Robert Grant’s work on the resource-based view (RBV) of strategy.
Block 2 explains how organisations make sense of their external and internal environments in order to help conceive and execute appropriate strategy. This TMA invites you to use a powerful tool linking internal analysis to strategy – from Robert Grant’s work on the resource-based view (RBV) of strategy.
TMA 02 question (2000 words)
Using the ‘resource-based approach to strategy analysis’ supplied in Reading 8 (see Figure 1 in the reading) and associated concepts, critically analyse the strategy followed by an organisation of your choice.
You should select an organisation that has a well-developed website. This will allow readers who want more information to see what you are analysing.
Guidance notes
This question requires you to show your knowledge and understanding of the RBV, as well as your ability to criticise it constructively. You are free to choose any organisation that you know something about and which has a well-developed website. We recommend that you do not choose very large organisations. Nonetheless, if you opted to develop your analysis on a large organisation, we would suggest that you select a sub-unit/department/subsidiary, which has a discernible strategy, to approach the assignment.
Grant’s ‘The resource-based theory of competitive advantage: implications for strategy formation’ (Reading 8) is of the utmost importance for developing your essay for this TMA, especially the five-stage procedure for strategy formulation depicted in Figure 1 of the reading. Nonetheless, there are plenty of references to RBV in other parts of the B301 module materials that you should use when writing your essay, such as in Block 1 Unit 3 (and Reading 4) as well as in Block 2 Unit 2 (and Reading 7). Reading 9 considers how dynamic capabilities relate to the RBV.
When marking TMA 02 your tutors will consider the depth and coherence of the arguments that you provide, as well as your understanding and appropriate use of Grant’s resource-based approach to strategy analysis and additional B301 module concepts. Furthermore, they will take into account your ability to critique Grant’s model, offering a balance of its good and bad points (Unit 2.5 might assist you in this task).
