4012SSL Foundations in Business Management Assignment 2

Assessment Information

This assignment is an individual assignment.

This assignment consists of two tasks and is designed to assess the following Learning Outcomes on 4012SSL Foundations of Business Management, following the Module Information Document (MID) of August 1 2021.

This assignment is designed to assess learning outcomes 2 and 3:

• Identify the effects of a dynamic business environment, its role in shaping the current trends in business and the impact on business managers.
• Discuss the changing role of management and how future challenges in the political and legal environment may affect business strategy.

Task 1: A Report

Provide a 1,500-word advisory report for your client; see the scenario below. The report should

• Contain a PESTEL analysis of the external environment surrounding upcycled, recycled and sustainable clothing in the ‘fast fashion’ sector.
• Consider, in particular, the influence of Political and Legal factors on this sector.

Task 2: A video-recorded reflection

Record a video of 10 minutes in which you reflect on the research you have undertaken whilst compiling your report, as well as on your personal perspectives on the topic of fast fashion and upcycling.  Provide a link to your video within your report.  You can record your video on Zoom, YouTube or Office 365 OneDrive.  Please ensure that your video is not password protected.

For your report consider the following case scenario:

"The future of fashion is old clothes" (Indvik, 2021).

As part of its Corporate Plan, Coventry City Council will establish a social enterprise hub to tap into the trend among fast fashion consumers[1],  towards 'upcycling' (Chan, 2020), as Gen Z and Millennials lead the charge to decrease fashion's carbon footprint (Beech & Roby, 2018; Keats, 2020).
The  Council wishes to encourage the establishment of community-led businesses in Fargo Village, Coventry, that would sell upcycled fashion items and offer workshops and events on mending/upcycling/swapping and caring for our clothes (Coventry City Council, 2021; Touma, 2021). Such businesses should have both physical retail space and e-commerce platforms which must conform to GDPR requirements (GDPR.EU, 2018). This initiative would form part of Coventry’s plans for a more sustainable local economy, in line with global campaigns to reduce waste in the fashion industry (Bick et al., 2018; United Nations, 2019).

The Council has asked for an advisory report which includes the PESTEL factors as a way of identifying the most important influences to be considered when establishing this hub.

• The list of references is at the end of this document.

Criteria for Assessment

Criteria for your report and video	Weight %
Provide a brief, cited overview of the PESTEL model, explaining how and why it is used.  Your citations should be from credible academic sources.	10%
Using the PESTEL model as a guide, demonstrate knowledge and understanding of why the Environmental, Social, Technological and Economic factors will have an influence upon the business (Chic & Unique), providing cited material.	40%
Demonstrate cited knowledge and discussion of factors in the Political and Legal environment (from the PESTEL), including from local, national and international perspectives will have an influence upon the business (Chic & Unique) (e.g. United Nations SDG 17 Goals)	20%
In your video, provide a conclusion based on your PESTEL analysis regarding the factors likely to be most influential on this sector, now and in the future.	10%
List of references as linked to pertinent and cited use of academic materials and quality data sources.	20%
TOTAL	100%

 

1. Report Structure of 1500 words

The report must be produced using a formal report structure in a Word document (.doc or docx).  It should include:

• Cover Page with your student ID and date
• Table of Contents
• Headings and subheadings that address the criteria for assessment.
• Recommendations
• List of References (formatted to APA 7^th Referencing System), and in alphabetical order.

2. Video of 10 minutes – a reflection piece in which the student is shown as a 'talking head.'

A video of 10 minutes in which you reflect on the research you have undertaken whilst compiling your report, as well as on your personal perspectives on the topic of fast fashion and upcycling.  Provide a link to your video within your report.  You can record your video on Zoom, YouTube or Office 365 OneDrive. Please ensure that your video is not password protected.

Your face should be visible and you could include some of the following:

• Discuss your research and report construction experience.
• What particular points of the study stood out and were interesting, or not?
• If you are an international student, how is upcycling viewed in your Country?
• Are there any particular aspects of upcycling that caught your interest?
• For UK based students – how in tune are you with upcycling?

Word Count

The word count for the report is 1500 words for the report.  The video should be 10 minutes. 

There will be a penalty of a deduction of 10% of the mark (after internal moderation) for work exceeding the word limit by 10% or more.

The word limit includes quotations and citations but excludes the references list.

How to submit your assessment

The assessment must be submitted via Turnitin by 18:00 on 19/11/21. No paper copies are required. You can access the submission link through the module web.

• Your coursework will be given a zero mark if you do not submit a copy through Turnitin. Please take care to ensure that you have fully submitted your work.
• Please ensure that you have submitted your work using the correct file format, unreadable files will receive a mark of zero. The Faculty accepts Microsoft Office and PDF documents, unless otherwise advised by the module leader.
• All work submitted after the submission deadline without a valid and approved reason (see below) will be given a mark of zero.
• The University wants you to do your best. However we know that sometimes events happen which mean that you can't submit your coursework by the deadline – these events should be beyond your control and not easy to predict.  If this happens, you can apply for an extension to your deadline for up to 5 working days, or if you need longer, you can apply for a deferral, which takes you to the next assessment period (for example, to the resit period following the main Assessment Boards). You must apply before the deadline.

