This document discusses a marketing project completed by the student for Broken Hill City Council in Australia. The project involved researching the MICE industry and applying for funding to upgrade the local civic centre. Over four weeks, the student researched competitors, conducted a target market analysis, and developed action plans and performance indicators. They created a report with a list of potential conferences and a strategic implementation plan. Communication, providing value to employers, adapting plans based on new information, and effective teamwork were skills gained from this experience that will benefit the student's future career.

1. Name: Yiting Zhou
SID:440086318
Critical Appraisal Report
Generally speaking, this community placement program is a marketing project that
places a focus on the MICE industry (Meetings, incentives, conferences, and
exhibitions) regarding the recently upgraded Broken Hill Civic Centre (BHCC) to apply
for 2015 RVEF fund. At the same time, Broken Hill City Council (Council) required a list
of potential conferences, on which BHCC was likely to bid for the following three years.
During the four weeks, we covered a market research report that mainly focused on
comparative advantages over other competitors, such as Dubbo Convention Centre
and Alice Spring Convention Centre, target market analysis, action plans and key
performance indicators.
At first, not much was known about Broken Hill or any related marketing strategies
therefore, we were extremely worried that we might not finish the application form of
RVEF fund. However, in the end, we not only finished the application form, but also
accomplished a detailed report with a list of potential conferences and a strategic
implementation plan.
Part A:
Social Business Theory and Application of the Theory to the Project
Firstly, Broken Hill is a home for Australian indigenous people and therefore it is
necessary for the Council to take the potential benefits of the local people into
consideration when tailoring a marketing plan. According to Person and Helms (2013),
aboriginal people are more likely to experience social indicators that have impact on
their physical and psychological health, including poverty and earlier death. Same
situation happened in Broken Hill City, resulting in an average individual income was
slightly lower than the weekly average of Regional New South Wales (NSW). In this
case, the Council has already decided to engage in several marketing activities aimed
at the MICE industry for BHCC. Therefore, it is expected to boost local economy by
providing opportunities for local employment and resolving persistent community
problems like physical health issue. As an example, if the Council succeeds in bidding
on NSW Rural Health and Research Congress, which is organized by the Health
Education and Training Institute, the Council would not only obtain experienced
employees from this congress, but also attract experts and researchers in rural health
topics that would benefit local residents. Meantime, it would also drive a boost in
relevant accommodation, restaurants and other entertainment industries. Eventually,
Broken HillCity would expect a ‘holisticrejuvenation’ from engaging in MICE activities.

2. Name: Yiting Zhou
SID:440086318
Secondly, by creating a shared value, which means focusing on both societal and
economic progress (Porter and Kramer 2011), it is anticipated that the Council could
push itself fromsocial enterprise groups to dual-mandate sector. There are three ways
to create shared value opportunities, however the third method, which is enabling
local cluster development, is substantial for Broken Hill City Council. As stated above,
bidding on corporate, government and keystone conferences will boost local tourism
and promote economic development. Additionally, it will also develop loyalty and
professionalism between employees. Controversially, it is also argued that shared
value is difficult to be realised because it ignores the tensions between social and
economic goals, and seldom consider real challenges that corporates would
experience (Crane 2014). For instance, the estimated number of conferences that
would be held in 2015 in BHCC has been only one, while the anticipated number of
conference that will be held in 2016 to 2017 is eight, which is 8 times larger than the
expected amount according to the Civic Centre Business plan with the expected
average number of delegates from each conference is 500. Although it is possible for
the Council to succeed in bidding on a budgeted number of conferences, engaging in
massive advertising activities. However, the average number is relatively unrealistic.
According to our market research, the majority of conferences can only capacitate
around 100 to 300 delegates thus a more accurate figure of 200 delegates per
conference is more appropriate. Nevertheless, despite some challenges that the
Council might face when creating shared value, the result is still favourable since
shared value will expand the ‘total pool’ of both economic and socialvalue (Porter and
Kramer 2011) in Broken Hill City. Moreover, the Council primarily focuses on the
benefits achieved in terms of local economy and promoting the MICE industry
resulting in an improvement in social value, including professionalismof employees in
mining, health and other key industries in Broken Hill City according to our
implementation report.
Thirdly, as for the importance of social entrepreneurship, like Broken Hill City Council,
it incurs a social impact on the local community when making economic decisions. In
this way, it alters the economy theory in which people are driven by self-interest in
free-market competition, which would lead to a more efficient economic outcomes
than a heavily regulated market (Santos 2012). In return, society has become more
interested in volunteering jobs and creating socialmissions withinorganizations, which
will bring Broken Hill City more opportunities in MICE activities as well as the whole
community. Recently, Broken Hill City is attracting more and more volunteers in many
aspects, which is a favorable impact.
Part B:
Key Skills and Competencies and Future Impact on Careers
Broken Hill City Council currently employs 240 employees who provide more than 200
services and manage assets of $144M across a number of complex areas, in order to
provide for a wide range of community needs.
From my experience, this placement program is unlike any other fabricated case
studies done in university, I find it significantly beneficial for my future career due to

