Summative Assessment Brief
Strategy Development Report
Drawing upon material discussed in the module, present a strategic analysis of British Airways, a critical evaluation of the firm’s strategic options and an assessment of issues surrounding the implementation of the proposed strategy/strategies.
Reports are a form of formal academic writing and should follow standard academic requirements regarding the content and layout. The 3,300 word report should include the following sections. An indicative word count per section is provided in brackets.
Title page that includes that includes the module’s name and code, the title of the assignment (Strategy Development Report), the selected company and a word count of the main body of the report.
Introduction (300 words) that provides a brief overview of the firm, its history and its current status.
Strategic Analysis (1000 words) that provides a critical analysis of the firm’s external and internal environment to determine the firm’s current strategic position. To develop the analysis for this section it is required to apply strategic management concepts, frameworks and tools and integrate academic and business literature to support the arguments.
The balanced scorecard (four key perspectives)
Lecture 3 and 4 PowerPoints
Strategic Options and Evaluation (1000 words) that discusses and evaluates three different strategic options. The choice and evaluation of these options must be carried out using appropriate strategic management frameworks discussed in the relevant module sessions.
Business level strategies – cost leadership, differentiation, cost focus and differentiation focus
Corporate level strategies – market penetration, product development, market development and diversification
The BCG (growth-share) matrix, corporate rationales, the parenting matrix, market growth options: the expansion method matrix, internal development, mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures and alliances
International drivers – market drivers, cost drivers, competitive drivers and government divers
Porter’s diamond framework, the globalization effect and competitive pressures in the global marketplace
International strategies – global standardization strategy, transnational strategy, international strategy and localization strategy
International expansion: strategic decisions, modes of international market entry, the cage framework and roles in an international portfolio
Identify different strategic evaluation criteria.
Assess the performance outcomes of different strategies in terms of direct economic outcomes and overall organisational effectiveness.
Employ three success criteria for evaluating strategic options (SAFe criteria), Suitability, Acceptability and Feasibility.
Use for each of these SAFe criteria a range of different techniques for evaluating strategic options, both financial and non-financial.
Lecture 6, 7, 8 and 9 PowerPoints
Strategy Selection and Implementation (700 words) that elaborates on the best strategic option/s for the firm and addresses the issues related to the implementation of the proposed strategy (or strategies). It is possible to recommend more than one strategic option from those that have been generated for the firm. A justification should be provided for those options that are rejected.
This section should also involve a discussion of issues related to the development of sustainable and responsible strategies for the particular firm. The discussion in this part should address strategic management aspects that are covered in the module and are relevant to the case and the proposals presented.
Evaluate the arguments about the complex relationship of strategy and structure.
Understand the factors and principles involved in designing the structure of an organisation to meet its chosen strategy.
Outline the different types of organisational structures and assess their advantages and disadvantages in relation to a particular strategy.
Identify typical symptoms of inappropriate structure – low morale, delays in decision making, conflict/lack of co-ordination, failure to innovate and escalating administrative costs.
Strategic management process and organisational structure, external environment and organisational structure, defining organisational structure, organisational hierarchy choices (tall structure and flat structure), centralised structure and decentralised structure
Types of organisational structure: small (or simple) structure, functional structure, multi-divisional structure (M-form), holding (or corporate) company structure (H-form), matrix structure, multinational/transnational structure and innovative structure
Lecture 10 PowerPoint
Conclusion (300 words) that provides an overview of the key points related to the firm’s strategic analysis and evaluation and an emphasis on the recommendations for the firm’s strategic direction.
References that includes a complete list of the references consulted for researching and analysing the firm and have been cited in the main body of the report. The reference list and citations must follow the Harvard referencing system.
The following sections do NOT count towards the word count:
Title page
Reference list – however, in-text citations (author, date) DO count
Words in tables and diagrams (as long as they contain key information only). Tables and diagrams, as you will be advised during the module, should be used to illustrate key points from the analysis and evaluation and should not contain extensive information. Accordingly, if information included in a table is extensive, it will count in the word count.
Document submission format:
The word count MUST be shown in the title page.
Page numbers MUST be included at the bottom of every page.
You should use Calibri 11-point, black typeface and 1.5 line spacing throughout.
The document you submit MUST be in Word (.doc or .docx) format and should be uploaded as one file.
To minimize file size, please do not include pictures or photographs. Instead you can include your own tables and diagrams.
All tables and diagrams MUST be included in the main body of the report within the relevant sections and not at the end of the report or in an appendix. Appendices are NOT required and should NOT be used.
You should number and include captions to all tables and diagrams for ease of reference in your text.
