‘Great Britain has the world’s sixth largest economy, but as far as I can see it doesn’t make much of anything any more.  Whitbread doesn’t brew beer.  Tate & Lyle no longer refines sugar.  Only five of Britain’s largest companies manufacture any products at all in the UK now.  So few industrial companies are left that the Financial Times had to take the word ‘industrial’ out of the Financial Times Industrial Average, its principal measure of corporate well-being.  When I was a child, Britain made a quarter of all that was produced in the world (though to be fair, my being a child had very little to do with it); now the figure is 2.9 per cent and falling.  These days, Britain makes Rolls-Royce jet engines and all the little pots of marmalade in the world, but that’s about it, as far as I can tell.  Nearly everything that’s left seems to be owned by foreigners.  French companies own Hamley’s toy store, Glenmorangie whisky, Orange mobile phones, Fisons pharmaceuticals and EDF, the power company.  E.ON and Npower are German.  Scottish Power is Spanish.  United Biscuits, which makes McVitie’s Digestives, Jaffa Cakes and Hula Hoops, is owned by Yildiz, a Turkish company.  Jaguar, Blue Circle Cement, British Steel, Harrods, Bass breweries, most of the main airports, several of the most important football teams, and the company that brought you this book are all foreign owned.  Fewer than half of Britain’s largest companies even have a British-born Chairman.

HP and Daddies sauces are made in Holland.  Smarties are made in Germany. Raleigh bicycles are made in Denmark.  In 2010, RBS, a failed Scottish bank owned by the British government, lent the money to the American food conglomerate Kraft to buy Cadbury’s, Britain’s most venerable chocolate maker.  As part of the deal Kraft promised to keep open a Cadbury factory near Bristol, but it was just fooling.  As soon as the deal was complete, Kraft closed the factory and shipped its machinery to Poland.

I think these things matter.  People used to be proud of what Britain gave the world, but now they can’t even be sure of what it gives itself.’

Extract from Bryson, B. (2015) The Road to Little Dribbling, London: Penguin Random House (pp 310-311) 

Assignment Question

Having read the above and with reference to the observations highlighted in Bryson’s text, critically discuss the importance and role of brands in today’s globalised market plan

Requirements

1) Bryson’s piece is a polemic, it his own opinion.  You should not seek to replicate this in your assignment.  I do not want to see any long opinion pieces or rants.  You should produce an academic piece of work which identifies key points in Bryson’s text and explores these with reference to the themes and academic material covered on the module.

2) As this is an academic piece of work you are required to read widely in respect of the course topics in order to support your arguments with reference to academic texts and journal articles. All material should be properly referenced using the Harvard system. As part of your assignment you should also include at least six academic references from the module reading list. If you do not meet this requirement your assignment will FAIL.  You should also seek additional references of your own.

Word limit 2,000 words (+/- 5%).  The reference list at the end is excluded from this word count

Guidelines for Submission

Coursework must be submitted to the school office between the hours of 10am–1pm on the date specified. Work which is submitted within seven days of the deadline ‘without good cause’, will only be marked to a maximum of 40%. Work submitted more than seven days after the deadline ‘without good cause’ will signify failure of the module. Students should hand in one copy of their work which should be anonymous.  This document therefore should only include registration number, module title/code, title of assignment and the coursework cover sheet NOT YOUR NAME. Students should also keep one copy. Work should be word processed on A4 paper and should include a word count. Harvard referencing is to be used in your work. In addition students should also submit a copy of their work electronically via the KLE and this must be done by the end of the assignment due date. Failure to do so will be treated as non-submission and the student will automatically be awarded a mark of 0%. The electronic submission will automatically be checked for plagiarism using Turnitin. All work submitted must be your own and not copied or plagiarised in any way whatsoever. Plagiarism will be dealt with severely and can lead to penalties ranging from failure of the module to expulsion from the university. To view the University Student guide to the plagiarism regulations please see: http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/aa/landt/guidetoregs.pdf

Assessment criteria: what we are testing in this assignment?

1) Literature search. Your ability to conduct literature search and draw on relevant materials to address the assignment question.  Relevant material is considered to be academic peer reviewed journals, text books, edited or sole authored books.  Material from Wikipedia (or similar websites) or essay writing sites, essay mills, swap sites, slide sharing sites etc is not appropriate and should not be used.

2) Essay writing. Your ability to summarise arguments/findings from journal articles and other academic literature in a coherent and structured manner.

3) Knowledge and Understanding. Your ability to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the theories, concepts and debates covered in the module.

4) Argument and evidence. Your ability to construct an argument that addresses the question and evidence the claims you make.

5) Critical evaluation. Your ability to critically evaluate the themes from academic literature and the concepts and theories covered in the module in the light of the evidence and discussions contained in the identified podcast in other materials.

6) Referencing. Your ability to reference correctly, both accurately citing authors within your discussion and constructing a detailed reference list at the end of your essay.

7) Written communication skills. Your ability to communicate your ideas.

Assignment format

Please write your answer in the format of academic essay.  It must meet the 2000 word limit and you need to address the assessment criteria.