BUS3029 Operating in Emerging Markets Assignment 01 Brief 2025 | UON

BUS3029 Assessment Task Guidance Description

BUS3029 Learning Outcomes aligned to this assessment:

On successful completion of this assessment, you will be able to:

• Analyse the business context in emerging markets and identify the opportunities, challenges, and risks in these markets.
• Devise and justify a plan to launch or expand a business into an emerging market through ethical and responsible means.
• Draw from a range of solutions to ensure the successful delivery of a plan.

BUS3029 Task

Sustainable Operations Strategy for a UK Luxury Brand

(Note: Building on the market selection and entry mode analysis presented in PS1, this report focuses on the operationalisation and sustainability strategy for the chosen emerging market.)

Context

You have presented a poster to senior management outlining potential emerging markets and recommended an entry mode for the expansion of a UK luxury brand. Following their approval, you are now tasked with developing a detailed strategy for how the brand will operate sustainably and ethically in the chosen market while addressing institutional challenges, risks, and opportunities.

Prepare a report by addressing the following:

1. Sustainable Operations Plan

Propose a detailed plan for how the brand will operate sustainably in the chosen market. Focus on areas such as ethical sourcing and reducing environmental impact. Highlight how these practices align with the brand's values, contribute to competitive advantages, and help the business to grow.

2. Institutional Challenges and Risks

Discuss potential business challenges and how the brand can implement strong corporate governance practices to address institutional voids and any potential challenges and risks in the market (e.g., weak legal frameworks, corruption, regulatory gaps). You may propose strategies to ensure accountability, transparency, and ethical decision-making in business operations.

3. Engaging Local Stakeholders/Promoting Business

Develop a strategy for engaging with local stakeholders, including suppliers, government bodies, and communities to promote the business and enhance the brand's reputation. Explore how the brand can contribute to local development (e.g., job creation and partnerships with local artisans).

Alternatively, you could use other business strategies, such as the marketing mix approach, to show how you will promote your business. What will be your target audience, and how will you promote to the selected market segment?

Word count: 2000 (-/+ 10%)

BUS3029 Guidelines

• The focus of the report is the whole country.
• A sample report format is given on the last page of this document.
• Apply relevant international business and strategic management theories and frameworks to answer the tasks above. Theories learnt in other modules may also be applied.
• Conduct brief research on several cities in emerging markets and select one as the focus of this report.
• At this level of study, it is important that your work is well-written, well-presented and supported by credible academic and practitioner research. Writing at this level requires evidence-based arguments, and these arguments must be constructed with a good standard of critical analysis and evaluation.
• Use industry and sector reports, macroeconomic outlook reports, consultancy reports, etc, from reputed and reliable sources for supporting evidence.

BUS3029 Assessment Submission

To submit your work electronically, please go to the 'Assessment and submission' area on the NILE site and use the relevant submission point to upload the assignment deliverable. The deadline for this is 11.59 pm (UK local time) on the date of submission. Please note that Essays and text-based reports should be submitted as Microsoft Word documents (.doc or .docx), or as guided within the assignment. Please access the following guide to submitting assessments.

Written work submitted to Turnitin will be subject to anti-plagiarism detection software. Turnitin checks student work for possible textual matches against internet available resources and its proprietary database. Please access the University of Northampton's Plagiarism Avoidance Course (UNPAC) to learn more.

When you upload your work correctly to Turnitin, you will receive a receipt, which is your record and proof of submission. If your assessment is not submitted to Turnitin, rather than a receipt, you will see a green banner at the top of the screen that denotes successful submission.

N.B. Work emailed directly to your tutor will not be marked.

BUS3029 Grading:

Your grade will depend on the extent to which you meet these learning outcomes in a way relevant to this assessment. You will be assessed on your ability to successfully address specified module learning outcomes, with marks allocated based on what is called a grading rubric.

The rubric is a table that has different statements for how well each learning outcome has been met, and is used as a standard benchmark so that all assignments are marked equally against. Please see the grading rubric on NILE, or see the final page of this document for further details of the criteria against which you will be assessed, presented in the grading rubric.

Sample Report Structure

This report structure is provided for guidance purposes only and is not intended to be prescriptive. Students are encouraged to adapt it to suit their analysis and approach to the task.

Executive Summary (Not included in word count - approx. 150 words)

Provide a concise overview of the sustainable operations plan/institutional challenges/stakeholder engagement strategy. Highlight how the proposed strategies align with the brand's values and contribute to responsible business growth.

Introduction (Included in word count - approx. 200 words)

Set the scene and introduce the chosen UK luxury brand, including its core values and relevance in the global market.

State the report's focus on operationalising the expansion sustainably and ethically.

Main Body (Included in word count - approx. 1500 words)

(Do not use "Main Body" as a title; divide it into sub-sections with relevant headings.)

• Critically analyse and evaluate the issues outlined in the task.
• Ethical sourcing strategies or environmental impact reduction.
• Institutional challenges such as weak legal frameworks or corruption.
• Governance measures like transparency and anti-corruption frameworks.
• Stakeholder engagement strategies/Business promotion (e.g., partnerships with suppliers and communities).
• Apply relevant theories and frameworks to justify your recommendations (e.g., stakeholder theory, corporate governance frameworks, marketing mix).
• Support analysis with evidence from academic and practitioner sources.

The abovementioned headings are merely illustrative examples

Conclusion and Recommendations (Included in word count - approx. 300 words) 

• Summarise key insights and propose actionable recommendations.

References (Not included in word count)

• List all cited sources using the UON referencing style.

Appendices (Not included in word count)

• Include supplementary materials such as charts, tables, or additional data that support the analysis.