essay and portfolio

10. The requirements for the assessment

You will write a 2400 word (+/- 10%) paper entitled:

A Critical Evaluation of the Strategic Choices Available to XX.

You have already prepared one strategic analysis paper on your portfolio company (‘XX’) for Assignment 1.

For this assignment, you will write a further paper in which you will answer a similar question in relation to

strategic options and choices, but in a more critical and evaluative way. Your answer will be based on the

work you have been doing since that first paper. See Special Instructions, section 12 below.

11. Assessment criteria

The assignment will be marked in line with the attached undergraduate grade descriptors for level II/III. A

copy of this is attached.

Markers will be looking for the following of evidence for a PASS:

The ability to:

• Produce a reasoned well written paper which addresses each of the points required in the above

table.

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the strategic issues facing their chosen company

and its environment

• Produce a portfolio which includes the use of appropriate models and theories, and includes an

appropriate number of academic references.

Pieces of work that are merely descriptive and make no use of strategic theory and frameworks will be

awarded low marks.

Higher marks will be awarded as per the grade descriptor grid to students who:

• Demonstrate greater understanding and insight into the issues affecting their company

• Display skills of analysis and critical evaluation

• Demonstrate an ability to integrate theory and practice by applying strategic principles to their

company and the industry of which it is a part.

12. Special instructions

1 You MUST attach, as appendices, all your portfolio entries for the learning set topics you have

been working on each week covering:

• the origins of your chosen company and key aspects of its corporate/company culture, determining if

these are these similar to the other companies in your learning set

• has there been some "strategic drift" in the way your company is operating

• how your company is positioned strategically using a Bowman’s Clock diagram. You will have placed

two or three of its main rivals on the clock too.

• an instance of blue ocean strategy or hybrid strategy in your industry. What were the outcomes for

your company?

• an Ansoff Matrix for your chosen company

• your company’s strategic direction in recent history

• examples of recent M&A activities in your industry and the motivations for doing this

• your chosen company’s involvement in M&A in recent years

• whether your industry is characterised by alliances

2 Failure to attach these portfolio entries as appendices will result in an automatic deduction of 10 marks for

your paper because this is the evidence base which supports your arguments.

BM6101 Assignment 2 Brief 2014.doc Page 3 of 4

3 You are also required to submit a copy of your work through the Turnitin system by 11:59pm on the date of

submission. See module guide for details.

4 Given the likely file size, this paper is to be handed in to the Assignment Office with a cover sheet rather

than sent electronically.

5 Treat your paper like any other in terms of how it is structured (Introduction, Main Body, Conclusion) and

reference properly with an accurate bibliography citing the sources used.

Endnote

Careful referencing of sources is vital when making use of the work of others. You are expected to employ

the referencing conventions recommended in the Field/Course. These conventions apply to information

taken from internet sources, as well as books, journals and lectures. These are some of the points you

should check before submitting your work:

• are all direct quotations, from both primary and secondary sources, suitably acknowledged

(placed in quotation marks or indented)?

• have you provided full details of the source of the quotation, according to the referencing

convention used in the Field/Course?

• have you acknowledged the source of ideas not your own, even if you are not quoting

directly from the source?

• have you avoided close paraphrase from sources? (Check that you are not presenting

other people’s words or phrasing as if they are your own.)

• if you have worked closely with others in preparing for this assessment, is the material you

are presenting sufficiently your own?

Please see below the Level II/III Grade Level Descriptors, which will be used to assess this

assignment.