Business SchoolSummer Residential 2020

An introduction to the Independent ProjectFirst Name:

Surname:

What subject are you interested in?

Why?

Your contacts are Nick Catahan & Steph RimmerCatahann@edgehill.ac.uk & Rimmest@edgehill.ac.uk

@EHU_edgehill

#EdgeHillUniversity #DiscoverEHU #EHUBusinessSchool

Use this booklet during your Academic Workshops

ContentsWelcome to the Business School........................................................................................2

Introduction to the Independent Project............................................................................3

Learning Outcomes 3

Project Content 4

Assessment Strategy 4

Sources of Information.......................................................................................................6

Catalyst: Learning Services, Student Services and Careers 6

Event Project Planning Tool 7

Academic Workshops and Mentor Sessions........................................................................9

1 Planning and Imagining Your Event..................................................................................9

1.1 Skills and Competencies 9

1.2 Recognise and develop transferable skills? 9

1.3 Skills and definitions 9

1.4 Belbin’s team roles 11

1.5 What are the advantages of working in teams? 11

1.6 How are organisations structured? 13

1.7 Your organisational structure 13

1.8 Generating the idea(s) 14

2 Marketing your event....................................................................................................17

2.1 Events in context 17

2.2 Events and the marketing mix 18

2.3 Who is the target market? 18

3 PEST & SWOT Analyses..................................................................................................19

3.1 Complete a PEST/STEEPLE analysis on your idea. 19

3.2 Complete a SWOT/SWOC analysis on your idea. 20

4 Team Health Check........................................................................................................21

4.1 Team Development 21

4.2 The Who+Do… 21

5. Revisiting your skills.....................................................................................................23

6. Reflect upon your experience.......................................................................................24

Notes...............................................................................................................................25

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Welcome to the Business School

Hello, I’m Helen Woodruffe-Burton, Professor of Marketing and Director of Edge Hill University Business School and it’s my pleasure to welcome you to Edge Hill Business School.

We are located in a state-of-the-art facility within the beautiful modern campus of Edge Hill which enables us to offer exceptional teaching and social space in a supportive learning environment. Our academic staff are drawn from a variety of backgrounds and bring with them a wealth of business and professional expertise as well as academic qualifications. We work closely with a wide range of professional bodies and our courses carry appropriate professional accreditation as a well as additional qualifications in some cases, all of which enhance student learning and add value to our degrees. We are justly proud of our outstanding results in the National Student Survey (NSS), of our graduates and their success in gaining entry to their chosen careers, of our students and their achievements in regional and national competitions and of our staff who are continually singled out for praise by the students they have taught and whose efforts are also recognised through student-nominated University awards and nominations for national teaching awards.

A Business, Marketing or Accountancy degree from Edge Hill University Business School stands out because of our values and our achievements. This is illustrated through our Vision and Mission:

VisionTo be an excellent, professional and practitioner focused,research-informed, Business School known for theoutstanding quality of our overall student experience andour commitment to empowerment, employability,enterprise, business and society.

Mission To develop highly skilled and well qualified graduateswith outstanding business acumen who have theknowledge, confidence, flexibility and skills toimmediately become valued and successful employees.

Edge Hill University Business School offers our students and prospective students an environment to grow and develop, enriched by our partnerships with some of the world’s leading universities, with key national, regional and local employers and businesses and with the major professional bodies across our degree subjects.

Welcome to the Business School, we hope to help you achieve your goals and realise your ambitions.

Professor Helen Woodruffe-Burton – Director of the Business SchoolIntroduction to the Independent Project

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Professor Helen Woodruffe-BurtonDirector of Edge Hill University Business SchoolProfessor of Marketing

Setting the scene – think of an event/festival idea and develop a pitch. Your pitch will be for the Edge Hill University campus and surrounding fields. It will have themes linked to our strengths and values (student experience, teaching excellence, equality, diversity, accessibility and Sustainable Development Goals). The British events industry is worth an estimated £42.3 Billion, with over 25,000 businesses supporting

570,000 full-time equivalent jobs. Events management on an international scale is seriously big business and covers most industry sectors including Accountancy, Business and Marketing.

