Assessment Cover Sheet

Complete and attach this cover sheet to your assessment before submitting

Assessment Title Assignment: Part 1 2 (delete as appropriate)

Programme Title: BILM

TL6300
Course No.:

Course Title: Managing in the Transport and Logistics Environment

Student Name: Shooq Ali

Student ID: 201600097

Tutor: Jalil Ebrahim

Due Date: Date submitted:

By submitting this assessment for marking, either electronically or as hard copy, I confirm the
following:
 This assignment is my own work
 Any information used has been properly referenced.
 I understand that a copy of my work may be used for moderation.
 I have kept a copy of this assignment

Do not write below this line. For Polytechnic use only.

Assessor: Date of Marking:

Grade/Mark:

Comments:
Coursework: Assignment in 2 parts
Submission Date: Part 1: Saturday 21st October at 23:59pm
Part 2: Saturday 16th December at 23:59pm (via Moodle, Turnitin)
Weighting: 40% (marked out of 100). Each part weighs 20%.
Type: Part 1: Groups of two or three
Part 2: Individual
Word Count: Part 1: 8-10 minute video
Part 2: 1500 words +/- 10%

Learning Outcomes:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the process of management within a logistics and transport
environment (particularly from a position of a junior manager entering the industry)
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the role of management throughout different companies across
changing industry modes.

Assignment background:
Logistics companies are constantly improving the way they manage their relationship within the business
environment in various areas such as their marketing mix and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). As a
junior manager entering the industry, you will compare and contrast how different companies manage
these areas, particularly in Bahrain or the Gulf region.

You will be allocated a pair of companies from the following list or others you are familiar with:
 Starbucks and Costa
 Zara and Red Tag
 Alosra and Lulu
 Toyota and Mercedes
 Home Store and Home Centre
 Body Shop and Lush
 DHL and Aramex
 Two other companies as agreed with your tutor

Part one of the assignment will be done as a group of two or three students in video format. The second part
of the assignment is to be done individually in essay format. Your analysis should be supported by your own
research. The task should be related as much as possible to Bahrain or the Gulf region.

Assignment task:
Part 1: In pairs or threes compare and contrast the two companies marketing mix and how this has given
each company a competitive edge.

Part 2: Compare and contrast the two companies CSR activities and how this has given each company a
competitive edge.
Your assignment part 2 should be written on this document (a Microsoft Word document - do not PDF the file)
and appropriately formatted; headings and subheadings should not be used as it is in essay not report format,
you should use either Calibri or Arial font (size 11), your work should be double-spaced and pages should be
numbered. Remember to reference your work (including in-text referencing) at all times using the APA format.

Part 2 submissions – Use this document as the template for your submission! Please submit the whole
document including cover page, instructions, your essay and the rubric via Moodle. All assignments will be
checked for plagiarism and originality using Turnitin. All submissions must be saved using the following
naming convention (failure to do this may result in your assignment not being marked):
 First Name_ID number_ Assignment Part 1
 E.g. Ahmed_20109090_Assignment Part 1

BILM Assignments – Rules & Guidelines

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY & HONESTY: When submitting this assignment you are confirming that you have
adhered to Bahrain Polytechnic’s policy on academic integrity and honesty including using APA referencing
appropriately. Any violation of this will be dealt with as stipulated in the policy.

LATE SUBMISSIONS: Late assignments are deducted 5 marks from your achieved mark for each 24 hour period
after the due date. For example, an assessment which has been graded as 73% will be reduced to 68% for the
first 24 hours late, and to 63% if late for a further 24 hours and so on. This applies to every day of the week
including the weekend and all public holidays. Assignments which are submitted so late as to receive a
negative mark will receive a final mark of zero.

EXTENSIONS: On application, in writing, tutors may approve an extension up to a maximum of two (2) days
(including the weekend and public holidays) for an individual assignment. Applications for extensions must be
received no later than 72 hours (3 days) before the due date. Only one extension per course will be given.
Please note that extensions will not be given for group work, tests or exams.

