Description

Assignment remit:

University College Birmingham has decided to develop an overseas business project in (Hong

Kong / Singapore). Although understood as ‘not-for-profit’ under its charitable status, the

College nevertheless aims to run a new venture that will make a financial surplus. Broadly

described as a ‘hospitality enterprise’, UCB International Solutions will be designed around

the concept of a bespoke convention center that will market itself via three key facets:

•  Accommodation and restaurant facilities for up to 200 clients
•  Meetings and events packages
•  Education and consultancy services for corporate strategy, contemporary marketing and

business start-ups

The College plans to acquire suitable premises in a strategic location and staff the operation

with a local workforce but with some managerial presence from the UK. It can be assumed

that UCB is able to fund the start-up costs and first year’s running costs for International

Solutions but thereafter will be dependent on commercial gains and possibly a business loan

if necessary. UCBIS will in time offer placement opportunities for local students.

Your task

Referring to this given business case and utilizing your knowledge from your program of

study ( Business Risk Management; Contemporary Entrepreneurial Studies; Strategic E-

Business and E-Marketing and Strategic Management ) you are required to identify likely

key issues facing UCB International Solutions and write a 4500-word critique of the relevant

academic literature. This will be written in the conventional format of a ‘literature review’.

『Let us work backward: imagine you are completing your poster: it will have

(amongst other sections) a specific aim with supporting objectives, a specific

theoretical framework, and a summary of the main issues arising from the literature

review. Now think back to the critique: you couldn't write 4500 words just on those

specifics. You would need to show their context - where they belong and who is

saying what about who/which theory etc. - that is the function of the literature

critique. So you need to start exploring "what's out there" and get reading some

articles using Google's various search engines. Be creative with your search

commands, the juxtaposition of words, etc. This reading should help you refine your ideas

and arrive at 4 themes - out of which, will emerge a few very specific theories that

would assist you in analyzing the data and framing the whole project. I like the idea of

using hypotheses because they encourage you to think in terms of presenting an

argument - which, ultimately, is what your research design is about.』