We will introduce some of our teaching team who deliver on a

diversity of degree programmes including several leading,

innovative pathways in Accountancy, Business and Marketing. Our

teaching and support teams will help you with your Independent

Project whilst helping you identify and develop important transferable skills for our degree programmes,

the world of work and life in general.

Your project is delivered during practical Academic Workshops over the next couple of days which

will enable you to consider a Business Plan and deliver an event/festival pitch. This will involve you

developing key skill areas such as communication, negotiation, self-management and problem solving; and

more generic skills in research, cognition and numeracy. The combination of these aspects will enable you

to evaluate a business idea, and plan how this could be successfully brought to market.

Learning Outcomes On successful completion of the project, you will be able to:

1. Research, negotiate, establish and develop a focused event/festival idea and pitch within a supportive, experiential teaching and learning environment.

2. Learn more about you and those around you, identifying and developing important transferable skills for academia, work and life in general.

3. Develop a critical understanding of different disciplines within the Business School applied to an event planning exercise, the markets they serve and the process of adding value; whilst being aware of the structure of business and related practice.

4. Explore future studies and career options, considering the diverse range and pathways of our leading Accountancy, Business and Marketing degree programmes.

Project ContentDuring this project you will cover the following topics and outline content:

Day 1 - Monday 27th July Welcome to the Business School and an Introduction to the3

Independent ProjectVirtual Campus Tour2pm-3:30pm

You will be accompanied during your virtual experience of our most wonderful, very beautiful and award-winning campus.

Welcome & Introduction3:30pm-4:30pm

What to expect. 'Try before you buy'. Key information regarding relevance of the project and links with

our degree programmes.

Day 2 - Tuesday 28th July Academic Workshops - making connectionsIndependent Project UniSkills & your ideas9am-12pm

Recap on the event/festival idea rationale and task. Reviewing your skills and competencies. Teamwork and organisational structure. Generating event/festival ideas. Harvard reference guide.

1 hour Lunch breakMarketing your event1pm-3pm

Events in context. The marketing mix. Market segmentation.

PEST & SWOT analyses 3pm-4pm

Informed ideas. Strategic approaches to evidence-based decision-making.

Day 3 - Wednesday 29th July Academic Workshops – making it happenUseful resources in:• Accountancy • Business• Marketing9-12pm

Coming together as a team/team health check. Brief encounters with our subjects. Connecting with the wider Business School T eam . Gaining informed ideas. Input and advice on your event/festival ideas.

1 hour Lunch breakProject work1pm-2.30pm

Complete remaining tasks and prepare for your event/festival presentations.

Business School Mentors will be available to chat.Group presentations2.30pm-3.30pm

Presentation of your event/festival pitch. Brief question and answer.

Feedback & reflection3.30pm-4pm

We hope you have gained an insight into our Business School. We look forward to the opportunity to welcoming you back onto one of our degree programmes in Accountancy, Business or Marketing. Keep in touch via Social media to keep updated on our activities and any other special events.

Assessment Strategy

Presentation of your event/festival pitch with brief question and answer (10 minutes max.)

Presentation Task – Your task is to develop a pitch for an event/festival idea to take place on the Edge Hill campus in the future. The event can make use of any/all of the campus space and facilities. It can follow any theme (academic, art, corporate,

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music, food, drink, performing arts, science, sports, trade…) and is only limited by your imagination. The only limitation is that it should not be contrary to our values (student experience, teaching excellence, equality, diversity and accessibility).

In groups you are to deliver a presentation/pitch of your event/festival idea. The event plan

template is this booklet; working in groups through the activities will give you the skills and

knowledge to develop your idea. In terms of presentation, see the event planning tool on page 9-10,

but key areas to consider include:

• Include ‘Event/Festival’ name, your team names.

• What is the event/festival mission/vision?

• Who are the key stakeholders? Who will benefit?

• What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats / constraints?

• How will you market the event?

• What are the operational requirements: staffing, structure, services, venues etc.?

• How much will it cost; how will it be funded (best guesstimates)?