WORD LIMIT: All assignments have a required word limit which we permit a variation of +/-10%. For example
an assignment with a 3000 word limit means that you can submit between 2700 to 3300 words. These words
come from the main body of your writing i.e. your introduction to your conclusion. We do not include title
pages, contents pages, reference list or appendices. In-text referencing is included in the word count.
Submissions which are substantially under the word limit will receive a low mark for failing to answer the
question fully. If a submission is over the word limit, the tutor will simply stop marking at that point where it is
10% over (e.g. 3300 words for an assignment with a 3000 word limit).You will not receive any marks for work
that is submitted outside of the maximum word limit.

Please refer to the generic Course Guide or your tutor is you require further clarification of the above
points.
Grading of Part 1
For Part 1 of the assignment, it is expected that each team member will make an equal contribution to the
assessment and that all members of the group will receive the same grade for the assessment. In some
circumstances, where members of the group are perceived to have made a less than equal contribution to the
assessment, those members may receive a grade that is lower than the grade given to other group members.
All tutors reserve the right to require groups to attend a project defence to defend their work. If it transpires
that a member of the group has clearly not contributed to the group, they will be deducted marks.

Group Work – Project Defence

The tutor reserves the right to ask students to attend an oral group defence in cases where there is doubt over
how well the group has functioned or whether all members of the group have contributed equally. During the
defence each member of the group is asked individual questions relating to the group’s submission. It is
expected that all members of the group have a thorough understanding of the whole assignment as questions
are asked randomly. Only the person asked the question may respond until the tutor invites others to expand
on the initial response. Failure to attend the defence will result in an automatic mark of zero for the
assignment unless extreme circumstances apply. Depending on your performance during your defence, you
will receive an individual ‘adjusted’ mark for the assignment based on the following criteria:

 Displays a thorough understanding and knowledge of the contents of the assignment

 Is able to expand on the responses of other members of the group x1
 Has clearly been a key member of the group
 Displays a good understanding and knowledge of the contents of the assignment
although there may be minor gaps
x 0.9
 Is usually able to expand on the responses of other members of the group
 Has clearly been a contributory member of the group
 Displays some understanding and knowledge of the contents of the assignment
although gaps are becoming noticeable
x 0.75
 Is sometimes unable to expand on the responses of other members of the group
 Appears to have been a contributory but peripheral member of the group
 Displays a poor understanding and knowledge of the contents of the assignment
 Is frequently unable to expand on the responses of other members of the group or
x 0.5
offers unhelpful contributions
 Has clearly offered little to the group as a whole
 Displays no understanding or knowledge of the contents of the assignment
 Is unable to expand on the responses of other members of the group and any
x 0.1
contributions are unhelpful or unrelated
 Has clearly not contributed to the group

For example, following the defence, individual marks for a group assignment which was awarded a final mark
of 85% may be adjusted as follows:
Student A: 85 x 1 = 85% / Student B: 85 x 0.75 = 63.75% / Student C: 85 x 0.1 = 8.5%
Please write your assignment here

Businesses are in a massive growth nowadays. There are different ranges of new businesses worldwide.

However, there are similar businesses as well. Businesses can be different according to their own marketing

mix and CSR.

CSR is the shortage of corporate social responsibility. It is known as the organization’s eagerness and actions

that evaluates and determines the social and environmental company’s impact (Staff, 2017). Each company

must have its own mission and vision. Putting a mission for the company is essential as it represents and

shows the business, customers and product (Tallant, 2009).

Lush and The Body Shop are both cosmetics and beauty business that are almost similar to each other, but

have different missions for sure. The Body Shop’s mission is “to enrich our products, our people and our

planet”. Although the mission of each company is different, they have some similarities. First, they are both

against animal testing. According to forever against animal testing (2017), the body shop is banning animal

testing. Also, they encourage the people to sign their online petition in corporation with Cruelty Free

International. Secondly, Lush and The Body Shop releases new special fragrances for holidays. For example,

Lush is now selling new products with different fragrances for the Christmas season such as Christmas cracker

bubble bar (Lush USA, 2017). Moreover, they care about the customer’s health as both of them provide

organic products that are chemicals free that might affect the overall customer’s health. Cosmetics that

include chemicals can cause many problems to the humans such as cancer, skin diseases and allergies (Verma,

2014). In addition, Lush and The Body Shop gives out free samples while visiting their local stores. As an
example, Lush gives out a smaller version of their original products so customers can test them at home. The

Body Shop also gives the customers a chance to try their product at home by putting a small portion for them

in small containers or a small packet of their masks.

