BUSI49960 Strategic Global Supply Chains Summative Assessment Brief 2, 2024-25 | NTU

Key Details

BUSI49960 Assessment task 

This is an individual assignment, based on the module material. Choose one business case from the list provided. Your choice of topic and case must be made explicit on the front sheet.

You must prepare 2 portfolio submissions: A and B. Each element carries equal weight and should be no more than 1,250 words each, or equivalent if you have used diagrams, tables, figures etc. A single pdf copy should be submitted.

Each section is equally weighted.

Part A is a critical literature review. You should draw upon literature referred to in class and material made available in the Module Now Room and Resource List, as well as additional academic literature that you have sourced. This must include the works included in the ASSESSMENT CORE LITERATURE List provided. A minimum of three of the listed resources is required. You should explore theory, concepts, and models relevant to the topic and identify key arguments (do not discuss your case company in this section).

Part B is based upon your selected case study, and you may adopt the style of a blog, internal report, or news article. You should apply the theory from the literature review to your case study and discuss how the theories/ concepts have informed your arguments.

You must provide HARVARD style references for ALL sources, including online and non-academic material, providing citations in the text within each portfolio element and one list of references at the end of your work.

Portfolio Elements 

Part A: 

Write a critical literature review about one of the following supply chain management topics:

1. Supply chain strategic alignment (Including theory such as the work of Fisher, Stratton, Lee, Wong, Christopher etc.)
2. Risk in global supply chains (this might include frameworks to identify risk, risk trade-offs, mitigation strategies)
3. Strategic supply chain decisions (such as literature about outsourcing, location choice)
4. Strategic supply chain relationships (such as the work of Kraljic, Cox, Van Weele, …)

This must include the works included in the ASSESSMENT CORE LITERATURE List provided. A minimum of three of the listed resources is required. You should explore theory, concepts, and models relevant to the topic and identify key arguments (do not discuss your case company specifically here).

Part B:

Choose One of the following organisations

Tesco, Jaguar Land Rover, or H&M.

In the style of either an Expert Blog, an Internal Report, or an Online News Article, explain how the theory covered in Part A applies to the supply chain strategy and management of your chosen company. Explain how this impacts their performance (can be financial, operational, marketing).

BUSI49960 Guidance for completing this assessment 

Each element of the portfolio should be no more than 1,250 words in length, so that your overall submission is a maximum of 2,500 words.

Literature review

The literature review is your opportunity to develop your learning on specific topics. This section must include the resources provided on the Core Reading List. You should identify relevant academic sources from journal articles and textbooks – starting with those recommended in your course materials. You should compare and contrast the writing of different authors and make sure that you cite and reference ALL sources using the HARVARD referencing format, see: Nottingham Trent University

Expert Blog

Blogs are informative, readable opinion pieces, often based on a particular viewpoint. In this case, you are the supply chain expert, so the views expressed are your own, based on your confident assessment of the case study context. Bloggers are often critical, but base their arguments around evidence, examples and contrasts and above all, their assessment of what should be done differently. Because Blogs are read online, it is helpful to divide into subheadings. Citations for books, academic articles and industry news articles must be included. For an example see Loder, 2021

Internal Report or Memo

Internal reports and memos are intended to inform colleagues and users of research, knowledge, new systems or processes, etc. It is therefore important to identify who is targeted and write to in a way that informs the reader (in this case professional colleagues), quickly and effectively. A Report is divided into sections: title, contents, introduction, body of report, conclusions, recommendations, references (presented as one complete list at the end of the portfolio), and appendices (if necessary). Appendices and references are not included in word count.

Online News Article

Like a blog, this is an opinion piece. However, because it is to be edited by the publisher, the expert must use a more balanced argument, illustrating different viewpoints and scenarios informed by your literature review, and drawing justifiable conclusions. Provide citations for all sources and add images if appropriate. For an example see A circular fashion economy is about more than clothes

There are examples of work on NOW under the assessment section. These are to demonstrate style and referencing.

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Learning Outcomes Assessed

MLO1: Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of strategic supply chain management and the concept of alignment.

MLO2: Critically evaluate the strategic role of supply chain management in achieving organisational objectives

MLO3:Select and use supply chain theory and frameworks, critically evaluating supply chain decisions such as what to make or buy, where to locate operations/suppliers and the types of supplier relationships that would be suitable for different buying categories.

MLO4: Demonstrate an understanding of supply chain trade-offs relating to operational performance criteria (cost, quality speed, dependability, sustainability, and flexibility) and critically evaluate how concepts such as agile, lean and le-agile can minimise the impact of trade-offs shifting operational performance frontiers.

MLO5: Select, justify and apply supply chain management concepts in a range of organisational contexts through the use of case studies, forming judgements regarding the decisions made and make recommendations for future development.

How does this assessment relate to future employment?