3. Name: Yiting Zhou
SID:440086318
experience gained from this program.
For me, communication is the most important quality that I have learned from this
project, not only reporting to superiors, but also exchanging ideas within teammates
to ensure that everyone is assigned certain tasks as well as progressing on the right
track. After we were briefed about this project, we produced a scoped marketing plan
and tasks were delegated respectively. Afterwards, when the team have completed
each individual task, we would discussed future problems that might come along the
way. In this way, we omitted the chance such as repeating same tasks within the group
and therefore succeed to finish on time eventually. Regardless of this, there was a
situation that I didn't manage to communicate very well with my superior, resulting in
several misunderstandings. During my research for potential conferences the Civic
Centre could bid on, a list including a brief summary and detailed reasons behind each
choice was produced. But sadly, when handing it in to my superior, the list was too
complicated to read and illegible. Therefore, more time was wasted to correct and
simplify it. Without proper communication the task delegatedto me was unsure as my
superior’s standards were not communicated. I realised that it was significantly
important to communicate in detailwith supervisors and teammates when completing
a project, which would both save time and focus on relevant information, allowing
myself to fully comprehend specifically what is needed from superiors.
Secondly, it is essential for employer to feel that an employee is useful and can bring
unique skill set for the company. During this program, I felt that we were really useful
for Broken Hill City Council having no records of previous conferences that was held in
Broken Hill City. In other words, the Council needed us to search for potential
conferences, at the same time investigate previous conferences that was held in Civic
Centre before, on which Civic Centre had the capacity to bid in the future.
Consequently, the Council relied on us for the entire application process as they were
fairly busy with their own business plan about Broken Hill. From our research, the
Council is also expecting to obtain competitors background and service information.
Due to expectation pressure from the sheer work load, a tight but well efficient
schedule was formed to compensate that. During the four weeks, we found out there
were lots of aspects that the Council could improve. There was no specific location for
the Broken Hill Civic Centre, which was a significant technological setback in locating
the building itself, which proved to be a major short coming for any organizer’s point
of view. Eventually, a conference list was made that has been scanned and reviewed
to be of professional standard for our superiors that not only made a statement, but
received approval from the Council.
Thirdly, plans were made prior in advance but however, compromise was done to
existing plans according to current state of the project and when needed. In the
beginning, a generalscope of the project which would cover the MICE market analysis,
target market and action plan was produced. That as it may, after we have begun to
start researching, it was concluded that the MICE market overview and SOWT
(Strength, Opportunity, Weakness and Threat) analysis were not necessary to be
included in our report since the City Council has already formed a very detailed
analysis for each aspect. As a result, we rescheduled our timeline and changed our

4. Name: Yiting Zhou
SID:440086318
plan, placing our focus on the conference list and strategic plan instead. Thus, non –
significant ideas and sections were omitted, and further work was done to meet the
funding the criteria at hand.
Lastly, which is substantial to me is teamwork. Although, teamwork seems to be fairly
easy to understand and realise, disagreement and arguments were still prominent
between members of the team during the past four weeks. In the beginning, we were
not sure about what kind of information we were supposed to look for. Rong already
assigned certain tasks to each member in the team. In spite of that, it turned out that
our superior did not need a detailed comparative advantage analysis and reasons
behind each choice. Hence, ultimately we had to fix our target list and strategic plan
as well. Moreover, since I and Nicole did research for the potential conference list and
the strategic plan together, we were not aware of what Rong’s task at hand was and
was at a disagreement for a considerable amount of time. Finally, Rong informed us
she was doing MICE market research and background analysis. Without her analysis,
our conference list and strategic plan would be for nought. From the program, I have
learned that we should not presume others’ work if the importance of his or her
position was not known. Furthermore, it is really important for team members to
exchange ideas and opinions honestly and openly. Trust and equality are both vital for
a team to efficiently and effectively function.
In a nut shell, although we did make some mistakes, especially in the first week, we
became more familiar with our content and got to picture a whole image and aim for
the Civic Centre and Broken Hill City. We got used to marketing research in MICE
industry and gradually understood the unique advantage of the Civic Centre as a new
entrant in the conference event market. From the placement program, I have learned
that the four elements- communication skill, ability, adaptability and teamwork, have
proven to be of utmost importance when it comes to be successful not only for
academic purposes but also applicable for my future career.

5. Name: Yiting Zhou
SID:440086318
Reference List:
Crane, A., Palazzo, A., Spence, L. and Matten, D. 2014, ‘Contesting the value of
“creating shared value”’, California Management Review, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 130-153,
viewed 30 July 2015,
<http://www.dirkmatten.com/Papers/C/Crane%20et%20al%202014%20in%20CMR.
pdf>
Pearson, C. and Helms, K. 2013, 'Indigenous Social Entrepreneurship: The Gumati
Clan Enterprise in East Arnhem Land', The Journal of Entrepreneurship, vol. 22, no. 1,
pp. 43-70, viewed 29 July 2015, <http://joe.sagepub.com>
Porter, M. and Kramer M. 2011, ‘The big idea: creating shared value’, Harvard Business
Review,vol. 89, no. 1-2, pp. 62-77, viewed 31 July 2015, <https://hbr.org/2011/01/the-
big-idea-creating-shared-value>
Santos, F.M. 2012, ‘A positive theory of social entrepreneurship’, Journal of Business
Elite, vol. 111, no. 3, pp. 335-351, viewed 31 July 2015,
<http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-012-1413-4/fulltext.html>