There are two parts in this final assessment. You need to answer all the questions attached to both Part A: WeChat scenario (weight 10%) and Part B: Wil’s Grill case (weight 30%). Your typed responses should be prepared into a single word document, with a 12 font size (Times New Roman), double-spaced, margin 2.54 cm on each side. You are allowed to make unlimited submissions to the Turnitin submission link before the deadline
MGNT910 Wollongong Final Assessment T2 2020 Page 1 of 9 School of Management, Operations and Marketing Faculty of Business MGNT 910 Strategic Management Wollongong Final Assessment Trimester 2, 2020 This is an alternate assessment for the final exam. To be eligible to pass this subject, you must achieve a total mark of 50% or over, and obtain a minimum of 50% in this final assessment task. Assessment submission due date: Weighting: Direction to students: There are two parts in this final assessment. You need to answer all the questions attached to both Part A: WeChat scenario (weight 10%) and Part B: Wil’s Grill case (weight 30%). Your typed responses should be prepared into a single word document, with a 12 font size (Times New Roman), double-spaced, margin 2.54 cm on each side. You are allowed to make unlimited submissions to the Turnitin submission link before the deadline of August 3, 2020 (11:59PM, Sydney time) to check the originality of your work. You are required to prepare your answer to all the questions pertaining to both Parts A and B into a single word document. You word document needs to be submitted into the Turnitin link on Moodle under the Final Assessment on or before 03 August, 2020, 11:59 PM [Sydney time]. 40% MGNT910 Wollongong Final Assessment T2 2020 Page 2 of 9 PART A (10 marks) Question 1: Read the scenario of WeChat below and answer the following question. Critically examine the key strategies adopted for WeChat that led them to succeed in China. As a CEO of WeChat, what strategies would you craft for the future to continue its growth and success in the Chinese market? To justify your answer, use relevant concepts, and theories learned in this subject. (You may cite as many references as you deem appropriate to justify your answer. Word limit: 800 words with a flexibility of 10% plus or minus either way. The total word-count excludes references, tables, charts, and appendices.) SCENARIO: WeChat WeChat, a Chinese social media and messenger app similar to Whatsapp, allows users to chat, post photos, shop online, and share information as well as music. It has continued to add new features, such as WeChat Games and WePay, which allow users to send money electronically, much like Venmo. The company now serves more than a billion active users, a testament to the success of its strategy. WeChat has also had incredible success keeping out international rivals. Due to censorship and regulations in China, Chinese social media companies have an inherent advantage over foreign competitors. However, this is not why WeChat has become an indispensable part of Chinese life. WeChat has been able to surpass international rivals because, by better understanding Chinese customer needs, it can anticipate their desires. WeChat added features that allow users to check traffic cameras during rush hour, purchase tickets to movies, and book doctor appointments all on the app. Booking appointments with doctors is a feature that is wildly popular with the Chinese customer base due to common scheduling difficulties. Essentially, WeChat created its own distribution network for sought after information and goods in busy Chinese cities. WeChat also has an understanding of local customs that international rivals can’t match. In order to promote WePay, WeChat created a Chinese New Year lottery-like promotion in which users could win virtual “red envelopes” on the app. Red envelopes of money are traditionally given on Chinese New Year as presents. WePay was able to grow users from 30 to 100 million in the month following the promotion due to the popularity of the New Year’s feature. Today, over 600 million WeChat users actively use WePay. WeChat continues to allow users to send red envelopes and has continued New Year's promotions in subsequent years with success. Even Chinese companies have been bested by WeChat. Rival founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma, admitted the promotion put WeChat ahead of his company, saying it was a “pearl harbour attack” on his company. Chinese tech experts noted that the promotion was Ma’s nightmare because it pushed WeChat to the forefront of Chinese person-to-person payments. WeChat’s strategy of continually developing new features also keeps the competition at bay. As China’s “App for Everything,” it now permeates all walks of life in China in a way that will likely continue to keep foreign competitors out. Reference: Thompson Jnr., A.A., Peteraf, M.A., Gamble, J.E., Strickland III, A.J. (2019) Crafting & Executive Strategy: Concepts and Cases: The Quest for Competitive Advantage, (22nd Edition), McGraw Hill Education, N.Y. MGNT910 Wollongong Final Assessment T2 2020 Page 3 of 9 PART B: 30 marks Question 2. Suppose that Wil’s Grill has hired you as a strategic consultant. Wil’s Grill would like to make strategic decisions of how they can survive and grow in the food service industry. Write a report for the CEO of Wil’s Grill using information given in the case below and the results of your analysis. After the title page and executive summary, organise your report under the following two headings: a) Identification and Analysis of the key resources, capabilities, financial performance and core competencies of Wil’s Grill. (20 marks) b) Based on your analysis, develop justified and actionable recommendations as to whether Wil’s Grill should compete in both the street food and catering segments or do something else to realise its future growth and profitability. (10 marks) [Word limit: 1,200 words with a flexibility of 10% plus or minus either way. The total word-count excludes your executive summary, title page, references, appendices, tables, charts if any. No formal introduction, conclusion and table of contents are required to maintain the brevity of your report. You are required to use relevant theories, concepts from the textbook, and other reliable references such as relevant journal articles, industry reports to identify and analyse the key resources, capabilities, financial performance and core competencies of Wil’s Grill to derive actionable recommendations. There is no expectation of how many references to be cited. You may cite as many references as you deem appropriate to support your arguments.] Case study title: “Wil’s Grill” In January 2017, John Christ needed to make some decisions about his business, Wil’s Grill. Not long ago, his dad had said, “Son, passion has gotten you here; not the money.” Now, John needed to focus on “the money”—but which path should he take? He could expand his “street food” business, add a catering business, or do something else. John, who loved to make customers happy by serving them great healthy local food, recognised that he also needed to do so profitably. BACKGROUND John grew up on a ranch in Cave Creek, AZ, a small community northeast of Phoenix Arizona. His parents had food service and restaurant experience, and cooking and entertaining were an integral part of spending time with them. “By age 10,” John recalled, “I could cook.” As a teenager, John bussed tables at a restaurant where his dad Wil worked. He also spent many mornings with his dad at a clay-bird sport shooting range near Cave Creek. When done, they needed to go elsewhere for lunch, since the range did not offer food or beverages. So, father and son worked out an agreement with the range owner to open a small food booth on-site, which they named “Wil’s Grill.” On a single grill, they cooked burgers, fries, and served beverages. Wil taught his son the nuts and bolts of running the business: obtaining necessary permits and licences, ordering food and supplies, shopping, transportation, inventorying, cooking, cleaning and most importantly, MGNT910 Wollongong Final Assessment T2 2020 Page 4 of 9 “treating customers as friends.” Hospitality-driven service was a core value. To celebrate his high school graduation in December 2009, John went on a 30-day backpacking excursion with the National Outdoor Leadership School in Wyoming, where he later recalled, “I honed my leadership skills there and this would serve me well in managing my future business.” In August 2010, Wil closed Wil’s Grill when John enrolled at Northern Arizona University (NAU), in Flagstaff, about 120 miles north of Phoenix. At that time NAU enrolled about 23,000 students. John majored in Environmental Studies and also took classes in other areas, driven by “my