Unit 4: Applied Commercial and Quality Principles in Engineering Assignment UK

Learning Aim(s) A: Examine Business Functions and Trade Considerations That Help Engineering Organisations Thrive

Assignment Title: Business Activities and Trade Considerations
Assessor: Eng. Ahmed
Issue Date: 17-10-2024
Hand-in Deadline: 22-10-2024

Vocational Scenario or Context:

You are a final-year apprentice in an engineering company. Your supervisor is pleased with your work, your understanding of the company’s operations, and the efficiency with which you complete tasks. As a result, she has tasked you with investigating ways the company can become more competitive and respond to trade considerations more effectively. She wants you to explore how similarly sized companies gain a competitive edge and evaluate methods that could be used to create a competitive advantage.

Your supervisor has asked you to explore the business activities and trade considerations that influence the decisions of engineering companies. These factors are key to the company’s competitiveness.

Task 1:

You will evaluate the key business activities of an engineering organisation and the trade considerations that combine to influence the organisation’s competitiveness.

To do this:

• Your tutor will provide you with a collection of case studies for engineering organisations that either manufacture engineering products or provide engineering services. Choose one organisation from these options.

You need to:

• Research the key activities of the different business functions within the selected engineering organisation. This should include areas such as manufacturing products or delivering services, supply chain management, marketing and sales, customer relations, resource management, staff recruitment, staff management, and finance.
• Investigate how tendering and contracting impact trade considerations within the engineering organisation.
• Research the methods employed by the engineering organisation to gain a competitive advantage.
• Research the role of intellectual property rights in enhancing competitiveness.

Then, you are required to produce a report that: a) Explores the key business activities of the given engineering organisation.
b) Investigates the trade considerations that influence the engineering organisation.
c) Considers how business activities and trade considerations combine for the benefit of the organisation.

Your report should include the following:

• Information on the various business functions within the engineering organisation. You should evaluate how each function contributes to and influences the competitiveness of the business.
• Information on trade considerations, including contracts and tendering. You should evaluate how these influence the engineering organisation, referring to terms, warranties, and the consequences of non-performance, along with the documentation that would accompany a contract or tender.
• Examples to demonstrate how business activities and trade considerations influence the engineering organisation.
• Information on methods the organisation could adopt to gain a competitive advantage, including benefits such as protecting intellectual property rights and outsourcing to manage costs.

Checklist of Evidence Required:
A written report detailing how key business activities and trade considerations influence the engineering organisation and how these can be leveraged to create a competitive advantage, based on a case study for a given engineering organisation.

Criteria Covered by This Task:

 

Unit/Criteria Reference	To Achieve the Criteria, You Must Show That You Are Able To:
4/A.D1	Evaluate, using technically correct and high-standard language, how key business activities and trade considerations combine to influence an engineering organisation, creating a competitive advantage.
4/A.M1	Analyse how key business activities and trade considerations influence an engineering organisation, creating a competitive advantage.
4/A.P1	Explain how key business activities influence an engineering organisation.
4/A.P2	Explain how trade considerations influence an engineering organisation.