NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS

HIGHER NATIONALS
BTEC HIGHER NATIONAL DIPLOMA IN BUSINESS (RQF)

Unit Code, Number and Title L/508/0485 RQF level 5 - Unit 1: Contemporary Business
Environment
Semester and Academic Year Semester 2 / Academic year 2020 - 2021

Unit Assessor(s) Daniel Vanhoutte / Dinh Thuy Dung / Pham Thu Van
Assignment Number and BBE A2.1: Business Environment Analysis
Title (Assessment 2 of 2, Individual assignment)
Issue Date 4th November, 2024
Submission Date 10:00 am on Monday, 2nd December, 2024

Student name

NEU Student ID Pearson ID

Plagiarism is a particular form of cheating. Plagiarism must be avoided at all costs and students who
break the rules, however innocently, may be penalised. It is your responsibility to ensure that you
understand correct referencing practices. As a university level student, you are expected to use
appropriate references throughout and keep carefully detailed notes of all your sources of materials for
material you have used in your work, including any material downloaded from the Internet. Please
consult the relevant unit lecturer or your course tutor if you need any further advice.

I certify that the assignment submission is entirely my own work and I fully
Student declaration understand the consequences of plagiarism. I understand that making a
false declaration is a form of malpractice.

Student(s) name(s) /
Date:
Signature

Submission format and Instructions:

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This written assignment (Assessment 2 of 2) covers Learning Outcome 3&4 (LO3, LO4).
This is an individual assignment.
The submission format is in the form of a written report.
The assignment should have a cover page that includes the assignment code, number, tittle,
assessors’ names and student’s name and ID. Attach all the pages of assignment brief with your
report and leave them blank for official use.
Ensure that authenticity declaration has been signed.
Include a content sheet with a list of all headings and page numbers.
Plagiarism is unacceptable. Students must cite all sources and input the information by
paraphrasing, summarising or using direct quotes. A Referral Grade is given when Plagiarism is
identified in your work. There are no exceptions.
Your evidence/findings must be cited using Harvard Referencing Style. Please refer to Reference
guiding posted on Moodle.
This assignment should be written in a concise, formal business style using Arial 11 or Times New
Roman 12 font size and 1.5 spacing.
The word limit is 3,000 words (+/- 10%). If you exceed the word limit (excluding references and
administrative sections) your grade will be penalised.
 You MUST complete and submit a hardcopy and softcopy of your work on the due dates stated
on Assignment brief. All late work is not allowed to submit. This rule is not waived under any
circumstances. The softcopy must be submitted to Turn-it-in via Moodle; the hard copy to
Assignment Box, Room 404A, D2 building.
Read ALL Instructions on this Page and review the Pass, Merit and Distinction criteria carefully.
To pass the assignment, you must achieve ALL the Pass Criteria outlined in the marking sheet.
To achieve a Merit, you must achieve ALL the Merit criteria (and therefore the Pass criteria). To
achieve a Distinction, you must achieve ALL the Distinction criteria (and therefore the Pass and
Merit criteria).

Unit Learning Outcomes:

LO3: Use contemporary examples to demonstrate both the positive and negative influence/impact the
macro environment has on business operations
LO4: Determine the internal strengths and weaknesses of specific businesses and explain their
interrelationship with external macro factors

Vocational Scenario

VPS Securities Joint Stock Company was established in 2006 and is the largest
investment banking securities company in the Vietnamese stock market to date. VPS
is the leader in HSX, HNX and Upcom in stock brokerage activities, and the number 1
position in the stock market in the derivatives segment (58.77% by the end of the
second quarter of 2024). Typical products and services: Asset management services,

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investment banking services, securities services, capital market consulting
services...). The company's strategic orientation is to become the most admired
company for its creativity and understanding of customers. The mission is to open up
opportunities for easy access to services and products in the fields of financial
investment and consumption to bring outstanding and sustainable values to
customers, partners and the community. The company's total assets under
management are more than 22,400 billion VND, charter capital is nearly 9,000 billion
VND.