• How will it be paid for/what income streams (business model)?

• What are the key risks, what business controls are necessary?

Always ask a member of our teaching and support team for any information, advice or guidance.This is how we could assess you on the dayCircle A-E (A = First Class 70+, B = Very Good 60-69, C = Sound 50-59, D = Limited 40-49, E = Insufficient 0- 39)

Style and dynamics of the presentation(Time keeping; clearly presented, good pace and body language, minimal reading from notes, clear, and relevant content, cleverly integrated into the presentation; use of any other visual aids; team working skills, obvious group cohesion)

A B C D E

Subject knowledge and understanding(Demonstration of knowledge and understanding of learning outcomes and assessment – presentation, event/business idea/plan)

A B C D E

Research(Use of resources and independent research; level of research and selection of appropriate data and material from relevant valid and reliable sources; preparation and planning in the group leading to a presentation made within the allotted time; obvious group cohesion)

A B C D E

Analysis and conclusions (Well thought through, SMARTER event/business idea and plan; ability to make clear, relevant, convincing and persuasive arguments linked to event/business idea and plan; and draw pertinent conclusions from the evidence; competence in responding to questions)

A B C D E

BehaviourYou are asked to respect peers, members of staff and to help maintain a supportive learning environment.

FeedbackFeedback is important to assist you and to improve your learning and therefore your academic performance. Various methods of feedback will be given to you during your studies in the Business School. Formative feedback includes verbal tutor comments on the answers and discussions in workshops and

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seminars – this can prove to be very useful in guiding your studies, helping to develop your answers for more formal methods of assessment. Summative feedback will be given on assignments and will be provided to you at the end of your project.

Sources of InformationCatalyst: Learning Services, Student Services and Careers

Edge Hill University Learning Services: https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/ls/ There are lots of ways you can access help and support. If you have any questions about our services,

facilities or resources simply search our knowledge base Ask Us which contains the most commonly asked

questions. You can also contact us by: Telephone – 01695 650800; Email, live chat or text message

– ehu.ac.uk/askus ; Via Facebook or Twitter.

There are help desks in each of the library buildings and at the University Library (Ormskirk) you will also

find the ASK desk where you can access specialist help and support in relation to Inclusive Services, SpLD

support, subject specific support and academic skills.

We also have a range of EHU Uni Skills online guides and tutorials.

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Event Project Planning Tool

Team Name:

Contributors:

Key areas to be addressed in an event plan to disseminate in presentation/pitch:

Stage One ACTION

Skills & competencies. Teamwork.

The Team Structure – who is doing what? (Belbin); organisational structure.

Stage Two

Your event idea, vision & mission – i.e. what it ultimately aims to achieve?

Who the key stakeholders are, what benefits they will accrue and how the event fits with their strategies?

Stage Three

Marketing & communications analysis & planning.

PEST & SWOT analyses.

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Stage Four

Revisiting accountancy, business & marketing aspects. Event requirements – staffing structure, facilities, services, mapping, etc.

How much the event will cost – budget projections.

How will it be paid for – identifying income streams.

Stage Five

Strategic management & business controls/Risk assessment, management & contingency plans?

How will you measure your event/festival success – identifying tried & tested methods.

Stage Six

Key skills reflection, UniSkills, personal & professional skills & feedback.

Your future studies, careers and lives.

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Academic Workshops and Mentor Sessions1 Planning and Imagining Your Event

1.1 Skills and CompetenciesTransferable Skills may be those skills which you acquire in one environment but which you are able to make use of effectively in a different environment. Different skills can be transferred at different levels. As an example: a person who develops the skill of communicating well with customers in a part-time retail job, may well be able to transfer and adapt this skill so that they can communicate well with clients as a sales manager of a large company.

1.2 Recognise and develop transferable skills?Everybody learns new skills at different times in their lives and in different environments. Many of these skills can be used in a variety of different contexts, including work. Some skills can be transferred almost directly, while some skills will form good foundations which need modification and development before they can be used successfully in a different environment, as in the example of the person who becomes the sales manager of the large company.

