Rio Tinto Report

For this “scenario-based” assignment titled “Business to Business Marketing analysis” which is worth 100% of the unit, you need to write a report of 2,500 words.This word limit is mandatory and there is no 10% allowance above.

Assignment Scenario: You are applying for a job with a business-to-business company called Rio Tinto [https://www.riotinto.com/en]. As part of their evaluation process, they require applicants to prepare an objective, evidence-based, professional report evaluating the company’s current marketing activities.

You must use business-to-business marketing theories for this evaluation along with independent [non-company] sources to build a more objective view of the company. Relying too heavily on company sources will result in a poor mark. Further guidance will be provided during the seminars throughout the Block as to the appropriate report content for the purposes of this assignment.

ULO1. Appreciate the extent to which B2B marketing does, and sometimes does not, differ from B2C marketing.

ULO2. Critically appraise B2B relationships and supply chains and how to improve them.

ULO3. Appreciate the extent to which B2B relationships are embedded within broader networks.

Early Career Professional Skills [PLOs] being assessed or developed/assessed.

PL01: Critiques theory in discussion and analysis.

PLO2: Organises work in a logical structure in order to draw conclusions that follow from line of argument while consistently and appropriately referencing in-text citations.

PLO3: Demonstrate an awareness of ethical, corporate social responsibility and sustainability issues appropriate to the level of study and the discipline context.

PLO4: Demonstrates professional and commercial / corporate awareness.

Individual Report

Assignment Scenario: You are applying for a job with a business-to-business company called Rio Tinto [https://www.riotinto.com/en]. As part of their evaluation process, they require applicants to prepare an objective, evidence-based, professional report evaluating the company’s current marketing activities.

You must use business-to-business marketing theories for this evaluation along with independent [non-company] sources to build a more objective view of the company. Relying too heavily on company sources will result in a poor mark. Further guidance will be provided during the seminars throughout the Block as to the appropriate report content for the purposes of this assignment.

The structure and coverage of topics

Your report should include the following sections: An approximate word count, for each section, is provided below. Note, these are for guidance only. The mandatory limit for your report remains 2500 words. You can use tools such as tables/figures when useful.

Assignment Report Outline:

·         Title page [include your title, full name, student number, word count and unit information]

·         Introduction [Industry and company overview and roadmap for the report; indicative length: 350 words]

·         Main body to include the following:

1.     Customer analysis and segmentation [first explain how you believe the company categories its current customer[s] based on the evidence you have found. Then using theories you learned suggest appropriate other segmentation criteria and explain how your suggestion[s] can help the company. You may use both segmentation and organisation behaviour theories in this section; indicative length 650 words].

2.      B2B relationships and networks [using relationship management theories identify key relational attributes [up to three] and explain how they can improve/or hinder the company’s partnership/ exchange performance with the external parties- use examples of Rion Tinto partnerships when applicable; indicative length: 650 words].

3.     Evaluating firm’s CSR strategy [focus on one CSR strategy/approach that the company claims to have prioritised, then explore/analyse how this could add value to the focal firm, its partners, and society in general; indicative length: 650 words].

·         Conclusion [a summary of report/highlighting key issues; indicative length: 200 words]

·         List of references [MMU Harvard Referencing style]

*Title page, references, figures, and tables are excluded from the word-count.

The key starting points:

·         Study the website of the company [https://www.riotinto.com/en] and some relevant academic reports to get familiar with the company’s operation, market, and network as well as the context of industry.

·         Make a plan to complete your report throughout the block incrementally by working on each task after respective weekly topics are covered. This way you can finish your report on time and get support/brief feedback from your tutor in the weekly seminars.

Points to consider:

Note 1 – Refer to relevant theories from the core textbook and other appropriate relevant academic sources throughout your report. Make sure you introduce the theory and define the terms before utilising them for your discussions about the relevant topic.

Core textbook: Brennan, Ross., Canning, Louise., and McDowell, Raymond. [2017] Business-to-Business Marketing 4^th edition. London; Los Angles: Sage.

Note 2 – You must support your discussion with information from reliable and balanced sources including company’s website, academic books, academic articles, trade magazines, broadsheets and journal articles. DO NOT USE Wikipedia. Make sure you reference all the facts using MMU Harvard.

Note 3 – Please ensure you write your report in the third person.

Note 4 – Use headings and subheadings to guide the reader.

Note 5– Use report style

Assessment Support

• The assessment area provides various library and study skills support links which can be used for this assignment. To improve your report, you can also check with the study skills team for one-to-one feedback session on a part of your draft.
• General Assignment ‘Assignment Forum’ in the B2B Moodle area. This is the forum for asking questions about your individual assignment. Please make sure you read posts and responses before posting a new question as your query may have already been answered. Please note that this forum DOES NOT replace attendance at other sessions and you may be directed to those sessions if your question has already been answered by the members of teaching team in the lectures or tutorial sessions.
• There is a session dedicated to the assignment. You can ask questions during seminars and seek advice from your tutors to improve your drafts during the last 3 weeks of the block. Please note that no individual email will be answered, and you will be signposted to the assignment forum or your seminar sessions.

Resources to use:

Students are encouraged to use a balance of various resources listed below throughout the report:

• Core textbook for the unit or similar B2B marketing academic textbook

• Company’s corporate website – beware, this alone is NOT enough

• Heavyweight daily newspapers – The Times, The Guardian etc.

• Mintel or other similar sources for market reports

• Business Source Premier – for company profiles, SWOT analyses, industry/ market research files and academic journal articles

• Appropriate online resources such as government databases or websites – NOT Wikipedia

• Trade journals – Marketing, Marketing Week, Campaign, The Grocer, Retail Week etc.

• Emerald – Independent publisher of global research [journal articles]

Harvard Referencing:

You must use the MMU Harvard referencing system to cite references throughout your report. The guide can be accessed by the following links: http://libguides.mmu.ac.uk/ld.php?content_id=24887261

Below is a link to a series of videos on MMU Harvard Referencing:

https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/p/1128062/sp/112806200/embedIframeJs/uiconf_id/27474922/partner_id/1128062/widget_id/1_ysoe0yca?iframeembed=true&playerId=kaltura_player_1390404249&flashvars[playlistAPI.kpl0Id]=1_rcaxe7ve&flashvars[playlistAPI.autoContinue]=true&flashvars[playlistAPI.autoInsert]=true&flashvars[ks]=&flashvars[streamerType]=auto

Academic Integrity is about engaging in good academic practice. It means being honest and transparent, and demonstrating rigour and accuracy in your work. This can include the proper citation and referencing of the sources of your ideas and information, ensuring that you are using appropriate research methods, or checking that your work is free of errors.

Additional information, video tutorials and guides to support good academic practice and maintain Academic Integrity in your assignments can be found on the Academic Integrity area of the Academic and Study Skills page on Moodle.

Academic Misconduct is any action that could give you an unfair advantage in coursework, exams or any other assessed work, which could lead to undermining the academic standards of the University. This includes practices such asplagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, contract cheating or falsification of data. Full details of the Manchester Metropolitan University guidelines for Academic Misconduct and definitions of terms can be found here.