GL BAJAJ INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH

Plot No-2, Knowledge Park –III, Greater Noida

Minor Project
(Code: PG34)
(No. of Credits: 0.5)

PGDM (BATCH: 2019-21, TERM:II)

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Introduction

The minor project is an important component of PGDM programme at G.L. Bajaj Institute of
Management and Research, Greater Noida. It is an attempt to provide an opportunity for meaningful
experiential learning by students with the aim to bridge their classroom learning and real-world practices.
The project accounts for half credit in which students do secondary research on two companies for the
entire Term I. The project is a cross-functional experience for the students, which would help develop
depth knowledge about the companies studied from inception till date. This helps in building an
orientation among the students on, how companies have evolved over a period of time and the product(s)/
service(s) offered. The purpose is to follow this with in depth working on the same company in minor
project of Term II (half credit) and Term III (one credit). Therefore, students by the end of Term III will
be encouraged to take up time bound multi-disciplinary and goal oriented projects aiming at the futuristic
contribution that the student can make during summer internship.

The businesses will always have competition. And if the businesses fail to understand the importance of
competition, then they could be missing out on huge opportunities. That’s why a competitive analysis is
crucial to the management students for better understanding of the business dynamics. It helps the
students in learning the tools to quickly adapt to any changes in the competitive landscape and potentially
capitalize on industry trends that the business competitors haven’t even noticed.

In Term II, students will start with the Industry Analysis, Major Players in the market and then
competitive analysis of the biggest competitor. Analysis of the competitor will be in different areas,
depending upon the specialization (Marketing, Human Resource, Information Technology,
Finance, Operation and International Business) which they want to choose in Term III. For
example, a student willing to take Marketing and Human Resource specialization, will do
competitor analysis on Marketing and Human Resource parameters. This will add to the students
prospective employability opportunity at the company studied.

Objectives
 To become time-bound, multi-disciplinary, goal orientated, innovative players
 To become aware of the business and the commercial environment by understanding the key
factors that contribute to the success of an organization

Long term objective

 To survive with insufficient information and resources during work tenure at the time of
internship
 To demonstrate high level of critical thinking and lateral thinking for achieving the best outcomes
in the work assigned during the internship

Learning Outcomes
Students, who successfully complete the minor project, should be able to:
LO1: Understand the responsibilities, tasks, and relationships involved in management of products by
companies at a level appropriate to a first-year post-graduate student of a business school.

LO2: Apply critical thinking and lateral thinking approaches to discovering the business issues involved
in running a business over a period of time.

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Minor project process will begin once the students are in Term I. Students will be allocated two
companies from different domains on which they will be doing secondary research.

Important Dates

Interim Report Submission : 06 December 2019 (Friday)

Final Report Submission : 20 December 2019 (Friday)

Interim Assessment by Faculty : 24 December 2019 (Tuesday)

Final Presentation : 06 January 2020 (Monday)

Evaluation

The minor project is a half credit course and carries a total of 100 marks distributed equally between the
two companies studied. The table below lists the weightage and marks as per their role and contribution in
project assessment. The faculty mentor will be responsible for evaluating the SIP at different stages.
Evaluation will be submitted.

Sr. No. Assessment Component Percentage Weightage (%)

1 Faculty assessment of responsiveness of student 10

2 Interim Report 30

3 Project Report Evaluation 60

Total Marks 100

Project Report

Project report should be submitted in spiral binding along with a PDF copy of the report to the faculty
mentors. The project report will be evaluated by faculty members, based on the following components.

The Executive Summary should be in the prescribed format. All student summaries will consolidate in the
form of a booklet to be sent to recruiters along with your CV for summer internship placement.

Faculty Mentor’s Evaluation

Faculty mentor will evaluate students based on the interactions, timelines, incorporating suggestions and
feedbacks etc. during the minor project tenure. The report will be evaluated by faculty mentor based on
the detailed rubric included in Annexure – 1

Minor Project Report Guidelines

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Students need to ensure that data pertaining to all functional areas of business must be collected, compiled
and critically analyzed. The Students are required to follow the Project Report guidelines template to
bring uniformity and standardization in the report structure to be submitted.

