Unit: Enterprise Software and Business Infrastructure
Assignment title: Strategic report
December 2015
Important notes Please refer to the Assignment Presentation Requirements for advice on how
to set out your assignment. These can be found on the NCC Education website. Click on ‘Policies & Advice’ on the main menu and then click on ‘Student Support’.
You must read the NCC Education documents What is Academic Misconduct? Guidance for Candidates and Avoiding Plagiarism and Collusion: Guidance for Candidates and ensure that you acknowledge all the sources that you use in your work. These documents are available on the NCC Education website. Click on ‘Policies & Advice’ on the main menu and then click on ‘Student Support’.
You must complete the Statement and Confirmation of Own Work. The form is available on the NCC Education website. Click on ‘Policies & Advice’ on the main menu and then click on ‘Student Support’.
Please make a note of the recommended word count. You could lose marks if you write 10% more or less than this.
All electronic media will be checked for plagiarism.
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Enterprise Software and Business Infrastructure © NCC Education Limited 2015
Introduction This assignment requires you to demonstrate many of the skills you have learned throughout the course of this unit. You are required to choose one of the organisations mentioned in the scenario below, use it as a case study and produce a well-researched and fully referenced academic report. This report is worth 70% of the overall unit grade.
Assignment Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is business management software, usually a suite of integrated applications to store and manage data originating from every stage of the business processes including product planning, manufacturing, marketing, sales, payments and so on. It is an attractive approach that provides a real-time view of the efficiency and performance of core business processes. Several large organisations have successfully employed ERP software to achieve the benefits that it promises. Three such organisations are:
Cadbury: a British multinational confectionary company founded in 1824 and now the second-largest in the world.
Dabur: the fourth-largest FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) company in India, specialising in health care and food products.
Cisco: an American multinational corporation that is a top-rated designer and manufacturer of networking equipment.
Task 1
Investigate one of the three organisations mentioned above, with a view to finding out:
which ERP systems they decided to use for their business processes and why
how they adopted to the new ways of resource planning, and
what benefits they managed to achieve. The organisation’s website may give you only limited information. However, there are numerous reports available on the Internet that will provide answers to the relevant questions for the purposes of this assignment. Investigation and extracting the required information is an important component of your research. This task carries no marks but is essential for Task 2 below.
Task 2 – 100 Marks
You are required to write an academic report based upon your findings in Task 1. The report should be well researched, with appropriate references provided at the end of the report and correct citations within the report. Your report must include at least the following: a) Brief background about the organisation and description of the business they are in
(approximately 300 words) (10 marks) b) Explanation of the reasons the organisation decided to implement ERP systems
(approximately 450 words) (15 marks)
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Enterprise Software and Business Infrastructure © NCC Education Limited 2015
c) How they employed the chosen ERP systems to achieve the required benefits
(approximately 1200 words) (40 marks) d) What benefits they achieved through the new approach (approximately 600 words) (20
marks) e) What challenges they faced during the implementation and how they overcame them
(approximately 450 words) (15 marks)
Guidance Complete all the tasks in order. Consult with your tutor if you are uncertain about any aspect of the assignment.
Submission requirements A single word processed document containing all reports and other documentation
i.e. explanations, output reports and page images of graphic tools etc. pertaining to all tasks.
The word count is 3000 words, not including the appendices.
The document should be properly structured with a table of contents, bibliography (online and literature sources) and appendices (where necessary). Refer to the Assignment Presentation Requirements for more information (see front cover).
Produce clear and specific reasoning to justify answers. There should be ample evidence of research.
An electronic copy of the document must be submitted to NCC Education by email using this address: [email protected]
Work containing viruses, or work that cannot be run directly, will result in a fail grade being awarded for this assessment.
Candidate checklist Please use the following checklist to ensure that your work is ready for submission. Have you read the NCC Education documents What is Academic Misconduct? Guidance for Candidates and Avoiding Plagiarism and Collusion: Guidance for Candidates and ensured that you have acknowledged all the sources that you have used in your work?
Have you completed the Statement and Confirmation of Own Work form and attached it to your assignment? You must do this.
Have you ensured that your work has not gone over or under the recommended word count by more than 10%?
Have you ensured that your work does not contain viruses and can be run directly?
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