Localtime)Onthedateshownonthestudyplanneronthemodulewebsite

3TMA02

YoushouldreadtheguidancespeciﬁctothisTMAbelow(Section3.1).YoushouldalsoreadthegeneralguidancewhichiscommontobothTMAsin

Section4.Section6hasfurthergeneralguidanceaboutwritingreports,wordcounts,referencingandplagiarismandusinglargetables.

SubmitthisassignmenttotheeTMAsystemnolaterthan12noon(UK

localtime)onthedateshownontheStudyplanneronthemodulewebsite.

3.1WhatyoumustdoforTMA02

InPart1youmustprovide:

●areportof1500wordsononeoftwotopics.InPart2youmustprovide:

●aportfoliocomprisingcompletedactivityoutputsfromatleast14

activitiesfromWeeks6–14ofthemodule.

3.1.1Part1

Provideeither:

Areportonabudgetinformationproblem.ThiswillbebaseddirectlyonthecontentofWeek12,Activity2outputsuitablyrevisedandprovidedinreportformat.

TheoverallwordcountforPart1is1500wordsexcludingcoverpage,

contentspage,summary,diagrams,referencesandappendicesbutincluding

textintablesandin-textcitations.YoumustincludeanoteofthewordcountforPart1atthebeginningofPart1.

3.1.2Part2

Provideaportfolioofcompletedactivityoutputscomprisingatleast14

activitiesforWeeks6–14,notincludingtheoneyouhaveusedinPart1ofthisassignment.

ThereisnowordlimitforPart2oftheassignment.

Part2ofTMA02consistsoftheoutputsofactivitiesthatyouhavealreadycompletedaspartofyourstudiesinWeeks6–14.Togainfullmarksyou

needtoprovidetheoutputsofatleast14oftheactivitiesfromWeeks6–14,excepttheoneyouhavechosenforPart1ofthisTMA.Tobecounted,all

outputsassociatedwithanysingleactivitymustbepresent,eachoutputmust

becompleteandoutputsthatarecontributionsforforumsmustcontainevidenceofposting(day,time,forumnameandsubjectofthethread)

togetherwiththetextofthemessageandthetextofanyattachmentevenifthisleadstoarepetitionofanoutput.ThereisnowordlimitforPart2of

theassignment.

Part2accountsfor30%ofthetotal

b629 TMA02 part 2 Template (weeks 6-14)

Week SIX

Week SIx, activity one, one Output

Complete B629 Table 6.1 “Non-profit analysis matrix for my own work activities”

Three new activities I could do at work:
Activity 1 –
Activity 2 –
Activity 3 –
My criteria for judging external attractiveness (to others):
1
2
…
External attractiveness rating (high – medium – low) for:
Activity 1 –
Activity 2 –
Activity 3 –
My criteria for judging internal appropriateness (to me):
1
2
…
Internal appropriateness rating (high – medium – low) for:
Activity 1 –
Activity 2 –
Activity 3 –
The completed matrix / Internal appropriateness
High / Medium / Low
External attractiveness / High
Medium
Low
Final assessment on which activities to carry out and which not to (with reasons):

The Open University (2010) B629/BZX629. Managing 2: Understanding Marketing and Financial Information,Module Activities, Milton Keynes, The Open University

Week six, activity two, one output

Complete B629 Table 6.2 “Costs and rewards associated with my proposed new work activities”

Time cost / Emotional cost / Opportunity cost
Activity 1:
What is it?
Activity 2:
What is it?
Activity 3:
What is it?
Likely rewards from:
Activity 1 –
Activity 2 –
Activity 3 –
Would it be advisable to go ahead with:
Activity 1 –
Activity 2 –
Activity 3 –

The Open University (2010) B629/BZX629. Managing 2: Understanding Marketing and Financial Information,Module Activities, Milton Keynes, The Open University

Week six, activity three, one output

Complete B629 Table 6.3 “Communicating your proposed idea to peers in the organisation” and save this file to your hard drive:

The idea or new activity I have chosen to focus on for this activity:
Aims of communication process:
Encoding / Transmission / Decoding / Noise
Problems that may arise
Nature of the problem (analysis using course concepts)
Recommendations for solving the problem (using course concepts)
Strengths and weaknesses of proposed solution
How to monitor feedback about my communication:

The Open University (2010) B629/BZX629. Managing 2: Understanding Marketing and Financial Information,Module Activities, Milton Keynes, The Open University

Week seven

Week Seven, activity one, one output

Complete B629 Table 7.1 “How I currently deliver a service and how it could be improved”

1 Problem identification: How do I currently deliver a service?
2 Problem analysis: How can I use the extended marketing mix to improve this service delivery?
3 Problem solution: What are the proposed changes to my current service delivery?
4 Problem solution (cont.): What requires changes that are beyond my own control and what will I do about this?
5 Strengths, weaknesses and implications
6 Implementation plan for proposed changes

The Open University (2010) B629/BZX629. Managing 2: Understanding Marketing and Financial Information,Module Activities, Milton Keynes, The Open University

Week eight

Week eight, Activity one, one Output

Complete B629 Table 8.1 “Focus group research on a marketing problem” and save this file to your hard drive:

My marketing problem:
The questions for my focus group session:
Reflections on effectiveness of conducting focus group session:
Findings about my marketing problem from focus group session:

The Open University (2010) B629/BZX629. Managing 2: Understanding Marketing and Financial Information,Module Activities, Milton Keynes, The Open University

Week Nine

Week nine Activity one, one Outputs

Complete B629 Table 9.1 “Marketing planning in my organisation”

Description of a marketing plan (e.g. in terms of headings/topics/content) used in my organisation
Reasons why the organisation has made the decisions reflected in the marketing plan
(For example if the intended customers are a particular group of people, are there any reasons for this?)
Are there any areas of the marketing plan whose content could be improved?
(What improvements could be introduced?)