On June 6th, under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the
Vietnam Wealth Advisor Summit 2024 (VWAS 2024) organized by Vietnam Investment
Review and the Vietnam Financial Advisors Community was successfully held.
The theme of the ceremony was "Adapting to Uncertainties" including many reputable
speakers from leading companies in the financial industry, as well as policy experts,
the forum was an opportunity for in-depth exchanges and the pursuit of creating a
sustainable investment market.
During the forum, representing VPS, Mr. Lê Đức Khánh - Director of Analysis shared
insights on managing stock investment portfolios during the discussion session on
"Investment Asset Portfolio".
Dedicated to Providing the Best Products and Services for Customers
With a customer-centric approach, everyone at VPS strives to deliver the best
financial products and services, flexibly meeting the needs of customers.
The "Brokerage Award of the year 2014" is a testament to VPS's efforts in providing
comprehensive financial solutions and creating sustainable value for customers and
partners, affirming its leading position in the financial and securities sector in
Vietnam. This award also serves as a reminder of the trust and support that
customers and partners have placed in VPS.
With significant advancements in research and development and pioneering
technology applications, VPS has introduced exceptional products, confidently
creating a unique experience for each customer. Financial services products are
integrated into the VPS SmartOne ecosystem, enabling customers to conveniently
access information, optimize transaction time, and enjoy a seamless experience. VPS
SmartOne has proven to be the leading financial investment application in Vietnam.
Leading Financial Institution in Vietnam
On its nearly 20-year journey of construction and development, VPS has gradually
affirmed its role and position as one of the leading financial institutions in Vietnam.
Since Q1 2021, VPS has consistently maintained its leading position in securities
brokerage market share across all four rankings: HOSE, HNX, UPCOM, and
Derivatives. As of Q1 2024, VPS achieved a market share of 20.29% on HOSE and
nearly a quarter of the market share on HNX with 24.711%. VPS's market share on
UPCoM is 22.313% and 58.90% in derivatives.
VPS has been recognized by prestigious organizations both domestically and
internationally for its positive contributions through numerous accolades and awards,
such as Best Brokerage House 2024, awarded by The Asset within the framework of
the Triple A Awards for Sustainable Finance 2024; Most Flexible Financial Service
Products Provider Vietnam 2024, honored by World Business Outlook; and The
Brokerage Award of the year 2023 at the Vietnam Wealth Advisor Summit 2023.
With a philosophy of corporate responsibility and opening up financial investment
opportunities for everyone, VPS is committed to continuing the journey towards
financial prosperity with our esteemed customers.

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 Assessment Brief and Guidance:

You have been requested to provide services related to the following tasks

Scenario and activities:

1. Apply Porter’s 5-forces framework and PESTLE to identify and evaluate the relevant macro
environment factors impacting Metropole and its industry;
2. Develop a SWOT analysis to identify and explain VPS strengths and weaknesses;
3. Evaluate the interrelationship between key external and internal factors of the organization and
devise some strategies that VPS should implement in the current business environment.

Explanation of the command verbs:

- Identify: Indicate the main features or purpose of something by recognising it and/ or being able to discern
and understand facts or qualities.
- Explain: To give an account of the purposes or reasons.
- Develop: Grow or progress a plan, ideas, skills and understanding.
- Apply: Put into operation or use.
Use relevant skills/knowledge/understanding appropriate to context.
- Analyse: Present the outcome of methodical and detailed examination either:
 breaking down a theme, topic or situation in order to interpret and study the interrelationships
between the parts and/ or
 of information or data to interpret and study key trends and interrelationships.
Analysis can be through activity, practice, written or verbal presentation.
- Evaluate: Work draws on varied information, themes or concepts to consider aspects, such as:
 strengths or weaknesses
 advantages or disadvantages
 alternative actions
 relevance or significance
- Critically Evaluate: Make a judgement taking into account different factors and using available knowledge/
experience/ evidence where the judgement is supported in depth.

Pass Merit Distinction

LO3: Use contemporary examples to demonstrate both the

positive and negative influence/impact the macro environment D2 Critically evaluate the impacts
has on business operations that both macro and micro factors
P4 Identify the positive and M3 Apply appropriately the have upon business objectives and
negative impacts the macro PESTLE model to support a decision-making.
environment has upon business detailed analysis of the macro

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 operations, supported by specific
environment in an organisation.
examples.
LO4 Determine the internal strengths and weaknesses of
specific businesses and explain their interrelationship with
external macro factors
P5 Conduct internal and external
analysis of specific organisations
in order to identify strengths and M4 Apply appropriately
weaknesses. SWOT/TOWS analysis and
justify how they influence
P6 Explain how strengths and decision-making.
weaknesses interrelate with
external macro factors.

* Please note that grades are provisional. They are only confirmed once internal and external verifiers
have taken place, and the final decisions have been agreed by the assessment board.
* This grade only reflects the result of this assignment, not for the whole Unit.