Module Title:

Strategic Management and Leadership

 

 Task:

Choose one company from the list published on the eLP (see Assessment Folder after Lecture L08).

 

You MUST choose from the list of companies provided on the eLP (attempts to use another company, that is not on the list, will fail).

 

For you chosen company, explain how successful you think it is and discuss the strategic reasons behind that success.  Your explanation should include something about the contribution of leadership to the company.  Go on to suggest strategies and/or actions for ensuring success in the future.

You should read the guidance on page 2 of this brief and the marking scheme at the end of this brief to understand how you should approach the assignment and how marks will be allocated.

Further guidance, including examples of marker feedback (shown in Lecture L08) and Revision AudioVisual Presentations will appear on the eLP.

 

Notes:

1. Word limit = 3,600 words. See page 3 of this brief for an explanation.
2. Tables and figures with large amounts of descriptive text (rather than summary data) WILL be included in the word count.
3. No appendices are permitted.
4. The assignment contributes 100% of the module mark.

 

Guidance

Full guidance is now given in Lecture L08 and the accompanying Panopto audio-visual presentation.

We want you to tell us how you think the company has been able to compete successfully and justify your answer with analysis based on topic areas taught as part of this module.  “Success” could be evaluated in terms of measures such as growth, profitability, market share and so on.  But how has the company achieved this position which may have taken several years?

To tackle the question you need to carry out a full strategic analysis of the company and the business environment.  But we only want to read the really important elements of that analysis and the conclusions you draw.  You have to judge what is most important and present this to us in a clear, academically rigorous manner. You must present conclusions (your interpretation of the analysis) for each section below.

Your assignment should contain the following sections (5cm spacing between each) numbered exactly as follows.  Mark allocations are shown in the marking scheme at the end of this brief. 1.     A brief (maximum 100 words) introduction to the company 2.     Company data which can be used to evaluate its success concluding with your thoughts about whether or not the company can be described as “successful”. 3.     An outline of 8 to10 business reasons behind the success stated in a simple, straightforward way with a brief (4/5 sentences) explanation of each reason.  Avoid strategy “jargon”; no analysis is required – this is a test of your broad business knowledge and understanding. 4.     A detailed analysis of the company’s strategic capabilities starting with a Value Chain and followed by a VRIN evaluation.  Your interpretation of the analysis must clearly show how the company has been able to build competitive advantage. 5.     An evaluation of the contribution of leadership to the company’s success, basing this on appropriate theory.  A wide range of topics will be acceptable including: o    Leadership (e.g. styles, attributes) o    Management theories  o            Organisational culture o             Decision-making 6.     A detailed analysis and interpretation based on one further topic area from the following list: o Business (competitive) strategy consistent with strategic capabilities o International strategy (based on the framework in Exploring Strategy) o Innovation strategy o    Collaboration (alliances, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions) 7.     An explanation of any external and/or internal factors that might make it difficult for the company to be successful in the future and suggestions (based upon your prior analysis) as to how the company can best deal with these.

 

• ALL sections should cite sources of research data and theories/concepts on which your analysis is based. The only exception to this are the suggestions contained in your strategic recommendation that you make in Section 7; these should be YOUR original ideas and therefore citations are not expected. However, we do expect you to refer to elements of your previous analysis (by page number) to support your arguments.
• Cutting and pasting material directly from sources with citation is poor scholarship.
• Short extracts from cited sources are permissible – use double quotation marks”” and citation including page number

Final Submission of Assignment:

Word Limits and Penalties for Assignments

If the assignment is within +10% of the stated word limit no penalty will apply.

 

The word count is to be declared on the front page of your assignment and the assignment cover sheet.  The word count does not include:

• Title and Contents page           Glossary
• Reference list           Bibliography
• Tables, figures and illustrations (see Note b on p1)               Cited Quotations

 

Please note, in text citations [e.g. (Smith, 2011)] and direct secondary quotations [e.g. “dib-dab nonsense analysis” (Smith, 2011, p.123)] are INCLUDED in the word count.

 

Mapping to Programme Goals and Objectives:

 

This assessment will contribute directly to the following Undergraduate programme goals and objectives:

 

1. Knowledgeable about the theory and practice of international business and management Objectives:

Students will be able to:

 

x

x

x

1. Acquire knowledge of functional areas of business and management.
2. Acquire knowledge of specialist areas of business.
3. Apply their knowledge to business and management contexts.
4. Conduct contemporary research into business and management.

 

2. Skilful in the use of professional and managerial techniques and processes Objectives:

Students will be able to:

 

x

x

1. Provide evidence of self reflection as a means of informing personal development planning.
2. Demonstrate effective interpersonal communication skills and the ability to work in a team.
3. Demonstrate critical thinking skills
4. Demonstrate problem solving skills.

