Assessment 1 – Individual Assessment Marketing Material
50% weighting – Marked out of 100.
You have recently graduated from London School of Commerce and have an interview for a job as Director of Operations for the company TopgiftsUK. The company is based in central London and your role will be to find good quality gifts at low prices. The role requires that you have excellent communication skills because you will need to deal with many different types of people and professions.
For your interview you need to prepare a PowerPoint presentation of 10 slides outlining some of the communication barriers which could occur and providing strategies to overcome them. You also need to show awareness of cultural issues affecting the company. Please give each slide a clear heading, for example: Slide 1 – title page, slide 2 – background, slide 3 – physical barriers – problem and solution, slide 4 – ethical barriers – problem and solution, slide 4 – interpersonal barriers – problem and solution, slide 5 – language barriers – problem and solution, slide 6 – cultural barriers -problem and solution, slide 7 – cultural awareness, slide 8 – cultural awareness, slide 9 – conclusion and slide 10 – reference list.
Please discuss the barriers below and provide relevant solutions.
- Physical barriers – some of your suppliers are abroad and it is difficult to build a close relationship with them.
- Ethical barriers – some of your producers are not following the required ethical standards required by UK regulations.
- Interpersonal barriers – the marketing team are still working remotely and there is a lack of unity between them about strategy.
- Language barriers – the majority of your customers are tourists and don’t speak English fluently. They often don’t buy products because they are unable to understand about payment schemes and return policies when explained in English.
- Cultural barriers – TopgiftsUK employees 60 international employees. There has been some tension regarding overtime, strong smelling food in the staff kitchen and the gender-neutral bathroom which all employees share.
| TASK |
Prepare a 10 slide PowerPoint presentation for your interview. The slides should include relevant images and text and not exceed 500 words in total. Please provide references. Marks will be awarded for achieving the learning outcomes and your ability to provide a 10 slide PowerPoint presentation.
Your slides, should highlight:
- Common challenges and barriers to effective communication
- Effective strategies for overcoming communication barriers.
- Demonstrate the importance of cultural awareness.
Marks will be awarded for achieving the learning outcomes and your ability to provide a well-designed PowerPoint presentation with a balance of images and text – save the file as a pdf document. This assignment addresses the learning objectives below:
| Common Assessment Criteria Applied | Marks available |
| Common challenges and barriers to effective communication (discuss the barriers outlined above) | 20 |
| Provide effective strategies for overcoming communication barriers | 20 |
| Demonstrate the importance of cultural awareness | 10 |
| PowerPoint design and relevance of images | 30 |
| Academic English | 10 |
| Referencing | 10 |
TASK DESCRIPTION – Assignment 2 (50%) |
Assessment 2 – Individual Report (1500 words maximum)
50% weighting. Marked out of 100%
Your interview was successful, and you are now the Director of Operations of TopgiftsUK. You need to write a report for the shareholders discussing the points you raised in your interview.
Your report should discuss some general theories of organisational communication. It must also evaluate the barriers you identified and outline the strategies implemented to solve these.
In your report, you should address the following:
- Discuss some general theories of organisational communication.
- Evaluate the barriers affecting TopgiftsUK.
- Outline the strategies you identified to overcome these.
Marks will be awarded for achieving the learning outcomes and your ability to provide a well written report. This assignment addresses the learning objectives below:
| Common Assessment Criteria Applied | Marks available |
| Discussion on general theories of organisational communication | 25 |
| Evaluate the barriers affecting TopgiftsUK | 25 |
| Outline the strategies you have identified to overcome these | 25 |
| Use of academic writing | 15 |
| Quality of referencing | 10 |
Report Structure:
Ensure that the report has the following structure and contains the details outlined:
- Abstract
- Table of contents
- Introduction
- Analysis and discussion of all questions
- Recommendations
- Conclusion
- Reference List following Harvard references and in-text citations throughout
| Maximum LENGTH 1500 words |
| FORMATTING AND LAYOUT |
Please note the following when completing your written assignments:
- Writing: Written in English in an appropriate business style.
