ASSIGNMENT BRIEF- CIMM (UNIT 41)
Course Title Pearson BTEC Level 5 HND Diploma in Business (QCF) Student Name:
Unit Title Contemporary Issues in Marketing Management College ID NO:
Unit Number 41
Unit Credit Value 15 Pearson Reg. No:
Unit Level 5
Unit Code K/601/1037 E-mail:
Pearson Centre No
Assessor/s:
IQA:
Learner Signature:
Learning Outcomes To pass this unit, the student must achieve all the major learning outcomes as follows:
1. Understand the importance of relationship marketing in a contemporary business context
2. Understand the role of marketing in non-traditional contexts
3. Understand the importance of applying the extended marketing mix in the service sector
4. Understand the reasons for the increasing emphasis on ethics and social responsibility in marketing.
Issue Date
Final Submission Deadline:
Submission Date:
Signature of Assessor
Signature of
Internal Verifier
UNIT AIM
This unit will introduce learners to some current issues within the marketing industry including relationship marketing, customer relationship management, marketing in non-traditional contexts, marketing services and the increasing concern with ethical and social considerations.
UNIT INTRODUCTION
The role of marketing as a business function is increasingly viewed as an integral constituent of overall corporate strategy as organisations have become more aware of the need to develop long-term relationships with their customers.
The marketing industry has widened its scope to include non-traditional organisations such as those in the public and voluntary sectors. In this unit learners will examine how marketing theory is applied in not-for-profit organisations.
Services management, and therefore marketing, has been recognised separately since the 1970s. This unit also looks at the special approaches that service industry businesses need to adopt in a rapidly changing environment.
Ethical and social considerations have become increasingly important to all businesses and learners will investigate the impact this is having on marketing.
Instructions
Students must complete ALL tasks in order to achieve this unit.
Grading criteria
A pass grade is achieved by meeting all the requirements defined in the assessment criteria for passing this unit. Learners who complete the unit but who do not meet all the pass criteria are graded ‘Unclassified’. Learners whose course work is unclassified will be given the opportunity to make necessary corrections and amendments for resubmission. In order to achieve a merit unit grade, all pass criteria and all merit descriptors must be met. To achieve a distinction unit grade, all pass criteria plus all merit and distinction descriptors must be met.
Completing the tasks
In order to complete the tasks you will need to research different information sources such as textbooks, journals articles and the internet. You are also required to develop skills in analysis and synthesis of information. Analysis requires you to critically examine different aspects of a topic and identify important issues. Synthesis requires you to summarise the information you have analysed in a cosies and coherent manner. Make use of information on assignment preparation and command verb usage in your Moodle Platform.
Helpful information
The following sources of information may be useful for the completion of this assignment.
Textbooks
Sawyer M, (2004), The UK Economy: A Manual of Applied Economics, 16th edition, OUP Oxford
Begg D (2009), Foundations of Economics, 4th edition, McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Morrison J (2006), International Business Environment: Global and Local Marketplaces in a Changing World, Palgrave Macmillan
A & C Black Publishers Ltd (2009)– Whitaker's Almanack 2010, 142nd Revised edition, A & C Black Publishers Ltd
Journals
Harvard Business Review (Harvard Business Publishing)
The Economist (The Economist Newspaper Ltd)
The broadsheet newspapers have daily business sections. Many business stories will appear in the news sections.
Websites
www.direct.gov.uk/en/index.htm the government’s portal
www.berr.gov.uk has sections on business support, Europe, Business Law and regional development as well as other materials
www.ac777.dial.pipex.com/bes/index.html Online journal for British Economy
Survey
www.competition-commission.org.uk/ Competition Commission’s web site - regulates competition between companies in the UK by conducting in-depth inquiries
www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/journals is a directory of materials that can be used for teaching and covers a broad spectrum of business and economics
www.ofgem.gov.uk/Pages/OfgemHome.aspx is the web site of the Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets. Each industry regulator has a similar site www.bized.co.uk/ Bized provides a selection of teaching and learning resources
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business/ the BBC web site’s business section
http://europa.eu/index_en.htm The website of the European Union
www.thetimes100.co.uk includes a number of business and economics oriented case studies
Videos
Television news, current affairs and business programmes will also provide useful additional and up to date material on business and the economy often with special features on particular business environment subjects. Many programmes are archived and can be viewed on demand.
Referencing your work
References to relevant academic theory and research findings should be provided and cited appropriately using the Harvard system of referencing. Example of this referencing style is as follows
Sawyer M, (2004), The UK Economy: A Manual of Applied Economics, 16th edition, OUP Oxford
Author/s name and initials are listed first, followed by year of publication in brackets. Then there is the title of article/chapter of the book and the journal where article appears/ title of the book. If it is a journal, the journal will be in italics and you will have to add the volume and issue number (in brackets) along with the pages where article can be located. If it is a book, you will have to add the place of publication and then the publication company. Include at least two in-text citations and references in each assessment criterion. Further information on the Harvard System of referencing is on your Moodle Platform.

Note: Do not use Wikipedia as a source of reference.
Plagiarism and cheating
You are required to work independently when preparing this assignment. Presenting another learner’s work as yours or taking information from any sources without acknowledging the source constitutes plagiarism. Please note that your work will be cancelled if you plagiarized. In some cases the college will detect this by using software called ‘Grammarly’. Make sure you read over your work carefully and ensure that all sources of information have been acknowledged to avoid any untoward investigations that would result in a delay in your achievement of the unit.
Further information on plagiarism and potential consequences is available in your student handbooks.
Presentation
Present a document with guided words between 2000 to 3500 words. The word guide does not include references, bibliography, images, diagrams and appendices. The word count should be stated in the assignment cover sheet. Work must be submitted in a folder, word processed in a suitable format of 12 point font, 1.5 line spacing and pages numbered.