The location of the business is essential for the progress and general development of the company. In order to

have a perfect location, the company must consider some main elements such as employees, consumers and

the required services (Smith, 2017). Lush and The Body shop are both available in malls and busy streets. The

Body Shop has approximately 3000 stores in 65 different countries. In Bahrain, Lush is located in Seef Mall and

Bahrain City Center. The Body Shop is available there as well but it is also available in Isa Town Seef Mall, The

Avenues, Inma Mall, Bahrain mall and Al Riffa Avenue.

Moreover, they are both active in social media. Such as twitter, facebook, instagram and their official

websites. Being connected in social media is so beneficial. First, it reduces the marketing expenses as the

company can post their advertisements without paying. Secondly, companies can know the demand of the

consumers. Communicating with the customers can help you in defining the demand and knowing their exact

needs. Also, social media can bring new customers. People nowadays turn to social media to give their

feedback or complaint about the company, the more people talk the more people you attract. In addition,

social media will increase the loyalty of the customers. The more interaction in social media the more loyal

customers you gain (DeMers, 2014).

Lush and The Body Shop are also donating from their profits to charities. For example, Lush provides a Charity

Pot in their local and online stores. It is a body lotion pot that all it sell cost goes to many different charities.

Until now, Lush donated to more than 1700 different charities with $24,000,000 (Lush, 2017). Also, The Body

Shop is helping the world in a different way. They are working on The World Bio-Bridges Mission that takes

care of re-wilding the world. One of their aims in this project is by 2020 there would be ten more Bio-Bridges

(The Body Shop, 2017).

In addition, they both make different promotions such as buy one get one free and 50% discount. The main

aim of the promotions is to be more competitive. Promotions bring more customers to stores and make them

buy more products that benefit the company (Whaley, 2015).

Although there are many similarities between Lush and The Body Shop, there are also many differences that

make them competitive.

First, Lush has got some other products that The Body Shop do not offer such as bath bombs and henna hair

dyes. Secondly, each one of them has got different fragrances and scenes. Also, Lush products are handmade

and made with fresh fruits and vegetables. As a result, products cannot be sold if they are over 4 months old.

Lush cares about the environment. That’s why; Lush produces solid shampoos and cleansers to avoid using

plastic. Moreover, their products packaging is usually in a knot wrap in order to minimize the usage of plastic.

However, some products need to be in a plastic packaging such as body lotions. In this case, the used plastic is

100% recycled. To have more transparently and direct connection, a picture of the employee who made the

product and his number is stacked on each product. The target market of each company is contrasting. Lush

targets all the ages from babies to elders, both genders men and women. Also, it targets high-income people.

Although The Body Shop targets men and women as well, it dose not target babies and it targets middle-

income people. In addition, Lush draw attention to their company by campaigning against major social issues

such as the shark fin trades and killing of seals. Furthermore, Lush gives discounts for special occasions such as

weddings and events favors.

Being in the same category makes each company compete against each other. All these differences can make

Lush and The Body Shop competitive, but one of the main factors of being competitive is that Mark

Constantine and Liz Weir “Lush now” used to sell and supply the body shop with their products (MacDonald,

2017). Also, Lush tries to be more transparent and allows the direct contact with the employees that produce

the products. Although they both make promotions, each company’s promotions are different than the other.

The Body Shop usually offers more promotions than Lush. This can attract more people to The Body Shop than

Lush, as customers usually prefer to buy the products in a less price.

