GB500 Individual Case Study Analysis Report

The purpose of this case study analysis is to develop students’ skills in both theory and application as it applies to the learning outcomes of GB500, Business Perspectives. This will enable students to apply business perspective theories and concepts relating to a ‘real world’ business scenario. Through this case study, students will be researching and deliberating on a macro-environmental factor that has impacted severely on an Australian company, Holden.
Scenario: “Australians love their cars. And for much of the past six decades the cars they've loved most have been home-grown. In that time, Australia has been one of a select group of countries with the capacity to design, engineer and build its own cars. For 60 years that capacity has been a cornerstone of the country's industrial capacity. Now all that is about to change.
When the new Coalition Government made it clear it wasn't prepared to spend more money assisting the car industry, the big manufacturers Holden and Toyota said goodbye”
As an individual assignment, students are required to apply a case study to prepare a 2000 word report addressing the following:
A. Explain how external environmental scanning could have alerted Holden to change its business strategies and avoid business closure in Australia?
B. Using readings from week 2 (“critical reflection”), demonstrate how critical reflection can bring forth managerial foresight for Holden to remain competitive in their business in Australia.
C. Critically analyse how innovative thinking and intrapreneurial orientation could have saved the Holden Manufacturing Group.
Firstly read the articles and watch the DVD provided below, however this will not be sufficient to complete this assessment task and students are required to research independently to justify their analyses.
1. Read Article:
Source adopted from: Long, S and Hichens, C 2014, End of the Road, Four Corners, viewed on 26th of October 2015 via http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2014/04/14/3982809.htm
2. Watch Video:
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2014/04/14/3982809.htm
Useful background reading:
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/why-australias-car-manufacturers-toyota-holden-and-fordall-conked-out/story-fnk1378p-1226827493012
http://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/the-future-of-the-australian-car-industry-once-thefactories-close-29726
http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2014/02/assessing-the-impact-of-the-car-industrys-closure/
Academic and professional sources must be used for intext referencing to validate researched information contained in students’ reports. Some sources will include corporate websites, online databases and government publications. Coaching will also be provided in class in the early weeks of the semester.

Your Case Study Analysis should follow professional report structure:
Title Page
Executive Summary
Table of Content
Table of Figures Introduction:
Industry Overview
Organisation’s background
Body:
The three questions for report discussion
Conclusion
Appendices
Reference List
NB: Title page, Table of Content, Table of Figures, Executive Summary, Reference List & Appendices does not count towards word limit of your report
You must use a minimum of 10 references. These must comprise:
• At least 6 academic articles
• Up to 2 text books (including the prescribed text)
• Up to 2 other authoritative sources of your choice. E.g. quality newspaper or professional journal, government or NGO website. Please avoid the use of corporate websites as these tend to be promotional and not authoritative. •Wikipedia and other ‘popular’ or non-academic sources are not to be used.
Assignment Submission
The report files must be submitted by due date as a ‘PDF’ document to avoid any technical issues that may occur from incorrect file format upload.
• Uploaded files with a virus will not be considered as a legitimate submission and regular penalties will apply.
• Turnitin system will notify you if there is any issue within submitted file.
• In this case you must contact your lecturer via email immediately and provide a brief description of the issue and a screen shot of the Turnitin message.
• Students are also encouraged to submit their work well in advance of the time deadline to avoid any possible delay with Turnitin similarity report generation or any other technical difficulties that may arouse.
Late assignment submission penalties
Penalties will be imposed on late assignment submissions in accordance with Kaplan Business School “late assignment submission penalties’ policy.
Number of days Penalty
1 - 9 days 5% per day for each calendar day late deducted from the total marks available
10 - 14 days 50% deducted from the total marks available.
After 14 days Assignments that are submitted more than 14 calendar days after the due date will not be accepted and the student will receive a mark of zero for the assignment(s).
Note Notwithstanding the above penalty rules, assignments will also be given a mark of zero if they are submitted after assignments have been returned to students

Assessment Marking Rubrics
Criteria HD (High Distinction) 85%-100% DN (Distinction)
75%-84% CR (Credit) 74%-65% P (Pass) 50%-64% NN (Fail)
0%-49% Score
Out of 100
Introduction o Explicit statement of aims and scope o Detailed statement of aims and scope o States aims and scope o States aims or scope o Does not state aims or scope /10
Analytical Skills o Critically analyzed and interpreted business specific information required
o Analysis clearly identifies, defines and applies relevant GB500 theories and concepts
o Extensive research
evident, quality selection and range of scholarly sources employed.
o Analysed and
interpreted business specific information required to a high
level of understanding
o Analysis identifies, defines and applies relevant GB500 theories and concepts
o High degree of
research effort evident, quality selection and range of scholarly sources employed.
o Analysed business
specific information required to a good
working knowledge level
o Good working knowledge of relevant GB500 theories and concepts evident
o Research is focused, drawn from an appropriate range of scholarly sources, however could be more extensive in nature. o Analysed business
specific information to limited degree
o Analysis identifies, defines and applies limited relevant GB500 theories and concepts
o Research effort limited however evident; both intext referencing and
reference list employed o Analysis lacks depth, and interpretation lacking or irrelevant
o Analysis identifies, defined and applied minimal or none of relevant GB500 theories and concepts
o Research is either absent or lacks focus due to unsuitable choice of sources.
/60
Conclusion o Draws together the key findings of analysis. Provides reasoned view with clear evaluations
and recommendations
o Draws together the
key findings of analysis and provides reasoned view o Draws together the
key findings of the
analysis to limited degree o Does not draw together
the key findings of the analysis. /10
Report Structure and
Presentation
o Writing is cohesive and of excellent academic & professional standard
o Grammar and spelling intact throughout report o Logical & rational flow between discussion points and sections
o Report professionally presented to required formatting standards reflective of Masters level
o In-text referencing and reference list correct throughout
o Word limit adhered to with plus or minus 10% o Writing is fluent but not always cohesive o Grammar and spelling contain only minor errors o Ideas/themes developed, but connections not always obvious. Flow and readability have opportunity for improvement
o Format chosen mostly appropriate
o Mostly correct in-text referencing and reference list with minor errors only
o The word limit near acceptable range o Writing mostly disjointed, demonstrated little or no structure
o Spelling and/or grammar to unacceptable standards impacting on flow and
readability of the report o Format chosen lacks structure and cohesion
o In-text referencing missing altogether and/or incorrect
referencing throughout
o Non adherence to word