Research Report on business organization

Business assignment details

Description / Requirements

Select any mining/manufacturing/service/retail business organization that is currently listed on the ASX200 (https://www.asx200list.com/) as on 1st June 2020. Research your chosen business organization’s operations and supply chain practices in depth and write a 3,000-word research report based on your findings. For the business organization that you choose, first make sure that there is adequate information available about the organization in the public domain (company website, reliable third-party websites with relevant contents etc). Please bear in mind that you will need detailed operations/logistics information about your chosen business organization to write a comprehensive report. Collecting and processing information is a key aspect of this assessment.

Your report should identify relevant sustainability aspects of the organization’s current operations and supply chain. In your write-up, you are expected to demonstrate accurate understanding and relevant incorporation of at least one relevant operations/supply chain management (SCM) theory or concept from the weekly lectures and prescribed topic readings up to Week 7 of the semester.

Your submitted research report should specifically address/focus on the following four key aspects:

1. Provide a brief descriptive profile of your chosen business organization (e.g. nature of business, level of competition it faces, target customers, recent financial performance etc.)
2. Provide a detailed description of the current operations management and supply chain practices of the business organization (‘current’ here means prior to the onset of the Covid- 19 crisis). Please make sure that you clearly demonstrate your understanding of at least one aspect of OM/SCM theory as covered in the weekly classes up to Week 7 of the trimester. (Please do not try to incorporate everything covered in the classes up to Week 7 – you can pick and choose one or two relevant aspects of theory that best fits your research context).
3. To what extent do you think are the business organization’s operations management and supply chain practices sustainable? What evidence can you find through your online research about the business organization’s ongoing relationship with its key suppliers? Provide recommendations to maintain/improve the sustainability of the organization’s operations management and supply chain practices (you can assume a pre-Covid scenario).
4. Sudden, unforeseen events with global ramifications can impact a business organization’s ability to source key raw materials and/or deliver finished products to target markets. This can be no truer than what we are seeing in the current world situation where the Covid-19 pandemic has severely disrupted global supply chains. In your opinion, how resilient are the operations and supply chain practices of your chosen business organization to future disruptive events? What further recommendations can you give to improve their resilience?

Word limit: 3,000 words (+/- 10%) excluding tables, figures, list of references and any appendices. References - academic and non-academic sources:

You must reference a minimum of six (6) academic/scholarly sources. These can include academic journal articles or chapters from academic books (including your prescribed textbook, which will count as ONE scholarly source). Suitable academic journals can be found by conducting a search of Library academic databases (a list of relevant journals is provided on the Unit Guide). Please note that Wikipedia is not an acceptable scholarly source for the purpose of this assignment.

Much of the information regarding your selected organizations required can be obtained from only non-academic (sometimes identified as professional or industry) sources, which includes the organization’s own website. This is often the only way to find out up-to-date information about a business or organization. Any non-academic sources, if used, must be included in your reference list, but these will NOT be counted as part of your academic/scholarly sources.

Following are some of the suggested non-academic sources:

Organization web sites:

• -  Annual Reports
• -  Annual Reviews
• -  Media Releases
• -  Stock Market Analysis

Credible media websites (including but not limited to):

• -  The Age
• -  The Australian
• -  The Australian Financial Review (AFR)
• -  The ABC
• -  Business Review Weekly (BRW)

Non-academic sources:

• -  IBIS World (industry market reports and company research)
• -  Factiva (articles in the media)
• -  Newsbank
• -  TV news broadcasts
• -  TV documentaries
  Any other non-academic sources e.g. credible personal interviews (please give full details if used)

Students must correctly use the Harvard style of referencing.

Formatting:

• -  Font: Size 12 Times New Roman, Calibri or Arial
• -  Line spacing: 1.5, no indentation, but one extra line spacing between paragraphs
• -  Margins of 2.54 cm
• -  Headings and sub-headings
• -  Alphanumeric or decimal outline/numbering system up to three levels for sections
• -  Page numbers: Roman numbering and Arabic numbering used appropriately
• -  Header and/or footer: student name, ID number, unit code and assessment task name

• Suggested research report structure:

This is an academic research report and must therefore adopt a critical/analytical perspective. You need to research your selected organization thoroughly, demonstrate a sound grasp of the relevant literature and draw from a range of theoretical frameworks from your textbook/lecture materials/external research to inform and underpin your analysis. This critical analysis then flows on to the specific recommendations you make. A suggested research report structure is as follows:

• -  Title Page
• -  Table of Contents
• -  Executive Summary
• -  Background and Introduction
• -  Body
• -  Conclusion
• -  Recommendations
• -  References

Please note that above structure is a suggestion only and students are allowed to depart somewhat from the suggested structure in accordance with their best judgment of how to present their work.