General Guidelines

1. Each student intern will have to submit two copies of the Project Report. Students are also required to
mail the final copy of the report to their respective Faculty Mentor.

2. PDF copy of the final project report should be submitted and uploaded on Google drive while
submitting the copy of report to the Google drive.

3. Project report must be duly signed by the student intern and faculty mentor.

4. Project report should be spiral bound with a transparent cover sheet on the front and colored at the
back.

5. Good quality white A4 size paper should be used for typing.

6. The text material should be typed with one and a half spacing between the lines. Twelve point font size
is to be used in Times New Roman font.

7. Text should be justified (Ctrl +J).

8. A left-hand margin of approximately 3-3.5 cm is to be left for adequate space for binding. The top
margin of the first page and of the first page of each succeeding chapter/Section should be 4 cms. Other
top margins, the right side and bottom margins should be a minimum of 2.5 cm in size.

9. All text pages should be numbered at the bottom center of the pages.

10. Table and figure numbers are to be written at the bottom of the table/ figure along with source.

11. The Project Report should range in length between 40-60 pages with a deviation of three to five
pages.

12. The project report should be printed strictly according to the guidelines.

Chapter Scheme:

A competitive analysis report outlines the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors compared
to those of your own business.

I. Industry Analysis
II. Major Competitors

III. Detail of the One Major Competitor (Highest Market Share)

 The overview and profile provide general information about your company and its
competitors.

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 (Profiled competitors are usually direct competitors: those who offer a comparable product or
service in the same area.)
 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) of your competitors compared to
those of your own business.
 Background information on a competitor may include the location of their head office, the
number of employees, recent acquisitions, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings,
and the names of key staff members.
 This section also includes the company’s mission statement, slogan, tagline, and main value
proposition.

As per the selection of Specialization Student have to do Competitor Analysis

I, II and III points are common for all specialization

Rest Point A, B, C, D, E and F needs to be selected as per specialization

(M+HR, M+F, M+IT, M+ OP, M+IB and Many More)

A. Marketing Analysis

A. Product Information:

1. Describes the products and services offered.

2. Pricing details include list prices for key products and services.

3. Distribution channel details include information about affiliates, retailers, and wholesalers.

4. Reviewing online presence is key today. Note all of your competitors’ social media channels
and web pages. Also, document any other web pages where competitors are referenced.

5. Market share is expressed as a percentage of the business that the company owns.

6. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Perform a SWOT
analysis to identify what competitors are doing right, and what customers are complaining about. Also,
you can assess how well a competitor is achieving their goals based on their apparent positioning. Use a
competitor’s weaknesses to understand how you can fill gaps to make their customers your customers.

7. Competitive advantage boils down to why a customer likes them better. In other words,
what’s unique about the product or service that draws customers?

B. Financial Analysis

1. Trend Analysis for the last five years’ (2014-2019) financial data on the basis of following
parameters.
a. Profitability
Revenue Growth
Return on Capital Employed

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 Net profit margin
b. Liquidity
c. Solvency
d. Operational efficiency
Inventory turnover
Receivable turnover
Payable turnover
Working capital turnover
2. Benchmarking the Financial trends with Industry leaders.
C. Information Technology
1. Initiatives in the domain of Information Technology in the organisation and its major
competitors.
2. Use of Big Data and Analytics for decision making
3. E-Commerce and E-Business activities by the organisation
4. Alexa Analytics report for the website performance of the organisation (World ranking,
regional ranking, browser information, website open time, bounce rate etc.)
5. Data Management Policy of the organisation (Official document or statements about the
use of data captured from the customers or other stakeholders)
6. Special initiatives taken for data security, customer convenience, product innovation,
supply chain performance enhancement.
7. Availability of the organisation’s products and services on the comparison websites or
ecommerce portals like Amazon/Flipkart/Policybazaar etc.
D. Human Resource
1. Career opportunities in last 5 years
2. Job roles in the organisation and the number of opportunities
3. Employee participation in CSR projects.
4. JD and JS comparison.
5. Organisational Chart
6. SWOT analysis of the HR Policies of the organisation

E. Operations

1. Supply Chain Management

2. Inventory Management Techniques
3. Distribution Management
4. Capacity Management
F. International Business

1. International Market growth and opportunities

2. Joint Venture/Merger/Acquisition if any
3. Foreign Direct Investment
4. Overseas Market presence of the competitor

Findings

 To be presented and supported by facts & figures in narrative form.

