3600 word paper on Strategic amanagement

Assessment Brief – Level Six Undergraduate

Business and Management modules

Module Code:	SM0374 Semester 2 2013-14
Module Title:	Strategic Management and Leadership
Distributed on:	February 2014	Hand in Date:	Check noticeboards

Further information about general assessment criteria, ARNA regulations, referencing and plagiarism can be found on the module site on the e-Learning Portal. Students are advised to read and follow this information.

Task:

Choose one company from the following list. For this company, explain how successful you think it is and discuss the strategic reasons behind that success. Your explanation should include something about the contribution of leadership to the company. Go on to suggest strategies and/or actions for ensuring success in the future. 1. Jaguar Land Rover Automotive plc 2. FedEx Corporation 3. Hertz Global Holdings Inc Notes: a. Word limit = 3,600 words. See page 3 of this brief for an explanation. b. Tables with sentences (rather than data) WILL be included in the word count c. No appendices are permitted. d. You should read the guidance on page 2 of this brief and the marking scheme at the end of this brief to understand how you should approach the assignment. Further guidance, including examples of student work, will be posted on Bb. e. The assignment represents 100% of the module mark.

Format for submission:

· The assignment should be written in Arial, 11pt, left-justified, 1½ spacing.

· Every page should be numbered and show your student ID (but not your name)

· Leave at least 5cm at the end of each section for us to write comments. Please note that we may not fill of the 5cm – it depends what type of feedback we think is needed for each answer.

· Print the assignment double-sided, if possible

· All academic and other sources must be cited and included in a reference list.

· The completed assignment should be submitted in a single polypocket – the type with fixing holes down one side. Do not staple or otherwise fix pages together.

Guidance

To tackle the question you need to carry out a full strategic analysis of the company and the business environment. But we only want to read the really important outputs of that analysis. You have to judge what outputs from the analysis (i.e. your conclusions) are most important and present these to us in a clear, academically rigorous manner.

We want you to tell us how you think the company has been able to compete successfully and justify your answer with analysis based on topic areas taught as part of this module. “Success” could be evaluated in terms of measures such as growth, profitability, market share and so on. But how has the company achieved this position which may have taken several years? It could be explained using analysis based on one or more of the following strategic management topic areas:

· Strategic capabilities leading to competitive advantage

· A clear business strategy consistent with strategic capabilities

· Development strategies based on strategic capabilities leading to growth

· Methods of strategic development supporting the growth strategy

· A well-managed international strategy

· An effective innovation strategy

· Good leadership

So, your assignment should contain the following numbered sections (5cm spacing between each):

1. Company data which can be used to evaluate its success concluding with your thoughts about whether or not the company can be described as “successful”.

2. An outline of 6 to10 business reasons behind the success stated in a simple, straightforward way with a brief (4/5 sentences) explanation of each reason. Avoid strategy “jargon”; no analysis is required – this is a test of your broad business knowledge and understanding.

3. A detailed analysis of the company’s strategic capabilities based around the Value Chain and VRIN tools. Your interpretation of the analysis must clearly show how the company has been able to build competitive advantage.

4. A detailed analysis and interpretation based on one further topic area from the list of topics at the top of this page.

5. An evaluation of the contribution of leadership to the company’s success, basing this on appropriate theory. A wide range of topics will be acceptable, including leadership, management, organisational culture and decision-making.

6. An explanation of any external and/or internal factors that might make it difficult for the company to be successful in the future (cite sources) and suggestions as to how the company can best deal with these.

Please remember that:

· ALL sections should cite sources of research data and theories/concepts on which your analysis is based. The only exception to this is the suggestions you make in Section 6; these should be YOUR original ideas and therefore citations are not expected. All cited sources should be listed in APA format in the References section at the end of your assignment

· Cutting and pasting material directly from sources without citation is plagiarism

· Cutting and pasting material directly from sources with citation is poor scholarship

· Short extracts from cited sources are permissible – use quotation marks

· You should use your own words wherever possible

Submission of Assignment:

All assignments must be submitted via the Undergraduate Programme Office. Each assignment must be accompanied by an Assessed Work Form which must be completed in full. The assignment will not be accepted by the Undergraduate Programme Office unless the form is completed correctly and the assignment is in the correct format.

An electronic copy of the assignment should be uploaded on Bb in the SM0374 Assessment Folder.

Marked assignments will be returned to students. It is advisable to retain a copy of your assignment for you own records. Your mark will be returned on the Assessed Work Form via the Undergraduate Programme Office.

Word Limits and penalties for assignments

If the assignment is within +10% of the stated word limit no penalty will apply.

The word count is to be declared on the front page of your assignment and the assignment cover sheet. The word count does not include:

1. Title and Contents page	1. Reference list	1. Appendices	1. Appropriate tables, figures and illustrations (but see note (b) on p1)
1. Glossary	1. Bibliography	1. Quotes from interviews and focus groups.

Please note, in text citations [e.g. (Smith, 2011)] and direct secondary quotations [e.g. “dib-dab nonsense analysis” (Smith, 2011 p.123)] are INCLUDED in the word count.

If this word count is falsified, students are reminded that under ARNA page 30 Section 3.4 this will be regarded as academic misconduct.

If the word limit of the full assignment exceeds the +10% limit, 10% of the mark provisionally awarded to the assignment will be deducted. For example: if the assignment is worth 70 marks but is above the word limit by more than 10%, a penalty of 7 marks will be imposed, giving a final mark of 63.

