Term Project Guidelines
FALL 2018
The term
project assignment is to create a Marketing Plan for Agrium, Inc. to leverage
in pursuing an international market that represents a new opportunity for the company.
Assume that
your team works under the direction of Leslie O’Donoghue, Agrium Corporate
Development & Strategy Officer, and that your plan will be presented to an
Executive Management Review Committee.
Your goal is to present a new and attractive international
opportunity for Agrium and to persuade your corporate leadership group to
allocate resources to expand company operations as recommended in your plan.
Creating a marketing plan can be a little daunting the first time you put one together. I am, therefore, requiring two draft submissions during the term so that I will have the opportunity to give you some feedback on your plan progress.
DELIVERABLES
- Team Profile Form
- Draft 1 Submission
- Draft 2 Submission
- Agrium Marketing Plan
- Peer Reviews
CONTENT OF FINAL REPORT
COVER PAGE – Include the Title of the Project, Course Name, Team
Name, Group Member Names, and Submission Date
REPORT BODY
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Briefly (200-300 words) summarize the
contents of your plan. I would like to see a snapshot of the opportunity your
report identifies and the attractiveness
of the market opportunity for Agrium, Inc. (i.e. sales potential, market share,
competitive position).
II. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
Provide
an assessment of the Marketing
Environment in some depth. This conversation should encompass current
Agrium markets and market trends and developments impacting the global
fertilizer industry.
This
section should also discuss Agrium’s Current
Target Customers and current/historical Marketing
Objectives and Performance. This is a discussion of what IS – not what you are proposing with
the identified international market opportunity.
III. SWOT ANALYSIS
Discuss
Agrium Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This analysis should
present an overview of the strengths and weaknesses Agrium will carry into an
international market opportunity and an overview of the opportunities and
threats present in the global fertilizer market.
IV. MARKETING STRATEGIES
Specify
the Target Market(s) you propose for
Agrium to pursue including identification of the country/territory and the
target customer(s). Discuss the needs of your Target Market(s).
Propose
the Marketing Mix(es) you think most
appropriate to capitalize on this international market opportunity. In your
Marketing Mix discussion, identify the Agrium product divisions to be leveraged
(Retail vs. Wholesale).
The
content of this report section should flow directly from the market and SWOT
analyses.
V. MARKETING OBJECTIVES
Concisely
identify the metrics against which plan performance can be evaluated and a time
frame for performance to be tracked against. Be sure that objectives make sense
given the available market data. For example, if industry sales for a certain
product category in Peru are $8 million annually, it might not make sense to
project first-year Agrium sales of $20 million for this product category in the
Peruvian market.
VI. MARKETING IMPLEMENTATION
Discuss
how the Marketing effort should be organized with respect to SBU infrastructure, human resources,
authority. Outline Activities, Responsibilities, and Timetable for Completion.
VII. EVALUATION & CONTROL
Discuss
Performance Standards and Financial Controls to be leveraged in
evaluating plan performance. Identify also the Processes/Procedures that will be used to monitor plan performance.
VIII. REFERENCES
Please
use APA format for reference citations.
I will expect your group will need to do a little research to collect
information on Agrium, Inc. and on the international market opportunity your
group has identified (to include market size and potential, industry trends,
and competitors – at a minimum). Please
include at least five references in your final report.
CONTENT OF DRAFT 1 SUBMISSION
For your first draft submission, focus only
on Sections II, III, and IV of the final Marketing Plan. The intent of this
grade component is two-fold: 1) to be sure your plan has laid the groundwork to
identify a workable target market with an initial stab at defining a marketing
mix, and 2) to ensure that progress has been made on the project by this point
in the term.
COVER PAGE – Include the Title of the Project, Course Name, Team
Name, Group Member Names, and Submission Date
II. ENVIRONMENTAL
ANALYSIS
III. SWOT ANALYSIS
IV. MARKETING STRATEGIES
CONTENT OF DRAFT 2 SUBMISSION
For the second draft submission, please
submit a complete marketing plan with all content areas required in your final
report. I will particularly look to see that your plan Objectives and
Implementation plan elements have been thought through, and that they flow from
the selected target market.
PROJECT RESOURCES
Cengage
provides an on-line tool to walk you through development of each of the
marketing plan elements. You can find this in the Student Resources provided
through your CengageBrain login.
PROJECT FORMAT
Per
APA guidelines, the paper should be double-spaced with 1” margins and the font
should be 12 pt. Times New Roman. Use headings as indicated in the
information provided about APA format (see link below). At a minimum, please
provide Level 1 headings for each of the seven areas of the Report Body
(Product Concept through Summary). Cite
references per APA format guidelines, as well.
There is no specific length requirement for the final Marketing
Plan report, although it should be lengthy enough to adequately address all of
the content areas identified above. A
report of about 10 pages is a good target.
GROUP INFORMATION
Students may
complete the term project individually or with a group of no more than 5 people.
It will
be your choice this term to either complete the project with a group or on your
own.
Teams will be
formed the first week of the semester. If
you choose to work with a team, you will remain on the same team for the
duration of the course. Please write a brief
paragraph to introduce yourself on the INTRODUCTIONS – Discussion Board (in the
Lessons folder in WTClass). This will
give you a chance to get to know other students in the course and identify
group members should you choose to work with a group.
One
person from each team needs to submit a Team Profile form to the Team Profile
Drop Box. The Team Profile form is worth
10 points toward the final project grade if fully completed and submitted on
time and is available in the Group Project folder (under Resources). The form
will require your group to specify team member contact information and
communication methods that will be used during the term. The purpose for
requiring this form is to ensure that group members know how to reach one
another and that initial communication with one another has occurred.