If you are able to recognise the skills which you already have and the skills you are learning at the moment in your studies and current work, you will be in a strong position to match and develop these skills to new work opportunities that you may encounter later.

1.3 Skills and definitionsTable 1. List of skills

Flexibility1 Interpersonal2 Negotiation3 Communication4 Adaptability5

Problem solving6 Organisational7 Willingness to learn8 Critical Thinking9 Analytical10

Self-discipline11 Presentation12 Leadership13 Self-confidence14 IT15

Table 2. List of skill definitions

To be adaptable and responsive to

change.

Interpreting complex material and examine the

data.

To have a flexible working style to

changing situations.

To build and maintain good

relationship with people.

Ability to communicate well both verbally and

written.

Can present your ideas effectively to others in a verbal

manner.

Managing and structuring your

time and workload effectively.

Tackling problems in a systematic and

rational way.

Training and control of oneself

for personal improvement.

To be questioning and critical so to

develop more reasoned

arguments.

Having computing knowledge and

skills.

Knowing how and when to take charge of a

situation and show the way.

Motivated to learn for improving

personal development.

Realistic confidence in one's own

abilities and skills.

To resolve conflict and reach

agreement within a team.

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Table 3. Worksheet

Skill Skill definitions

Realistic confidence in one's own abilities and skills.

To build and maintain good relationship with people.

Managing and structuring your time and workload effectively.

Ability to communicate well both verbally and written.

To have a flexible working style to changing situations.

To be adaptable and responsive to change.

Motivated to learn for improving personal development.

Training and control of oneself for personal improvement.

Can present your ideas effectively to others in a verbal manner.

Knowing how and when to take charge of a situation and show the way.

Tackling problems in a systematic and rational way.

Interpreting complex material and examine the data.

To resolve conflict and reach agreement within a team.

To be questioning and critical so to develop more reasoned arguments.

Having computing knowledge and skills.

Individually create a list of skills then compare and contrast with the person next to you to develop your list.

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1.4 Belbin’s team rolesThe aim of most teams or groups is to work together on a project to achieve a common objective. Working

in teams can help develop and improve communication skills. Inevitably at University, or at work, you will

have to form a group in order to carry out certain tasks.

1.5 What are the advantages of working in teams?

It can be argued, that the functions that teams perform better than individuals include:

Groups produce more and better solutions to a problem.

Groups make more efficient use of resources.

Groups eliminate inferior ideas more effectively.

Social motivation is higher in the presence of others.

The presence of others leads to increased productivity.

Where tasks involving random error are in process, teams tend to produce superior

judgements.

Teams learn faster.

Teams minimise the sense of responsibility of any one member for the outcome.

The Belbin Team Role model is a way of measuring preferred behaviour when working within a team; some

of you may already be aware of this model. There are no right or wrong answers, and no particular Team

Role is 'better' than any others. The underlying idea is to understand your behavioural strengths and

allowable weaknesses, and hence use them to best effect.

Balance is Key: for example, Meredith Belbin found that a team with no ‘Plants’ struggled to come up with

the initial spark of an idea with which to push forward. However, once too many Plants were in the team,

bad ideas concealed good ones and non-starters were given too much airtime. Similarly, with no ‘Shaper’,

the team ambled along without drive and direction, missing deadlines. With too many Shapers, in-fighting

began, and morale was lowered. As a homework task last night, you were asked to research and evaluate

your ‘ideal’ Team Role based on BELBIN. We will review these now .

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1.6 How are organisations structured?• List the functions of a business, consider what functions are needed

for businesses to perform effectively.

• Where would you fit into a business? What are your skills? What

could you offer?

• Map across your skills and design an organisational structure.

1.7 Your organisational structureCreate an organisational structure with key functions/job titles, names, skills, roles and responsibilities.

Consider strengths in accountancy, business and marketing.

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1.8 Generating the idea(s)Before we proceed too far, you will need at least one event/festival idea. Subsequent workshop tasks will

help you to evaluate and modify your business idea(s) and, if you end up with more than one, evaluate

which is the one you want to pursue as a ‘team’.

