2015 Coursework Assignment
The coursework will take the form of a 2500 word submission.
Take any industry and a specific company within it. Prepare a critical analysis outlining the attractiveness of the industry and the
adequacy of the individual company’s strategy in the light of your expectations about future developments and outcomes. You will need to:
• carry out an environmental analysis
• assess test both the adequacy and likely sustainability of the company’s competitive advantage, based on both market
characteristics and the organisation’s perceived capabilities
• determine the general scope of any change required to enable a desired change in direction.
Approach
You should email me with brief details of the industry / company you intend to examine. You will be required to use secondary sources
only.
Make sure you refer to and apply theoretical frameworks used on the course in your answers. It is best to put these frameworks in an
appendix and reserve the main report for a narrative discussion of the industry / company situation.
Here are some guidelines to enable you to successfully complete the assignment:
1. Bullets vs paragraphs: neither rely on short bullet points which have no self-standing meaning nor on extensive and rambling
paragraphs: strike a happy medium
2. Planning answers: plan the structure and arguments to be contained within your answers properly. Be sure you know what your
‘storyline’ is before committing yourself to paper
3. CEO document: imagine that the CEO of the company has asked you to provide advice against the issues / questions raised: justify
your line of argument accordingly and provide evidence to support such arguments. A business report rather than a referenced academic
discussion is required.
4. Critique theory: be prepared to critique the theory and frameworks you have been given: are they fit for purpose? Do they work
under the particular conditions in which you seek to apply them?
5. Avoid application of templates: do not simply pepper your answers with PEST / 5 Forces: these should only appear as appendices:
based on such analyses you should then draw out arguments and recommendations based thereon. This is vital.
Indicative Report Format for Coursework
Note: you are not obliged to follow this structure, it is a suggested format only.
1. Introduction
What is the industry and how do you define its boundaries?
Which company, or significant part of a company are you looking at?
What is significant, what drives the industry?
2. Environment / background
General discussion of trends [based on PEST / 5 Forces etc,.]
Development of 1 or 2 scenarios: how do you think the industry will develop over the next 5-10 years?
3. The company
Describe its current strategy [based on SWOT / generic strategies etc,.]:
• Competitive positioning
• Competitive advantage
• Distinctive competence
4. Future prospects
Is the company’s perceived strategy adequate in the face of expected business environment / industry development?
What is the scope / type of change, if any, that you expect the company to need to undertake?
What are the financial implications given adequacy or otherwise of the current strategy: on what financial measures should the company
focus?
Appendices
These should contain all models used: the main body of the report should be for discussion only