Writers Den

Faculty
of Business Studies

LB160:
Professional Communication Skills for Business Studies

First
Semester 2013-2014

Tutor
Marked Assignment (TMA)

Academic Year 2013 – 2014	Semester: Spring
Branch: Lebanon	Program: Faculty of Business Studies
Course Title: Professional Communication Skills for Business Studies	Course Code:LB160
Student Name:	Student ID:
Section Number:	Tutor Name:

Total Mark:	Awarded Mark:
Mark details
Allocated Marks	Questions	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q5	Q6	Total
Weight	10	10
Marks	10	10					20
Allocated Marks	Criteria	Content	Language	Organization	Total
Marks	Q1
Marks	Q2
	Student’s Total Mark	20

Notes on plagiarism:

A. According to the Arab Open
University By-laws, “thefollowing acts represent cases of
cheating and

Plagiarism:

§ Verbatim copying of printed material
and submitting them as part of TMAs without proper academic acknowledgement and
documentation.

§ Verbatim copying of material from
the Internet, including tables and graphics.

§ Copying other students’ notes or
reports.

§ Using paid or unpaid material
prepared for the student by individuals or firms.

B. Penalties for plagiarism ranges from failure in the TMA to expulsion
from the university.

Declaration:
I hereby declare that the submitted TMA is my own work and I have not copied
any other person’s work or plagiarized in any other form as specified above.

Student Signature

…………………….

Tutor’s Feedback

Tutor Name:

Tutor Signature:

Date returned:

·
This TMA contains 2 parts. You should answer both parts.

·
The value of TMA is 20 points.

·
The mark assigned to each part is 10 points.

PART 1 (10
points)

Answer Notes: Students may begin by creating a grid to identify the SWOT components as Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats and a mind map to construct the analysis text. Then to write an analytical text for the case study, you may refer to Text 4.3 in the Resource Book 1 as an example. Answer Guide: B1S4, Act. 4.10- 4.11, pp. 123; RB1 Extract 4.3(use as an example of analysis writing), pp. 56-57.

In about 300 – 400 words, write
an essay analyzing the below case study using the SWOT framework.

Breaking into new markets

Should luxury goods firms go into
the hotel business?

GIORGIO ARMANI
is already one of the most diversified brands in fashion. As well as haute
couture and everyday clothes, Mr. Armani and his firm create scent, cosmetics,
spectacles, watches and accessories. Customers can purchase Armani furniture,
flowers, chocolate, sweets, jam and even marmalade. There are Armani cafés and
restaurants in Paris, New York, London and other cities. An Armani night club
recently opened in Milan. Now Giorgio is branching out still further. On
February 22^nd his firm announced a $1 billion hotel venture with
Dubai’s Emaar properties, the Middle East’s largest property developers. Mr.
Armani will be in charge of the design for ten new hotels and four luxury
resorts, to be built in the next six to eight years.

Armani’s is the boldest move so far by a
luxury goods company into the hotel business. But it is by no means the first.
In September 2000, a hotel designed by Donatella Versace opened on Australia’s
Gold Coast. In February 2001, Bulgari, an Italian jeweler, confirmed a joint
venture with Ritz-Carlton to build six or seven hotels and one or two resorts.
Salvatore Ferragamo, an Italian shoemaker, has designed four hotels in
Florence.

But in the first half of last year, both
the fashion and travel industries were doing badly as travel and luxury follow
the same economic cycle. So does it make sense for designers of luxury goods to
go into the travel business? Armani and Bulgari would say yes. Mr. Armani
considers hotels a logical extension of his aim of promoting his brand in all
walks of life. (So can Armani toilet paper be far behind?) Rita Clifton,
Chairman of the consultancy Interbrand, says that this strategy can work. A
strong product, strong images and a strong experience, such as staying at a
fashion designer’s hotel, can combine to make a super-strong brand, claims Ms.
Clifton. To fit the firm’s luxurious image, Bulgari says that its hotels must
be as upmarket as it is possible to be. Because small is considered more
exclusive, Armani and Bulagri plan to launch mostly smallish five-star hotels.
Armani’s Dubai hotel will be an exception, however, with 250 rooms. Bulgari’s
Milan hotel will have no more than 60 rooms.

Losing control of their brand is the
biggest risk for luxury firms expanding abroad or venturing into a new line of
business. Over the years, Pierre Cardin, Yves St Laurent and Christian Dior
have each lost their goods by giving out licenses all over the world to firms
that did not deliver the appropriate quality. Calvin Klein’s current problems
are related to the company’s loss of control of the distribution of its
products in many countries.

But designers’ hotels can generate
positive publicity. Even if Bulgari’s hotels turn out not to make any money,
the venture could be seen as an expensive yet effective advertising campaign.

Mr. Armani’s hotel plans are more
ambitious and the danger of brand dilution much greater. Armani says that the
management company for its hotel venture will have its head office in Milan
rather than Dubai and that Mr. Armani will be fully in charge of design. So far
Mr. Armani has managed to control his brand tightly despite being involved in
many different businesses. Hotels, however, are a bigger challenge than flowers
and marmalade.

Taken
from:Trappe, T. & Tullis, G.
(2005). Intelligent Business. England: Longman.

__________________________________________________________________________________

PART II (10
points)

Diversification is a corporate
strategy to increase sales volume from new products and new markets. GIORGIO
ARMANI is already one of the most diversified brands in fashion. Choose a
diversified brand other than Giorgio Armani and discuss the reasons that have
driven the brand to diversify its products and the effects that this strategy
has had on the brand.

At least 2 outside resources are to be used. The
resources are to be submitted to the tutor. The criteria on pp. 50-53 of B2S2
should be observed while locating source material.

Purpose: To write a well-structured essay

Comments:
The student needs to select a specific brand that has diverse products, discuss
the causes behind this strategy, and the effects that diversification has had
on the brand. Paraphrasing, summarizing, and citing the sources used are
essential since using the words of others or including their work without
acknowledgment is considered plagiarism. The Harvard referencing system, as
presented on pp. 167-171 of B2S6, should be respected regarding the in-text
referencing as well as the reference list.

Answer
Notes: Your essay should include the features of essay
writing as described by the checklist on pp.183-184