Phase One

1. If you already have an idea, go to step four.

2. If you do not have an idea, go through the four-stage process outline in the model below until you have at

least three reasonable ideas.

3. If you have identified an existing event or festival idea (i.e. one that is already out there in the real world),

go through the second process outline to arrive at your new refined idea.

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Opportunity

•Develop and refineopportunity using mind maps

Idea shower

Refine

•Idea shower commercial opportunities coming out of identified change

•Develop a vision of thefuture (after that change) using futures thinking

Vision

•Idea shower changes•Use analytical approach

List attributes or features of the event

Idea shower

Idea shower how these attributes can be improved

•Develop and refine opportunity using mind maps

Business Idea

•You have arrived at your destination!

Attributes Opportunity

4. Eliminate any ideas that may not be considered practicable or have a reasonable likelihood of your group

being able to complete the business idea. Whilst the assessment involves a hypothetical event/business

pitch, there must be some semblance of practicality / realism to the concept.

Phase Two

1. Using the criteria below, evaluate the attractiveness of each of your event ideas (try rating them on a scale

of 1 – not attractive, to 5 – very attractive). You can add your own criteria to the list. Total up the scores

for each idea. At this stage some of the ideas will be based upon incomplete information but this should

get you off to a good start.

Criteria Idea One Idea Two Idea Three

Identified market need / gap

Identified customers and marketingstrategy

No or few existing competitors

Not easily copied

Growing market

High margins

Low fixed costs

Low funding requirements

Financeable

Identified risks that can be monitoredor mitigated

Management skill that can beleveraged

Scalability

Other

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What is your top idea? Is it SMARTER?

S M A R T E RSpecific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time specific Extending/Ethical Rewarding

Each member to justify and debate why your company should go with the idea by writing a brief, convincing, “informed” synopsis (consider what, why, where, when, who, how elements). You will further test your ideas later to ensure they are informed, evidence-based ideas.

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2 Marketing your event2.1 Events in contextSearch for information about local/regional events and festivals of Ormskirk, West Lancashire, the Liverpool City Region and across the North West. Make notes so you can discuss and explore events in context:

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2.2 Events and the marketing mixWhat is the marketing mix of these events / festivals?

2.3 Who is the target market?

Type of segmentation

Demographic? Age, Gender, Occupation, Socioeconomic group?

Psychographic? Personality, Lifestyle, Attitude, Class?

Geographic? Location, region, Urban/rural?

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Behavioural? Rate of use, benefits sought, loyalty, readiness to purchase?

3 PEST & SWOT AnalysesIt is time to revisit and choose your main idea, but this time you are applying a more analytical and strategic approach using two different analytical techniques, PEST/STEEPLE (sociocultural, technological, environmental, economic, political, legal, ethical) and SWOT/SWOC (strengths, weakness, opportunities, threats/challenges) analyses. 3.1 Complete a PEST/STEEPLE analysis on your idea.

Element Factor Business impactSociocultural

Technological

Environmental

Economic

Political

Legal

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Ethical

3.2 Complete a SWOT/SWOC analysis on your idea.Strengths Opportunities

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Weaknesses Threats/Challenges

4 Team Health Check

4.1 Team DevelopmentThe first task on Wednesday (your final day) is to complete the short activity on the next page. Circle the

number that is most appropriate for your team and discuss with your team.

What are the key priorities for the development of your group?

Do you feel comfortable sharing your own rating of the team with your colleagues before you return to

the event activity?

In comparing your results, where are the gaps?

If you identify large gaps in perception you may wish to pursue these further and to understand why your

perceptions differ from your fellow students.

4.2 The Who+Do…In the time remaining today, you will need to complete all the remaining tasks to be ready to deliver your

presentation/pitch of your special event/festival. What still needs to be done? What resources are

available? Who is best placed to deliver this? Remember to consider job role / skills / Belbin role,

characteristics of your event/festival, design, delivery. Develop a Who+Do table/list of who needs to look at

what, do what for this Independent Project task by the time allocated. Check out the resources and decide

who will review what resources and feedback to the team. We have offered resources that may not

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necessarily link directly to your task but to give you a brief taster of some of the activities you would

encounter on our programmes. Make good use of the ideas that may come of reviewing such resources to

inform your event/festival planning and pitch!