The Open University (2010) B629/BZX629. Managing 2: Understanding Marketing and Financial Information,Module Activities, Milton Keynes, The Open University

Week nine activity two, one output

Complete B629 Table 9.2 “The marketing plan”

Marketing plan / Your text / Comparison with problem-based approach
Executive summary
Marketing objectives / (Problem identification)
Situation analysis / (Analysis, using relevant course concepts)
Solution: Market segmentation / (Solution)
Solution: Marketing strategy
Solution: Short- and long-term projections
Solution: Monitoring and evaluation
Conclusion / (Strengths and weaknesses of the proposed solutions)
Wider implications, including in terms of marketing ethics and sustainability

The Open University (2010) B629/BZX629. Managing 2: Understanding Marketing and Financial Information,Module Activities, Milton Keynes, The Open University

Week nine, activity three, three outputs

A posting to the activity forum in which you outline in no more than 200 words how marketing planning might be applicable in different organisations, giving a brief example from your own organisation

(insert proof here)

Two further postings to the activity forum with a response to at least two other students stating:(i) where the marketing planning in your organisation seems to be similar to the process in their organisation(ii) where the two marketing planning processes seem to be different, and(iii) what this says more generally about marketing planning in different organisations

(insert proof of first posting here)

(insert proof of second posting here)

Week Ten

Week ten, activity one, two outputs

A contribution to the activity forum with a response to the following questions:a) What financial information to you deal with at home and at work? ANDb) What benefits do you hope to gain from studying finance?

(insert proof here)

A contribution to the activity Forum in response to at least one other student

(insert proof here)

week ten, activity two, two outputs

Complete B629 Table 10.1 “Stakeholders’ financial information needs”

Internal / Financial information needs: / Reasons:
Managers
Employees
Members of management boards
Main external / Financial information needs: / Reasons:
Owners/shareholders
Lenders/financiers
Suppliers
Customers/clients
Donors (those who give money to voluntary organisations)
Other external / Financial information needs: / Reasons:
Government agencies
Local communities
The general public
Competitors
Three main differences/similarities with stakeholders of other organisations (information from other students’ postings on activity forum)

The Open University (2010) B629/BZX629. Managing 2: Understanding Marketing and Financial Information,Module Activities, Milton Keynes, The Open University

A contribution to the Activity Forum containing a summary of table 10.1

(insert proof here)

week ten, activity three, one output

A completed version of Table 10.2 “Financial information requirements”

Option / Financial information required / Potential conflicts with organisational goals

Change the product range

Change elements of the marketing mix

Introduce cost controls

Buy cheaper, non-renewable materials

Change production technology

Least acceptable options:

The Open University (2010) B629/BZX629. Managing 2: Understanding Marketing and Financial Information,Module Activities, Milton Keynes, The Open University

Week Eleven

Week eleven, activity one, one output

Complete B629 Table 11.1 “Garden Furnishings: solving the problem”

Problem identification
Analysis (investigation)
Conclusion to the analysis (results of the investigation)
The solution, listed as a set of SMART recommendations
Strengths and weaknesses of the recommendations
The implications of the solution, if implemented

The Open University (2010) B629/BZX629. Managing 2: Understanding Marketing and Financial Information,Module Activities, Milton Keynes, The Open University

Week eleven, activity two, one output

A Word document “noting you / your line manager’s budgetary information requirements”

[Enter text here]

Week twelve

Week 12, Activity one, three Outputs

Complete B629 Table 12.2 “Template for cash budget”

(use spreadsheet supplied and cut & paste cells here)

A Word document “discussing practical application of master and cash budget information to problems of Garden Furnishings.”

[Summary here]

Proof of posting to activity forum

(insert proof here)

Week twelve, activity two, one output

Complete B629 Table 12.3 “Resolving a budget information problem”

The Open University (2010) B629/BZX629. Managing 2: Understanding Marketing and Financial Information,Module Activities, Milton Keynes, The Open University

Week thirteen

Week thirteen, Activity one, two Outputs

A Word document “containing a classification of your organisation’s costs”

[Text here]

Proof of posting to activity forum

(insert proof here)

Week thirteen, activity two, one output

Complete B629 Table 13.2 “Advice for improving profitability”

The Open University (2010) B629/BZX629. Managing 2: Understanding Marketing and Financial Information,Module Activities, Milton Keynes, The Open University

Week fourteen

Week 14 Activity one, two Outputs

A Word document “containing comments on the results and implications of alternative costing approaches”

[Text here]

Proof of posting to activity forum

(insert proof here)

week fourteen, activity two, one output

Complete B629 Table 14.11 “Further advice for improving profitability”

The Open University (2010) B629/BZX629. Managing 2: Understanding Marketing and Financial Information,Module Activities, Milton Keynes, The Open University

Week fourteen, activity three, one output

Complete B629 Table 14.12 “Application of cost driver information in my organisation Further advice for improving profitability”

The Open University (2010) B629/BZX629. Managing 2: Understanding Marketing and Financial Information,Module Activities, Milton Keynes, The Open University

End of activities for tma02