Submission Deadline Marks and Feedback

Before 10am on: 20 working days after deadline (L4, 5 and 7)

15 working days after deadline (L6)
11/07/2019 10 working days after deadline (block delivery)

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Unit title & code Bss050-6 Strategic management

Assignment number and title 2 Case study
Assessment type Case study
Weighting of assessment 60%
Size or length of assessment 3600 words
Unit learning outcomes 1. Demonstrate the following knowledge and understanding :

Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge and understanding of strategic information, including

financial statements, corporate reports and CSR reports related to the nature and
characteristics of strategic issues and problems.

2. Demonstrate the following skills and abilities:

Deploy analytical tools of strategic management in relation to both the external and internal
environments of organisations to synthesise, evaluate and develop appropriate strategic
options in a complex environment.

What am I required to do in this assignment?

Based on the analysis provided in Assignment 1 (improved if needed based on feedback received), your assignment 2 will be in the form of a
consultant’s report. The exact presentation style will be at your discretion but should be a professional, business like report. It should also
use Harvard referencing. For guidance, the report should include

1. Identification of the possible strategies at the corporate and at the business level including a justification of those possible strategies
2. Critical evaluation of the different possible scenarios using strategic models
3. Your recommended route forward: explanation of the scenario chosen and critical analysis of the implications.

The report should be based on the analysis (internal and external) of the firm performed in Assignment 1. However given the words count,
you should focus on presenting and justifying your recommendations. It is not therefore necessary to repeat assignment one but key points
should be used to help show why some strategic options are rejected or preferred, You can work in group to do the analysis but your report
must be prepared individually

The assignment should be 3600 words in length, (+/- 10%) The word count does not include appendices, references, bibliography, or other
supporting material which are additional and do not contribute to your grade. Include only those things which you would include in a
professional business report or which are essential background for markers if you are writing about a less well-known business.

You should not waste words describing what the tools are used for or how they are used. This kind of ‘literature review’ approach is likely to
result in a poor grade. The emphasis should be on using the analysis to develop options and strategic choice.

What do I need to do to pass? (Threshold Expectations from UIF)

In order to pass Assessment 1 you will need to:

· Collect relevant data to logically and coherently assess the current strategic positon of a real organisation

· Demonstrate some evidence of selecting and applying relevant strategic frameworks to determine the attractiveness of an industry and
distinctiveness of a firm

In order to pass Assessment 2 you will need to:

· Generate and design a coherent strategy based on a logical decision making process backed up by relevant qualitative and/or quantitative
data

· Evaluate and justify the proposed strategy referring to evidence based analysis and selection of appropriate strategic framework

How do I produce high quality work that merits a good grade?

We will be filling this section in together in class on 05/08/2019 make sure you have downloaded/printed out the Assignment Brief and
bring it to the session with you.

1. The strategy selection and justification :

Use the analysis developed in assignment to develop viable strategic scenario. Evaluate those scenarios and justify your choice based on
strategic framework and logical analysis

2. The structure:
Flexible. You can describe the theory you intend to use to support your standpoint, and then use practical situations to reinforce your work.
There is no fixed order to structure this assignment.

3. The link between theory and practice:

Remember to relate the two together sufficiently! You need to relate the theory to evidence in your assessment. The evidence needs to be
specific. Don’t use generalised and anecdotal evidence.

4. Use of literature:
Use academic source, i.e. books, journal articles etc. Refer to respected industry sources DO NOT overuse the Internet, do not use and / or
quote from Wikipedia.

Reminder:

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You are required to use proper in-text reference and the reference list in the end using the Harvard Referencing System.

5. The writing:
Try to approach this assignment in a logical and systematic way. Make sure you have a logical structure, a convincing argument, clear
description of the situations which ‘set the scene’, and clear explanation which relate to theories, and a conclusion that draws your
argument together.

Overall do not describe the strategic framework but use them to justify your choices
How does assignment relate to what we are doing in scheduled sessions?
Please refer to the study guide, all the session in week 4 are designed to introduce you to specific topics in strategic management. Those
elements will be needed to design your assignment.
Week 5 of the block is devoted to scenario development and to start structuring your assignment.
Week 3 we will look at your assignment to provide formative feedback before the submission

How will my assignment be marked?

