Advanced Corporate Strategy SM31
Instructions
• Bachelor Students are to write an individual essay of minimum 2000 and maximum 3000 words.
Before embarking on the assignment, you should read Part 5a (Academic Writing handbook) and
5b (Plagiarism Policy) of the Education and Examination Guide (EEG).
• Students must submit their essay before the deadline through Turnitin submission online areas.
• All submitted files should be in a digital editable format preferably MS Word.
• Students will be randomly selected for Presentations. Therefore, all students should be prepared.
Details will be communicated to the selected students.
• In case of a RETAKE, students are not allowed to revise their original exams which were
submitted at the end of the respective teaching block. They must hand in a ‘new’ assignment
based on a different company other than the one used in this exam or any previous exam
attempts.
Individual Assignment
This assignment is based on a real life applied case and relates to the academic literature in the
textbook Carrig, K.J. and Snell, S.A. (2019). Strategic Execution – Driving Breakthrough
Performance in Business. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Strategic Execution (perlego.com),
as well as, during the module, additionally provide literature.

‘Case study Oak Tree Inn: Growth challenges facing a family-run tourism business’, by Ron
Livingstone.
The Oak Tree Inn is a very successful tourism business in a small, picturesque village called
Balmaha (with a population of around 60 people), on the east bank of Loch Lomond, one of

Scotland’s most iconic natural locations and within Scotland’s first ever National Park. The award-
winning inn is a family-owned business comprising holiday accommodation (sleeping 90 guests a

night), an authentic Scottish bar, restaurant, artisan coffee and ice-cream shop (both home
produced) and a popular village shop. It employs 100 staff (some seasonal). The business had a
turnover in 2018 of £3m ($3.8m, €3.4m) and the owner-directors have aspirations to grow to £10m
($12.8m, €11.3m) by 2025. However, the question now is, how to continue to grow this successful
business, given that its location has a restrictive physical capacity in the area for growth in the
number of customers able to visit?
Source: Whittington, R., et al. (2019). Exploring Strategy. Harlow: Pearson. pp. 723-730.

• Your paper should be a minimum of 2,000 and a maximum of 3,000 words, no more and no
less.
• The paper should demonstrate your academic ability to perform complex case study
analysis and understand thoroughly topics regarding corporate strategy as covered in the
module Advanced Corporate Strategy SM31.
• Consult “Type 2 Examinations Instructions” on www.wittenborg-online.com.
• Develop a practical, applied and academically correct assignment, taking Carrig, K.J. and
Snell, S.A. (2019). Strategic Execution – Driving Breakthrough Performance in Business.
Stanford: Stanford University Press into obligatory account.

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Type 2 Examination
Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences
• The assignment should demonstrate the academic ability to perform a complex case study
analysis and understand thoroughly topics covered in the module.
• Your main task is to analyse, and comment on the case study by means of the so-called ‘4A
Framework’, including the ‘Execution Capability Diagnostic Survey’.
• Therefore: Provide argumentation on interrelated factors. These must be discussed from at
least three different theoretical perspectives.
• Note that one additional factor must be addressed: ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR),
business ethics and corporate governance. This is related to WUAS key values.
• Also, provide your standpoint and your advice. The advice must be logically connected to
problem and argumentation.
• Finally, a conclusion, by means of compact summary, is provided.
• Consult “Type 2 Examinations Instructions” on www.wittenborg-online.com.
• Presentation: You are required to add a concise presentation into the assignment too. Put
the presentation at the end the assignment, after your ‘References’.
• Use UK academic English, correct academic referencing, and do not plagiarise. Plagiarism
is a serious offence and will be reported to the Graduation & Examination Board. Use the
EEG for information on type 2 assignments, as well as how to prevent plagiarism. Similarity
check –‘Match overview’- is part of the marking procedure.
• The deadline for the Turnitin upload is Exam week Friday, 16.00 (CET, Central European
Time). There will be NO presentations for the retakes of Exam Type 2.

To get a better understanding of the context within which the business is operating you can look at
the National Park website: www.lochlomond-trossachs.org, and sources for Scottish tourism facts
and trends, such as: www.visitscotland.org (click: Research and Insights). Information sources on
family business in the United Kingdom can be found at: www.ifb.org.uk.
We wish you success with developing your thoughts and ideas based on your understanding and
application of theories in real practice.
Important considerations regarding the assignment: Be sure to support your analysis with
frameworks, arguments, and references.