FE4061 Understanding the Business and Economic Environment Islington College

COURSEWORK: QUESTION PAPER (Re- Sit)

Spring 2023 Semester-long

Module Code:	FE4061
Module Title:	Understanding the Business and Economic Environment
Module Leader:	Rupak Aryal (Islington College)

Coursework Type:	Individual Coursework- 1500 Words 1500 ± 5% works is recommended. (Minimum 1425 and maximum 1575)
Coursework Weight:	This coursework accounts for 100% of your total module grades.
Submission Date:	TBA
When Coursework is given out:	TBA
Submission Instructions:	Submit the following to Islington College RTE department before the due date: ● 1 x Final Submission PDF ● File name example: 12312324 Darshan Gyawali
Warning:	London Metropolitan University and Islington College takes Plagiarism seriously. Offenders will be dealt with sternly.

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Section A: Learning outcomes of the assessments

LO 1. Understand the business context of firms, research well-known organisations and the business environment in which they operate, and apply business principles and analysis within chosen sector/s;

LO 2. Understand the economic context of firms, research well-known organisations and the economic environment in which they operate, and apply economic principles and analysis within chosen sector/s

Section B: Introduction

Your academic performance is assessed by means of your classroom participation, formative assessments, and summative assessments in this module.

This is the only summative assessment in this module. The assessment is developed with the aim of testing the module’s learning outcomes. Formative assessment takes place in tutorial or workshop sessions through learning activities that support development of this summative assessment. Students are required to reflect the classroom discussion, case studies and examples from industry to get a better score.

Section C: Assessment Strategy

The assessment includes 3 parts:

Part 1– Students are required to research well-known organisations and the business/ economic environment in which they operate, and apply business/ economic principles and analysis within chosen sector/s.

Part 2– Students are required to answer three questions from this part.

Part 3– Students will also be assessed on the basis of their participation in classroom activities like simulations, formative assessments, and case study analysis.

Section D: Assessment submission

Assessment question paper will be handed to students 4 weeks prior to the submission. The deadline to submit the assessment will be finalised by the RTE department.

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Please note- all the submissions must be converted to the PDF format. Any submissions in other formats will not be accepted.

Section E: Assessment Requirements

You are required to develop an individual report as per the structure and instruction provided below:

S.N .	Section	Weight	Detail
1	Cover Page	1	● Must follow the cover page template provided by the module lecturer 1 page
2	Table of content	1	1 page
3	Introduction	5	● The purpose of the paper (2 marks) ● The structure of the paper (3 marks) 50 words
4	Company Background	23	● Identify one public limited company (PLC) that is based in the UK from the retail industry. (3 marks) ● Briefly discuss the nature of the chosen company (5 marks) ● Briefly discuss the structure of your chosen industry. (7 marks) ● Apply the SCP framework on the chosen industry. (8 marks) 300 words

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5	STEEPLE Analysis	28	Use the Social, Technological, Environmental, Economic, Political, Legal and Ethical (STEEPLE) factor analysis to analyse the external business environment of the chosen company over the last 5- 10 years. You are expected to discuss each factor separately, for example, consider in what ways technology (T) might influence the organisational structure of a business. Explain any four (4 x 7 marks) of the following factors: ● Social Factor Analysis ● Technological Factor Analysis ● Environmental Factor Analysis ● Economic Factor Analysis ● Political Factor Analysis ● Legal Factor Analysis ● Ethical Factor Analysis You must identify three points for each of the four chosen factors and explain one of the points in detail. 400 Words
6	Economic Factor: Micro economic	12	● Identify the determinants that affect the demand for goods and/or services of your chosen company. (2 marks) ● Draw a demand curve diagram to illustrate your answer. (2 marks) ● Identify the determinants that affect the supply for goods and/or services of your chosen company. (2 marks) ● Draw a supply curve diagram to illustrate your answer. (2 marks)

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			200 Words
	Economic Factor: Macro economic		● Identify the impacts on businesses because of national policies- fiscal policy, monetary policy, and/or supply-side policy. (4 marks) 100 Words
7	The business problems and challenges	5	Discuss the business problems and challenges the chosen company faces because of the contemporary issues like- ● Russian invasion on Ukraine; ● The pandemic; ● The increase in dollar rate; ● The shortage of fuel/ rise in price of fuel; etc. 150 words
8	Problem 1: Profit Maximisation	5	Answer Problem: 1 from section F. 100 words
9	Problem 2: Social costs and benefits	5	Answer Problem: 2 from section F. 100 words
10	Problem 3- Circular flow of income	5	Answer Problem: 3 from section F. 100 words
11	References	5	● In text citation and Bibliography must be developed using Harvard referencing method ● References must be evaluated on qualitative and qualitative aspects Note: Points and/or arguments presented and made should be substantiated with data/evidence. I am interested in your own views but it should be clear through the referencing system whether they are

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			personal or evidenced by the views/data of others.
12	Appendix

Section F: Three problems from Part 2.

