Posted: September 13th, 2017

Strategic Management Individual Coursework Report

Paper, Order, or Assignment Requirements

 
A strategic review and report of your allocated company (Ryanair).

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT (MOMN082H7) MODULE ASSESSMENT Coursework (35% of the total mark) The coursework is made up of two components: 1. A team seminar presentation (up to 10% of the overall marks). 2. An individual coursework report/strategic review (up to 25% of the overall marks). INDIVIDUAL COURSEWORK REPORT (25% Final Mark) Submission Deadline: Thursday 19th February Individual Coursework Brief: You will be allocated an organisation in one of several industry groupings (these could include the Media, Sports-Retail, Supermarkets-Retail, Leisure & Travel or Telecoms). The coursework requires you to perform a strategic review of your allocated organisation in order to: • Identify and describe its current strategic position, i.e. its purpose, vision, mission, values, product/service, market(s)/customers, etc. • Identify: (i) its strengths and weaknesses and opportunities and threats, (ii) its competitive position within the industry and (iii) the key forces driving change in the industry in which it operates. • Review the current strategies being pursued by the organisation and, in light of your strategic audit, generate a list of strategic options that the organisation could pursue in the future. The report (2,500 words maximum) should attempt to address the following questions and should be submitted, electronically in the Turnitin assignment Dropbox in Moodle, by the coursework submission deadline: You are required to prepare a report for the Board of Directors of your allocated organisation. The report (2,500 words maximum) should address the following questions/issues: 1. Using the current Annual Report and Accounts and/or other relevant sources of information, critically evaluate the strategic position (mission, goals, objectives, core values, etc) of your allocated organisation. 2. What markets does your organisation serve? How are these segmented? Who are the organisation’s customers? What are the main changes in customer needs and expectations that are likely to occur over the next 2-5 years? How well placed is your organisation to address/meet these changes? 3. Carry out an analysis of your organisation’s internal environment (SWOT analysis). What do you consider to be the organisation’s main strengths and weaknesses? What are the organisation’s key resources, capabilities and competences? What factors are likely to have the greatest impact on the future strategic direction of your organisation? Page 2 of 4 4. Carry out an analysis of your organisation’s external environment (SWOT and PEST analysis). What are the key environmental influences on organisations in that industry (Political, Economic, Sociological and Technological)? What are the main drivers of change? What are the main threats and opportunities facing your organisation? 5. Use Porter’s 5-Forces Model to analyse the competitive position of your organisation. What are the key competitive forces at work? Are there any changes that might occur that would significantly affect the basis of competition in the industry? Which forces do you consider to be the most important to monitor for the future? Why? 6. To what extent can Porter’s Generic Strategies be used to describe the business level strategies currently being pursued by your chosen organisation? 7. To what extent can Ansoff’s (Product Market) Growth Strategies be used to describe the corporate level strategies currently being pursued by your chosen organisation? 8. Use the results of your analyses in 1-7 above to generate a list of the 3 key strategic options available to your organisation in the future (i.e. strategies that exploit any strengths or opportunities or overcome any of the weaknesses or threats that you identified). Where possible indicate the priority (i.e. degree of importance) that should be given to these strategic options and the time frame over which they should be addressed (short, medium or long term) and outline any issues that the organisation needs to address in order to implement these strategic options. Note: You will need to be creative in your thinking and approach to the strategic review and in your application of strategic analysis. Suggested Outline (Structure) Below is a suggested outline for your report – note that word counts for each section are only approximate – so please use this for guidance only. It’s designed to help organize your thought. There is sufficient flexibility so as not to constrain individual creativity in formulating your response and each report will be read as a ‘whole’ – not simply according to its constituent parts. Section Word Count (2500 words) Content Description Abstract or Executive Summary Excluded from the word count ~250 words This should provide a short, succinct summary of the current strategic position of your organisation, your approach/methodology used and the key findings/conclusions of your strategic analyses. Introduction 300 words Set the scene by introducing and providing some background to your allocated organisation, including a summary of its current strategic position (point 1). Strategic Review ~1800 words (You should use appropriate sub-headings to add structure to your report). The main body of the report needs to include a summary of your strategic analyses of the organisation (points 2-6). This should include discussion of both qualitative (descriptive, analytical, visual, etc.) as well as quantitative (graphs, tables, statistics, etc.) as appropriate. You can use primary or secondary evidence and data as long as it is all correctly referenced. Any supporting information or data can be included in Appendices at the end of the report. Conclusions and Strategic Options ~400 words Provide a short synthesis of your findings to summarise the key issues arising out of your analyses and list summarise/discuss the strategic options available to the organisation for its continued success in the future. Page 3 of 4 References and Bibliography Excluded from the word count Please provide a full bibliography (see PG student handbook for referencing style guide). The bibliography should cover all the sources cited in the main body of your report. Appendices Excluded from the word count If required, you can provide supporting documentation, data, tables, etc. as individual appendices. Appendices should only include relevant supporting information. If the information