Select an organisation as a case study and write a strategy report which critically analyses the business environment of the organisation and evaluates the strategies implemented by the organization.

Imagine that you are submitting this Strategy Report to the Board of Directors for their consideration. Therefore, it must be professional both in content (depth of research and analysis) and presentation (layout and writing style).

You will need to engage with and apply the business models and frameworks typically used to undertake an environmental audit and effectively evaluate strategic options available to organizations in terms of appropriateness, feasibility, and sustainability. You may use headings and subheadings to organise the points that you wish to make.

The starting point of this strategy report is selection of an organisation. You must select one international organisation of your choice. You can also make your selection from the list of 100 largest companies in the world by market capitalization published by Statista to investigate and analyse for your assessment. Choose your company carefully. Your selection could be based upon areas of interest, the type of company that you might want to work for in the future and/or the course you are enrolled on. We suggest that you shortlist a few companies and briefly review each of the organisations prior to making your final choice. The choice must be yours alone and not your tutor’s.

Coursework Structure

Cover sheet: This must contain the module title and code, assignment title, your ID number, name of your seminar tutor, submission date and word count.

Executive summary: This is a summary of key points from each section of the report. What did you find out? What conclusions have you drawn?

Introduction: This includes the purpose of the report andan introduction to the company’s operations, it’s size (number of total employees and locations), their proposed strategy, its financial situation, general state of the sector/industry (for example, is it in growth or decline) and its key competitors. Your analysis appears in the main body of the report. This section also includes an outline of the contents of your report.

Macro-Environmental Analysis: An analysis of organisation’s external business environment using PESTEL framework.

Sector Analysis: An analysis of the sector/industry through Porter’s Five Forces model.

Strategic Position Analysis:Analysis of the organisation’s strategic position in its industry- by using relevant business KPIs in comparing the performance of the organization with that of its main competitors.

Internal Business Environment Analysis: An analysis of the organisation’s internal business environment – specifically the capabilities of the organisation. This will include the use of the VRIO framework.

Organisation’s Strategic Direction Analysis:This needs to be undertaken with a clear identification of the methods by which the organisation’s strategies have been pursued. You must use only two of the following frameworks:1. Ansoff,2. BCG 3. GE/McKinsey.

Strategic Expansion:In this section you must make a critical strategic decision for the expansion of the organisation to a destination (country/region) of your choice. You must select one appropriate Entry Mode and critically evaluate the benefits/outcomes of the suggested expansion. You should examine the Suitability, Acceptability, and Feasibility of your selection by using SAF Framework.

Recommendations:Your recommendations are derived from examining the organisation. These should link back to your research and analysis within the previous sections. At least, one of your recommendations must be from a CSR perspective.

There must be a clear rationale for the recommendations. Read your recommendations carefully and ask yourself the following questions:

• Are your recommendations rational?
• What evidence can you provide in support of these recommendations?
• Is it logical that the company would or needs to take these specific actions?
• Would you be prepared to discuss them at a Board meeting?

Conclusions:Summarize the strategic report and draw interpretations from the entire process on findings, decisions, and/or impacts.

References:These must be in the Coventry University APA 7format. There must be appropriate in-text citations throughout your submission. The references are not included within the overall word count.

Appendices: If required.

Use of Research

Conducting and applying research is crucial to this module. Additionally, there is a mark awarded for the level of research demonstrated. You will be expected to read and apply information (as an absolute minimum) from the core text, the company’s most recent Annual Reports & Accounts, news items (from reliable sources) and journal articles.You must ensure that you have cited and referencedALL research included in this assignment)

Please note that marks will be deducted for the use of sources such as (though not exclusive to): ‘Wikipedia’, ‘Business balls’ ‘essays UK’ (or any site that states the word ‘essay’ in its title or introduction), Quick MBA and ‘tutor2u’. These are not Level 7 reading and should be avoided. If you have any doubts regarding the reliability and validity of sources, please ask either your seminar tutor or the module leader.Please refer to the guides on the 7015MHR Aula pages for further information. It is expected that every student will comply with good academic practice. Any suspicion of a breach of good academic practice will be investigated and dealt with.

You will need to retain all your working notes. This material will include (but not be limited to):

• Written or typed notes that you have developed from textbooks, journal articles and other sources.
• Rough drafts of your work.
• Any downloads or print outs of journal articles that you have obtained via Locate.
• Material from quality newspapers and business magazines that you have collected.

This material will be required if you are requested to attend a Viva Voce in support of your submission. You can be required to attend a Viva Voce if there is any concern regarding the authenticity of your work. [Please refer to the University’s Regulations on Academic Misconduct].

Layout

The report must be professionally presented and appropriately referenced.

Assignments must be organized in the following format:

• Word-processed in Arial font, 12.
• Margins must be as follows: Top; 1.0 inch (2.5cm), Bottom; 1.0 inch (2.5 cm), Left; 1.25 inches (3.2 cm), Right; 1.25 inches (3.2 cm).
• All pages must be numbered in the top right-hand corner.
• Use only a plain white background – no coloured/designed backgrounds (including company logos) as this impedes readability.

Use of Tables:
Use tables only where appropriate. Where you do use tables (perhaps to show changes in values) make sure that they are clearly labelled (e.g., Figure 1 Title) and there is a clear interpretation of the information within the text (e.g., figure 1 demonstrates…).

Diagrams:
Use diagrams carefully, remember that this is to be a professional strategy report, as such any illustrations must be suitable to present to a board of directors.

Written English:
Review both your sentence and paragraph structuring prior to submission. Your written English must be of a professional standard. This includes avoiding ‘journalistic’ words and phrases such as: ‘cut- throat’ competition. A good text to help you enhance your writing skills is:

Peck, J. and Coyle, M. (2005) The Student’s Guide to Writing: Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling. (2nd Ed). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

There are also other resources that you can use in the library.