Problem: 1

The AgroFarm pvt. ltd. Produces potatoes and brings it every day to sell in the Kalimati Tarkari Bazaar. As of today, tomatoes are priced at Rs 50 per kg by the Kalimati Tarkari Bazaar. The following table shows the quantity, fixed cost, and variable cost for producing tomatoes:

Quantity (kg)	Fixed Cost (FC)	Variable Cost (VC)
1	100	20
2	100	30
3	100	50
4	100	85
5	100	135
6	100	205
7	100	300

Question 1:

The market for tomatoes in Kalimati Tarkari Bazaar is close to which of the market structures? [2 marks]

Question 2:

Complete the following table from the information provided in the question: [2 marks]

Quantity (kg)	Total Revenue	Marginal Revenue	Average Revenue	Fixed Cost	Variable Cost	Total Cost	Marginal Cost	Profit
1				100	20
2				100	30
3				100	50
4				100	85
5				100	135
6				100	205
7				100	300

Question 3:

At what quantity would the firm be able to maximize its profit? [1 marks]

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Problem 2:

Government is considering building a park in the middle of the city. Assume, you are appointed as an economist to help the government to decide whether to build the park or not.

A. Identify the social costs and social benefits of building the park in the middle of the city. [4 Marks]

B. Comparing the social costs and benefits, what do you think, should the government build the park? [1 Marks]

Problem 3:

Explain the consequences if withdrawals are greater than injections in the circular flow of income.

Section G: Marking Criteria: How will you be evaluated?

The paper will be evaluated on the following major criteria.

● Evidence of understanding of the selected question

● Evidence of understanding of relevant concepts

● Critical application of theory

● Demonstration of analytical independent thinking

● Evidence of research (In classroom and external)

● Use of relevant examples to support the argument

● Collection and sound use of relevant information

● A coherently structured argument

● Well supported conclusions

● A sound professional quality presentation

● Citation and Referencing

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Section H: Recommended Reading for references

Books

• Sloman, J., Garratt, D., Guest, J., & Jones, E. (2019) Economics for Business. 8th edition. Harlow, United Kingdom: Pearson Education Limited.

• Worthington, I. and Briton, C. (2018) The Business Environment: A Global Perspective 8th edn, London: FT/Prentice Hall.

• Sloman, J., Guest, J. and Garratt, D. (2018) Economics. 10th edition, Pearson Education Limited.

• Wetherly, P. and Otter, D. (2018) The Business Environment: Themes and Issues in a Globalizing World, 7th edn, UK: Oxford.

Journals

• European Research on Management and Business Economics. • Harvard Business Review.

• International Journal of Management and Economics.

Websites

• www.bankofengland.co.uk

• www.bbc.co.uk

• www.ft.com

• www.theguardian.com/uk/business

• www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news

• www.stats.gov.uk

• www.studyingeconomics.ac.uk

• www.uk.reuters.com/business

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Section I: Assessment Grade Description

GSBL UNDERGRADUATEGENERAL GRADE DESCRIPTORS

	Level 3/4	Level 5	Level 6
General	Acquisition of broad knowledge Evaluate information Use information to plan, develop and problem solve	Generate ideas through analysing concepts Demonstrate a command of specialised skills Formulate responses to well defined and abstract Analyse and evaluate information	Critically review, consolidate and extend a body of knowledge using specialised skills Critically evaluate concepts and evidence from a range of sources Transfer and apply skills and exercise significant judgement in a range of situations
70-100 (A)	Very good Demonstration of very good comprehension of the task with evidence of analysis, synthesis, evaluation and critical appraisal Use of a wide variety of appropriate sources Transformation of knowledge Independent thinking and development of ideas Ability to communication very clearly and effectively Very good evidence of preparation Very good organisation, structure and presentation of work – minimal errors Good references, appropriate sources (quality and	Excellent Advanced scholarship Goes beyond the material provided Excellent link to research Excellent analysis, synthesis, evaluation and critical appraisal Excellent evidence of preparation Comprehensive and critical understanding of the topic Excellent ability to communicate clearly and effectively Excellent organisation, structure and presentation of work Good references, appropriate sources (quality and quantity). No errors in reference list or citations.	Excellent – Outstanding (for use at far end of range) Outstanding understanding, exploration and insight Strong evidence of originality and development of own ideas Develop a highly complex argument Outstanding ability to communicate topics clearly and concisely Advanced organisation, structure and presentation of work Good references, appropriate sources (quality and quantity). No errors in reference list or citations. References well utilised and critiqued

