Applied Corporate Strategy Assessment: Strategic Analysis Report.
The module is assessed (100%) by an individual Strategic Report (maximum 3,000 words) involving an in-depth, strategic analysis of a large organization.
Instructions for assessment
This assignment is focused on the selected organization, its industry and business environment.
The Strategic Report should address the following:
1) Carry out external analysis (business environment and industry) to identify a set of Opportunities and Threats and assess industry attractiveness. (30%)
2) Analyze the resources and key competences of the organization and identify core competences (key factors that may give the company its competitive advantage). (30%)
3) Choose one strategy that the company implemented recently and evaluate it using SAFe criteria. (30%)
A further 10% is available for clarity, structure, grammar, correct Harvard referencing and overall professional presentation showing clear report style.
Please note that the emphasis is on application (strategic models should be applied to the organization)! Appropriately referenced data should be used in support of your arguments and discussion.
The report should not exceed 3,000 words + 10%. Appendices are allowed outside this limit but NO MORE than 6 pages.
How will your work be assessed?
Your work will be assessed by a subject expert who will use the marking scheme indicated below.
Q1: (30%) External analysis.
Discuss the business environment and identify a number of Opportunities – Os and Threats – Ts (we expect 6 issues from business environment to be discussed in total each of which concluded as an O or a T). Industry analysis (5 Forces) should be applied to assess industry attractiveness (each force should be discussed and assessed as High, Moderate or Low and industry attractiveness should be assessed having those forces in mind).
Q2: (30%) Internal analysis.
Identify and discuss organizations resources & unique capabilities (at least 6 Strengths and Weaknesses should be covered in total). Demonstrate how unique capabilities link to competitive advantage (use VRIO to identify Core Competences for the organization).
Q3: (30%) Strategy Evaluation
Choose a recent strategy that the company undertook and evaluate it using the three SAFe tests.
PRESENTATION: (10%) We expect a professional report with clear report style (not an essay) e.g. frontsheet, contents, clear sections, tables & diagrams and relevant Harvard referencing. The word count should not be exceeded by more than 10%.