- Focus: Focus only on the tasks set in the assignment.
- Document format: 1. PowerPoint design – the document should be uploaded in pdf format 2. Report
- Provide a clear title, course, and ID number on a cover sheet.
- Provide a reference list using Harvard referencing throughout.
- Research: Research should use reliable and relevant sources of information e.g. academic books and journals that have been peer reviewed. The research should be extensive.
These assignments address the following Learning Outcomes:
- LO1: Describe and analyse the purposes and principles behind different forms of organisational communication.
- LO2: Identify common challenges to effective communication.
- LO3: Devise and develop strategies for overcoming communication barriers.
- LO4: Apply principles of effective communication to enhance their practice.
- LO5: Evaluate the communication practices of themselves and others.
- LO6: Demonstrate awareness of cultural influences on communication.
Assessment Criteria:
| Marks Awarded | (70%+) | (60-69%) | (50-59%) | (40-49%) | (30-39%) |
| LO1: Describe and analyse the purposes and principles behind different forms of organisational communication. TASK 2 | The work fully identifies and analyses both the purpose and principles behind theories of organisational communication. | The work identifies and provides some analysis of both the purpose and principles behind theories of organisational communication. | The work identifies the purpose and principles behind theories of organisational communication but there is limited analysis. | The work demonstrates a basic understanding of the theories of organisational communication despite some misunderstanding and superficial analysis. | There is little evidence of any research and poor understanding of basic forms of organisational communication. |
| LO2: Identify common challenges to effective communication. TASK 1 | The work identifies a wide range of communication challenges and barriers which are relevant to this organisation. The work effectively demonstrates how the chosen theories and concepts relate to the specific context of this assignment. | The work identifies a range of communication challenges and barriers which are mostly relevant to this organisation. The work mostly demonstrates how the chosen theories and concepts relate to the specific context of this assignment. | The work identifies a range of communication challenges and barriers but does not always demonstrate their relevance to this organisation. The chosen theories and concepts are not sufficiently related to the specific context of this assignment. | The work identifies a few communication challenges and barriers, but they are very generic and are not relevant to the specific context of this assignment. | The work identifies a few challenges or barriers, but the material is mostly irrelevant and there are significant errors or omissions. |
| LO3: Devise and develop strategies for overcoming communication barriers. TASK 1 | The work develops a wide range of workable and practical strategies for overcoming the identified communication barriers. The arguments are logical and thorough and show competent interpretation. | The work develops a range of workable and practical strategies for overcoming the identified communication barriers. The arguments are mostly relevant and logical. | The work develops some strategies for overcoming a range of identified communication barriers. The strategies are mostly generic and not directly relevant to this organisation. | The work develops a few strategies for overcoming a limited range of identified communication barriers. They are very generic and not particularly relevant to this organisation. | The work identifies a few strategies, but the material is mostly irrelevant and there are significant misunderstandings or omissions. |
| LO4: Apply principles of effective communication to enhance their practice. TASK2 | The work includes practical and workable recommendations to improve communication practices, and these are related to the context of this assignment. | The work includes some practical and workable recommendations to improve communication practices and mostly relates these to the context of this assignment. | The work has a few workable recommendations to improve communication practices, but these are very general and do not relate to the context of this assignment. | The recommendations provided have little relevance to the context of this assignment. There are some misunderstandings. | There is little evidence of any research into effective communication to enhance practice. |
| LO5: Evaluate the communication practices of themselves and others TASK 2 | The work provides an insightful and critical analysis of weaknesses in terms of communication. These are clearly related to the specific issues that are relevant to this assignment. | The work provides some critical analysis of weaknesses in terms of communication and partly relates these to the specific issues that are relevant to this assignment. | The work provides limited analysis of weaknesses in terms of communication. These are very generic and there is little relevance to the issues that are relevant to this assignment. | The work is mostly descriptive and lacks analysis of weaknesses in terms of communication. The suggestions are very generic with no relevance to this assignment. | A poor attempt at evaluation of communication weakness which has little detail or relevance. |