 

3. Aware of ethical issues impacting on business and professional practice Objectives:

Students will be able to:

 

1. Identify an ethical dilemma in a business situation
2. Suggest ethical solutions to this dilemma

 

4. Employable as graduates Objectives:

Students will be able to:

 

1. In the context of securing graduate employment demonstrate the skills of self presentation.

 

 

 

Achievement of Goal 1 Objective 4 and Goal 2 Objective 3 are measured throughout the assignment.  The other Goals and Objectives are measured primarily in certain sections – these are shown on the feedback sheet below.

 

 

Business and Management modules

 

Student ID ………………… Programme ……….……………………………………           FT/PT                                                                                                                          Location ……………………………

 

Grade	Excellent	Very Good	Good	Adequate	Inadequate	Bad
	A sophisticated but clear discussion of what is meant by “successful” and how this applies to the company, supported by a range of data types.     7-10	A discussion of how successful the company is consistent with at least two types of appropriate data. Recognises that “success” can be difficult to evaluate.     6	A statement of how successful the company is consistent with two types of appropriate data but very little discussion.         5	A statement of how successful the company is consistent with   one type of relevant data           4	Very little relevant data, no attempt at evaluation of success           3	Almost no relevant data, no evaluation of success             0-2
	An excellent set of key reasons with good, clear explanations. Very good research and demonstration of business knowledge.   Goal 1 Obj 1 exceeded   7-10	A very good set of reasons with good explanations.  Good research and demonstration of business knowledge.     Goal 1 Obj 1 exceeded   6	A good set of reasons, some less than key, but good explanations.  Reasonable research and demonstration of business knowledge.   Goal 1 Obj 1 exceeded   5	Acceptable set of reasons but either too few or too many to be considered a set of key reasons.  Basic explanation, basic research, adequate business knowledge. Goal 1 Obj 1 met   4	Either rather limited or else a scattergun list with weak explanations.  Research very limited – does not demonstrate adequate business knowledge. Goal 1 Obj 1 not met   3	No understanding of the reasons underpinning success.  Very poor research.  Fails to demonstrate any significant business knowledge. Goal 1 Obj 1 not met   0-2
	Excellent discussion supported by rigorous and detailed analysis       Goal 1 Obj 3 exceeded   21-30	Very good discussion based on accurate analysis covering most of the relevant points       Goal 1 Obj 3 exceeded   18-20	Good discussion based on analysis that is generally good but has gaps or small errors       Goal 1 Obj 3 exceeded   15-17	Basic discussion based on analysis that is competent but no more.       Goal 1 Obj 3 met   12-14	Poor quality, partial analysis that does not support any discussion.       Goal 1 Obj 3 not met   9-11	No evidence the student understands the topic area.  Analysis of very poor quality.       Goal 1 Obj 3 not met   0-8
	Excellent evaluation supported by rigorous analysis based on relevant theory.  The data has been collected from a wide range of sources.       11-15	Very good evaluation with careful analysis based on relevant theory with wellresearched data         9-10	Good evaluation based on relevant theory with good data.             7.5-8.5	Basic evaluation based on relevant theory.  Analysis competent but no more.           6-7	Inadequate evaluation – either the theory is not relevant or the analysis is of poor quality.           4.5-5.5	No evidence the student understands any relevant theory.  No evaluation.           0-4

Page 5 of 6

Business and Management modules

Grade	Excellent	Very Good	Good	Adequate	Inadequate	Bad
	Excellent discussion supported by rigorous and detailed analysis           14-20	Very good discussion based on accurate analysis             12-13	Good discussion based on analysis that is generally good but has gaps or small errors           10-11	Basic discussion based on analysis that is competent but no more.           8-9	Either the topic area is not relevant or the analysis is of poor quality.           6-7	No evidence the student understands any relevant topic areas.  Analysis of very poor quality.         0-5
	More than two good suggestions with excellent rationales based on identified factors.     Goal 2 Obj 4 exceeded   11-15	Two good suggestions appropriate to the company with very good rationales based on identified factors     Goal 2 Obj 4 exceeded   9-10	One relevant suggestion with good rationale based on identified factors OR two relevant suggestions with brief rationales.   Goal 2 Obj 4 exceeded   7.5-8.5	One relevant suggestion with a brief rationale based on identified factors.       Goal 2 Obj 4 met   6-7	Suggestions lack relevance and a convincing rationale based on identified factors       Goal 2 Obj 4 not met   4.5-5.5	No evidence the student understands much about the company at all,       Goal 2 Obj 4 not met   0-4
Total	70 – 100	60 – 69	50 – 59	40 – 49	30 – 39	0 – 29