Global MBA Strategic Management Assignment 1 Individual Assessed Assignment 1: Business Strategy - 30% of Course Grade Select a business or part of a business that you are very familiar with. The...

Global MBA


Strategic Management


Assignment 1


Individual Assessed Assignment 1: Business Strategy - 30% of Course Grade


Select a business or part of a business that you are very familiar with. The business


must already exist. This is not an assignment to evaluate a new venture proposal.

Hints:
· Students who select a company, even if it only has one business area, are likely to
score poorly. The marker is looking for a very specific management agenda at the
end of the assignment; this is difficult to develop for a company. A company
assignment should be narrowed down.
· The assignment can be based on an internal department or service.

Assignment Structure Guidelines (1300 words maximum)


1. 100 words maximum


Provide background to the business, or part of a business, you are basing your


assignment on (this is to familiarise your marker with your subject matter).

Hints:
· A tabulation showing sales, profits etc. over time is usefully employed.
· What is the role of the business, or part of a business, you are basing your
assignment on? How is performance evaluated?
2.
100 words maximum


Select customer target. Outline customer job to be done, what they want,


crystallise customer needs.

Hints:
· Quantify, stress relative importance (weights) of customer needs in a
tabulation
· If different customers have very varied needs it may be appropriate to focus in
on one market segment with similar needs or even just on one customer
· You do not have to accept current customer needs; they change over time;
your desired strategy may be to re-educate customers to a novel set of
requirements you can uniquely satisfy. Note: customers may not be able to
articulate their needs.
· You may wish to reflect on the Decision Making Unit, Decision Making
Process, Influencers
3.
100 words maximum


Outline your current and desired position/core value proposition in broad terms (a


positioning statement outlines how you intend to meet the job to be


done/customer needs in a distinctive manner). Your current and desired position


may be the same. If the position is the same your assignment is primarily


concerned with how you can execute that position more effectively, efficiently and


build for the future.

Hints:
· Normally a positioning statement outlines how you intend to satisfy customer
requirements better than competitors. For an internal service how you could
deliver better value more cost effectively, or, better than potential external
providers
· M.E. Porter’s Generics, Need/Access/Variety; the Value Map, The Discipline
of Market Leaders, Distinctive Tag Line can be used to help illustrate your
desired position. Grant has chapters on Cost and Differentiation. Your desired
position should link closely to steps 5 (your Audit) and steps 8 (the
Management Agenda).

4. Optional tabulations


You may wish to audit:


a) How well you translate your position in the Marketing P’s:


Product/service, Price should have already been outlined in


Section 3 – Positioning, your core value proposition. These can


be recapped and Promotion and Place audited.


b) How well you compare to your Key Success Factors and Key


Performance Indicators, Key Result Indicators

5.
500 words maximum


Audit how well the business, or part of a business delivers its position currently in


the operating model

Hints – an audit:
· explains/describes what is done currently (stressing quantification – use
diagrams/tabulations for this.) Then…
· compares/contrasts against best practice/Key Success Factors. The aim
being to find gaps in performance - areas for improvement
· In auditing the business, or part of a business,
USE ONLY ONE
of the
following frameworks:
_ The Strategy Canvas
_ The Business System
_ The Value Chain
_ The Activity System Map

(pre-Workshop readings are provided on each)

Hints:
· Assignments with two diagrams tend to score better. The current situation
(i.e. current Business System) and the desired situation (i.e. future Business
System). The desired situation may be part of Section 8 – your Management
Agenda.
· Do not ‘jump’ from current to desired situation without an audit/evaluation of
the current situation.
· Detailed diagrams tend to score better, i.e. where are
costs, resources,
staff

tied up in the Business System? What are the
key activities
at each stage?
Where is value added ?
_ If information is not readily available provide best estimates and
press on
_ Diagrams and text should consider Fit: Consistency, Reinforcement
and Optimisation of the business or part of the business being
considered
_ Emphasise Fit with customer requirements – from current and
desired positions

6. Optional tabulations


Given your core value proposition you can list and score your standing on your


core resources and capabilities. After the audit you can plot resource/capability


strength/weakness against strategic importance. (R. Grant Chapters 5 and 6


consider resource and capability analysis.)


7. 200 words maximum.


Linkage internally and to the external ecosystem.


The assignment’s focus is on your business or part of a business. This section


allows you to reflect, and comment on how well key internal and external linkages


Fit, areas to improve.

8.
300 words maximum


Management Agenda – for the next 18-36 months


A management agenda is a blueprint for action, describing in detail how you


intend to move from the current to the desired position (A to B). How the


operating model will be strengthened to attain the desired position

Hints:
· Your strategy may not be fully implemented in the next 18-36 months. This is
not a concern, a strategy is a ‘work in progress’.
· This is why assignments with two diagrams tend to score better. The marker
can see where you are today and where you intend to be in the future
· If you are changing a lot, overview in your first paragraph the changes to be
made and then focus in on the key actions in the remainder of your agenda
· Agendas will set out milestones, resource allocation, responsibilities (You
should consider a tabulation to help you present your guidelines)
· Agendas naturally have a cost:benefit justification – why the
recommendations should be accepted
· Assignments need to outline how the change is to be accomplished, it is not
enough to say we will set up a committee to analyse this issue. Avoid ‘workplans’,
an agenda outlines what you will actually do.
· You should be happy passing on this script to your colleagues, senior
management, as a well reasoned/argued way forward for the business.
· Your agenda should be realistic – what you believe actually can be
accomplished.
· A bibliography, should you have one, is not part of your word count.
Overview


The assignment should be at maximum 1,300 words plus diagrams and tabulations




which are not part of the word count, but do not abuse this, as penalties will apply for




excessive use of diagrams and tabulations. Your assignment should be no longer




than 15 pages. Assignments significantly in excess of the word count will be




penalised. Supporting appendix data is not wanted. Please do not explain concepts,




the marker is familiar with them, just managerially apply them.


1. Assignments should be typed, 10 or 11 point font size (Times Roman or similar if
possible) double spaced with a 4 cm margin on the right side of the page with the
page size specified as A4. All pages must be numbered.