Fundamentals of Marketing Management Coursework Essay Brief
BMAN 73991
Fundamentals of Marketing Management
Coursework Essay Brief
Academic Year: 2020-21 Semester 1
The essay assignment title is:
Critically evaluate the following statement: Segmentation, targeting and
positioning is the most important task for a marketing manager. Include
examples from practice and theory to support your answer.
To address this question you need to discuss whether or not you think this answer is true – remember you may think this is a matter of degree. You will need to draw extensively on research readings (academic journals) in addition to textbooks and lecture notes and include suitable practical examples of what firms do in practice where appropriate.
| Length | 2,000 word essay
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| Deadlines
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The submission deadline for the essay is 3pm Tuesday 15th December 2020. |
| Submission | Your essay should be submitted via Blackboard/TurnItin. |
Tip: You might want to use some of the skills you learnt in our second and third seminars/workshops to help with this. We would suggest that research for the essay starts with the book chapters and articles on the reading list, followed by search for and review of some of the journal articles cited, and wider search of academic and practitioner sources to include those in the library databases.
The Assessment Criteria are (see separate rubric for further detail)
- Introduction – clearly signals what will be included and the approach to be taken
- Focus on the question set – how well the set question is answered
- Argument & analysis – are coherent, focused and relevant to the question.
Shows evidence of critical reflection
- Organization & structure – is clearly structured, the argument develops logically
- Demonstration of understanding of the topic – shows deep understanding of the topics being discussed
- Use of relevant examples
- Clarity and quality of writing – writing is easy to understand
- What evidence is there of wider reading? – a wide range of relevant material has been consulted
- Quality of citation and bibliography – is the referencing of an appropriate standard
| Penalty for late submission | Please refer to the separate document uploaded into the assignment section of Blackboard |
| Copies | Keep a copy of your essay. |
| Sources | Consult as wide a range as possible of library materials and other sources when preparing your essay. This may include textbooks, journal articles, CD ROM materials, Internet, secondary data sources etc.
Do not use Wikipedia. |
| Examples | Include examples to back up your ideas and suggestions. |
| Format | Please use a 12 or 14 sized font for your essay |
| References | All references should be clearly cited throughout the text of your essay. The normal style of referencing is of the form: ‘as reported by Turnbull (1997)’. or ‘as discussed by several authors (e.g. Turnbull, 1997; Yorke, 1996; and Lewis, 1995). If you are quoting verbatim, from any of the above sources, you should also provide the page number, e.g. (Turnbull, 1997, p.23). Do not use too many direct quotations or quote long passages of text. |
| Bibliography | Your sources should be listed alphabetically, with full references, at the end of the essay. Use the Harvard style:
Books and reports Ford, D. (1997) Understanding Business Markets, 2nd edition. London: Academic Press.
Chapters of books Blois, K. (1991) “Marketing and Non-Profit Organizations”, in Baker, M.J. (ed.) The Marketing Book, 3rd edition. London: McGraw Hill. pp. 678-690.
Articles in journals Shostack, G. L. (1982) “How To Design A Service”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 49 – 63.
Internet Give the name of the author if indicated. If not use ‘anonymous’: Anonymous (2008) http://www.harcourtcollege.com/marketing/students/business.ht m. [Accessed on 01/09/2009].
If an official report (without a named author) is cited, quote the issuing body, newspaper, government department etc., as author. Where more than one paper is cited by the same author in the same year use letters ‘a’, ‘b’ etc., to differentiate: Anonymous, (2008a), Anonymous, (2008b). |
| Plagiarism | Students are referred particularly to the notes on plagiarism in the on-line programme handbook. |
| Remember | Your essay must answer the question set. |
The most important factor is to demonstrate that you have understood the assignment by presenting a clear argument or evaluation of the hypothesis you are presenting which is supported by references to the literature. There is no one correct answer.
| Feedback to students | Feedback for the essay submitted on Tuesday 15th December is due on Tuesday 19th January 2021. |
Essays will be subject to moderation by the marketing lecturers, and a sample will be sent to the external examiner. The marks you receive initially will be unconfirmed. Marks are confirmed at examination boards later in the academic year.
