• This Assignment is worth 50% of the overall mark for this module.
• You need to complete all the tasks set out below.
• Your answer should be 2000 -2500 words in length.
• Your work must be formally submitted through Turnitin and to academic services before the deadline.
• Each piece of assessment submitted to student services must have a completed and signed submission form attached.
• Work submitted after this date will be subject to LIC rules for late submission.
DO NOT SHOW OTHER STUDENTS WHAT YOU HAVE WRITTEN – this is collusion and is a serious academic offence.
DO NOT COPY ANOTHER STUDENT’S WORK OR FROM ANY OTHER SOURCE – this is plagiarism and is a serious academic offence.
Remember, when you submit your work, you sign a declaration confirming that it does not contravene the LIC Regulations on Academic Misconduct.
Marking Criteria – Marks for this report are awarded according to the following criteria:
a) Therelevance of the factors used to undertake the set task.
b) The quality anddepth of the discussion of the issues.
c) The extent to which the answers arecoherently structured.
d) The overall presentation of the assignment.
e) The application of module-related information to the assignment tasks.
Hints and Tips
1. The most important thing you must do in completing this assignment is to make sure that you answer the task that has been set.
2. Ensure that you remain within the word limits given. The word limit is to test whether you can write concisely, thereby getting all the main points down without wandering ‘off-topic’.
3. It is best to avoid using too many sub-headings and to not use lots of bullet points or the numbering of paragraphs. Otherwise your answer will look like a set of notes/instructions/textbook and appear disjointed. Using continuous prose enables you to develop arguments and to inter-link issues you are raising.
4. This is not a research-based assignment and, in the main, you will rely on your lecture notes and module text book. However, if you do use other sources they should be academic sources like textbooks and journals. Everything you read in an academic source will have been peer-reviewed which means that experts in the field will have seen it and agree that the ideas are reasonable and accurate. Web sites such as Wikipedia are not peer reviewed and therefore do not count as academic sources.Make sure you follow the guidelines for referencing as explained in your Study Skills modules
5. You should not copy text from a book, another person’s work or Internet sites and imply that it is your own work. This is known as plagiarism and is an academic offence. Plagiarism is the word academics use for ‘copying’. If you want to quote directly from a book, you should indicate that it is a quote (by using quotation marks “…”) and the name of the author whose work you have cited in the main body of your assignment. You should avoid excessive use of quotes as the work you submit must be your own – not simply a collection of quotes. Your answer must be word-processed, using 1.5 or double spacing and a 12 or 14 font size. Always leave a margin so that there is space to insert any comments that the tutor would like to make when reading your work.
6. When you hand your work in, please ensure that all the pages are stapled together in the correct order and that pages are numbered. You should keep a copy of your work, as the tutor will retain the original.
7. The marking scheme will resemble that of a university and it will include:
40% and above: Pass
50% and above: Equivalent to a 2.2
60% and above: Equivalent to a 2.1
70% and above: Equivalent to a First
You will not get a second chance to improve on the mark that you are given for this assignment. Thus, if you are given a mark equivalent to 55%, that is the mark that will be entered onto your mark sheet. Similarly, if you are unfortunate and fail the assignment, that fail mark will be added to your other assessment marks to determine your overall score for the module.
AirSec Ltd
AirSec Ltd., was originally set up by three young graduate research engineers who developed the technology to combine Unmanned Aerial Vehicles UAV’s (popularly known as ‘drones’) with high technology security systems.
They succeeded to achieve this with a miniature drone equipped with high definition cameras that could use both ordinary light images and special night-viewing infra-red images. Further developments introduced real-time WiFi links to a variety of receivers, including cellular phones.
Although the product had real potential, there were two important problems in turning the technological development into a marketing success. Firstly, the three founders of the company had limited commercial expertise and, of more importance, could not raise the large amounts of finance needed to launch a new product onto the market. Fortunately, the great potential of the product was noticed by a larger company which specialised in acquiring small high-tech businesses and turning them into marketable ventures.
The three were offered a large sum of money to sell the company (along with any patents) and each were offered a seat on the new Board of Directors. They were delighted to accept.
Several years later the company has proved its potential, has many business and domestic customers in the UK and is making an acceptable level of profits.
The product:
As stated, it is a UAV (drone) equipped with camera-based security which can be used in both daylight and dark conditions. The UAV’s can be programmed to patrol the airspace around business or domestic premises. Patented software installed in the UAV’s detects movement and thermal images which then activates the equipment to focus attention on potential intruders. A warning signal is sent to the customer and can be received by mobile phones or stationary devices held on the premises by customers’ own security staff or an external security company. Real-time video images can then be accessed and the necessary action taken to protect the premises. The images can also be used by the police to detect suspects and as evidence in criminal proceedings that may be taken against intruders.
Costs:
The manufacturing cost of the UAV is around £1850 and the added technological equipment is £1550. For full security protection the company recommends one UAV for every 400 square metres of land.
Future:
The annual turnover in the UK is now several millions but the increase in turnover is beginning to slow down and the company has ambitions to enter a non-EU market. Following a suggestion at a recent meeting of the Board it was decided to investigate the export market in India. The main reasons were the fact that India has a rapidly emerging business sector, a huge internal market and there are long-standing cultural connections between the two countries.
Employees:
The company believes that the quality and drive of its workforce is essential to continued growth and success. It has now developed to employ over 120 employees and it is expecting to employ a further 50 people over the next year. Below board level, the categories of staff are managerial and administrative, research, professional engineers, software engineers, shop-floor assembly workers and miscellaneous categories (including delivery drivers, maintenance workers, cleaners, etc).
You are now required to make use of a range of topics included in the Business Management FC099 Module, including:
• Aims and objectives
• Pricing strategies
• Benchmarking
• Barriers to international trade
• Functional areas
TASKS:
1. Set out what you think are the main aims and objectives of the company (using the SMART approach). Also, provide a draft of a suitable Mission Statement for the company.
2. Assess the merits and drawbacks of a range of pricing strategies and decide which would be appropriate for this business in its established market in the UK and its new venture in India. Explain why you think your choice would be appropriate for the business, its product and markets.
3. Choose one of the categories of employee shown above and show how you would use benchmarking to measure their contribution to the work of the company and how it can be a useful tool in staff management.
4. Identify the main difficulties and barriers the company would face in its efforts to trade in the export market to India.
5. Imagine that a number of the company’s important commercial customers have reported a problem with the product. It appears that in some instances the UAV’s operating at customers’ premises close to busy highways have developed a technical fault to do with the software. This causes the UAV to confuse fast moving vehicles as potential ‘targets’ and they will try to monitor movement over the highways. Drivers have been distracted and although there have been no major road accidents up to now there have been complaints to some of the businesses using the UAV’s and, in some cases; the local police authorities have been involved.
Identify the risks involved in this situation, the potential impact on the company and the actions that will be taken by the appropriate functional areas within AirSec.
