QAB020N522A Retail Theory and Practice Assignment

Summative Assessment Brief

Academic year and term:	Semester two 2018-19
Module title:	Retail Theory and Practice
Module code:	QAB020N522A
Module Convener:
Learning outcomes assessed within this piece of work as agreed at the programme level meeting	Knowledge outcome – You will be able to develop your understanding of contemporary developments in retail theory and practice and how these contribute to organisational success   Intellectual /transferrable skill – You will be able to consider a complex issue in retail theory and practice and propose feasible alternative options for consideration.
Type of assessment:	Formative Assessment – Feedback provided on one page draft plan. (500 words). Summative Assessment – Individual assignment: A 2500 words report analysing a specific retail sector and how a large retailer might respond to the issues facing the sector in general and the retailer. (100%)
Summative Assessment deadline:	30th December 2019, 14.01.

Instructions for Summative Assessment

Your assessment for this module takes the form of a 2500 words individual report:

Prepare a report for a large fashion clothing retailer, trading in the UK that:

a) Identifies key relevant changes in the UK fashion clothing market and

b) Suggests and discusses strategies and tactics that could be used by the retailer to respond to the major changes occurring in the fashion clothing market.

The word limit for this assessment is 2,500 words (+/- 10%)

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR REPORT BY 14.01 ON 30^th December, 2019.

How will we support you with your assessment?

• There will be an assessment briefing in Week 2
• A formative assessment of 500 words consisting of report plan will allow you the opportunity to show your work to date on your assignment and obtain formative feedback from your tutors.
• You will receive formative feedback in week 6. This will take the form of written feedback on the formative report plan.
• Links to the assessment throughout your seminars.
• There will be an opportunity to review and reflect upon work from previous cohorts.

How will your work be assessed?

Your work will be assessed by a subject expert who will use the marking grid provided in this assessment brief.  When you access your marked work it is important that you reflect on the feedback so that you can use it to improve future assignments.

Referencing

You MUST use the Harvard System.  The Harvard system is very easy to use once you become familiar with it.

Assignment submissions

The Business School requires a digital version of all assignment submissions.  These must be submitted via Turnitin on the module’s Moodle site.  They must be submitted as a Word file (not as a pdf) and must not include scanned in text or text boxes.  They must be submitted by 2pm on the given date.  For further general details on coursework preparation refer to the online information via StudentZone http://studentzone.roehampton.ac.uk/howtostudy/index.html. 

Mitigating circumstances/what to do if you cannot submit a piece of work or attend your presentation

The University Mitigating Circumstances Policy can be found on the University website –  Mitigating  Circumstances Policy

Marking and feedback process

Between you handing in your work and then receiving your feedback and marks within 20 days, there are a number of quality assurance processes that we go through to ensure that students receive marks which reflects their work. A brief summary is provided below.

• Step One – The module and marking team meet to agree standards, expectations and how feedback will be provided.
• Step Two – A subject expert will mark your work using the criteria provided in the assessment brief.
• Step Three – A moderation meeting takes place where all members of the teaching and marking team will review the marking of others to confirm whether they agree with the mark and feedback
• Step Four – Work at Levels 5 and 6 then goes to an external examiner who will review a sample of work to confirm that the marking between different staff is consistent and fair
• Stop Five – Your mark and feedback is processed by the Office and made available to you.
  