To conclude, Lush and The body Shop are both great companies that compete against each other, as each one

of them has got different strategies that each company follow. They both have different promoting and

managing strategies strategies. Moreover, they both involve in the community in other various ways.
Reference List:

Staff, I. (2017). Corporate Social Responsibility. [online] Investopedia. Available at:

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/corp-social-responsibility.asp

Foreveragainstanimaltesting.com. (2017). Forever Against Animal Testing. [online] Available at:

https://www.foreveragainstanimaltesting.com/page/9986/petition/1?utm_source=thebodyshop&utm_mediu
m=referral&utm_campaign=ww_cta_faat-petition&utm_content=homepage/

Lushusa.com. (2017). New. [online] Available at: https://www.lushusa.com/new/

Verma, N. (2014). Top 10 Harmful Effects of Using Cosmetics - ListCrux. [online] ListCrux. Available at:
http://listcrux.co/top-10-harmful-effects-of-using-cosmetics/

Tallant, J. (2009). GRIN - Importance of Vision, Mission, and Values in Strategic Direction. [online] Grin.com.
Available at: http://www.grin.com/en/e-book/167258/importance-of-vision-mission-and-values-in-strategic-
direction

Smith, C. (2017). Why Is the Location of a Business Important?. [online] Smallbusiness.chron.com. Available at:
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/location-business-important-43239.html

DeMers, J. (2014). Forbes Welcome. [online] Forbes.com. Available at:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/08/11/the-top-10-benefits-of-social-media-
marketing/#69ca99cf1f80

Thebodyshop.com. (2017). World Bio Bridges Mission | The Body Shop. [online] Available at:
https://www.thebodyshop.com/en-gb/about-us/our-commitment/bio-bridges/world-bio-bridges-mission

Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics. (2017). What is Charity Pot?. [online] Available at:
https://www.lushusa.com/Stories-Article?cid=article_what-is-charity-pot

MacDonald, G. (2017). Secret success: How Lush came to rival The Body Shop. [online] Retail Week. Available
at: https://www.retail-week.com/analysis/secret-success-how-lush-came-to-rival-the-body-
shop/7018593.article

Whaley, K. (2015). Why Promotions are so Important and Why You Should Run Them Often | B2B Marketing.
[online] B2bmarketing.net. Available at: https://www.b2bmarketing.net/en-gb/resources/blog/why-
promotions-are-so-important-and-why-you-should-run-them-often
 The marking framework for each question is tabled below:
Met criteria to an
excellent standard
Part 1
A B
76-90
8.5-10
The two companies
Marketing mix
marketing mix and how
this is giving a competitive
90% edge has been excellently
explained, compared and
contrasted.
LOs 1 & 2
Video is excellently
Video structure, structured. Information is
excellently presented,
presentation, use
flows appropriately and
of English
can be clearly understood.
. understood.
10 %
Met criteria to an
excellent standard
Part 2
A B
76-90
8.5-10
CSR The two companies CSR
strategy and how this is
giving a competitive edge
90%
has been excellently
explained, compared and
LOs 1 & 2 contrasted.
Essay is excellently
Essay structure, structured. Information is
presentation, use excellently presented,
of English and flows appropriately and
can be clearly understood.
referencing
APA referencing is correct.
10 %
Met criteria to a Met criteria to a Did not meet
very good standard satisfactory criteria
standard
C F
63-75 54-62 0-53
7-8.4 6-6.9 0-5.9
The two companies The two companies The two companies
marketing mix and how marketing mix and how marketing mix and how this
this is giving a this is giving a is giving a competitive
competitive edge has competitive edge has edge has not been
been well explained, been adequately adequately explained
compared and explained, compared and and/or compared and
contrasted contrasted. contrasted.
Video is well structured. Video is reasonably well Video is not well
Information is presented structured. Information is structured. Information is
well and can be easily reasonably well not presented adequately,
understood. presented and can be does not flow appropriately
adequately understood. and/or cannot be clearly
Met criteria to a Met criteria to a Did not meet
very good standard satisfactory criteria
standard
C F
63-75 54-62 0-53
7-8.4 6-6.9 0-5.9
The two companies CSR The two companies CSR The two companies CSR
strategy and how this is strategy and how this is strategy and how this is
giving a competitive giving a competitive edge giving a competitive edge
edge has been well has been adequately has not been adequately
explained, compared explained, compared and explained and/or compared
and contrasted contrasted. and contrasted.
Essay is well structured. Essay is reasonably well Essay is not well
Information is presented structured. Information is structured. Information is
well and can be easily reasonably well not presented adequately,
understood. presented and can be does not flow appropriately
adequately understood. and/or cannot be clearly
APA referencing is understood.
mostly correct. APA referencing is poor.
APA referencing has not
been used at all.