Assignment Brief -

Learning Outcome -       

• The completion of this assignment requires you to demonstrate the ability to: Analyse the strategic role of marketing using contemporary perspective(s), evaluated against relevant research literature

Threshold Standards     

• Using appropriate marketing literature, establish a critically determined role of marketing and the issues arising to support marketing activity in organisations
• Distinguish between the pragmatic marketing operations and theoretical concepts to establish a contemporary view of marketing activity in an organisation.

In addition to the above, you are expected to

• Prepare and use IT to aid efficient searching, evaluation and selection of information, exploring alternative lines of enquiry where appropriate. Present information effectively, including evidence/examples to support your arguments and conclusions.
• Identify and critically assess in a comprehensive fashion the current strengths and weaknesses of the journal article. Evaluate and synthesise information from different sources, theories and principles, and communicate relevant information effectively, and with accuracy.
• Demonstrate an awareness of the relevance of the journal article to current marketing practices in the business world.

Assignment: Evaluating a Journal Article

In this first assignment, you have to prepare a 2,000 critical analysis of a given article from a peer-reviewed journal. You need to critically evaluate the article from a theoretical perspective and consider the practical implications using examples based on the Omani market.You need to use two other related journal articles(selected by yourself), to support your discussion.

Journal Article:  "Islamic Finance Development in the Sultanate of Oman: Barriers and Recommendations"

'Despite the fact that Oman is a predominantly Muslim country, the assumption that this will equate to a significant uptake in Islamic products and services is challenged as factors such as brand recognition and insufficient product knowledge among the population may hinder market penetration'(Hesham, A.E. Magd, &Mark P. McCoy, 2014)

The above statement highlights the key premise of the paper, and is suggestive of the focus of your evaluation.

Please, note the following:

• You must use at least two other journal articles for your discussion
• Your arguments must be balanced and supported by relevant marketing literature
• You must demonstrate and apply your marketing knowledge
• Your references must reflect a balance between academic and internet sources

The rationale behind this assignment:

This assignment is designed to assess your ability to identify and critically evaluate, in a comprehensive fashion the strengths and weaknesses of the given journal article. To do so, you are expected to

• evaluate and synthesise information especially from the given article plus other selected journal articles,
• demonstrate an awareness of the relevance of the journal articles to current marketing practices in the real world,
• use and apply relevant concepts in marketing, and communicate relevant information effectively, with accuracy.

Given the aforementioned, your structure should look like this:

Section 1: Introduction - this section should be brief and should indicate to the reader how you are going to approach the assignment (approximately  150words).

Section 2: An overview or summary of the article  - this section should briefly discuss the article, whilst highlighting the key marketing issues stemming from the article. For example, some of these issues could be Consumer Behaviour/Perception, Competition, Brand Recognition, Acceptance and Positioning. (Approx. 300 words)

Section 3: An evaluation of the article using other articles -this is the main body of your work and you will be expected , in this section,  to demonstrate your knowledge in the subject matter, and your ability to identify and use relevant sources of information effectively. Your evaluation should include at least two other related journal articles, chosen by yourself. Your choice of the other articles to use in your evaluation should be dependent on how well these articles will help you put forward a balanced critique of the article (Approx. 850 words)

Section 4: An application of your evaluation to the Omani market.  In this section, you have to demonstrate your ability to relate your arguments in section 3 to the Omani market. My preference for the Omani market is based on the fact that your second assignment is on the Omani market. This way, you will be already familiar with some of the key issues, such as competition, consumer behaviour, and branding relating to this market. (Approx. 500)

Section 5: Conclusion and/or recommendation(s). Your conclusion and recommendations should stem from your main deductions from your evaluation. Usually, most of your recommendations would emanate from your viewpoints on the main contentions of the article. (Approx. 200words)

Attachment:- Article.rar