Analyzing an Organization in Tourism Industry - TMA Guidelines

Compliance with Guidelines and Instructions

This TMA must be done with strict compliance to the guidelines and instructions stated, otherwise there will be penalties in form of marks deduction as per the university’s policy. You are encouraged to collaborate with others in studying, but submitted work copied from or written jointly with others is not acceptable. 

Submitting work that has been done by someone else and persistent borrowing of other people’s work without citation are obvious instances of plagiarism and are regarded as cheating. If a case of plagiarism is proven, this is a serious offence and the disciplinary procedures will be followed, as described under the Examination Policy of the AOU. Cases of plagiarism will receive a mark of “Zero” on the assignment. Please refer to AOU plagiarism policy.

1. TMA must be written in ESSAY (discussion) format, BULLETS and NUMBERING to be avoided. Avoid writing TMA in first person tense. E.g. “I suggest that …” or “I am going to discuss” etc.
2. Word count should be exact with 10% (More/less) tolerance.
3. You must acknowledge all sources of information using full Harvard Style Referencing (In-text referencing plus list of references at the end) Minimum of 3 references are required. MUST include E-library and course materials.
4. Wikipedia is not recommended as a reference.
5. Copy and paste-plagiarized work will be detected by TURNITIN and heavily penalized
6. TMAs to tutors through emails and late submission not permitted.
7. Strictly use the PT3 form accompanying this TMA.
8. You should present a well-structured and organized piece of work that is of your own.

• Proper referencing (Harvard style referencing) - Deductions could be up to 5 grades.
• In-text referencing- Deductions could be up to 5 grades.
• Adherence to specified word count – Deductions could be up to 5 grades.
• Use of the E-library/External resources – Deductions could be up to 5 grades.

TMA is meant to respond to recommendations given by EE to encourage and develop greater critical analytical skills especially at level 6, by encouraging the students to read more widely; the greater use of comparative case studies; and encouraging students to reflect on the application of the theories discussed to their own workplace.                            

You are required to select a reputable organization in your country related to tourism industry (ex. Hotels, rent car companies, restaurants, beach resorts, airlines, etc.). Selected organization should be a significant player in the industry in which you plan to work or already work for.

Because one requirement for the assignment is to interview at least one member of the organization, it can be convenient to select an organization in the area, but it is not essential. Interviews can be conducted by phone.

1) You should use publicly available information to begin your analysis: the organization's Web site is often the best starting point. Remember, however, that you are using the Web site as a source of data for the analysis; do not simply copy material off the Web site. Your assignment is an analysis, not a data-dump. (N.B. You should arrange with your tutor in order to verify that no other student had selected the same business organization for the TMA).

2) You will need to contact at least one member of the organization (either a current member or one who has recently left it). It can be very useful to make an initial contact with your informant early in the research process, to ensure that the person is indeed willing to talk with you. You will find the informant most useful, however, after you have done the preliminary work with the publicly available materials.

3) The purpose of the assignment is to develop your ability to use the conceptual frameworks and tools from the course. Also, to create a complete and a persuasive critical analysis answering and in an essay format the following TMA three questions.

Q1. Critically discuss the key important factors and forces in the general and industry environments that affect the chosen organization choice of strategy. Discuss how the pandemic COVID-19 affected environment factors and forces and consequently your chosen organization performance. From your own perspective, what actions should your chosen organization do to keep its competition alive if this situation prevailed? (35 marks-800 words)

Q2. What are the key resources available for the chosen organization to effectively and successfully compete within its boundary and attain a competitive advantage? Discuss whether chosen organization position is supported by its value chain and other internal resources. Identify problems you think they are facing in respect to current COVID-19 pandemic situation.  (35 marks- 800 words)

Q3. Discuss the chosen organization Business–Level strategy components. What are the merits and demerits of these components? Suggest ways by which the chosen organization may improve and sustain its competitive position in case COVID-19 pandemic continued to outburst in future. (30 marks- 400 words)