theories and provide reasons with examples of effectiveness.	Student has selected two theories but does not show how they are most applicable to their company.Reasons provided are not clear and no clear examples have been given.	Student has selected two theories but not entirely clear of how they are applicable to their company.Reasons with examples have been provided to illustrate effectiveness but not entirely clear.	Student has selected two management theories that are most applicable to their organisation.Three reasons, with relevant examples under each theory demonstrate why they would be effective.	Student has selected the most relevant and clearly applicable management theories for their organisation.The three reasons that have been provided, with relevant and appropriate examples, clearly demonstrate their effectiveness in the organisation.

SECTION 3 – MANAGEMENT LEVELS, ROLES AND SKILLS                                                                                                                                    [20 MARKS]

Knowing which management theories will be most applicable to your organisation will provide you with insight on what roles your managers play in the organisation and the skills required of them.

Examine any five of the ten key roles of a manager in relation to your organisation and illustrate which intelligence would be most effective for a manager to display in each role.

TOPIC	POOR = 0%-24%	ROOM TO DEVELOP = 25%- 50%	PROFICIENT = 51%-74%	MASTERLY = 75%-100%
CRITERIA
Examine any five key roles of manager and illustrate most effective intelligence	Student has examined five key roles of managers but not entirely clear how they relate to their company.Intelligence has not been illustrated.	Student has examined five key roles of managers in relation to their company but somewhat plausible.Attempt has been made to iillustrate the most effective intelligence.	Five key roles of a manager have been discussed in relation to the company.Student has illustrated which intelligence would be most effective for a manager to display in each role.	Student has thorough and methodically selected the five key roles that are most applicable to their organisation.Student has also effectively illustrated which intelligence would be most effective for a manager to display under each role.

SECTION 4 – PRESCRIBED MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS                                                                                                                                    [15 MARKS]

Now that you have thought about management roles, you need to think about the objectives of your organisation growth.

Examine the viability of your expansion and its objectives using the SMART analysis.

TOPIC	POOR = 0%-24%	ROOM TO DEVELOP = 25%- 50%	PROFICIENT = 51%-74%	MASTERLY = 75%-100%
CRITERIA
Examine viability of expansion using SMART objectives	Student has failed to examine the viability of the expansion.	Student has examined the viability of the expansion using SMART objectives but barely plausible.	Student has examined the viability of the expansion using SMART object.	A methodical and thorough examination of the viability of the expansion has been done using the SMART analysis.

Total Marks: 100

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