Who + Do…E.g. Alisdair, Amee, Asia, Chen, Chris D, Chris P, Emre, Farhan, Fiona, Graham, Helen, Joe, John M, John P, Ken, Kim, Lauren, Mariana, Mehmet, Nick, Obinna, Paresh, Robin M, Robin R, Sean, Steve, Susie, Sue, Tola…

Come up with a great idea! By yesterday!

E.g. Alisdair, Chen, Graham, John M, Ken, Robin M, Robin R, Sue…

Accountancy, work out finances, funding…

By 2pm

E.g. Alisdair, Amee, Asia, Chen, Chris D, Chris P, Emre, Farhan, Fiona, Graham, Helen, Joe, John M, John P, Ken, Kim, Lauren, Mariana, Mehmet, Nick, Obinna, Paresh, Robin M, Robin R, Sean, Steve, Susie, Sue, Tola…

Business, finish PEST/SWOT & various other worksheets…

10am-12pm

E.g. Fiona, Chris P, Kim, Lauren, Mariana, Nick, Robin, Susie…

Marketing, plan, strategy, examples, Prezi, PPT…

11am-12pm

E.g. Alisdair, Amee, Asia, Chen, Chris D, Chris P, Emre, Farhan, Fiona, Graham, Helen, Joe, John M, John P, Ken, Kim, Lauren, Mariana, Mehmet, Nick, Obinna, Paresh, Robin M, Robin R, Sean, Steve, Susie, Sue, Tola…

All that last-minute stuff! An hour left!

E.g. Nick Everything else?

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Rating Team Development How do you feel about the progress of your event group? (circle your rating)

1 Team’s PurposeI’m uncertain 1 2 3 4 5 I’m clear

2 Team membershipI’m out 1 2 3 4 5 I’m in

3 CommunicationsVery guarded 1 2 3 4 5 Very open

4 Team goalsSet from above 1 2 3 4 5 Emerged through team interaction

5 Use of team member’s skillsPoor use 1 2 3 4 5 Good use

6 SupportLittle help for individuals 1 2 3 4 5 High level of support for individuals

7 ConflictDifficult issues are avoided 1 2 3 4 5 Problems are discussed openly and directly

8 Influence on decisionsBy few members 1 2 3 4 5 By all members

9 Risk takingNot encouraged 1 2 3 4 5 Encouraged and supported

10 Working on relationships with othersLittle effort 1 2 3 4 5 High level of effort

11 Distribution of leadershipLimited 1 2 3 4 5 Shared

12 Useful feedbackVery little 1 2 3 4 5 Considerable

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5. Revisiting your skills

Skill level following the residentialRate as Low / Medium / High

Realistic confidence in one's own abilities and skills.

To build and maintain good relationship with people.

Managing and structuring your time and workload effectively.

Ability to communicate well both verbally and written.

To have a flexible working style to changing situations.

To be adaptable and responsive to change.

Motivated to learn for improving personal development.

Training and control of oneself for personal improvement.

Can present your ideas effectively to others in a verbal manner.

Knowing how and when to take charge of a situation and show the way.

Tackling problems in a systematic and rational way.

Interpreting complex material and examine the data.

To resolve conflict and reach agreement within a team.

To be questioning and critical so to develop more reasoned arguments.

Having computing knowledge and skills.

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6. Reflect upon your experience

Leave a note for us with a member of staff with your thoughts and feelings about your Business

School experience. Why not do a SWOT/C analysis for us so we can make it better. Please let us know

about our strengths and areas for development. Email Nick Catahan or Steph Rimmer or you can

email Cheryl Rimmer our Student Experience and Quality Manager: rimmerc@edgehill.ac.uk

Thank you for your participation,we hope you have had a great time

Discover More - Stay in touch - search Edge Hill

@edgehill

#EdgeHillUniversity #EHUBusinessSchool #DiscoverEHU

ehu.ac.uk/discover

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Notes