BEX 2000 Semester 2, 2023
Assessment Task 3-NuCar
Background Information
NuCar is an innovative electric motor vehicle manufacturer with a market presence in five countries
(United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand). Established in 2015, Fjord has
gone from a niche car manufacturer to a major new ‘player’ in the car industry. Led by its enigmatic
CEO, Elle Bache, NuCar has revolutionised the electric car market, producing well-built, stylish cars
with exceptional battery performance. As a result, NuCar’s cars have attracted strong customer
demand, with long waiting lists for new cars. However, with an increasing number of traditional car
manufacturers starting to produce electric cars with even better battery performance, NuCar has
been under pressure to retain its position as the most innovative, coolest car brand and to continue
to ensure their cars remain unique.
In response, NuCar has been considering several new initiatives. One of these initiatives involves
partnering with a new start-up company called ‘Block Man’ to develop a new blockchain-enabled
vehicle service logbook for the cars it manufactures.
Car service logbooks record the car’s maintenance history, the mileage and battery health at each
service, what car parts/components have been replaced and what repairs have been performed. It is
an important record for those who intend to sell their car in the second-hand market because those
who buy second-hand cars want confirmation that a car has been looked after and has been
maintained regularly. A car’s logbook provides this confirmation. This record is arguably even more
important in the electric vehicle market, given that proper servicing is central to protecting and
maintaining battery performance, unlike combustion engines. Switching to a blockchain-enabled
vehicle service logbook would enable individuals to replace the existing paper logbook with a
perpetual and unchangeable digital record of the servicing they have had on their cars.
The blockchain-enabled vehicle service logbooks would be integrated with NuCar’s spare
parts/components manufacturing process. This integration would mean that NuCar could ensure
that their customers only use spare parts manufactured by NuCar instead of using cheaper
parts/components manufactured by third parties. Whilst NuCar’s innovative electric cars have
meant that they have rarely had any competition from third-party spare parts/components
manufacturers, as NuCar’s cars have become more commonplace, a spare parts/component ‘grey
market’ has emerged to undercut NuCar.
In addition, the data collected from the car computers would be uploaded to the blockchain logbook
at each service, which would mean that NuCar would gain access to a large amount of data about
the car’s operation. This data would include how long specific parts/components lasted in the car,
how a car’s mileage impacted this and how a customer drove their car (for example, the speed the
car usually drove at, how long the car was kept idle, battery performance and charging, the road
surface the car drove on, the length of time the car was usually driven, and how sharply the driver
used the brakes). Because ‘Block Man’ was developing the system, it would also have access to this
data.
If NuCar was to introduce the new system, new customers could not opt out for the first three years.
Customers would receive free access to the blockchain logbook for the first three years of the car.
2 | P a g e
After this, they would need to pay a monthly subscription fee to continue using the blockchain
logbook and to access the stored data and records. Apart from the benefits of the logbook for
customers when they sell their car, customers would also maintain their 6-year extended car
warranty if they continued using the blockchain-enabled logbook. In addition, only NuCar-authorised
car service centres (motor mechanics) would be able to access the blockchain logbook system. This
would mean customers could not have other (third-party) motor mechanics service their cars.
Although this would not be unusual in the car industry or for NuCar; NuCar already requires
customers to get their cars serviced (maintained) at their Authorised Service Centres to keep their
extended warranty. For customers, the system would prevent the loss/damage/alteration of a car’s
traditional paper logbook and safeguard a record of their car’s service/maintenance history.
As ‘Block Man’ are entering into a partnership with NuCar, they would co-fund the costs of the
development of the system. They would then be entitled to a percentage of the monthly
subscription fee collected from customers.
Elle Bache is very excited about this proposal and thinks there may be further opportunities to
monetise a logbook blockchain. She has also personally invested heavily in Bitcoin and regularly
tweets about this, drawing her followers’ attention to the latest digital coin offerings.
Assessment Task
As the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of NuCar, you are to prepare a report for the Executive Team
which evaluates the proposal to partner with ‘Block Man’ and introduce the new blockchain-based
car service logbook.
In your report, you should:
a) Explain what blockchain is and how you would see it working in the context proposed by
NuCar.
b) Identify the problem(s) NuCar is trying to solve by introducing the proposed blockchain
system.
c) Identify the ‘value-add’ for customers, for NuCar and ‘Block Man in implementing this
system and collecting the data.
d) Identify the challenges to implementing a project of this nature, for NuCar, its customers
and its service centres and for ‘Block Man’.
e) Consider the legal and ethical risks the proposal raises and how NuCar might address these
risks.
f) Based on what you have discussed in response to parts a) to e), provide a recommendation
of whether NuCar should go ahead with plans to partner with Block Man to introduce a
blockchain vehicle servicing logbook. Ensure that you justify your recommendation.
The assessment task requires you to research the problem and critically reflect on your findings to
write a report. You should substantiate the claims/arguments you make in your report by citing
relevant materials and drawing on the knowledge you have learnt throughout this unit. You can
draw on various types of resources such as news articles, journal articles, industry reports,
government/policy reports, information published by the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC), and white papers/reports published by consulting firms (e.g. McKinsey, PwC,
Bain & Co). Whatever resources you choose, you should ensure you draw on at least 3 articles
3 | P a g e
published in academic journals. You cannot use generative AI in this assignment. Your evaluation
should consider the broader market within which NuCar operates, so you should familiarise yourself
with the customer experience currently offered by car manufacturing companies. This group
assignment is an authentic assessment task that allows you to apply your understanding of a specific
digital technology to a specific industrial process. The task will enable you to develop research,
analytical, critical-thinking, and written communication skills.
WEIGHTING: 40%
DUE DATE: Week 12, Sunday 22 October, 2023, 11:55 PM AEST
WORD COUNT:
• Strictly 4800 words (+/-10%) for the business report
• Everything except your cover sheet, table of contents and your bibliography counts towards the
word count.
• Any report outside of this word limit will be penalised.
• Your document should include a word count on the title page.
CONDITIONS FOR USING GENERATIVE AI:
Generative AI tools cannot be used in this assessment task
In this assessment, you must not use generative artificial intelligence (AI) to generate any materials
or content in relation to the assessment task.
FORMAT/LAYOUT:
• Students are encouraged to access and use the support information and materials on the Monash
LearnHQ pages (https://www.monash.edu/learnhq).
• Specifically, use this link to access information and guidance on how to write a case study:
https://www.monash.edu/learnhq/excel-atwriting/annotated-assessment-samples/business-
andeconomics/buseco-writing-case-studies
• Use the APA 7 citation style to reference any source material that you draw on (academic articles,
white papers, reports, webpages, etc.).
4 | P a g e
SUBMISSION DETAILS:
• ONE report (WORD format, i.e. doc or docx) is to be submitted by the group leader via Moodle
using the “Assignment 3 – NuCar Case Study” link
• The assignment will be processed via Turnitin. You will be required to agree to the submission
statement.
• Your file should be named X_Y_Z.docx where X is up to 100 characters identifying your GROUP, Y is
up to 8 characters of SURNAME and INITIAL of the group leader, and Z is your STUDENT ID of the
group leader – e.g.: Mon09:30am_ThambarP_0101010
LATE SUBMISSIONS:
• Late submissions will be penalised 10% for every day late (penalty will be applied proportionately
for part days – e.g.: 3 hours late will attract a proportionate penalty and not the full 10% per day).
• Extensions will only be provided to students who receive approval from the Chief Examiner before
the due date.