Assessment

The assessment is a Patchwork assessment consisting of the following Patches:

Patch 1 – A Research Proposal

Patch 2 – A Briefing Note

Patch 3 – Professional Communication

Patch 4 – Final Report

The assignment will consist of producing a full strategic analysis of a particular company. The strategic analysis will cover:

- An analysis of the current position of the company.

- An analysis of the options available to the company based on the analysis of the current position.

- Recommendation of an option for the company to implement.

- Production of an implementation strategy for the recommended option.

In addition to the strategic analysis stated above the assignment will also produce:

- A research framework to conduct the strategic analysis which will be evaluated.

- An appraisal/evaluation of the process that was undertaken to produce the strategic analysis.

Company

The company that will undergo the strategic analysis will be agreed by the student and the allocated supervisor. There will be a number of factors to consider when selecting the company:

- The availability of relevant data for the company to support the analysis.

- The complexity/position of the company which will enable a rich analysis.

Patch 1 – Proposal

The Proposal document will consist of the following:

- The choice of company

- The background of the company chosen

- A justification of the choice of company

- An initial gathering of data for the company and the industry within which it operates

- An initial statement of the research approach that will be taken

Patch 2 – Briefing Note

The Presentation will be supported by the briefing note which is part of Patch 3. The Presentation will cover the initial analysis that has been conducted. The initial analysis will cover the Current Position analysis and will consist of:

- An analysis of the environment of the company

- An analysis of the internal position of the company

- An analysis of the stakeholders

- An analysis of the culture of the company

Patch 3 – Professional Communication 

The Professional Communication Patch will consist of three elements:

- A Memorandum

- A Business Letter

Briefing Report – The Briefing report will be produced along with the Presentation and will provide a concise statement of the position of the strategic analysis being undertaken when the Current Position analysis has been completed.

Memorandum – The Memorandum will be produced at the end of the Strategic Option stage. The Memorandum will outline the options that have been identified and will state the recommended option.

Business Letter – This will be produced with the final analysis report and will be a covering letter for the Final Report.

Patch 4 – Final Report

The Final Report will consist of the following sections:

- Introduction/Background

- Strategic Analysis Approach/Research Approach

- Current Position Analysis

- Option Generation/Recommendation

- Implementation Strategy

- Evaluation/Appraisal

Introduction/Background

This section will introduce the company that will be analysed. It will provide the background of the company and why it is suitable for analysis. This section will provide the context for the analysis of the company i.e. where it is situated in the environment.

Strategic Analysis/Research Approach

This section will state and discuss the approach to the analysis and the research i.e. the framework that will be used to produce the strategic analysis.

Current Position Analysis

This section will contain the analysis of the following area: the environment, the internal analysis, the stakeholders, the culture of the company.

Options

This section will discuss the strategic options that are available for the company. It will select and justify an option for the company to take forward to implementation.

Implementation Strategy

This section will state and justify a recommended implementation strategy for the chosen strategic option.

Evaluation/Appraisal

This section will provide an evaluation/appraisal of the strategic analysis undertaken considering both the planned approach taken and the implementation of the planned approach.

Sections – Elements to Consider

Introduction/Background

The history of the company, the size and scale of the company, the industry/market the company is in, the competitors, the environment the company operates in.

Strategic Analysis/Research Approach

The approach that will be taken to undertake the strategic analysis. Examples of the approach are the rational method, the Johnson and Scholes iterative top down method, the systems approach.

Current Position Analysis

A Current Position Analysis should analyse four elements:

Environment – analyse the environment in which the company sits. The tools/models that can be used to support an environmental analysis are: PESTEL, SWOT, Five Forces.

Internal Position – analyse the competencies, capabilities and resources of the company. Tool/models that can be used are: Resource Analysis, Financial Analysis, Ratio Analysis, Boston Consulting Grid, Life Cycle model, McFarlan’s Grid.

Stakeholder Analysis – identify and analyse the stakeholders of the company. Can use Mendelow’s Matrix for this analysis.

Culture – identify and analyse the culture of the company. Tools/models that can used to support an analysis of the culture: Cultural Web.

Options

To identify and analyse options the following tools can be used: Boston Consulting Grid, Ansoffs Growth Matrix, Decision Trees, Investment Appraisal, SAF.

Implementation Strategy

For the options the company has chosen or for your recommended options produce a high level Implementation Strategy. The areas you will need to consider when producing the Implementation Strategy are:

- Financial Implications

- Organisation Structure

- Physical Locations

- Human Resources

- Business Processes

- Information Systems

- Timescale

Strategic Development Process

Produce an appraisal/evaluation of the Strategic Development Process you have undertaken. Consider areas such as:

- Your personal learning

- How useful the process was

- Which tools/techniques you found effective

- Which tools/techniques you found less effective

- What you might do differently if you perform a Strategic Development Process in the future