Faculty of Business Studies LB160: Professional Communication Skills for Business Studies First Semester 2015-2016 Tutor Marked Assignment (TMA) Academic Year - 2015-2016 Semester: Branch: Program: Faculty of Business Studies Cours

Faculty of Business Studies
LB160: Professional Communication Skills for Business Studies
First Semester 2015-2016
Tutor Marked Assignment (TMA)
Academic Year - 2015-2016 Semester:
Branch: Program: Faculty of Business Studies
Course Title: Professional Communication Skills for Business Studies Course Code:LB160
Student Name:
Student ID:
Section Number: Tutor Name:

Total Mark: Awarded Mark:
Mark details
Allocated Marks Questions Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Total
Weight 10 10
Marks 10 10 20

Allocated Marks Criteria Content Language Organization Total
Marks Q1
Marks Q2
Student’s Total Mark 20

Notes on plagiarism:
A. According to the Arab Open University By-laws, “the following acts represent cases of cheating and
Plagiarism:
 Verbatim copying of printed material and submitting them as part of TMAs without proper academic acknowledgement and documentation.
 Verbatim copying of material from the Internet, including tables and graphics.
 Copying other students’ notes or reports.
 Using paid or unpaid material prepared for the student by individuals or firms.
B. Penalties for plagiarism ranges from failure in the TMA to expulsion from the university.

Declaration: I hereby declare that the submitted TMA is my own work and I have not copied any other person’s work or plagiarized in any other form as specified above.
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• This TMA contains 2 parts. You should answer both parts.
• The value of TMA is 20 points.
• The mark assigned to each part is 10 points.



PART 1 (10 points)
Purpose:
• To check the student’s skill in applying SWOT when analyzing a case study (B1S4, pp122).

Learning Outcomes (B1S4, pp.109)
• To look at how different framing techniques- including a new one called SWOT- can help in problem identification.
• To practice using these techniques in writing your own problem analysis.

In about 300 – 400 words, write an essay analyzing the below case study using the SWOT framework.

Wendy’s International, Inc.

Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers was considered the third largest fast-food hamburger business in the world, although it reported higher revenues in 2002 than did Burger King. The company as a whole generated $2.73 billion in revenues in 2002, up 14.2 percent from the previous year. With headquarters in Dublin, Ohio, the corporation operated over 9,000 restaurants in 33 countries worldwide.
General menu items were similar to those of McDonald’s and Burger King --- hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, and fries---- but Wendy’s also offered several unique products such as Frostys and Spicy Chicken Sandwiches, as well as many healthy alternatives like salads, baked potatoes and even chili. One very important innovation contributed by Wendy’s was a special value menu that consisted of about 10 items that could be purchased for 99 cents. Since its initiation in Wendy’s stores, the value menu had also been implemented in McDonald’s and Burger King’s restaurants in order to compete with Wendy’s. All fast-food hamburger chains, were now expected to meet new consumer health expectations without compromising the menu items on which the companies were founded. Following suit, soon Burger King’s menu also offered a few items that set it apart from other fast-food restaurants, thereby offering customers a varied menu and posing a serious threat to Wendy’s.
Founded in 1969 in Ohio by David Thomas, Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers was incorporated and in 1976 had its first public offering of 1 million shares at dollar 28 per share. By 1981 the company had been listed on the New York Stock Exchange and had built its 2,000th restaurant. Unlike a few of its competitors, Wendy’s faced difficulties with international expansion. Despite these failures, the corporation had grown by acquiring several smaller companies such as Tim Horton’s and Baja Fresh Mexican Grill.
Wendy’s, early on sought to distinguish itself in a rapidly growing industry by providing its customers with a unique fast-food experience. However, several of its unique features were embedded with both pitfalls and advantages. The company’s Super Value Menu was definitely one of its strongest asset, although the concept had been picked up by other major companies. Also, in 2002, most fast food chains were desperately slashing prices in a bid to go increasingly lower. However, Wendy’s chose that year as a time to focus on product quality and product expansion by offering its Garden Sensations, a new selection of fresh, healthy salads. One weak point in Wendy’s business plan was the lack of an easily recognizable product comparable to McDonald’s Big Mac or Burger King’s Whopper.
Unlike McDonald’s and virtually every other burger chain in the world, Wendy’s overlooked the shift in consumer preferences from indoor dining to drive-through windows at its restaurants. It did not respond well to the above mentioned shift in consumer preferences which soon started looming over as threats. In 1975, Burger King began to install and operate drive-through windows at its restaurants. Now customers who were busy with family, jobs, and children could buy a quality meal in a hurry without ever leaving the car. However, Wendy’s at that point of time in selecting potential acquisition targets, completely overlooked the concept.
As Wendy’s moved into the future without founder Dave Thomas, who passed away in 2002, it planned to add between 2,000 and 4,000 new Wendy’s locations in the next decade and to focus its international expansion in Latin America. However, the company’s chief executive officer and chairman, Jack Schuessler, stated that the company planned to increasingly use acquisitions of smaller brands and joint ventures as the primary driver of future growth. In selecting potential acquisition targets, Wendy’s was avoiding concepts that directly competed with core Wendy’s offerings and looking to the fast casual segment and to concepts that involved offering high quality food without table service.

Adapted for purely academic purpose: Marino L and Jackson K.B. ; McDonald’s : Polishing the Golden Arches; (pp. C-213 - C-223) ; Thompson, A.A.; et.al.; 2005; Crafting and Executing Strategy; McGraw-Hill, New York.
Answer Notes: Students may begin by creating a grid to identify the SWOT components as Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats and a mind map to construct the analysis text. Students are required to identify 3 strengths, 3 weaknesses, 2 opportunities, and 2 threats. Then to write an analytical text for the case study. Text 4.3 in the Resource Book 1 may be referred to as an example.

Answer Guide: B1S4, Act. 4.10- 4.11, pp. 123; RB1 Extract 4.3(use as an example of analysis writing), pp. 56-57.



PART II (10 points)
‘Vertical Integration Strategies extend a firm’s competitive and operating scope within the same basic industry. It involves expanding the firm’s range of activities backward into sources of supply and/or forward towards end users.’ Thompson A.A et al (2005); Crafting and Executing Strategy; p. 150.

Choose an organization and discuss in a well-written essay of around 500 words, how it has used vertical integration strategies, either backward and/or forward, to strengthen its competitive position within its industry.

At least 2 outside resources are to be used. The resources are to be submitted to the tutor. The criteria on pp. 50-53 of B2S2 should be observed while locating source material.
Purpose: To write a well-structured essay.
Learning Outcomes :(B2S3, pp.69, B2S2 pp.41, & B2S4 pp.98):
• to analyze an essay title to be clear about its requirement
• to develop an argument that is relevant to the essay title
• to select and manage essay source material
• to paraphrase and use business studies language
• Review features of essay writing.
Comments: The student needs to select a specific organisation that has used vertical integration strategies and discuss them showing whether the goal was realized and how it affected the orgqnisation. Paraphrasing, summarizing, and citing the sources used are essential since using the words of others or including their work without acknowledgment is considered plagiarism. The Harvard referencing system, as presented on pp. 167-171 of B2S6, should be respected regarding the in-text referencing as well as the reference list.

Answer Notes: Your essay should include the features of essay writing as described by the checklist on pp.183-184 (B2)