Assignment Outcomes:
1. Understand and integrate a range of contemporary issues within the strategic management field and their influence on the strategic decision making process.
2. Apply critical analytical processes, both qualitative and quantitative, within complex business environments to develop cogent perspectives/ arguments.
3. Combine subject concepts, ideas and paradigms for the creation or crafting of solutions or responses that address strategic level issues within an organisation.
Assignment Task:
Introduction: Students will select an Omani company (SAOG) or a multinational Corporation operating in the country (Oman) for investigation and completing the tasks below. Students are expected to gather information from other secondary sources such as business and scientific magazines, academic journals, company reports and the internet.
Please note the 2,500 to 3,000 word limit is including tables, headings and executive summaries, but not including appendices, table of contents, figures, references, etc.
Part 1:
1. Introduce your organisation and its objectives and examine its ownership structure, external and internal governance mechanisms and any forms of external control. Highlight the intended strategic direction for the organization over the next 5 years or (5 year decision duration) as selected by group including:
a. Vision / Mission Statements.
Relate answer to the literature/readings. e.g. Exploring Corporate Strategy (ECS - Johnson and Scholes)
b. Overall Target Markets and Strategic Rationale.
Relate answer to the literature/readings. e.g Exploring Corporate Strategy (ECS - Chapters on Business Level Strategy ), Corporate Level Chp7 - corporate rationale, BCG etc. What is the basis of competition, What Directions (Ansoffs/Grand Strategy Matrix) and How?
c. Objectives: Relate to measurable aspects especially measurable quantitative.
2. Analyze the organizations' Functional Level Strategies per decision period and which can include:
- Human Resources (is your team operating effectively?)
- Operations (capacity, production & inventory)
- Marketing (4P's)
- Financial (does your team have the funds for chosen investments?)
- Technology/R&D (new product development, technological capabilities/competences)
Review trends/changes over the period - consider graphs on key data (target say against actual) to inform your discussions. Simply providing generic information will not be sufficient but it has to be organization specific.
3. Conduct a Strategic Analysis of these sources of competitive advantage to determine whether they are strategic resources. Connect the development of these resources with the corporate governance mechanisms you identified in your answer to question one.
Internal and External Analysis: A detailed analysis of your overall external and internal initial situation including competitor analysis to identify and inform your overall strategies.
You should any apply theory/models as appropriate to this external internal analysis.
Use tools such as PESTEL, 5-Forces, CSF'S, Strategic Groups/Sectors (existing and new targets) - Chapter 2 of ECS and Chapter 3 are internal audits (resources, financial, plant, people (theory: Core competences. Unique Resources - possibly relate also to Value Chain/Network.
4. Make recommendations for the development of strategic resources (including the corporate governance process) to increase the competitiveness of your chosen organisation, while staying within the same strategic group. (Recommendations that create competitive advantage consistent with the organisations current competitive advantages).
You must provide properly referenced and evidenced answers in a way which relates the related to concepts and models used as a strategist. You must provide a clear rationale for your strategic decisions (for example based upon changes in the macro environment, key drivers, the "Five Forces", competition and importantly changes to your internal resources and competences).
Note: If your organisation is part of a larger international organisation, you may consider only your country's division. Avoid considering individual departments or sections of an organisation as this will constrain you to deal with functional level strategy only.
Part 2: Final Report - A Reflective Portfolio
The objective of this part of the assignment is to reflect upon your learning experience and to conclude upon the competitive position of your firm at the end of the explored /selected 5 year duration and to outline the key strategic actions necessary for your teams selected organization to achieve sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) for the future.
Organize the final section of your report as follows:
1. Description of your company's successes and failures and your learning's in implementing your strategy against your set mission/vision and plans as given in part one of your report. Again relate to appropriate theory from above and possibly consider the strategy lenses, strategic gaps? Etc.
2. Include in your final report your reflections on this learning exercise. Refer to your Moodle on recommended the adapted reflective learning cycle by Race (1999) as set against the modules learning outcomes (As provided in the Module Information Guide).
3. Provide a brief outline, based on your company's "end game" position, your strategic recommendations for the next five years for your organization.
Oral Presentation:
Each group member will assume the role of a strategic leader of your organization and will be expected to present the following aspects:
(a) Compare and contrast the trends, challenges and opportunities of the organization / industry you identified in Part 1-3 above and those aspects t are reported in the assignment above.
(b) What are the trends, challenges, opportunities and findings that are relevant to your researched area? Why?
(c) Propose solutions based on your functional expertise to the challenges identified. Justify your solutions.
i. Present your findings to class [10 -15 minutes each including Q&A]. All other participants in the class will play the roles as strategic leaders in specific areas of the assignment hence a clear role subdivision is expected. Each group member is expected to be prepared to defend your findings.
ii. Summaries of your findings in the 1-page worksheet are expected during the presentation. Please complete items 1-3 and provide a both a soft and hard copy of the PowerPoint presentation before the actual presentation in class. Submit the copy of the presentation to your Instructor before the start of the presentation.
Total words count - 2500-3000 words. The report should contain:
Cover page, which indicates title, names of students, name of instructor and date and place of submission (students can use provided template);
Table of contents:
a) Introduction, which discloses the main goal and objectives of the tasks, indicated the main methods and data used for the task, briefly describes structure of the report;
b) Discussion, which discloses description and analysis of main issues investigated during the task.
c) Conclusions that reveal main findings regarding each issue of the research.
d) List of references (using Coventry Harvard style of referencing);
e) Appendices if needed (appendices are not included in the main report words count);
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