FdA Business

Module code:              ML230

Module title:                Business Practice – Individual Report (Business Plan)

Report Deadline:       

Word count:                3500 – 5000 words                                                           

Assessment:               Individual Report (Business Plan)

Weighting:                   Represents 80% of the module mark

 

Overview

The Business Practice module comprises two separate assessments:

• Business Plan (80% of module mark).
• Individual Presentation (20% of module mark)

Task

The purpose of this assignment is to outline the assessment requirements for the Business Plan. The Business Presentation that you have previously delivered was an opportunity to show the key elements of your business idea and this provided you with a key foundation in which to now expand your research and planning for this assignment.

 

A business plan is a vital part of establishing any business. The Business Plan element of this module should continue to be based on your business idea (an established business looking to expand/diversify or one that you would like to establish within the next year). The plan assesses your understanding of how to construct and present an effective business plan.  It also assesses your awareness of the processes involved in expanding an existing or establishing a new business.

The Business Plan should contain the information required by a High Street Bank, written as a formal business report. 

 

Module Learning Outcomes

On completion of the module students should demonstrate the ability to employ the knowledge and skills acquired over the duration of the course on a specific business problem. Specifically, they will demonstrate:

1. The ability to carry out an individual research project;
2. The ability to prepare a business plan for a new business or revised plan for an area of an existing business – with appropriate sections in terms of finance, marketing and legal issues;
3. An understanding of the interaction between the legal, economic, marketing and financial aspects of a business;
4. The ability to prepare and present a formal business report and deliver a formal presentation

Cognitive:

1. Critical and analytical thinking, and recognise where the particular skills or ideas learned previously may be relevant to solving a particular problem;
2. The ability to analyse and draw reasoned conclusions;
3. The ability to locate, extract and analyse data from multiple sources;
4. The capacity for independent and self-managed learning;
5. Communication skills, including the ability to present quantitative and qualitative information, together with analysis and commentary

Assignment Deliverables

1. A comprehensive Business Plan (80%) (3500 – 5000 words) covering the main areas required by a High Street Bank.

This should be submitted by 12 noon, Wednesday 15^th   May 2019

Restrictions

Also areas of business that have been used for detailed lecture and seminar purposes in this (or any other) module may not be accepted as assignment topics by your tutor.

Finally, all constraints with respect to plagiarism and collusion apply to the assignment (please refer to the Plagiarism Awareness Pack available on Student Central or your College’s Virtual Learning Environment).

Submission of Plan

You are required to submit:

·one hard copy of the assignment;

·a digital copy of the report must be posted to your Assignment folder on Student Central or via your College’s Virtual Learning Environment.;

·an Assignment Self-Assessment form

Assessment Guidelines

The Business Plan should contain the information required by a High Street Bank. You are strongly advised to look at a wide variety of business plan templates, both on banking and other websites, and in textbooks, to decide on the best structure and content for your plan. This decision-making is part of the assessment. Do not include things that are irrelevant to your business.

 

For the purposes of this module, the plan must also include:

• an executive summary;
• evidence of independent primary & secondary research (fully referenced);
• application of theory to content of plan (fully referenced); and
• a critical evaluation of your business plan.

You must also demonstrate attention to detail throughout its presentation.

The minimum separate references/citations required at Level 5 (Year Two) are:

Pass                   10

Merit                  16

Distinction          24

 

The assignment is an academic document and as such should be referenced in the Harvard style with appropriate bibliography.  All references, citations and reference lists must follow the format set out in the Brighton Business School Referencing Handbook.  Web sources are acceptable provided an individual or corporate author, publisher and date of publication can be identified and the reference is given in the appropriate format.

Guidelines for formatting your work can be found in your Course Handbook.  These include word processing using an 11-point font such as Ariel or Calibri  for the main text, and Ariel in a small point size for diagrams and tables; numbering all pages; a left-hand margin of at least 4cm; and top, right-hand and bottom margins of at least 3cm. The text should be 1.5 spacing