| LO6: Demonstrate awareness of cultural influences on communication TASK 1 | The work demonstrates strong and insightful awareness of cultural influences on communication and provides a broad range of examples which are relevant to the organisation. | The work demonstrates competent awareness of cultural influences on communication and provides at least a few examples that are relevant to this organisation | The work demonstrates some awareness of cultural influences on communication and provides a few examples. The examples are mostly generic and not necessarily relevant to this organisation. Some misunderstanding may be evident. | The work demonstrates some limited awareness of cultural influences on communication and provides at least one relevant example. Understanding may be limited or slightly inaccurate. | The work shows very limited evidence of cultural awareness and there are significant misunderstandings or omissions. |
| PowerPoint format and academic writing TASK 1 | The work provides a 10 slide PowerPoint presentation which effectively combine relevant images and text to convey a powerful message. PP must be clearly presented, coherent and logical. | The work provides a relatively well-designed PowerPoint presentation which combines mostly relevant images and text to convey the message. The PP must be clearly presented and mostly coherent and logical. | The work provides a PowerPoint presentation which combines some relevant images and text. The PP partly addresses the LOs, but they are mostly generic and not necessarily relevant to this organisation. They may not always be coherent or logical. | The work provides some slides which have insufficient or irrelevant images and text. The information is mostly insufficient or irrelevant. | The work attempts to provides some slides however there are problems with the design which may include too few images or too little text. Insufficient information is provided. |
| Use of academic writing TASK 2 | The work shows competent interpretation and analysis. There is a high level of academic writing throughout, and the report is highly readable and well-structured. | The work shows some competent interpretation and analysis. There is a good level of academic writing throughout, and the report communicates effectively, with only minor lapses. | The work shows some competent interpretation and analysis. There is a good attempt at academic writing though with some omissions. The report communicates relatively effectively but with some lapses. | The English is not sufficiently academic, and the report structure needs improvement. | The writing style is not academic. There is little attempt to follow the structure of a report. |
| Quality of referencing TASK 2 | The work utilizes a very expansive range of sources and theorists which are relevant to the task and organises material effectively. Harvard referencing is correctly applied throughout. | The work utilizes a good range of sources and theorists which are relevant to the task and mostly organises material effectively. Harvard referencing is correctly applied through with occasional exceptions. | The work utilizes a range of sources and theorists which are mostly relevant to the task and shows some organisation. Harvard referencing is mostly applied correctly though errors occur. | The work provides some evidence of a few sources and theorists though relevance to the task is limited, and the material is not well organised. Harvard referencing may be attempted but there are frequent errors. | There is little evidence of sources and Harvard referencing is not attempted. |
INDICATIVE PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (for reference)
| An outstanding Distinction | 90 – 100 | Work which fulfils all the criteria of the grade below, but at an exceptional standard. | |
| A very strong distinction | 80 – 89 | Work of distinguished quality which is based on a rigorous and broad knowledge base, and demonstrating sustained ability to analyse, synthesise, evaluate and interpret concepts, principles and data within field of study, using defined principles, techniques and/or standard formats and applications. This will form the basis for the development of sound arguments and judgements appropriate to the field of study/ assessment task. There will be strong evidence of competence across a range of specialised skills, using them to plan, develop and evaluate problem solving strategies, and of the capability to operate autonomously and self-evaluate with guidance in varied structured contexts. Outputs will be communicated effectively, accurately and reliably. | |