is a vital part of your discussion and/or argument then it should be included within the body of the report and not relegated to an appendix. Points to consider: • Whenever possible you should attempt to relate your analysis/discussion to theoretical concepts and perspective(s) covered during the module and relevant academic research. • Be careful not to make subjective statements that are not backed up by evidence or references. Reference factual information as well as conceptual ideas. Provide references throughout main body of text to strengthen your arguments and key points. • Where relevant, consider practical implications and use as a basis for your strategic analyses and recommendations. • Remain within the overall word limit (+/- 10%), excluding references and appendices). Important Information on Coursework Submission: Deadlines: Coursework should be submitted electronically in the Turnitin assignment dropbox in Moodle by the coursework submission deadline. The Absolute Cut-Off (ACO) deadline is 3 weeks AFTER the normal coursework deadline. However, unless you have ‘mitigating circumstances’ late submission will result in your work being capped at a pass mark. Please see the PG Student Handbook for more details about deadlines and ‘mitigating circumstances’: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/management/docs/handbooks/Postgraduate-Handbook.pdf Further Details about Assessment: Full details about Assessment policy and procedures can be found in the PG Student Handbook (see: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/management/docs/handbooks/Postgraduate-Handbook.pdf). This includes details about: Coursework Presentation, Assessment Criteria, Late Submission and Mitigating Circumstances, Plagiarism, etc. Note: Before completing and submitting your work you should ensure that you read and fully understand the section on ‘Referencing and Plagiarism’, taking particular note of ‘How to Avoid Plagiarism’. In this respect, each piece of coursework will be put through a plagiarism detection service software. 5.1. Assessment Criteria (from PG Student Handbook) Each piece of coursework will be judged along the following dimensions: (1) Addresses the question: the relevance of content in addressing the question (e.g. discuss, compare and contrast). (2) Use of research and examples: the use of material, including course readings, research findings or other forms of evidence. (3) Analysis and development of argument: the construction of a coherent and convincing argument for holding a particular view. (4) Depth of knowledge and critical understanding: depth of knowledge of relevant literature and ability to use complex concepts and ideas. Page 4 of 4 (5) Originality: provision of new insights or original ideas based on independent thought or creative thinking. (6) Structure: a logical arrangement of the work into sections (introduction, main points, conclusion) with appropriate paragraphs, linking and signposting. (7) Presentation: putting across ideas clearly, succinctly and without grammatical and spelling errors. (8) Referencing and bibliography: acknowledgement of sources using appropriate citation conventions e.g. Harvard System of Referencing. The following table also gives an indication of what is expected for each range of marks. 80-100% = High Distinction Marks in this range indicate an exceptionally high level of scholarship and outstanding performance in terms of all of the dimensions outlined. While work at this level exhibits scrupulous completion of the requirements of the assignment, it will also exhibit a high degree of research initiative, high quality of analysis, academic sophistication, comprehension and critical assessment, making a novel contribution to the relevant research area empirically and/or theoretically. 70%–79% = Distinction Marks in this range indicate high levels of scholarship, and high performance in terms of all of the dimensions outlined. Comprehensively argued research of interest and originality which is also well organized and presented exhibiting a sound, critical and analytical grasp of the relevant literature(s) and drawing on an extensive range of relevant academic sources. The work will display an excellent understanding of underlying theory as well as employing appropriate research methods and analytical techniques, resulting in findings of interest and significance. 60%–69% = Merit Work that demonstrates a good command of the subject and relevant literature(s) as well as a sound grasp of critical issues, with evidence of independent thought and a high standard of argument as well as good presentation. Work towards the bottom of this range may have occasional weaknesses and flaws but will nevertheless show a generally high level of competence. Work towards the top of this range will be highly competent on all dimensions. 50%–59% = Pass Marks in this range indicate general capability, but with moderate levels of weaknesses on one or more dimensions indicated above. Work in this range may contain inaccuracies, the arguments may lack clarity or rigour, or there may be a lack of critical understanding. It will however be coherently structured and presented, showing a sound command of the subject, some awareness of critical debate, and the ability to construct a generally coherent argument. 40%–49% = Fail Marks in this range do not quite meet the minimum standards for a pass, with considerable levels of weaknesses on one or more dimensions. Work in this range may suffer from flawed arguments, weak structure and presentation, an inadequate command of course materials, or a serious failure to reflect on those materials. It will however demonstrate a basic understanding of the course being examined and show evidence of reasonable attention to the course materials. 30%–39% = Low Fail Marks in this range display major levels of weaknesses on two or more dimensions. The work may be reliant on a minimal range of reading and reflection with poor attention to detail. Work in this range may be characterised by assertions lacking supporting evidence or argument, or by seriously flawed understanding of key concepts. 0%–29% = Very Low Fail Marks in this range indicate general incompetence, with highly serious levels of weaknesses on two or more dimensions. Work in this range will either fail to present any real argument or opinion, or fail to engage at all with the topic in question. Work may quote heavily from a small number of sources, but fail to integrate them and provide little or no narrative to explain their relevance.