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 organisation. The subject of the report will be decided by the module convenor but students will be able to choose from a list of several examples.
Instructions for assessment
This assignment is focused on the selected organisation, its industry and business environment. In week 2 you will be given a list of organisations to choose from. Choose only one organisation for the purposes of this assignment.
Formative work in weekly seminars will guide students through analytical techniques and processes required to complete the task.
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) Analyse the resources and key competences of the organisation to identify a set of Strengths and Weaknesses and identify core competences (key factors that may give the company its competitive advantage). (30%)
3) Evaluate the given strategy (as per chosen organisation) using SAFe criteria. (30%)
See pages 2 and 3 for more information and guidance.
A further 10% is available for clarity, structure, grammar, correct Harvard referencing and overall professional presentation showing clear report style.
Note that the emphasis is on application! This assignment is not about general (or critical) discussion of strategic models. You are asked to apply these models to the case chosen. 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.
ACS Assignment guidelines
Please provide only a short introduction to state the company, strategy and define the industry in context.
Q1. External analysis (not about company). PESTEL & 5 Forces – approx. 1300 words
PESTEL: 6 most important issues to be identified, discussed and each concluded as an O or a T.
5 Forces: each force to be discussed and assessed as High, Moderate or Low. Having these forces in mind assess industry attractiveness.
Os and Ts from PESTEL (and 5 Forces – e.g. high rivalry) should be placed in TOWS.
Q2. Internal analysis (resources and competences) – approx 1000 words
Resources (what a company has) – descriptive approach. Approximately 5-6 resources to be identified and discussed (each should be discussed in a separate paragraph and concluded as a Strength or a Weakness). Try to address human, physical and intangible resources (financial resources are important but you are not required to address these). Try to identify at least one Weakness.
Competences (what a company does). Two tables needed (Value Chain and VRIO). Approximately 5 – 6 activities (distinctive competences) to be placed in Value Chain and pushed through VRIO to identify one Core Competence.
One distinctive competence (ideally core competence) should be discussed in detail (explain the activity, state why it is good/special, provide evidence, provide your reasoning behind VRIO – why is this activity Valuable to customers, Rare and difficult to imitate; do not worry about O, just assume that all activities have organisational support) in the main body. You can discuss another distinctive competence in the appendix. Each distinctive competence is a Strength, so (assuming that you identified and discussed 5 resources – 4 Ss and 1 W) and listed 5 distinctive competences in value chain, in total you should have 5Ss (competences) + 4Ss (resources) + 1W (resources) = 9Ss + 1W.
The above Ss and Ws should be placed in TOWS.
Note that in Q2 you should discuss resources and competences of the main company (acquirer) without the target. The target company should not be discussed at all.
Q3. Evaluation – approx. 700 – 1000 words. (S: 150; A: 500; F: 150).
It is the specific strategy that should be evaluated! Strategy was given with the company (it depends on the company you chose for your assignment). This is where you may mention the target company (this is not a requirement). You are not required to carry out internal analysis for the target company (you will go over your word limit and might sacrifice quality for quantity).
Suitability (does the strategy make sense). Start with TOWS. Place the strategy you are evaluating in one of the inner 4 quadrants and try to link internal and external issues with it (e.g. if you placed a strategy in SO quadrant state what Ss you combine with what Os while considering the strategy.
Acceptability (is the strategy acceptable – to selected stakeholders). Identify a number of stakeholder groups (e.g. 5) and place them in a Power/Interest matrix. Then select 3 groups and for each discuss how will they be affected by the strategy you are evaluating and therefore is the strategy acceptable to them or not.
Feasibility (can the strategy be implemented). Discuss skills and financial resources that may be required (and how did/will the company obtain these).
General guidelines
Do not discuss theory and models, it is all about your application.
Do not provide many pages of references (bibliography) – one is enough. It is more important to provide in-text references for figures, charts, quotes you have used in support of your arguments.
Total word count should not exceed 3300 (3000 + 10%) and you should not have more than 6 pages of appendices.
Companies for the assignment ACS MAY 2021
VF Corporation Acquires Supreme For $2 Billion
Information about the deal and news
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/v.f.-corp-vfc-acquires-supreme-brand-enhances-portfolio-2020-12-29
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/v-f-corp-vfc-acquires-160404695.html
Corporate site
https://www.vfc.com/investors
https://www.vfc.com/news/press-release/1741/vf-corporation-completes-acquisition-of-supreme
Nvidia acquires ARM
Information about the deal and news
https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-to-acquire-arm-for-40-billion-creating-worlds-premier-computing-company-for-the-age-of-ai/
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/02/arm-ceo-simon-segars-expects-regulators-to-look-closely-at-nvidia-deal.html
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54142567
https://www.businessinsider.com/us-china-will-come-to-terms-on-nvidia-arm-deal-2020-10?r=US&IR=T
Corporate information:
https://investor.nvidia.com/Home/default.aspx
Annual report 2020:
https://s22.q4cdn.com/364334381/files/doc_financials/2020/ar/2020-nvidia-annualreport-content-r25-web-144dpi-combined.pdf
Uber to acquire rival Postmates for $2.65 billion
Information about the deal and news
https://www.ft.com/content/16536618-1d29-4f3c-95c4-f732869e50e2
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/07/06/uber-postmates-acquisition/
Corporate information
https://investor.uber.com/news-events/news/press-release-details/2020/Uber-to-Acquire-Postmates/default.aspx
Annual report 2019:
https://s23.q4cdn.com/407969754/files/doc_financials/2019/ar/Uber-Technologies-Inc-2019-Annual-Report.pdf
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