MGT 489 Project Report Structure (18.

5 Marks; 2800-3000 words for a 4-member group):

Assume your team is an advisor to a business organisation that is operating in Bangladesh.
The organisation operates in the fast-moving consumer goods sector. The purpose of the
organisation is to make sustainable living a common place. The organisation is pursing three
big goals:

 Improving Health and well-being for more than 1 billion (By 2023)
 Reducing environmental impact by half (By 2030)
 Enhancing Livelihoods for millions (By 2023)
Source: Copied from Unilever’s webpage at https://www.unilever.com.bd/sustainable-
living/

Additionally, the organisation is also pursuing the goal of 5% increase in market share and
10% enhancement in profitability by the year of 2023. This goal has been set, keeping the
context of Covid-19 in mind. Your team needs to advise an appropriate functional strategy
for the organisation.
Considering the above scenario, please submit a group report of the following format and
content.
1. Executive Summary (about 200 words; 1 mark): This includes succinct summarising
of the purpose, the contextual background, and highlights of the recommendations
in the report.

2. Introduction (about 350 words; 1.5 mark): This includes the purpose and structure of
the report. Additionally, this section provides relevant contextual background of the
chosen organisation that is operating in Bangladesh. Example of relevant contextual
background are ownership structure of the organisation, the organogram and a
summary of current business portfolio, leadership team details at corporate level
and mapping of competitors in the industry in recent time.

3. Critical analysis of the situation (About 800 words; 5 marks):

o Applying the strategy planning process, discuss the opportunities, threats,
strengths, and weaknesses (SWOT) of the chosen organisation. You must
clarify how the SWOT of the organisation has been impacted by the
pandemic Covid-19.
o PESTLE Analysis (Must for 5-member group; 200 words)

4. Recommendations (About 1450 words; 10 marks)

Based on your above analysis, recommend what type of functional strategy (i.e.
efficiency, quality, innovation, and customer responsiveness) should the organisation
pursue to achieve the intended goals. The recommendation should be explained in

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 detail, for example, how the value creation functions will be supporting the chosen
strategy. (For a 5-member group, it will be mandatory to describe each of 7 value
creation functions with additional word count 400)

Moreover, you are to explain how the organisation can take one specific action to
facilitate the chosen functional strategy for each element of the organisational
architecture. These elements are: i) organisational structure ii) organisational
processes iii) organisational culture iv) organisational control and incentives and v)
people. Each specific action should be explained in detail, clarifying who is taking
what action and for whom. Moreover, there should be clear justification of how the
specific actions are aligned with organisation’s goals. In writing the content of this
section, you are to take guidance from literature as much as possible.

5. Conclusion (max 150 words; 1 mark): This includes succinctly concluding insights that
addresses the purpose of the report and the key take-away messages in the report.

Project Report Marking Criteria

 The required content for the above 5 sections were provided with clarity, coherence
and succinctness.
 The report was comprehensively supported with a critical review of foundational
theory and contemporary evidence, including academic literature and industry
reports.
 The writing expression is grammatically correct and unambiguous. The arguments
have a logical flow and ideas transition between paragraphs. APA referencing style is
used correctly and consistently throughout the report. The report word count does
not exceed the prescribed limit. Please note that the word count includes all sections
of the report, except for the reference list, table of content and appendices (if any).
 The report structure and content look professional, with appropriate use of figures,
graphs, tables etc.

Project Presentation (7.5 marks; 12-15 minutes presentation)

Presentation content:

 Team etiquette matters

 Purpose of the presentation and introduction of the chosen organisation (Approx. 2
minutes)
 Summary of the critical analysis of the situation (Approx. 2.5 minutes)
 Recommendations for the organisation (Approx. 7.5 minutes)

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Marking Criteria for the presentation:
a) Appropriate explanation of theory and practice covered in the presentation.
b) The presentation adheres to the prescribed time-limit.
c) Proper grammar, syntax and punctuation is used throughout the slides.
d) APA referencing is used in the slide and a reference list is provided at the end.
e) The slides look professional, with intelligent use of graphs and figures.
f) The argument has a logical flow and ideas transition between slides and team
members.
g) Each team member comes across as well prepared for the presentation.

Note: After each presentation, the team will attend to a Q& A session from the class and
lecturer.