Choosing a company

I think it can be a case that a marker is so familiar with some companies that they then notice if something is overlooked by a student and missed out. Also students are ‘competing’ with other students using the same company so their work is going to be benchmarked against each other probably making it slightly harder to get a higher grade.

Possibly there may also be an element of potential subconscious bias / boredom by markers. When I was marking there was always a joke about students doing Tesco for Topic 8 (before they imposed industry sectors for this Topic). Then when the title for T17 changed Tesco became popular for that -so in some sense Carillion has become ‘the new Tesco’ !

If a student is after a higher grade then I recommend they don’t go for the obvious like Carillion for Topic 17, however I think this company is perfect if a student would be happy with just a C. That’s not to say getting an A for a T17 on Carillion is impossible as at least 3 of my students have (and the majority have exceeded a C) but I tell them to expect a C and anything above this is then a bonus. However if they really want to go all out for a higher grade then a more ‘unusual’ company is advisable.

I have been told by my mentor that I have to choose a competitor as well and so far, Tesla has no competitors in the world. He told me the following:
1) Competitor must be an EV company
2) Competitor must be mass producing EV like Tesla
3) Competitor must have world wide operations like Tesla.

So far, there are non. But I researched a bit and I found out that a Chinese EV company Nio is emerging in this segment and giving them tough time China. I don’t know about their world operation. So can I just compare the Tesla’s Chinese gigafactory numbers with those of Nio in China? Because I think that fulfills the requirements. Both are located in China, with all their sales in China (I mean the gigafactory of Tesla in Shaghai).

Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you