5.4 Understanding an assignment title
(Allow 10 minutes)
Brompton Bicycle is a British company which manufactures folding bicycles aimed at commuters and others who want to be able to take their bicycle on public transport. You are going to examine an assignment question about Brompton Bicycle and then access two sources of information about this company from the media to practise using the SWOT framework to analyse a business situation.
Activity 5.5
Read the question that follows, which is a typical assignment question from a university business and management course. Underline the key concepts and embolden the instruction words.
Answer
Use the SWOT framework to analyse the internal and external environment of Brompton Bicycle as described in the case study. Provide recommendations to Brompton Bicycle about future actions they should take for business success.
Word count: 500–600 words
Comment
The instruction words tell you what to do. They inform you which framework to use, they ask you to ‘analyse’ and to ‘provide recommendations’. Identifying the instruction words in an assignment question is a crucial first step towards getting the answer right.
The key concepts include the SWOT framework, the internal and external environment, and case study, as described above. These are specific terms with specific meanings relating to a business context.
This is also included in Book 1: Handbook for Business Communication.
Approaching a SWOT analysis assignment
When you are given an assignment title like this, you need to take the following steps.
- Analyse the assignment title.
- Read or watch/listen to the case study text(s).
- Select the main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats mentioned in the text and put them into a SWOT table in concise note form.
- Decide on your recommendations for the business (based on your notes).
- Write up your assignment, reporting on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats you noted down and including your recommendations based on these.