B207A Shaping Business OpportunitiesA (TMA)

Your answer should be in the form of an essay. The essay should be well organized, that is, it has an introduction (5 marks), body (90 marks) and conclusion (5 marks). The introduction should introduce the topic.

In the body paragraphs, the following points should be discussed:

1. Name the organization and briefly describe its products, markets and activities. (10 marks)
2. How was the organization able to become innovative? Link to the theories discussed in the course material. (20 marks)
3. Discuss how the two business functions (marketing and operations) would identify and address this organization’s innovation needs. Link to the theories discussed in the course material. (20 marks)
4. Discuss the selected process innovation (marketing and/or operations). Which problem did it solve? Which added value did it bring? Link to the theories discussed in the course material. (20 marks)
5. Analyze how the process innovation was implemented and its benefits. (10 marks)
6. Discuss the past or future challenges faced by the organization for innovation implementation. (10 marks)

Instructions for students:

• Each team will work on the paper as they would normally do with other courses, but this time in a group. This is a good opportunity for students to learn a set of skills that are very important in the professional business world, such as time management, planning, communicating with others, etc.
• Each team is required to select a team leader. The TMA paper should be uploaded to the LMS by the team leader only. This is a very important requirement in to avoid Turnitin similarities.
• The names of all the team members should be written on the pt3 form, including the name of the team leader. All team members will receive the same mark on the TMA essay paper. Students are required to use the pt3 form provided on the LMS for this specific TMA.
• Students papers are expected to meet the following criteria:
  • Plagiarism: It’s imperative that team members write the TMA using their own words. Plagiarism will be penalized depending on its severity and according to AOU plagiarism policy.
  • Format: team members are expected to write their answer in an essay format: introduction, body paragraph(s) and a conclusion. Failing to do so could result in the deduction of up to 4 marks from the total TMA paper mark.
  • Word count: TMAs are expected to be within the specified word count. A 10% deviation from word count limit is acceptable. Not adhering to specified word count could result in the deduction of up to 4 marks of the total TMA paper mark.
  • Referencing: team members are expected to use the Harvard referencing style for in-text referencing and list of reference at the end. Failing to do so could result in the deduction of up to 4 marks of the total TMA paper mark.
  • E-Library: team members are expected to use E-library sources to support their answers. A minimum of 3 sources is required. Failing to do so could result in the deduction of up to 4 marks of the total TMA paper mark.