Your assignment will be marked according to the threshold expectations and the criteria on the following page.

You can use them to evaluate your own work and consider your grade before you submit.

3

Appropriate, professional
presentation and
referencing
Possible Mark 1-34 35-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-100
The assignment is designed for you to An unprofessional A report which falls A poor attempt at a A broadly A well presented A well presented
produce a professional report as if you were approach. Poorly short of a professional report. professional report report. Full and report which fully
doing it for a business. You need to adopt referenced. professional Poor referencing. which may fall short accurate adopts a
an appropriate report style and adopt a standard. Poor in style or referencing. professional style
professional, businesslike style. It is not referencing. presentation quality. and high standards
the intention to penalise students whose Correct referencing of presentation. Full
first language is not English. It is more for the most part. and accurate
about the structure and format of the report. referencing.
A poorly constructed piece of work which
does not follow a standard report format will
not meet professional standards. In additon,
you need to provide comprehensive,
appropriate and accurate references in the
set University of Bedfordshire style.

Mark Awarded
This criteria is not about using lots of tools A collection of facts Little use of few Some models used A range of models An appropriate A good selection of
in a mechanical fashion. We want you to rather than analysis. tools. No or little but they are used used in an selection of strategy strategy framework
select the most appropriate strategy models Few if any models understanding of inappropriately or appropriate but models which are deployed effectively
and to use them effectively to illuminate the and not used well. how models assist ineffectively so add largely mechanical used to assist in to generate
company's strategic situation through your in understanding a little to the way, generating little understanding the understanding of
Application of appropriate
analysis. You need a range of frameworks company's situation. understanding of the illumination of the company's strategic and insight into the
frameworks to the analysis
and models to cover the ground but quality company's strategic company's strategic situation. company's strategic
of company and industry
matters more than quality. situation. situation. situation. A genuine
understanding of the
strategic issues.

Mark Awarded
This criteria is not about using lots of tools in There is little Some assessment Some assessment Assessment of the Assessment of the Assessment of the
a mechanical fashion. We want you to select assessment of the of the issues facing of the issues facing issues facing the issues facing the issues facing the
the most appropriate strategy models and to issues facing the the firm but this is the firm stemming firm stemming firm stemming from firm stemming from
use them effectively to illuminate the firm. Emphasis is likely to be opinion mainly from the mainlyfrom the the evidence. The the evidence. The
company's strategic situation through your likely to be on based rather than evidence. The evidence. The interpretation of the emphasis is likely to
analysis. You need a range of fra operational issues. stemming from emphasis is likely to emphasis is likely to evidence considers be on both present
evidence. The be on the present. be on the present future developments. and the future. Key
Identification of and
emphasis is likely to Emphasis may be with some The emphasis is trends are identified.
understanding of strategic be on the present. too much on consideration of the likely on the future. Emphasis is heavily
issues facing the firm Emphasis may be operational issues. future. Emphasis is Emphasis is more weighted on
on operational more on strategic on strategic issues strategic issues
issues. issues rather than rather than rather than
operational. operational. operational.

Mark Awarded
This critiria is about assessing the logic of No Weak Recommendations Recommendations Sound Strongly argued
the decision process based on the analysis recommendations at recommendations which may be true not backed-up by a recommendations piece of work which
of various data and information. You need all not based on a but which are clear and logical based on a logical shows strategic
to be able to adequatly argue and defend logical obvious. No real analysis progression of the insight into the
your position based on what you know of demonstration analysis of the argumentation, company's
the firm and its environment possible scenarios insight provided into challenges and
Ability to provide decisions
the issues faced by provide a logical and
based on a critical analysis
the firm sound evaluation of
of data in complex situation
the possible
scenarios. The
decision process is
clear and argued
with a clear
argumentation
Mark Awarded

4
3rd Class – 40-49% Lower 2nd – 50-59% Upper 2nd – 60-69% 1st Class – 70%+