MKTG3001 Business To Business Marketing: Case Study Analysis Assignment 2 Answer

MKTG3001 – Business to Business Marketing Assignment 2: Case Study AnalysisValue 30 marks

The case study analysis report is an individual assignment that will assess your ability to analyse a case, marshal your thoughts and ideas and communicate them via a written report. The aim of case study analysis report is to apply theory to solve the case and answer the case questions. You are expected to write a 1,500 word ± 10 % report on the case. The reference list, and the appendixes are excluded from the word count.

The report should focus on the key issues identified in the case and specifically answer the case study questions. Soft copies of the assignments should be submitted through the allocated Turnitin on iLearn.

Note: You must select ONLY one case for your case study analysis How to analyse a case study?

A case study helps you learn by immersing them in a real-world business scenario where you can act as problem-solvers and decision-makers. The case presents facts about a particular organisation. You must analyse the case by focusing on the most important facts and using this information to determine the opportunities and problems facing that organisation. A case study analysis must not merely summarize the case. It should identify key issues and problems, outline and assess alternative courses of action, and draw appropriate conclusions. The case study analysis can be broken down into the following steps:

1. Identify the most important facts surrounding the case.
2. Identify the key issue or issues.
3. Answer all the questions.

Let’s look at what each step involves.

Identify the most important facts surrounding the case.

Read the case several times to become familiar with the information it contains. Pay attention to the information in any accompanying exhibits, tables, or figures. Many case scenarios, as in real life, present a great deal of detailed information. Some of these facts are more relevant than others for problem identification. One can assume the facts and figures in the case are true, but statements, judgments, or decisions made by individuals should be questioned. Underline and then list the most important facts and figures that would help you define the central problem or issue. If key facts and numbers are not available, you can make assumptions, but these assumptions should be reasonable given the situation. The "correctness" of your conclusions may depend on the assumptions you make. Support your arguments with facts and figures. Use secondary data.

Identify the key issue or issues.

Use the facts provided by the case to identify the key issue or issues facing the company you are studying. Many cases present multiple issues or problems. Identify the most important and separate them from more trivial issues. State the major problem or challenge facing the company. You should be able to describe the problem or challenge in one or two sentences. You should be able to explain how this problem affects the strategy or performance of the organisation. You will need to explain why the problem occurred. Does the problem or challenge facing the company comes from a changing environment, new opportunities, a declining market share, or inefficient internal or external business processes? When identifying the key issue or problem, ask what kind of problem it is: Is it a management problem, a technology problem, an organisational problem, or a combination of these? What management, organisational, and technology factors contributed to the problem?

• To determine if a problem stems from management factors, consider whether managers are exerting appropriate leadership over the organisation and monitoring organisational performance. Consider also the nature of management decision-making: Do managers have sufficient information for performing this role, or do they fail to take advantage of the information that is available?
• To determine if a problem stems from technology factors, examine any issues arising from the organisation’s information technology infrastructure: its hardware, software, networks and telecommunications infrastructure, and the management of data in databases or traditional files. Consider also whether the appropriate management and organisational assets are in place to use this technology effectively.
• To determine the role of organisational factors, examine any issues arising from the organisation’s structure, culture, business processes, work groups, divisions among interest groups, relationships with other organisations, as well as the impact of changes in the organisation’s external environment-changes in government regulations, economic conditions, or the actions of competitors, customers, and suppliers.

You will have to decide which of these factors—or combination of factors—is most important in explaining why the problem occurred. Support your arguments with facts and figure. Use secondary data.

Answer all the questions in the case carefully.

Make sure to use the most suitable theory to support your solutions to questions. If the question asks you for recommendations and solutions, provide some alternative solutions and identify which solution is the best. Make sure the organisation can implement your solution with limited available resources and capabilities. Support your arguments with facts and figures. Use secondary data.

Important notes regarding Assignment 2

1. Please submit on time - our experience shows nearly 20% of students are faced with a penalty for the late submission. Late submission penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for Special Consideration is made and approved.
2. This assignment is an academic writing. Each claim you make needs to be supported by some evidence, for example a reference to research findings or published sources.
3. In your assignment, you will probably have accumulated a wide range of facts, published research, and other information relevant to the topic. Please do not simply throw these facts together in body paragraphs, without properly applying them to the topic or signalling to the reader the connections between them. Sentences and paragraphs should not feel jumpy and disjointed. Each sentence should follow the preceding sentence and each paragraph should follow the preceding paragraph.
4. Having a limited number of direct quotes is fine. Please be advised that it is not the norm to have too many direct quotes in your assignment. Also, it simply increases the similarity index of your assignment.
5. Please do not bold/italicize/underline any part of your text.
6. All sourced content must be referenced appropriately (both in-text citations and reference list) using APA 7 style. The reference list, which should be included at the end of the report, is not included in the word count. 
7. You can use each of the questions as the sub-heading so that the reader understands where you finish one question and start the next one.
8. Please avoid having long sentences. Please break down your answers to each question across a couple of paragraphs. Please avoid putting everything related to each question in one single paragraph.
9. Theories and concepts should be included in your discussion. Please do not use underpinning theories as a separate part of the assignment.