You will find information about the process and what is or is not considered to be an event beyond your control at https://share.coventry.ac.uk/students/Registry/Pages/Deferrals-and-Extension.aspx

• Students MUST keep a copy and/or an electronic file of their assignment.
• Checks will be made on your work using anti-plagiarism software and approved plagiarism checking websites.Extra checks are in place to detect contract purchased scripts, that is, work not written by you.              

GUIDELINES AND BACKGROUND TO THIS ASSIGNMENT

Plagiarism

As part of your study, you will be involved in carrying out research and using this when writing up your coursework. It is important that you correctly acknowledge someone else's writing, thoughts or ideas and that you do not attempt to pass this off as your own work.  Doing so is known as plagiarism.  It is not acceptable to copy from another source without acknowledging that it is someone else's writing or thinking. This includes using paraphrasing as well as direct quotations. You are expected to correctly cite and reference the works of others. The Centre for Academic Writing provides documents to help you get this right. If you are unsure, please visit www.coventry.ac.uk/caw.  You can also check your understanding of academic conduct by completing the Good Academic Practice quiz.

Self-plagiarism or reuse of work previously submitted

You must not submit work for assessment that you have already submitted (partially or in full), either for your current course or for another qualification of this and any other university, unless this is specifically provided for in your assignment brief or specific course or module information. Where earlier work by you is citable, ie. it has already been published/submitted, you must reference it clearly. Identical pieces of work submitted concurrently will also be considered to be self-plagiarism. Self-plagiarism is unacceptable because you cannot gain credit for the same work twice.

The University VLE includes a plagiarism detection system and assessors are experienced enough to recognise plagiarism when it occurs. Copying another student's work, using previous work of your own or copying large sections from a book or the Internet are examples of plagiarism and carry serious consequences. If you are a business student and joined Coventry University in September 2020 or later please use APA 7th edition referencing; if you joined prior to this date you may use APA or the existing Harvard Reference Style (Coventry version) that you are familiar with. Law students should use OSCOLA. Please be consistent in the referencing style that you use and use it correctly to avoid a case of plagiarism or cheating being brought. If you are unsure, please contact the Centre for Academic Writing, your Progress Coach, or a course team member.

Return of Marked Work

You can expect to have marked work returned to you (15 working days for level 4. If for any reason there is a delay, you will be kept informed. Marks and feedback will be provided online and in class. As always, marks will have been internally moderated only and will therefore be provisional; your ma+rk will be formally agreed later in the year once the external examiner has completed their review.

List of references

4imn.com. (2021, June 25). Top 200 Newspapers in the World by Web Ranking. 4International Media and Newspapers. https://www.4imn.com/top200/

Beech, R., & Roby, H. (2018). Attention All You Shopaholics Out There! You're not Just Damaging Your Bank Balance but the Environment too - CURB. http://blogs.coventry.ac.uk/researchblog/attention-all-you-shopaholics-out-there-youre-not-just-damaging-your-bank-balance-but-the-environment-too/

Bick, R., Halsey, E., & Ekenga, C. C. (2018). The global environmental injustice of fast fashion. In Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source (Vol. 17, Issue 1, pp. 1–4). BioMed Central Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-018-0433-7

Chan, E. (2020, November 23). Upcycling Is The Biggest Spring/Summer 2021 Trend In Fashion Right Now | British Vogue. Vogue. https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/upcycling-trend-ss21

Coventry City Council. (2021, July 1). How Do We Make Sure The Uk City Of Culture Title Creates Lasting Change In Coventry? Big Tent Ideas Festival 2021 - Coventry UK City of Culture 2021. https://coventry2021.co.uk/what-s-on/big-tent-ideas-festival-2021/

GDPR.EU. (2018). What is GDPR, the EU's new data protection law? https://gdpr.eu/what-is-gdpr/

Glader, P. (2017, February 1). 10 Journalism Brands Where You Find Real Facts Rather Than Alternative Facts. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/berlinschoolofcreativeleadership/2017/02/01/10-journalism-brands-where-you-will-find-real-facts-rather-than-alternative-facts/?sh=36a02088e9b5

Keats, A. M. (2020). Trendy product upcycling: permissible recycling or impermissible commercial hitchhiking? https://www.kiip.re.kr/webzine/2012/file/kiip_43_file3.pdf

Touma, R. (2021, March 21). Extreme makeovers: how to upcycle unloved clothes into something you want to wear. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/mar/05/extreme-makeovers-how-to-upcycle-unloved-clothes-into-something-you-want-to-wear

United Nations. (2019, August 1). ActNow for Zero-Waste Fashion. United Nations Sustainable Development 12. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/08/actnow-for-zero-waste-fashion/

van Meter, J. (1990, June 1). Fast Fashion. Vogue, 180(6), 279.

[1] clothing that is quick, easy, and cheap (van Meter, 1990)