Assessment Task: Strategic Management Report
Maximum Word Length: 3000
The word count is for the main body of the text and ignores the reference list and
appendices. Text in figures and tables in the main body of the text is included in the
word count. If you exceed the word length, you will be penalised. For details, see your
programme handbook
Report due: Thursday 21st May 2020 12pm (noon)
Requirements:
You are required to submit a strategic management report focussing on ONE of six
given organisations. Each organisation is facing different strategic issues. Strategic
issues are those that impact upon the competitive advantage, performance and/or
long term survival of the organisation. Information on these organisations, and the
strategic issues they each face can be found in the ‘Assessment Guidance’ area on
Blackboard (MOLE).
For your selected organisation, you are first to perform a strategic analysis to examine
in-depth the nature of the strategic issues they face. You should then propose TWO
strategic options for addressing the organisation’s strategic issues. You should
critically evaluate the pros and cons of these different strategic options before
choosing the ONE option that you think is most appropriate for addressing the
organisation’s strategic issues. Finally, you will explain how the organisation should
implement the chosen strategic option, reflecting upon any potential barriers and
challenges. Your report should draw upon relevant strategic management concepts,
theories and frameworks, and be supported with evidence and analysis. You should
use a combination of academic literature and (credible) practitioner sources to
support your work.
You should NOT collect primary data for this assignment. The material provided
in the ‘Assessment Guidance’ area on MOLE should be supplemented with your own
research from secondary sources. Your report should be structured as follows:
Section A: Strategic analysis (1000 +/- words)
In this section, you should identify your chosen organisation and analyse the strategic
issues it currently faces. In your analysis, you should make appropriate use of strategic
management concepts, theories and frameworks (e.g. you might utilise the PESTEL or
Porter’s five forces frameworks, the VRIO framework, the Mitchell et al (1997)
framework for stakeholder mapping and salience, you might analyse your organisation
and the strategic issues it faces using Porter’s generic strategies, or with reference to
corporate and global strategy frameworks etc.).
Section B: Strategic options and choice (1000+/- words)
In this section, you will propose and evaluate TWO different strategic options
(alternatives) for the organisation to address the strategic issues it faces. These
options should be identified clearly; they should also be discrete/non overlapping. You
should evaluate the pros and cons of the different options before making a strategic
choice about which option you think is most appropriate for addressing the strategic
issues faced by the organisation. The justification for your choice should be clear and
fully supported by your critical evaluation.
Section C: Strategy implementation (1000 +/- words)
In this section, you should discuss how the selected organisation should implement
the chosen strategic option. Identify: key activities that should be undertaken,
timelines for work to be done, resources needed, and how progress will be monitored
and controlled. Reflect on any possible barriers and challenges the organisation may
face in implementation. For example, there may be stakeholder issues, a culture that
is not conducive to change, or limitations in existing resources and capabilities. As far
as practicable, your recommendations for implementation should be tangible, realistic
and specific.
You are NOT expected to use all strategic management theories, concepts and
frameworks introduced in the lectures and reading, only those relevant to your chosen
organisation, its specific situation and the strategic issues it faces. You can draw upon
theory and concepts from other modules if correctly referenced and relevant.
However, the lens through which you examine your organisation and its issues should
be one of strategic management.
Referencing
You must reference your work correctly using the Harvard system. Failure to do so
will result in the deduction of marks and possible proceedings under the University’s
Regulations as to the Use of Unfair Means.
Support with referencing and use of the Harvard system is available via the University
library: https://librarydevelopment.group.shef.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.html
Independence of working:
You are reminded of the University’s Regulations on the Use of Unfair Means and
academic integrity which are outlined in the School’s Handbooks. If there is a suspicion
that your work is not your own and that you have used unfair means or there is
suspicion of a breach of academic integrity in writing this assessment then you may be
referred to our unfair means officers to consider your work. Therefore, you are
advised to ensure that you undertake the relevant guidance on the module site or
programme level sites that you have access too. If you cannot access these, please
contact the Student Experience Office.
Presentation
The use of figures and tables to support discussions is encouraged, but such figures
and tables should be appropriately captioned and referenced in the text. Text in
figures and tables that are in the main body of the assignment is included in the word
count – do not use these as a way to try and circumvent word count restrictions. The
document should be prepared with 1.5 line spacing.
Use of appendices
You are advised to be cautious when including appendices in the assignment. There
are no specific criteria for marking or mark allocation available for appendices, so the
assessment process focuses on the appropriate use of appendices. When deciding
whether or not to include appendices, you should consider the following points:
