Analysing business cases (essay)

Faculty of Business Studies

LB160: Professional Communication Skills for Business Studies

Second Semester 2014-2015

Tutor Marked Assignment (TMA)

Academic Year - 2015	Semester: SPRING
Branch: KUWAIT	Program: Faculty of Business Studies
Course Title: Professional Communication Skills for Business Studies	Course Code:LB160
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Total Mark:	Awarded Mark:
Mark details
Allocated Marks	Questions	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q5	Q6	Total
	Weight	10	10
	Marks	10	10					20
Allocated Marks	Criteria	Content	Language	Organization	Total
Marks	Q1
Marks	Q2
	Student’s Total Mark	20

Notes on plagiarism:

1. According to the Arab Open University By-laws, “the following acts represent cases of cheating and

Plagiarism:

· Verbatim copying of printed material and submitting them as part of TMAs without proper academic acknowledgement and documentation.

· Verbatim copying of material from the Internet, including tables and graphics.

· Copying other students’ notes or reports.

· Using paid or unpaid material prepared for the student by individuals or firms.

1. Penalties for plagiarism ranges from failure in the TMA to expulsion from the university.

Declaration: I hereby declare that the submitted TMA is my own work and I have not copied any other person’s work or plagiarized in any other form as specified above.

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· This TMA contains 2 parts. You should answer both parts.

· The value of TMA is 20 points.

· The mark assigned to each part is 10 points.

PART 1 (10 points)

Purpose: · To check the student’s skill in applying SWOT when analyzing a case study (B1S4, pp122). Learning Outcomes (B1S4, pp.109) · To look at how different framing techniques- including a new one called SWOT- can help in problem identification. · To practice using these techniques in writing your own problem analysis.

In about 300 – 400 words, write an essay analyzing the below case study using the SWOT framework.

Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.

In 1933, a company called Jidosha-Seizo Kabushiki-Kaisha (which means “Automobile Manufacturing Co. Ltd.” in English) was established in Japan. It was a combination of several earlier automotive ventures and the Datsun brand which it acquired from Tobata Casting Co., Ltd. Shortly thereafter in 1934, the company name was changed to Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. After the Second World War, Nissan grew steadily, expanding its operations globally. It became especially successful in North America with a lineup of smaller gasoline efficient cars and small pickup trucks as well as a sports coupe, the Datsun 280Z. Along with other Japanese manufacturers, Nissan was successfully competing on quality, reliability and fuel efficiency. By 1991, Nissan was operating very profitably, producing four of the top ten cars in the world.

Nissan management throughout the 1990s, however, had displayed a tendency to emphasize short-term market share growth, rather than profitability or long-term success. Nissan was very well known for its advanced engineering and technology, plant productivity, and quality management. During the previous decade, Nissan’s designs had not reflected customer opinion because they assumed that most customers preferred to buy good quality cars rather than stylish, innovative cars. Instead of reinvesting in new product designs as other competitors did, Nissan managers seemed content to continue to harvest the success of proven designs. They tended to put retained earnings into equity of other companies, often suppliers, and into real-estate investments, as part of the Japanese business custom of keiretsu investing.

… By 1999, Nissan had tied up over $4 billion in the stock shares of hundreds of other companies, as part of this keiretsu philosophy. These investments, however, were not reflected in Nissan’s purchasing costs, which remained between 20-25% higher than Renault’s. These keiretsu investments would not have been so catastrophic if the Asian financial crisis had not resulted in a devaluation of the yen from 100 to 90 yen=1 US dollar. As a result, both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s announced in February 1999 that if Nissan could not get any financial support from another automobile company, then each of them would lower Nissan’s credit rating to “junk” status from “investment grade”.

Clearly, Nissan was in need of a strategic partner that could lend both financing and new management ideas to foster a turn around. In addition, Nissan sought to expand into other regions where it had less presence. In March 1999, Nissan President and Chief Executive Officer Yoshikazu found such an alliance opportunity with Renault, which assumed a 36.8% stake in Nissan, allowing Nissan to invest $5.4 billion and retain its investment grade status.

… By creating the new alliance, Nissan and Renault expected to balance their market portfolios and become more competitive.Renault wanted a partner that was savvy and established in the North American and Asian markets. Furthermore, the merger of Daimler and Chrysler in May 1998 gave Renault a sense of urgency about finding a partner to compete more effectively on a Global scale. As a result Renault and Nissan agreed to a Global Alliance Agreement on March 27, 1999, with Carlos Ghosn designated to join Nissan as COO.

Adapted and abridged from: Millkin, J.P, (2005), “Background of Nissan” in Arthur A. Thompson, Jr. et al., Crafting and Executing Strategy”: pp. c-547-48.

Keiretsu: Japanese corporation made up of companies with a common supply chain linking wholesalers and retailers

Catastrophic: completely unsuccessful

Savvy: one having knowledge/ know-how

Answer Notes: Students may begin by creating a grid to identify the SWOT components as Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats and a mind map to construct the analysis text. Students are required to identify 3 strengths, 3 weaknesses, 2 opportunities, and 2 threats . Then to write an analytical text for the case study, you may refer to Text 4.3 in the Resource Book 1 as an example.

Answer Guide:

B1S4, Act. 4.10- 4.11, pp. 123; RB1 Extract 4.3(use as an example of analysis writing), pp. 56-57.

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PART II (10 points)

‘Downsizing is the process of purposely becoming smaller by reducing the size of the workforce or shedding divisions or businesses.’ Moorhead, G & Griffin, R. W.,(1998)” “Managing People and Organizations’ in “Organizational Behavior” p.35

Choose an organization, preferably in your country, and discuss the effects of downsizing on the organization and the employees (two effects each) in a well-written essay of around 500 words.

At least 2 outside resources are to be used. The resources are to be submitted to the tutor. The criteria on pp. 50-53 of B2S2 should be observed while locating source material.

Purpose: To write a well-structured essay.

Learning Outcomes:(B2S3 pp.69, B2S2 pp.41, & B2S4 pp.98):

· to analyse an essay title to be clear about its requirement

· to develop an argument that is relevant to the essay title

· to select and manage essay source material

· to paraphrase and use business studies language

· Review features of essay writing.

Comments: The student needs to select a specific organisation that has resorted to downsizing and discuss whether the goal was realized and how it affected the perception of the employees. Paraphrasing, summarizing, and citing the sources used are essential since using the words of others or including their work without acknowledgment is considered plagiarism. The Harvard referencing system, as presented on pp. 167-171 of B2S6, should be respected regarding the in-text referencing as well as the reference list.

Answer Notes: Your essay should include the features of essay writing as described by the checklist on pp.183-184