| A clear Distinction | 71 – 79 | Work of very good quality which displays most but not all of the criteria for the grade above. | |
| A Distinction | 70 | Work of highly commendable quality which clearly fulfils the criteria for the grade below, but shows a greater degree of capability in relevant intellectual/subject/key skills. | |
| A very strong Merit | 67 – 69 | Work of commendable quality based on a strong factual/conceptual knowledge base for the field of study, including an assured grasp of concepts and principles, together with effective deployment of skills relevant to the discipline and assessment task. There will be clear evidence of analysis, synthesis, evaluation and application, and the ability to work effectively within defined guidelines to meet defined objectives. There will be consistent evidence of capability in all relevant subject based and key skills, including the ability to self-evaluate and work autonomously under guidance and to use effectively specified standard techniques in appropriate contexts. | |
| A strong merit | 64 – 66 | Work of good quality which contains most, but not all of the characteristics of the grade above. | |
| A clear Merit | 61 – 63 | Work which clearly fulfils all the criteria of the grade below, but shows a greater degree of capability in relevant intellectual/subject/key skills. | |
| Merit | 60 | Work of sound quality based on a firm factual/ conceptual knowledge base for the field of study, demonstrating a good grasp of relevant principles/concepts, together with the ability to organise and communicate effectively. The work may be rather standard, but will be mostly accurate and provide some evidence of the ability to analyse, synthesise, evaluate and apply standard methods/techniques, under guidance. There will be no serious omissions or inaccuracies. There will be good evidence of ability to take responsibility for own learning, to operate with limited autonomy in predictable defined contexts, selecting and using relevant techniques, and to demonstrate competence in relevant key skills. | |
| A very strong Pass | 55 – 59 | Work of capable quality which contains some of the characteristics of grade above. | |
| A strong Pass | 50 – 54 | Work of satisfactory quality demonstrating a reliable knowledge base and evidence of developed key skills and/or subject based skills, but containing limited evidence of analysis, synthesis, evaluation or application. | |
| A Pass | 41 – 49 | Work of broadly satisfactory quality covering adequately the factual and/or conceptual knowledge base of the field of study and appropriately presented and organised, but is primarily descriptive or derivative, with only occasional evidence of analysis, synthesis, evaluation or application. There may be some misunderstanding of key concepts/principles and limitations in the ability to select relevant material or techniques and/or in communication or other relevant skills, so that the work may include some errors, omissions or irrelevancies. There will be evidence of ability to operate with limited autonomy in predictable defined contexts, using standard techniques, and to meet threshold standards in relevant key skills. | |
| A bare Pass | 40 | Work of bare pass standard demonstrating some familiarity with and grasp of a factual/conceptual knowledge base for the field of study, together with evidence of some ability to employ specialist skills to solve problems within area of study, but only just meeting threshold standards in e.g. evaluation and interpretation of data and information, reasoning and soundness of judgment, communication, application, or quality of outputs. Work may be characterised by some significant errors, omissions or problems, but there will be sufficient evidence of development and competence to operate in specified contexts taking responsibility for the nature and quality of outputs. | |
| A marginal Fail | 30 – 39 | Work which indicates some evidence of engagement with area of study in relation to acquisition of knowledge and understanding of concepts and principles, and of specialist skills, but which is essentially misinterpreted, and misapplied and/or contains some significant omission or misunderstanding, or otherwise just fails to meet threshold standards in e.g. communication, application or quality of outputs. | |
| A Fail | 20 – 29 | Work that falls well short of the threshold standards in relation to one or more area of knowledge, intellectual, subject based or key skills. It may address the assessment task to some extent, or include evidence of successful engagement with some of the subject matter, but such satisfactory characteristics will be clearly outweighed by major deficiencies across remaining areas. | |
| A comprehensive Fail | 0 – 19 | Work of poor quality which is based on only minimal understanding, application or effort. It will offer only very limited evidence of familiarity with knowledge or skills appropriate to the field of study or task and/or demonstrate inadequate capability in key skills essential to the task concerned. | |
| Non-submission/Nil attempt | 0 | Nothing, or nothing of merit, presented. | |