Mapping to Programme Goals and Objectives:

This assessment will contribute directly to the following Undergraduate programme goals and objectives:

1. Knowledgeable about the theory and practice of international business and management

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

x	1.	Acquire knowledge of functional areas of business and management.
	2.	Acquire knowledge of specialist areas of business.
x	3.	Apply their knowledge to business and management contexts.
x	4.	Conduct contemporary research into business and management.

2. Skilful in the use of professional and managerial techniques and processes

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

	1.	Provide evidence of self reflection as a means of informing personal development planning.
	2.	Demonstrate effective interpersonal communication skills and the ability to work in a team.
x	3.	Demonstrate critical thinking skills
x	4.	Demonstrate problem solving skills.

3. Aware of ethical issues impacting on business and professional practice

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

	1.	Identify an ethical dilemma in a business situation
	2.	Suggest ethical solutions to this dilemma

4. Employable as graduates

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

1.

In the context of securing graduate employment demonstrate the skills of self presentation.

Achievement of Goal 1 Objective 4 and Goal 2 Objective 3 are measured throughout the assignment. The other Goals and Objectives are measured primarily in certain sections – these are shown on the feedback sheet below.

Assessment Brief – Level Six Undergraduate

Business and Management modules

SM0374 Assignment Brief Semester 2 2013-14 v5 Page 1 of 6

SM0374 Semester 2 2013-14 Student ID ………………………………..

Grade	Excellent	Very Good	Good	Adequate	Inadequate	Bad
Successful?	A sophisticated but clear discussion of what is meant by “successful” and how this applies to the company, supported by a range of data types. 7-10	A discussion of how successful the company is consistent with at least two types of appropriate data. Recognises that “success” can be difficult to evaluate. 6	A statement of how successful the company is consistent with two types of appropriate data but very little discussion. 5	A statement of how successful the company is consistent with one type of relevant data 4	Very little relevant data, no attempt at evaluation of success 3	Almost no relevant data, no evaluation of success 0-2
Business Reasons	An excellent set of key reasons with good, clear explanations. Very good research and demonstration of business knowledge. Goal 1 Obj 1 exceeded 7-10	A very good set of reasons with good explanations. Good research and demonstration of business knowledge. Goal 1 Obj 1 exceeded 6	A good set of reasons, some less than key, but good explanations. Reasonable research and demonstration of business knowledge. Goal 1 Obj 1 exceeded 5	Acceptable set of reasons but either too few or too many to be considered a set of key reasons. Basic explanation, basic research, adequate business knowledge. Goal 1 Obj 1 met 4	Either rather limited or else a scattergun list with weak explanations. Research very limited – does not demonstrate adequate business knowledge. Goal 1 Obj 1 not met 3	No understanding of the reasons underpinning success. Very poor research. Fails to demonstrate any significant business knowledge. Goal 1 Obj 1 not met 0-2
Analysis and Interpretation of capabilities	Excellent discussion supported by rigorous and detailed analysis Goal 1 Obj 3 exceeded 21-30	Very good discussion based on accurate analysis covering most of the relevant points Goal 1 Obj 3 exceeded 18-20	Good discussion based on analysis that is generally good but has gaps or small errors Goal 1 Obj 3 exceeded 15-17	Basic discussion based on analysis that is competent but no more. Goal 1 Obj 3 met 12-14	Poor quality, partial analysis that does not support any discussion. Goal 1 Obj 3 not met 9-11	No evidence the student understands the topic area. Analysis of very poor quality. Goal 1 Obj 3 not met 0-8
Analysis and Interpretation other topic	Excellent discussion supported by rigorous and detailed analysis 14-20	Very good discussion based on accurate analysis 12-13	Good discussion based on analysis that is generally good but has gaps or small errors 10-11	Basic discussion based on analysis that is competent but no more. 8-9	Either the topic area is not relevant or the analysis is of poor quality. 6-7	No evidence the student understands any relevant topic areas. Analysis of very poor quality. 0-5
Leadership	Excellent evaluation supported by rigorous analysis based on more than one relevant theory. 11-15	Very good evaluation with careful analysis based on more than one relevant theory. 9-10	Good evaluation based on at least one relevant theory. 7.5-8.5	Basic evaluation based on one relevant theory. Analysis competent but no more. 6-7	Inadequate evaluation – either the theory is not relevant or the analysis is of poor quality. 4.5-5.5	No evidence the student understands any relevant theory. No evaluation. 0-4
Factors and Suggestions	More than two good suggestions with excellent rationales based on identified factors. Goal 2 Obj 4 exceeded 11-15	Two good suggestions appropriate to the company with very good rationales based on identified factors Goal 2 Obj 4 exceeded 9-10	One relevant suggestion with good rationale based on identified factors OR two relevant suggestions with brief rationales. Goal 2 Obj 4 exceeded 7.5-8.5	One relevant suggestion with a brief rationale based on identified factors. Goal 2 Obj 4 met 6-7	Suggestions lack relevance and a convincing rationale based on identified factors Goal 2 Obj 4 not met 4.5-5.5	No evidence the student understands much about the company at all, Goal 2 Obj 4 not met 0-4
Total	70 - 100	60 - 69	50 - 59	40 - 49	30 - 39	0 - 29