Business and Management Challenges case study

Business and Management Challenges

SOE 08701

Coursework (weighting = 50% of overall mark)

The coursework will be a written report, you are invited to read the case study The Virgin Group from the textbook pp 293 – 297 (you can also find an electronic copy on Moodle), and answer the following questions. In order to answer the questions, you need to extract as much information as possible from the case study to support your discussion. You are also encouraged to go beyond the case study, use external sources about The Virgin Group to enhance your answer.

1. Set out an analysis of the key forces in the general environment (both national and international) which have an influence on the business. Among the key forces are Political, Economic, Legal, Socio-cultural, Environmental/Ecological, and Technological. (around 600 words)

2. Conduct a Five Forces analysis of one of the Virgin companies, Among the forces are new entrants, substitutes, buyers, suppliers and competitors. (around 600 words)

3. Conduct a SWOT analysis. Among the issues to be addressed are the business response to the threats and opportunities; was the business reactive or proactive? how the business activities are organised? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Judgement on the business ability to respond. (around 600 words)

4. Are the decisions mentioned in the Case programmed or non-programmed? And why? Refer to the material on Virgin Rail, and identify an example of the ‘dependency’ of decisions. (around 300 words)

5. On balance, does the Virgin story support the planned or the emergent view of strategy? And Why? (around 300 words)

6. Which generic strategies has Virgin Group followed? And Why? (around 300 words)

7. What new issues appear to be facing the company that were not mentioned in the case? (around 300 words)

Length – As a guide the length of the report should be around 3000 words (The word count excludes headings, references, appendices and tables).

Referencing - should be in Edinburgh Napier University standard APA 6th format. More information on referencing is available: http://libguides.napier.ac.uk/c.php?g=98534&p=2653510

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Matriculation Number:   Date Submitted: 

Module: BMC (SOE08701)  Date Marked: 

 

Assessment Category  Fail  Acceptable  Good   Very Good  Excellent  Marks awarded 

Q1. An analysis of the 

general environment (20%)             

Q2. Five Forces analysis 

(20%)             

Q3. SWOT analysis (15%)             

Q4. Programmed and non‐

programmed decisions & 

Dependency (10%) 

           

Q5. Planned or the 

emergent view (10%)             

Q6. Generic strategies 

(10%)             

Q7. New issues facing The 

Virgin Group (10%)             

Appropriately cited and 

referenced (5%)             

 

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