Submission
When submitting your assignment you must include:
1. Assignment Cover Sheet
2. All the Formative Feedbacks
3. The Assignment Brief
4. Reflective Learning Journals (Minimum words-300; Maximum words-500) describing your work to describe the values and experience you have gained from undertaking this assignment and how the knowledge gained may help your managerial techniques and leadership abilities in the future (Is not considered as part of the word count)
5. Other documents required by your assessor as evidence of achievement.
All assignments should be handed in at the reception, with necessary documents and should be signed and dated by the student and administrator.
Submission deadlines must be strictly observed. Therefore disciplined time management is very important when producing this assignment. Failure to meet deadlines will unduly delay your achievement and progression through the course and may affect your achievement of higher grades. For example the Merit, indicator “an effective approach to study and research has been applied”, and for Distinction, the indicator “activities have been managed” can both be interpreted to mean that submitting assignment work on time is an appropriate learning technique at this level.
SCENARIO
Marketing is rising as the most vital function in operating any organisation. Marketing requires a thorough study of its various aspects for proper understanding. There is therefore the need to discuss the changing role of marketing in contemporary organisation. As we know that for the last three decades, the marketing practices are emerging and progressing.
The basic principle of marketing still remains same. It revolves around matching companies offering with customer’s need. But the ways in which companies’ offerings are matched to customer’s needs and motivations and also constantly change with the help of digital marketing.
The American Marketing Association in 1985 defined marketing as: “Marketing is the process of planning and executing activities that satisfy individual, ecological and social needs ethically and sincerely, while also satisfying organisational objectives.” The marketing objectives are not always financial in nature. Ecological and social needs are becoming increasingly imperative in the framework of marketing strategies. Marketing strategies are defined and reflected by the overall corporate vision of an organisation and comprise the action taken to satisfy clients and their needs. When developing and executing marketing Strategies, it is important that an organisation understand the spirited situation, common environment, as well as its role and obligations within it in an ethical manner to meet the needs of all stakeholders.
In fact, the world has become a global village and therefore the globalisation has augmented the world businesses which may cause influence over both international and domestic Markets. Due to globalisation the businesses situation of various countries is becoming viable in terms of market factors including competition, product offering and customer’s demand. The international marketing approach is more complicated than that of local marketing because mostly the foreign essentials are unknown and unfamiliar as they are difficult to understand and forecast.
As the newly appointed marketing manager for Morrisons, you have been asked to write a report to be presented to the Board of Directors as to how to adopt contemporary marketing strategies to enable Morrison’s compete favourably within the UK retail market as a force to reckon with. You have been advised by the management team to adhere to the following tasks in helping you achieve this goal (tasks 1 and 4).
In your report, you should also do an evaluation of marketing in other types of organisations (tasks 2 and 3).
TASK 1: BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF RELATIONSHIP MARKETING IN A CONTEMPORARY BUSINESS CONTEXT
1.1 Explain the concept of knowledge management and its role in relationship marketing.
1.2 Explain the ways that ICT can support the customer relationship management process in Morrisons.
1.3 Describe the benefits of customer relationship management in Morrisons.
1.4 Make justified recommendations for the improvement in customer relationship management for Morrisons.
Evidence 1.1-1.4: report
M3 Present the recommendations made in 1.4 in a report form using an appropriate format.
Evidence: report in an appropriate template
D1 Reflect on the ways that ICT supported customer relationship management process in Morrisons as mentioned in 1.2.
Evidence: reflective report
TASK 2: BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF MARKETING IN NON- TRADITIONAL CONTEXTS
2.1 Carry out a stakeholder analysis for a voluntary sector and a public sector organisation.
Evidence: stakeholder analysis with a report explaining the analysis
2.2 Describe the nature of the relationships with customer within two selected not-for-profit organisations.
Evidence: report
2.3 Compare methods used in marketing within the public, private and voluntary sectors.
Evidence: report
2.4 Explain the key issues involved in marketing in a selected virtual organisation.
Evidence: report
M2 Apply appropriate technique for the stakeholders’ analyses conducted in 2.1. Justify the selection of the technique used.
Evidence: application of appropriate techniques for 2.1
TASK 3: BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF APPLYING THE EXTENDED MARKETING MIX IN THE SERVICE SECTOR
3.1 Describe the use of the extended marketing mix in selected service sector businesses.
Evidence: report
3.2 Explain how the product/service mix can be used to enhance value for the customer and organisation.
Evidence: report
3.3 Explain how difficulties peculiar to the marketing of services can be overcome in one of the above service business mentioned.
Evidence: report
3.4 Explain the role of ICT in services marketing management in one of the above service business mentioned.
Evidence: report
M1 Describe a situation in one of the above service business mentioned where a particular marketing difficulty occurred. Discuss about how the difficulty was solved (refer to 3.3).
Evidence: report with a case study
D2 When answering M1 develop a plan to illustrate the steps taken to solve the issue.
Evidence: plan
TASK 4: BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE REASONS FOR THE INCREASING EMPHASIS ON ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN MARKETING
4.1 Explain some of the current issues of ethical and social concern to marketers in the industry.
Evidence: report
4.2 Explain the concept of CSR with reference to Morrisons.
Evidence: report
4.3 Evaluate the role played by a selected pressure group in influencing ethical and social marketing policies for Morrisons.
Evidence: report
4.4 Evaluate the role played by published or broadcast media in influencing ethical and social marketing policies for Morrisons.
Evidence: report
D3 When answering both 4.3 and 4.4, clearly demonstrate the links of your evaluations to the contexts mentioned.
Evidence: report ensuring that the links are clear