• Grading Criteria

	100 Outstanding	80-89 Excellent	70-79 Very Good	60-69 Good	50-59 Satisfactory	40-49 Adequate	30-39 Marginal Fail	20-29 Fail	0 Not Done
1. Content, breadth and relevance of research 35%	Exemplary in all aspects.	Excellent… Exploration of topic showing excellent knowledge & understanding through thorough & appropriate  reading and research. Impressive choice and range of appropriate content	Very good … Level of knowledge & understanding demonstrated. Evidence of appropriate reading.  Covers all relevant points & issues.	Good… Level of knowledge & understanding demonstrated. Covers most relevant points & issues. Few  errors / omissions in content.	Satisfactory… Grasp of the topic & some of its implications presented. Knowledge & understanding is demonstrated.  Minor errors / omissions in content	Incomplete content / level of knowledge of the topic.  Addresses part of the task. Some errors / omissions in content. May benefit from further research	Some basic knowledge of topic evident.  Limited content. Limited/ dated range of sources	Very Weak… Limited content / knowledge. Limited or muddled understanding of the topic/question. limited/ dated range of sources	Missing. Wholly incorrect or not attempted.
2. Level of analysis/application  of theory   35%	Exemplary in all aspects	Excellent…  Level of discussion/analysis/ critical evaluation &/or reflection. Highly developed/ focused work	Very good level of discussion/analysis/ critical evaluation &/or reflection clearly developing points in the appropriate way with thorough consideration of alternatives.	Good…  Level of discussion/analysis/ critical evaluation &/or reflection & a few ideas/points could benefit from further development &/or evaluation/comparison.	Satisfactory… Level of discussion/analysis but more ideas/points could be addressed /developed further	Basic evidence of analysis/ or reflection but some points superficially made so needs further development.	Relevant issues poorly identified, little use of theory	Very poor analysis. Little or no use of theory	Missing. Wholly incorrect or not attempted.
3. Conclusion/ Discussion/ policy recommendations 20%	Exemplary in all aspects	Excellent… Business/policy insight & application. Breadth, depth & integration of literature into work.	Very good … Level of knowledge & understanding demonstrated. Evidence of appropriate reading. Covers all relevant points & issues.	Good… Level of knowledge & understanding demonstrated. Covers most relevant points & issues. Few errors / omissions in content/calculations.	Satisfactory… Grasp of the topic & some of its implications presented. Knowledge & understanding is demonstrated.  Minor errors / omissions in content	Limited business/policy insight & application. Limited integration with theory/ data.	Displays some weak evidence of business/policy application & insight Work needs to show better links between practical application & theory.	Little  evidence of business/policy application & insight Work needs to show better links between practical application & theory.	Missing. Wholly incorrect or not attempted.
4. Presentation-Clarity, structure, grammar, correct referencing   10%	Exemplary in all aspects	Excellent presentation throughout Excellent spelling and grammar   Faultless referencing throughout the assignment	Very good presentation throughout High standard of spelling & grammar   Very good referencing throughout the assignment	Good presentation throughout Good standard of  spelling & grammar   Minor errors in the referencing of others	Satisfactory presentation throughout Few errors in spelling & grammar   Few errors in the referencing  of others	Adequate presentation & formatting throughout Few spelling & grammatical errors Most references are presented appropriately in the main text List of references is correct	Inadequate presentation & formatting throughout A number of spelling and grammatical inaccuracies. Failure to cite all references in the main text. Incomplete reference list	Poor presentation & formatting in most areas Many spelling & grammatical errors Poor structure Inconsistent use of referencing in the main text Incorrect reference list	Missing. Wholly incorrect or not attempted.

Retail Theory and Practice Assignment Hints and Tips

In preparation for the assignment, below is a recommended structure for the report for the main body in terms of sections to include and the type of information that it could contain.  The word count is for guidance only.

Introduction to retail. This is to demonstrate to the reader that you have an understanding of the basic concepts of retail and some basic information about fashion retail. (About 150 words)

Introduction to the company.  Clearly identify the chosen fashion retailer, the relative size and position within the market.  The retailer needs to have physical bricks and mortar stores (although they may also have an online presence), the retailers are large and have multiple stores.  (About 250 words)

Key relevant changes within the UK fashion retail.  Identifying the key relevant changes in the macro-environment.  Conducting a PESTLE analysis would be a good place to start.  Any PESTLE analysis table should be put in the appendix. (About 600 words)

Relevant changes within the micro environment.   Relevant changes within the micro environment, for example competitors with specific examples, also need to be identified and discussed.  (About 400 words)

Suggest and discuss strategies and tactics that could be used.  Using 2 to 4 key relevant changes (from the macro environmental analysis) that have been identified as the most relevant/biggest influence on the chosen retailer are to be highlighted.  Using theories/ideas/concepts/etc. that have been covered in the module material and additional research, strategies and tactics that the retailer could employ are to be discussed and analysed.  Also do the same, to a lesser extent, for 1 or 2 micro environmental challenges.  (About 750 words)

Recommendations.  From the previous work, make recommendations that the retailers could use to meet the challenges.  (About 225 words)

Conclusion.  A summary of the work to neatly wrap it all up.  (About 125 words)