Managing Finances in Enterprise for Computer Science

Semester Two 2016-17

Adding Value Assignment 2016/2017

In this assignment you will need to analyse a company that operates in the UK. The
company ideally would produce a product relevant to your subject expertise. You will need
to check that you can obtain reliable information from more than one reliable source about
your chosen company before you start (Feel free to check with your Tutor on your company
choice).

Your assignment tasks are to:

 Give an overview of your selected company’s product range.
 Identify a single product offered and analyse the added value that it offers to the
customer.
 Explain where further value could be added to this product.

You are reporting to a manager who may not be a specialist in your area so evidence for
your arguments must be provided by way of references.

Your report should follow the structure indicated below:

Introduction, Existing Product and Market 20%

Briefly introduce your reader to the company and its product range. Do they compete on
quality or price? where is most value added in the value chain do you think?
What market are they operating in? Who are the main competitors? What is the market size
and potential? Who are their current customers? Give the reader a full understanding of
where this product currently sits in the marketplace.

Changes to existing product 80%

Describe 4 separate changes you would make to the existing product/service in terms of
either design, manufacture/delivery, after sales service, marketing, etc (i.e. anywhere in
the value chain) to add value to the product. Fully explain fully how each change would add
further value to the product and how it could be implemented within the company and how
much it might cost to the company and to the product itself. The changes should be based
on evidence that you have found such as market research information, information from
trade journals, or where a similar way of adding value has been shown in other products
etc. Is the cost of the change likely to be outweighed by increase in revenue? Highest marks
will generally be for those who attempt to quantify the change in terms of cost
savings/increased profits etc in addition to a good argument for the change backed up by
data from references.

Assignment Length
This assignment should be approximately 3000 words in length (10% more allowed)
excluding appendices, diagrams, graphs, tables etc. References are required in order
for you to add credibility to your arguments and a report of this type would be
expected to contain around 30. These references are likely to be a mix of academic
references, internet sites, market research databases such as Mintel, Frost and Sullivan,
Keynote or even product comparison sites or blogs. It is also fine to use a quote from an
expert you have spoken to as a reference, this can be referenced as “personal
communication” and should include their name and company title as its credibility.

Through completion of this assignment you will demonstrate:

 An understanding of the concept of added value

 Your ability to identify added value and how the way it is added to the products
The assignment should be submitted electronically via Blackboard before 3pm on
Friday 31st March 2017.

The 10 credit unit Managing Finances in Enterprise for Computer Science is

assessed by:
Individual assignment 1 (Adding Value) 40%
Examination 60%

Hand in Deadline
Assignments are designed to allow you to present a piece of work which shows your depth of
understanding of the enterprise topics being assessed. A generous time period has been allocated to
allow you to undertake the research and composition of this piece of work.

3pm on Friday 31st March 2017

BlackBoard submission
In BlackBoard, please upload a copy of your printed work in PDF format. Your work is marked
anonymously so you must give the work a Submission title made up out of your student ID and the
Unit code:

Check that you are completely happy with your document and that you are
submitting the correct version before you submit.

Blackboard will produce an electronic receipt with a unique number which you should note and retain for
your records, as this is proof of your submission.
Instructions on how to submit your work to Blackboard via Turnitin (the online plagiarism detection
software) will be provided in the Blackboard unit space.

Late Penalty
BlackBoard will record the date and time of submission. Work arriving after the deadline will have a
penalty applied. Work handed in over one week late will NOT be marked.

Penalties for late submission:

(i) a penalty of 10 marks will be deducted from the mark for the piece of assessed work if the
work is submitted after the designated deadline but on the same day of submission;

(ii) a penalty of 10 marks per day thereafter including weekends and Bank Holidays.

After a week (7 days) a mark of zero will be given. Weekends will count as two days.

Extensions for Exceptional Circumstances

Please plan your time carefully as extensions to the hand in deadline are only granted for exceptional
circumstances (such as lengthy illness or bereavement). Any event which could reasonably have been
predicted to occur within the assignment period is not legitimate grounds for an extension (going to
parties, days off, working, religious observance, minor sickness, event attendance or loss of data). Your
request for an extension must be in writing (e-mail) to the mitigating circumstances officer of your
home School. Do not delay. The request must be submitted as soon as you identify the need for an
extension.

Please also e-mail your unit lecturer and copy ruth.froes@manchester.ac.uk to alert us that you have
formally made a request to your School.

Plagiarism and Referencing

Your assignment demonstrates to the marker your level of understanding and analysis of the subject. It
is essential that the assignment which you hand in is written in your own words. If you do use even a
few words from another source, then you must reference exactly where the quotation has come
from. A quotation must appear inside ‘quotation marks’ and be followed by a full reference. A full
reference is one that allows the reader to go directly to the precise page in the document that you have
obtained the information from.

Information must never be ‘cut and pasted’ into the body text of your assignment.
Do not start to draft your assignment work by collecting cut and pasted information into a rough
document that you then edit and hand in. This is poor academic practice and will be heavily
penalised.

Each and every table, graph, chart, photograph and diagram, unless created from first principles by you,
must be clearly and fully attributed to the original source.

Unless otherwise indicated, you are expected to work individually on your assignment. Any
assignments which appear to have similarities with each other will lead to disciplinary action under the
University rules. Allowing your own work to be copied is treated as severely as the act of copying from
someone else’s work.

You must not submit any work for assessment that you have previously submitted for assessment. (This
is called self-plagiarism)

You will agree a statement that you understand these rules when you upload your work, stating that it is
all your own material. Your attention is drawn to the University policy and guidelines on plagiarism:
http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=2870

All electronic copies of assignments submitted via Blackboard will be checked for plagiarism

Feedback
Formative assessment tasks are designed give you an early indication of how well you are working in
the subject area. You will receive feedback, however the mark for formative work does not get used in
calculating the unit final mark.

Summative assignments are marked and feedback is given. The summative mark is used in
calculating the final unit mark.
.
All assignments which are handed in before the deadline will be marked within a target time of 15 working
days from the hand in date. Individual feedback comments and marks will be made available for you to
view in the BlackBoard unit. General feedback points may be given to the whole class group as a
hand out or within a lecture/ tutorial. These feedback comments are intended to help you to improve your
approach to future work tasks.

It is important to note that the mark awarded is not negotiable. The mark you are given has been
through a strict marking and moderation process. The mark is subject to further checking and moderation
by the external examiner and exam board. Once you have handed work in, you cannot re-attempt or re-
submit an assessment in order to try to achieve a better mark a second time round.

All MEC staff are willing to meet with students, on request by e-mail, to give brief personal feedback. This
is additional to the written assessed feedback and should be undertaken no more than 4 weeks from the
written feedback being made available.

If you believe that there has been a numerical mistake in the marking of your work you can e-mail
ruth.froes@manchester.ac.uk to request that the assignment be re-checked stating where you believe
the mistake has occurred.

Note: The University of Manchester ‘Policy on Feedback to Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught
Students’ may be viewed at:
http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=6518

Manchester Enterprise Centre Updated 19.7.15