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	quantity). No errors in reference list or citations.
60-69 (B)	Very good Demonstration of very good comprehension of the task with evidence of analysis, synthesis, evaluation Use of a wide variety of appropriate sources Transformation of knowledge Independent thinking and development of ideas Ability to communication clearly and effectively Very good evidence of preparation Very good organisation, structure and presentation of work – minimal errors Good references, appropriate sources (quality and quantity). Minimal or no errors in reference list or citations.	Very good Demonstration of very good comprehension of the task with evidence of analysis, synthesis, evaluation Use of a wide variety of appropriate sources Transformation of knowledge Independent thinking and development of ideas Ability to communication clearly and effectively Very good evidence of preparation Very good organisation, structure and presentation of work – minimal errors Good references, appropriate sources (quality and quantity). Minimal or no errors in reference list or citations.	Very Good Advanced scholarship Goes beyond the material provided Very good link to research Very good analysis, synthesis, evaluation and critical appraisal Very good evidence of preparation Comprehensive and critical understanding of the topic Very good ability to communicate clearly and effectively Very good organisation, structure and presentation of work Good references, appropriate sources (quality and quantity). No errors in reference list or citations.
50-59 (C)	Adequate – Satisfactory Some analysis but limited Some insight and exploration of ideas Sound conclusions No significant inaccuracies or omissions Some analysis, evaluation or synthesis of information Lacking clarity at times Some evidence of preparation Referencing is sound. Mostly appropriate sources. Numerous errors or inconsistencies	Adequate – Satisfactory Some evidence of thinking independently to develop own ideas Evaluation of relevant theories or literature Reasonable ability to communicate clearly and effectively Report information in a structured way Use of an appropriate format Quite comprehensive knowledge Satisfactory evidence of preparation Satisfactory referencing, appropriate sources. Numerous but minor errors in references	Adequate- Satisfactory Evidence of thinking independently to develop own ideas Evaluation of relevant theories or literature Ability to communicate clearly and effectively Report information in a structured way Use of an appropriate format Reasonably Accurate, quite comprehensive knowledge Satisfactory evidence of preparation Coherent and well presented – minor errors Satisfactory referencing, appropriate sources. Minor errors in references
40-49 (D)	All learning outcomes met Competent (practical) May be incomplete in knowledge (some errors or omissions) Insufficient analysis, evaluation or synthesis Limited application of theories/knowledge	All learning outcomes met Competent (practical) May be incomplete in knowledge (some errors or omissions) Weak or no analysis, evaluation or synthesis Some application of theories/knowledge	All learning outcomes met Competent (practical) May be incomplete in knowledge (some errors or omissions) Weak or no analysis, evaluation or synthesis Some application of theories/knowledge

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	An awareness of appropriate principles/theories/technique s Irrelevance to the task at times Disorganised work with weak standard of presentation Numerous aberrations from the requirements of the task Referencing is attempted although may be inconsistent, many errors, weak sources	An awareness of appropriate principles/theories/technique s Irrelevance to the task at times Disorganised work with weak standard of presentation Aberrations from the requirements of the task Referencing is attempted although may be inconsistent, many errors, weak sources	An awareness of appropriate principles/theories/technique s Irrelevance to the task at times Disorganised work with weak standard of presentation Aberrations from the requirements of the task Referencing is attempted although may be inconsistent, many errors, weak sources
Condone d Pass 30-39 (R2/F1)	Learning outcomes not met Little relevant knowledge Lacking structure Numerous errors in structure and form Limited understanding of concepts/theories No appropriate analysis, evaluation or synthesis Significant inaccuracies/omissions Not competent Little or no attempt to use references and if so very weak with errors	Learning outcomes not met Little relevant knowledge Lacking structure Numerous errors in structure and form Limited understanding of concepts/theories No appropriate analysis, evaluation or synthesis Significant inaccuracies/omissions Not competent Little or no attempt to use references and if so very weak with errors	Learning outcomes not met Little relevant knowledge Lacking structure Numerous errors in structure and form Limited understanding of concepts/theories No appropriate analysis, evaluation or synthesis Significant inaccuracies/omissions Not competent Little or no attempt to use references and if so very weak with errors
Under 30 (R2/F2)	Little engagement with the task No basic understanding of the subject matter Poor communication (written or verbal) Lacking or no structure Significant errors in structure and form Many significant inaccuracies/omissions – very little correct Little or no attempt to use references and if so very weak with many significant errors	Little engagement with the task No basic understanding of the subject matter Poor communication (written or verbal) Lacking or no structure Significant errors in structure and form Many significant inaccuracies/omissions – very little correct Little or no attempt to use references and if so very weak with many significant errors	Little engagement with the task No basic understanding of the subject matter Poor communication (written or verbal) Lacking or no structure Significant errors in structure and form Many significant inaccuracies/omissions – very little correct Little or no attempt to use references and if so very weak with many significant errors
(0%)	No submission Nothing of relevance in the work submitted	No submission Nothing of relevance in the work submitted	No submission Nothing of relevance in the work submitted