Assignment 1: Extensive Environmental Analysis
Length: 2000 words
Format: Structured Essay (e.g. an essay using structured sub-headings)
Topics covered by this assignment: Weeks 1 through 4 inclusive
Details of task:
‘Australia’s First Families of Wine’ is an organisation made up of 12 of the most successful winemakers in the Australian wine industry. Its purpose is to take the heart and soul of Australian wine to the world. Please imagine that Australia’s First Families of Wine* has approached you in your role as an expert in international marketing, and asked you to undertake an international market analysis of Brazil* in the following areas:
• Economic analysis
• Cultural analysis
• Financial analysis
• Political analysis
• Legal analysis
Relating your discussion specifically to these 5 areas, you are required to provide a 2000 word report (structured essay) on whether you recommend Brazil as a good potential market for Australia’s First Families of Wine, and if so, what specific factors are likely to impact upon their marketing strategy (e.g. product range, product design, promotion etc.) based on your analysis of these 5 areas.
* Please note – any student undertaking any topic other than the one prescribed will receive an automatic fail grade for this assessment task.
To undertake this task you will need to draw on your understanding of weekly topics 1 to 4 and supplement these chapters with a rich variety of other relevant sources. To ensure you only focus on relevant areas, conduct your analysis in the context of the impact these environmental forces will have on the key components of your marketing strategy (e.g. potential target markets, positioning strategies and the 4Ps). If an environmental issue does not impact upon any of these areas, it is not relevant and therefore should not be included in your analysis. The focus of your discussion should be on analysis rather than mere description. The following subheadings should provide the structure for your essay:
• Introduction
• Economic /Financial Environment;
• Cultural / Social Environment;
• Political, Legal and Technological Environment;
• Conclusion;
• Reference list – not part of the word count
Referencing requirements
Students are required to meet the Q Manual standards for all assignment submissions. This includes using the Q Manual in-text method for citation of sources, referencing and formatting essays and reports. The Q Manual can be accessed at:
http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/publications/qmanual/qmanual.pdf
Key marking criteria
• Have you conducted an extensive research effort? Aim for at least 20 references in your reference list, every one of which must also appear in the body of your work. Such references can include reliable websites (e.g. United Nations, Central Intelligence Agency etc).
• Theoretical understanding: have you defined key concepts before discussing them and used them in their proper context?
• Practical understanding: is your analysis accurate and realistic? In other words, would it work in the real world?
• Connections: Has the relevance of each element of your environmental analysis been highlighted by very briefly discussing it in the context of a specific element of the marketing strategy? For example, hyper-inflation would have implications for a pricing strategy.
• Is your work free of spelling, grammar, punctuation and presentation errors?
