ASSESSMENT 2 CASE STUDY REPORT

This assessment task contributes to 50% of the total course grade.

RATIONALE:

This assessment task aims to investigate and analyse a construction firm by applying microeconomic principles. You will also be learning how to write a case study report. You will choose a firm to investigate, which will be your case to study. There are a set of focus questions to guide your research. There are two parts (Part A and Part B) to this assessment task.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

Familiarising yourself with the relationship between the task and the course objectives is beneficial.

• Describe the construction business environment.
• Define economics and appreciate its importance to the construction industry.
• Know fundamental microeconomic theory and relate it to firms in the construction industry.
• Know fundamental macro-economic theory and how it impacts both construction and national output.
• Describe the global economy and explain how international economic events impact the construction industry.

ASSESSMENT SUMMARY:

TASK DESCRIPTION

This assessment task aims to investigate and analyse a construction firm by applying Microeconomics principles. You will also learn how to write a "case study report". You will choose a firm to investigate, which will be your case to study. There are a set of focus questions to guide your research. Your case study report will involve applying concepts covered in the course to justify your responses. You can also collect data through different sources, such as speaking to relevant professionals of the selected organisation or industry and referring to other secondary data sources such as organisational websites, news articles, web blogs etc. to support your answers. Please make assumptions as appropriate where necessary.

The report has been divided into two parts.

Part A: Background & Analysis of Firm

First, choose a construction firm that has a significant presence in Australia. Define the market and identify the key competitors. Analyse the output market characteristics of this firm (for example, perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly etc.). Using graph(s), explain the profit-maximising condition of the firm in such a market.

Part B: Discussion and Conclusion

Next, assume one change (microeconomic) in the market condition. For example, the market entrance of a new competitor, a competitor leaving the market, lack of materials or goods for production, the introduction of a major substitute product to the market by a rival/or your business, introduce a new product from your business or any other change you can creatively think about as appropriate. Analyse and explain how this change will affect your firm's position in the market. How does the change affect the profit-maximising level of output, price and profit/loss of the firm? Make sure your report provides a rationale and justification for any assertions made. You are expected to draw upon the theoretical concepts contained in the course in your discussion of such aspects as market structure, entry and exit, and rivalry between competitors. Use detailed and clearly labelled diagrams to illustrate your answer.

REPORT FORMAT

Your submission must be within the word count (excluding references, tables and figures) in the following format

• Margin settings for A4 size paper in MS Word: all four sides 1 inch (2.54 cm)
• Default font type: Times New Roman, 12 point for text, 14 point (Bold) for headings and sub-heading
• Line spacing: 5
• Alignment: keep all text aligned and justified

PART A: BACKGROUND & ANALYSIS OF FIRM

Introduction: Provide a context for the case study report.

Often an introduction is written after the body of the report has been written; however, for this task, you must describe the context and objectives first to ensure you are on the right track.

1. Mention the main objectives of thi
2. Introduce your chosen construction firm, including the type of product or
3. Identify the key
4. Explain the reasons you chose this firm in relation to the
5. After reading your report, an overview of the key ideas the reader should

Basic analysis of the firm characteristics: In this section, you will discuss the followings:

1. Identify under which market structure does your firm operate in? For instance: perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly etc.? Justify this using the characteristics of the market.
2. Explain and illustrate the profit maximising condition of this firm
3. How will this firm determine the price? Do the competitors influence the pricing decision of this firm (relate to the market structure your firm operates under)?

Use relevant economic models/diagrams and/or tables to present your analysis and ensure that you explain these in text. Clearly label all the axis, curves, price, quantity, etc. It is essential to take care and be clear, concise and precise when explaining your analysis. No real values are required, and it is sufficient to use hypothetical values for your illustrations.

NOTE: Important to apply the concepts and economic models/diagrams covered in this course.

PART B: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Discussion (minimum 700 words and maximum 1000 words): One change in market condition. A discussion section of a report involves a deeper analysis of the findings. In this section, you will take a deeper look at a scenario to analyse what might happen to the construction firm if a microeconomics market condition was to change.

Change: should be related to Microeconomics. For example, the market entrance of a new competitor, a competitor leaving the market, lack of materials or goods for production, the introduction of a major substitute product to the market by a rival/or your business, introduce a new product from your business or any other change you can creatively think about as appropriate. Analyse and explain how this change will affect your firm's position in the market.

How does the change affect the profit-maximising level of output, price and profit/loss of the firm? In this section, you will perform the followings:

1. Analyse how will the change affect the market and your
2. Discuss your findings, making explicit links to economic models/diagrams as

Specify any assumptions you make and support them in your illustrations

Conclusion: In one paragraph (200 - 300 words):

You will provide the conclusion for the entire case study report by summarising your findings (this should align with your introduction).

Executive Summary (300 - 400 words): An Executive summary serves as a quick reference to the report and could be read as a standalone document by an executive who would like to extract sufficient information without reading the whole report. It is an essential part of a report because it encompasses critical information provided in the report.

The Executive Summary is one page in length (often, the Executive Summary is no more than 10% of the overall length of the report). It does not contain subheadings, direct quotes, bullet points or unnecessary descriptive information. It is structured to provide a brief statement of the following the:

• purpose (objectives) and context of the report
• type of analysis conducted (economic principles)
• essential and significant findings, in Summary, for
• important and significant recommendations (if required).

Once you have the executive Summary written you will structure your report in the following order:

? Title page: title of the report, your name and student number, due date, name of the tutor or lecturer for whom the report was written, course code (not included in word count)

? Table of contents (not included in word count)

? Executive Summar

? Introduction

? Report body

? Conclusions

? Reference list (not included in word count)

Then you will submit the completed case study report (3000 words in total).

ASSIGNMENT ADVICE

• You will be assessed on the content and presentation, which includes using appropriate language and terminology, adhering to referencing conventions, and structuring texts professionally: e.g. headings, headers and footers, cover pages, and so on
• You will benefit from participating in the online discussion forum as you
• Always cite another persons ideas or If you are unsure how to do this, please access the Academic Integrity Module and the Referencing Roadmap. Academic Integrity issues will be thoroughly monitored in this assessment.
• In addition to helping you to avoid plagiarism, referencing adds credibility to your work; it demonstrates that you have read widely and enables you to provide evidence and information to support your Students are advised to refer to the textbook and other credible, high-quality resources but minimise citing lecture notes.
• The executive Summary is an essential component of any formal report and should be prepared carefully rather than as an afterthought. Several drafts will be necessary to get it right.
• For more information about referencing, please check the "Referencing" section under "Course Information" on the course site

FEEDBACK

• You will be given feedback that will help you to identify what you have done well and what you might need to focus on in subsequent submissions.