 Discuss rational and logic for drawing inferences.
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  Be clear, crisp and relevant.
 Don’t use arbitrary instances.

Recommendations

 Recommendations based on study of the company

 All recommendations must be evaluated on the parameters of cost verses benefit.

References

● Should be proper and must include all citations

● Should follow the style as displayed for various sources as per APA guidelines

Book with Single Author:

Gore, A. (2006). An inconvenient truth: The planetary emergency of global warming and what we can do
about it. Emmaus, PA: Rodale.

In-text reference: (Gore, 2006)

Book with Two Authors:

Michaels, P. J., & Balling, R. C., Jr. (2000). The satanic gases: Clearing the air about global warming.
Washington, DC: Cato Institute.

In-text reference: (Michaels & Balling, 2000)

Book with Editor as Author:

Galley. K. E. (Ed.). (2004). Global climate change and wildlife in North America.Bethesda,MD: Wildlife
Society.

In-text reference: (Galley, 2004)

Articles in Reference Books (unsigned and signed): Page 3 of 33

Greenhouse effect.(2005). American heritage science dictionary. Boston, MA: HoughtonMifflin.

.In-text references: (Greenhouse effect, 2005)

Magazine Articles:

Allen, L. (2004, August). Will Tuvalu disappear beneath the sea? Global warming threatens to swamp a
small island nation. Smithsonian, 35(5), 44-52.

In-text references: (Allen, 2004)

Newspaper Articles (unsigned and signed):

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College officials agree to cut greenhouse gases. (2007, June 13). Albany Times Union, p. A4.

In-text references: (“College Officials”, 2007)

Journal Article:

Miller-Rushing, A. J., Primack, R. B., Primack, D., &Mukunda, S. (2006). Photographsand herbarium
specimens as tools to document phonological changes in responseto global warming. American Journal of
Botany, 93, 1667-1674.

In-text reference: (Miller-Rushing, Primack, Primack, &Mukunda, 2006)

Website:

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2007, May 4). Climate Change. Retrieved From the
Environmental Protection Agency website: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange

In-text reference: (United States Environmental, 2007)

Annexures

● The annexures are to be attached at the end of the report and to be numbered as Annexure-A,
Annexure-B etc. right justified at the top of the page.
● All Annexures must follow sequence as mentioned in the report.

Guidelines for Executive Summary

Executive summary should have a word range of 350 – 400 words. The executive summary should be in a
caselet style skimming the entire company details. Students need to includewrite-up of around 50 words
on each of the following heads:
 Briefly introduce the competitor
 Brief about the products offered over a period of time
 Brief about the market performance of the company against the Competitor
 Brief about major competitors and market scenario
 Brief on SWOT analysis (Competitor)
 Brief conclusive summary with suggestions at the end.

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 Rubric – 1: Mentor Evaluation

Name ofStudent:

Name of FacultyMentor:

Sl.
Feedback of Student’s Abilities for following 1 2 3 4 5
No

1 QuantityofReport–Studied the company in depth, thorough knowledge about the

company performance and major competitors.
Comments:
2 QualityofWork–
Demonstratesaccuracyandthoroughness;displayscommitmenttoexcellence;looks for ways to
improve and promote quality; shows good attention to detail.
Comments:
Competency – Competent withknowledge about company, competitors, performance of
3 the company etc.;
abilitytoleanandapplynewskills;keepsabreastofcurrentdevelopmentsinfield;requiresminimal
supervision.
Comments:
4 Teachability – Shows an openness and eagerness to learn from others; accepts criticism
andfeedback; applies feedback to improve performance; open to new ways of doing things.
Comments:
5 Communication – Exhibits good listening and comprehension; expresses ideas
andthoughts
effectively; keeps other adequately informed; resolves conflict effectively and timely.
Comments:
Attitude/Self-Control – Is positive about the company, co-workers, and management;
6 displayspositive outlook and pleasant manner; takes a solution-focused approach to
problems; maintains self-control under stressful situations.
Comments:
Organization – Sets goals and objectives; prioritizes and plans work activities; able to
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minimize distractions; works in an organized manner; able to multi-task and balance
competing demands.
Comments:
Adaptability–Adaptseasilytochange approachormethodtobest fit thesituation.
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Comments:
Initiative – Seeks increased responsibilities; undertakes self-development activities; takes
9 independentactionandcalculatedrisks;effectivelydealswithissuesbeforetheybecomeproblem
s; asks for help whenneeded.
Comments
10 Reliability–Meetsattendanceandpunctualityexpectations;completesassignedtaskscompletely
andtimely;takesresponsibilityforownactions.
Comments:
Other Overall Comments (Ifany): Potential for Summer Internship Offer (SIO)

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 Mentor’s Name and Signature ( High / Low / No )

Rubric 2: Project Report Evaluation

Name ofStudent:________________________________________________________________
Name of Faculty: _________________________________________________________________
Name of the company: _____________________________________________________________

5 Marks 4 Marks 3 Marks 2 Marks 1 Mark

Sl. Assessment Marks
Gooddesign,Goodlog Good design, Okdesign,oklogi Okdesign,poor Poor design, poor
No. Component Obtained
ic, Gooddelivery Good logic, ok c, Poordelivery logic, logic, Poor
delivery Poordelivery delivery
All required sections All required All required Sections are Sections are poorly
are included, and each sections are included sections are partially organized organized and are
is effectively organized. and appropriately included but and some are missing. Citations
Report
Citations and references formatted. Some partially organized. missing. Citations and references not
Structure
1 are presented citations and Citations and and references not presented
appropriately. references not References not presented appropriately.
presented presented appropriately.
appropriately. appropriately.
Executive Executive Summary Executive Executive Summary Executive Summary Executive
Summary restates main purpose, Summary restates restates only two of does not restate summary does
2 key points,facts,and main purpose, key the following: main purpose,key not restate
figures excellently points, facts, and purpose, key points, arguments, facts, and purpose, key
figures well. facts, and figures. figures. arguments, facts,
and figures.
Competitor Presents SpecializationPresents Provides some Specialization Area Missing the
Analysis Areaanalysis related toSpecialization Area Specialization Area analysis performed Specialization Area
(Area of
3 competitorwith facts analysis analysis for does not provide analysis,for the
Specializatio
and figures as well as clearly with latest Competitor, but significant competitor.
n)
current state. state misses the linkages information &
forCompetitor linkage.
Presents SWOT analysis Presents SWOT Provides some SWOT analysis Missing the SWOT
SWOT related to analysis SWOT analysis for performed Analysisfor the
Analysis competitorwith facts clearly with Company, but misses does not provide company.
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and figures as well as lateststate the linkages significant
current state. forCompetitor information &
linkage.
Conclusions and Conclusions and Some are relevant Majority of them are Both are unclear and
recommendations are recommendations are and adequate, but irrelevant and not related to the
Conclusions
innovative and pertinent, realistic, some are not inadequate,. Poor results. No logic or
&Recommend
5 ations practical. Strong logic evidence-based, and pertinent, realistic, or logic and argumentation.
and powerful detailed. Good logic detailed. Poor logic argumentation.
argumentation. and reasonably and argumentation.
strong
argumentation.
All required Almost all required Guidelines are Guidelines are No compliance to
Adherence guidelines are guidelines are partially followed. loosely followed. guidelines at all.
6 toGuidelines followedin full. followed in full. Deviations are Deviations are Deviations all
No deviation is Very little very muchvisible. seen at prominent around.
witnessed. deviation is places.
witnessed

Comments:

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