6WBS0010/6WBS0011 Contemporary Issues in Business and Management Assessment Brief 2026, Singapore

6WBS0010/6WBS0011 Assessment Brief

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding tested in this assignment:

1. Discuss and evaluate a range of theoretical frameworks that underpin research.

2. Consider and discuss appropriate skills for effective research and critical evaluation.

3. Identify and analyse selected contemporary issues/concepts in the field of business andmanagement.

Skills and Attributes tested in this assignment:

1. Demonstrate advanced research skills by analysing and evaluating contemporary business conceptsand/or issues.

2. Analyse and critically evaluate contemporary business issues/concepts to communicate own views.

3. Reflect on selected case studies or concepts to assess their outcome.

Assignment Tasks

For this assignment, you should select ONE of the following two options provided below.

It is strongly advised that before you make a final choice, you research carefully to explore a suitable subject matter to work with, ensuring that there is plenty of quality research material available on the business for enhanced discussions.

Option A – Risks and Benefits of Strategic Collaboration

Introduction tothe  task

The term ‘strategic collaboration’ (SC) refers to a deliberate, long-term agreement between two or more organisations. Strategic collaborations are pursued by organisations seeking to achieve shared goals that would otherwise be difficult to accomplish alone. Some forms of strategic collaborations include partnerships, strategic alliances, and joint ventures.

Some key features of strategic collaborations include:

• Shared strategic objectives (e.g., innovation, market expansion)
• Companies remain legally independent (e.g,. not mergers or acquisitions)
• Can include factors such as resource sharing, technology exchange, co-developmen,t and joint marketing
• Often involves mutual benefit with clearly defined roles/ responsibilities
• Can be formal or informal

A strategic collaboration can develop in areas of innovation when it is based on mutually desired outcomes, which is useful in today’s ever-advancing digital and technological landscape. In recent years, businesses in the technology sector have formed strategic collaborations (either within the same sector or with other sectors) to accelerate and enhance innovation, bringing new products and services to the global marketplace. Some examples of these strategic collaborations include (but are not limited to):

• Apple and IBM (2014) whose goal was to bring IBM’s enterprise expertise to iOS devices
• NVIDIA and Mercedes-Benz (2020) ,who aimed to build software-defined vehicles using AI and autonomous driving technology
• Google and Salesforce (2017) which combined Google’s productivity tools e.g., Gmail, Docs, etc, withthe  Salesforce CRM platform to improve customer experiences
• Uber and Spotify (2014) aimed to enhance to user experience by integrating Spotify’s music streaming capabilities into Uber rides

Tasks

You are required to carefully review a strategic collaboration within the technology sector. You may select one of the above or choose another suitable SC as the basis for this essay. You may select an SC that has failed or one that has succeeded, but be guided to select one where you can answer all tasks given below fully before continuing.

Within your discussion, you must explore the following:

Task A: Discuss the growth of strategic collaborations within the technology sector as a whole and explain why this has continued to grow, what benefits it offers, and what risks it reduces. (25%)

Guidance

1. Use reputable sources to discuss growth in strategic collaborations within the technology sector.

2. Explore external factors that have promoted the growth of strategic collaborations in this sector and investigate the reasons that organisations are pursuing this method of expansion.

3. You should use industry examples to evidence your understanding.

4. Ensure your references are academic, valid, and appropriate for this level of study.

Task B: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages that the strategic collaboration offers to the parties in your selected SC. (30%)

Guidance

1. Explore these carefully and use good-quality academic reference sources for this.

2. Some examples of advantages can include the individual business risk reduction and cost savings through sharing the costs, it can offer speedier market access, and it can build the image of each company within the collaboration.

3. Disadvantages can include the risk of SC failure through poor management, lack of commitmen,t and work culture barriers. Whatever areas you discuss, use good academic sources and business examples to exemplify the points you wish to make.

Task C: Evaluate the success or failure of your selected strategic collaboration and the reasons for this, using detailed discussions and comparator collaborations to exemplify your discussion. (25%)

Guidance

1. This section allows the student to explore the details of the specific SC that they are reviewing. Before starting the assignment, students should ensure they have enough research material to really explore the relative success or failure

2. Include discussion against comparator organisations and SC’s so that a measure of the success or failure can be understood by the reader.

Presentation & Structure

• follows essay structure & keeps tothe  word limit of 1800 words with evidence of an articulate and fluent writing style. (10%)

Intellectual Curiosity

• follows Harvard style for in-text citation & reference list
• students should minimally use 12-15 quality academic sources, including recommended and essential reading, and at least FIVE relevant journal articles. (10%)

Option B – Risks associated with vertically integrated companies

Introduction to the task

Companies that are vertically integrated either own or control their own supply chain. Typically, companies either acquire or establish their own supply chain in a backwards and forwards direction, until they manage everything from raw material growth/production through to final sales and delivery of their product and/or service.

Examples of this working successfully includes companies like Ikea, McDonalds, Apple and Netflix (not least because they stream films directly from production studios but they also make their own original content).

This brings organisations particular advantages in that they can draw profit from each stage of the process their “product” goes through and they have absolute control over their operations, product/service from inception through to final client delivery. It does howeve,r bring substantial risks in that the overall organisation now manages a series of disparate operations, and overall management can become a problem. In addition, some of the supply chain may be highly profitable and others less so, making these complex models of supply chain management difficult to operate.

Tasks

Students are required to select a vertically integrated organisation from either Ford Motor Company, Ikea, McDonald’s or Zara and undertake the following tasks.

Task A: Explore how the organisation under review became vertically orientated. (25% of marks)

Guidance

1. Students should start with an introduction to the business, its history, its size, and the number of employees within the different companies/divisions of the organisation.

2. Explore whether the vertical integration came about through organic growth of the organisation, through acquisition or through another reason.

3. Explore how this compares to other comparator organisations within the sector (or similar style of organisation) so the reader understands how the organisation has grown to its current state.

Task B: Move on to review how the overall vertically integrated organisation is managed (30% of marks)

Guidance

1. Students should start this section by discussing how the organisation is established. What we mean by this is, is each company a Strategic Business Unit under the umbrella of the parent organisation, responsible for their own profit targets or is it one large company and each supply chain partner is a division within the overall business?

2. Explore this against comparator organisations covering the advantages and risks this brings your business compared to others in the sector so as to explain the rationale for the company structure.

3. Investigate whether any of these supply chain member organisations also supply products/services to other businesses, or do they only serve the immediate organisation.

Task C: Finally, explore what difficulties have been encountered by your selected organisation within the sector they operate in. Explore how quickly your organisation has adapted to the shifting environment which it operates and whether its vertical integration has helped or hindered it. (25% of marks)

Guidance

1. Students should consider how their selected organisation has adapted to environmental change (such as the pandemic, war, Trump’s Tariffs, global inflation negatively affecting disposable income, or other) and how they have navigated such environmental changes. How has the organisation adapted, and has its supply chain helped or hindered in this?

2. As an example, Amazon took full advantage of the pandemic globally to gear up its supply chain to respond to the massive uptakes of online shoppers. Alternatively, inflation in the UK means that streaming service subscriptions are in decline (this will start to follow in a number of European countries due to the conflict). How has/can the company adapt, and can their vertically integrated supply chain help them through this?

Presentation & Structure – follows essay structure & keeps to the word limit of 1800 words with evidence of an articulate and fluent writing style. (10%)

Intellectual Curiosity – follows Harvard style for in-text citation & reference list – students should minimally use 12-15 quality academic sources, including recommended and essential reading, and at least FIVE relevant journal articles. (10%)