A
Team Profile form needs to also be turned in to the Team Profile Drop Box for
students choosing to complete the term project alone so that I am aware of the
decision for these students. The Team Profile form is worth 10 points toward
the final project grade if fully completed and submitted on time and is
available in the Group Project folder (under Resources). For these cases, it is
only necessary to state on the form that you are choosing to work on the
project on your own. Students for whom a team affiliation has not been declared
by September 3rd will be assumed to be completing the term project on their
own.
PROJECT GRADE
Term Project grades will be determined as follows:
For Students
Working with A Group
Team Profile Form
|
10
points
|
Submission of Peer Reviews
|
25
points
|
Peer Points
|
40
points
|
Draft Submission 1 (Report Sections II, III, and IV)
|
50
points
|
Draft Submission 2 (all Report Sections)
|
50
points
|
Agrium Marketing Plan – Final Report
|
125
points
|
300
total points
|
The ability
to work with others to complete a project comes with a unique set of
challenges. Thus, 22% of the project grade for students choosing to work with a
group will come from group-related interaction.
Peer evaluations are a very important part of the grading for these
students and emphasize the importance of trust, cooperation, responsibility,
professionalism, and teamwork in-group projects. Failure to do your work and failure to make
good contributions to your team could result in you losing a significant amount
of project points if your teammates rate you poorly. Thus, peer evaluations are meant to be honest
and constructive, and are treated as real elements of grading by the
instructor.
Your
individual project grade may be significantly impacted by your contribution to
the group effort. At the end of the term, each team member will be required to
submit peer evaluations of group members. Individual project grades will be
adjusted per the following standard:
For an Avg Peer Evaluation
Score of 0.00 - 0.99
|
-80 points
|
For an Avg Peer Evaluation
Score of 1.00 - 1.79
|
-40 points
|
For an Avg Peer Evaluation
Score of 1.80 - 2.79
|
+0 points
|
For an Avg Peer Evaluation
Score of 2.80 - 3.49
|
+20 points
|
For an Avg Peer Evaluation
Score of 3.50 - 4.00
|
+40 points
|
For Students
Working Alone
Team Profile Form
|
10
points
|
Draft Submission 1 (Report Sections II, III, and IV)
|
50
points
|
Draft Submission 2 (all Report Sections)
|
50
points
|
Agrium Marketing Plan – Final Report
|
190
points
|
300
total points
|
|
Turning in your project Draft
and Final Report and Peer Evaluations
Turn in your Draft 1 Submission to the Agrium
– DRAFT 1 Drop Box in WTClass (in the Lessons folder for Week 6). Please
include your Group Name in the title for your submission. Please submit only
one report per group.
Turn in your Draft 2 Submission to the Agrium
– DRAFT 2 Drop Box in WTClass (in the Lessons folder for Week 12). Please
include your Group Name in the title for your submission. Please submit only
one report per group.
If you completed the project with a group,
please turn in your final Marketing Plan report to the Agrium Marketing Plan –
GROUP Submission Drop Box in WTClass (in the Term Wrap Up folder in the Lessons
folder). Please include your Group Name
in the title for your submission. Please
submit only one report per group.
If you completed the project alone, please
turn in your final Marketing Plan report to the Agrium Marketing Plan – INDIVIDUAL
Submission Drop Box in WTClass (in the Term Wrap Up folder under Lessons in
Blackboard). Please include your name in
the title for your submission.
Each
team member must also turn in a Peer Review form to the Peer Review Drop Box in WTclass (in the Term Wrap Up folder under
Lessons in Blackboard). The Peer Review form is worth 25 points toward your
final project grade, Please include YOUR NAME in the title of your Peer Review
submission.
TEAM RESPONSIBILITIES
Each team member will be graded based on the team's
effort to deliver a persuasive Marketing Plan for Agrium, Inc. The team must submit the project deliverables
on time to the instructor. Each team
member is responsible for his/her work. Team members are responsible for
working with each other and every member of the team is responsible for its
collective performance. Thus, while your
grades are uniquely determined, they are dependent upon your teammates’ work as
well as your own.
Aside from project activities, many issues you will face
will be team-related
- arranging meeting times,
- defining and assigning tasks,
- insuring timely completion of work,
- dealing with slackers and dictators, and
so on.
You and your
teammates are responsible for the conduct of your team and for carrying out
your project. Managing group dynamics,
as an individual and as a member of the team, is vital. This alone will give you indispensable
experience to carry into your career.
It is
essential that your team establish its working process at the outset. Do not
wait until the project is underway. As a
group, here are some examples of areas where decisions need to be made:
- How will members communicate with each
other;
- What constitutes a "meeting";
- What issues can be handled by phone, by
email;
- What issues must be dealt with
face-to-face;
- How work is to be assigned and due dates established;
- How to track member performance and
contribution.
PLAGIARISM
Unfortunately, plagiarism tends to create a problem in
writing courses. I think that this is sometimes the result of a lack of
understanding on the part of the student as to what constitutes plagiarism. I
hope to straighten out some of this confusion here:
Plagiarism is
attempting to pass off someone else’s ideas or writing as your own. It can
include copying and pasting someone else’s work, paraphrasing or even turning
in someone else’s assignment completely. Please remember, use quotes sparingly.
Moreover, every time you use a quote, put it in QUOTATION MARKS and immediately
cite the work in the text of your paper. Please remember, anyone caught plagiarizing
can expect to receive a grade of F for
the course. The instructor reserves the right to assign a grade of F for every
member of a group if plagiarism is discovered. The instructor also reserves the
right to investigate any plagiarism, and if the instructor can identify the
source, the instructor may at his/her discretion assign different grades to
different group members based on the instructor’s assessment of culpability.
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