The transferable competencies, skills and knowledge gained from completing this assignment which can be applied to work, or work-like experiences include:

Demonstrating a critical understanding of theories and best practice in supply chain management. This can be used to help attain employment and in the workplace.

Applying theoretical knowledge to a real case study to understand how this works in practice and assess what can be improved. This knowledge helps understand and solve real life organisational problems.

Practice writing a critical piece of work demonstrating an understanding of different perspectives of an argument and forming a view based upon verified research. This can be used in writing reports and presenting ideas and data analysis in the work environment.

Word count 

The report is not to exceed 2,500 words 

The purpose of the word count is to support your writing development by encouraging a focus on clarity and conciseness, provide experience of writing to a specified word limit, which is common practice in professional and research environments, and support equity in grading work from different individuals.
  
You are required to include the word count on the NBS Coursework Front Cover (available on the NOW module learning room) for all of your coursework, as an accurate statement of the words used. If you are found to have exceeded the word count in order to gain an unfair advantage, then your tutor can adjust your grade downwards depending on the amount of additional work submitted.

If the additional work is up to 500 words, the overall grade for the piece of work will be reduced by 1 grade point (e.g. UG 2.1-Mid to 2.1-Low; PG Commendation-Mid to Commendation-Low); 
 
If the additional work exceeds 500 words, the overall grade for the piece of work will be reduced by 3 grade points (e.g. 2.1-Mid to 2.2 Mid; PG Commendation-Mid to Pass-Mid). 

These penalties will be applied even if the reduced grade is below a pass grade. 

You are advised to submit work that is as close to the maximum word count as is practical to enable you to demonstrate that you have met all the learning outcomes.

Style, structure and presentation

You must provide HARVARD style references for ALL sources, including online and non-academic material, providing citations in the text within each portfolio element and one list of references at the end of your work.

Save your work into ONE pdf document to upload into the Dropbox. This should include the following:

1. The NBS Coursework Front Cover page detailing your Name and Student Number, Module Code, and the two portfolio choices made: The theory chosen for Part A and name of the chosen case study company for Part B.
2. The 2 portfolio items: Part A and Part B
3. A single list of references formatted in the Harvard style and in alphabetical order. Include sources for both the theory and your case company in the one list.

Required Format

Font: Verdana
Points: 10
Paragraph line spacing: 1.5
Page Numbers: Included

Academic Integrity and Referencing

To demonstrate academic integrity, you are expected to use Harvard Referencing style to correctly acknowledge the sources that you have included or quoted from within your work. See the NTU Harvard Referencing Guide for full guidance. It is important that you do not copy sentences or paragraphs from any source, including previous student assessments that may have been shared with you, and paste these into your work as if they were your own words. 

All assignments will be processed through Turnitin similarity testing software and all cases of suspected plagiarism and/or suspected commissioning will be investigated thoroughly in accordance with NTU’s Academic Integrity policy. You are advised to submit your work to the draft Turnitin Dropbox folder to check the Turnitin similarity report for your work prior to submission. Further guidance is available on the Plagiarism and Academic Integrity at NTU NOW learning room.

You must declare on the NBS Coursework Front Cover (available from your module NOW Learning Room) if you have used Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) to support the development of your assessment. Further guidance on accepted uses of GenAI are available on your module NOW learning room. 

Submitting your work

The final deadline for DropBox submission is 9th February 2025 at 11pm

Please follow guidance from the course handbook should you find that circumstances beyond your control prevent you from meeting this deadline.

Feedback should be returned to students within 21 days.

Deadlines are important and must be strictly adhered to. You must submit assignments on or before the due date indicated by the module leader(s). Submitting your work after the due date/time will be considered a late-submission and the late submission penalties will be applied in line with the NTU Quality Handbook Common Assessment Regulations (unless you have been granted an extension via a Notification of Exceptional Circumstance application).

All coursework is to be submitted electronically in NOW using the Dropbox facility within each of your module learning rooms. There is NO requirement to submit a paper copy. Please submit written work in PDF Format. 

For each assignment you will be provided with a separate folder within your learning room Dropbox which will normally be open for electronic submission of your coursework until 11pm on the day of submission. When you make a submission to a Dropbox folder you will receive notification within NOW of your submission and also an email. Please ensure you keep these emails. Technical problems are rare but should you be prevented from submitting and miss the deadline due to such circumstances, then you should submit your coursework as soon as you are able and email a description of the problem to your tutor (if possible include a screenshot of the issue). 

To help you manage your submissions within NOW, you can enable a Dropbox instant notification to alert you to when the Dropbox folder end date is 48 hours away (in NOW select ‘Preferences’ and tick the relevant check box for the Dropbox).

Grading matrix

Your work will be graded utilising the grading matrix below. This provides a standard benchmark which all assessments are graded against. Your final grade will depend on the extent to which you have meet the grading criteria.