This assessment is divided into 2 parts:

1. Written report (15%) - assessed as individual work.

2. Presentation (15%) - assessed as group performance.

This is an weekly assignment starting in Week 3.

In Week 1, students for form into teams and provided with a list of seminar topics and a number of questions which need to be researched and answered.

This assignment allows students to develop their research skills, along with critical, analytical and integrative thinking; and to develop their written communication skills.

The seminar topics and questions, assessment criteria and information guide, marking rubrics, will be posted on iLearn.

Scholarly work is essential for deep analysis, but reputable professional /Industry reports/ marketing media / journalistic coverage of the seminar topic must also be included. At least three peer reviewed articles and three industry reports need to be used for this seminar topic report.

No extensions will be granted. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late (for example, 25 hours late in submission – 20% penalty). This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for disruption of studies is made and approved. No submission will be accepted after solutions have been posted.

References made in the report need to be made according to Harvard Referencing method. When completed upload the report onto Turnitin on iLearn. The maximum number of words is 3000 (this includes the Table of Contents but excludes the references and appendix). The report is to be typed and 1.5 spaced (a standard 12 point font should be used).  Students are expected to maintain an appropriate standard in writing their report. It should be checked for spelling, consistency and clarity of expression.

Please read more details on iLearn.

​E-Commerce Strategy Plan

This group assignment is divided into 2 parts:

1. Written report (15%) - assessed as group work.

2. Presentation (15%) - assessed as individual performance.

Purpose

This assignment requires your group to apply the learning from Weeks 1-10 in the development of an e-commerce plan, for an actual organisation. You may work on an organisation of your choice, but you must ensure that you have access to the information required to develop an e-commerce strategy. Please consult with your Lecturer about the appropriateness of this choice.

The context for the assignment is that you have been asked to develop and recommend a e-commerce strategy that the organisation’s CEO and the marketing/IT team should implement, to achieve corporate objectives. You will need to identify the organisation’s corporate objectives as part of the assignment. To make an appropriate recommendation, you must understand the current market and competition, and conduct segmentation and buyer behaviour analyses.

Instructions

You may use relevant publicly-available information (e.g.  library databases, search-engine searches (e.g., Google, Yahoo, Baidu) about the organisation to formulate an e-commerce plan.

Project content

Your project should address the three issues below.

Issue 1:

Organisation and environmental analysis (20% of assignment marks)

For your chosen organisation/offering, present SWOT and the 7Cs framework, to identify relevant business and e-commerce issues facing the organisation. Critique the organisation’s existing value proposition.

By addressing this issue, you will be demonstrating that you have interpreted the data and drawn conclusions about what is good about what the management of the chosen organisation/offering are currently doing, and what could be done more effectively. This issue should give you some ideas about how to frame the next two issues.

Issue 2: Developing an e-commerce strategy (40% of assignment marks)

Based on the market analyses in Issue 1,

• outline potential and actual market that is available to the chosen organisation
• recommend and justify the type of e-commerce business model
• identify key segments and target markets
• develop a value proposition.​

Issue 3:

Developing an action plans (40% of assignment marks)

Recommend and justify a detailed plan  to support the marketing strategy described in Issue 2. That is; explore the key support areas: Security, payment methods; Order fulfilment; customer service. Also detail the role of digital marketing; social commerce and mobile marketing in your plan. Finally, the legal and privacy area needs to be acknowledged in your plan.

Presentations will be conducted in the Week 12 Class.

No extensions will be granted. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late (for example, 25 hours late in submission – 20% penalty). This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for disruption of studies is made and approved. No submission will be accepted after solutions have been posted.

References made in the plan need to be made according to Harvard Referencing method. When completed upload the project onto Turnitin on iLearn. The maximum number of pages is 15 (this includes the Table of Contents but excludes the references and appendix). The plan is to be typed and 1.5 spaced (a standard 12 point font should be used).  Students are expected to maintain an appropriate standard in writing their plan. It should be checked for spelling, consistency and clarity of expression.

Please read more details and information on iLearn.

A final examination is included as an individual assessment task for this unit to provide assurance that:

• the product belongs to the student and
• the student has attained the knowledge and skills tested in the exam.

The final exam is a 2 hour closed book exam, held in the University exam period.

You will be notified of the exam day and time by email and this will also be posted on the BUS800 iLearn site.

The Macquarie university examination policy details the principles and conduct of examinations at the University. The policy is available at: http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/examination/policy.htm

Please read more details on iLearn.