Strategic Management-1 (2019-20)

Assessment Details
To pass this course you must successfully engage in all the assessments.

The assessment is in two parts: In-trimester assessment and End-trimester examination.

Summary of assessment
Assessment Title Weight Length Date
In-trimester Assessment
1 Project (Group Company Analysis + Written
15% 2,500 words TBA
Submission)
2 Article Review/Quiz/ Viva 05% TBA TBA
3 Group Case Analysis+ Presentation 15% 2,000 words TBA
4 Class Conduct- participation and behaviour 05% Continuing Continuing
5 Mid-term Examination 20% 1.30 Hours TBA
End- trimester Examination
6 End-term examination 40% 2.30 Hours TBA

Detailed description of assessment

Assessment 1 and 3: Group Company Analysis + WS+ Presentation
This is a group assignment involving the analysis of your Start-up company and the case
assigned. The indicative length of your report is 2500 words. For assignment 1 you need to
submit a written report followed by Individual viva to assess individual contribution and
understanding. For assignment 2 you need to present your analysis to the class and make an
effort to attract rich discussion on different aspects of the presentation.

You are advised to engage and build on your analysis as different topics are discussed in the
class. Your preparedness for the same will help you in scoring well. You may be asked to
share your analysis with the class randomly.

When we first meet, I will put you into group of six. You will then arrange when best to meet on
a regular basis and go about choosing a Company which will be the subject of your assignment.
You will plan and deliver a group assignment of between 2000 and 2500 words in length about
appraisal of the chosen company’s strategic success in its business environment. Written report
may be followed by Individual viva to assess individual contribution and understanding of the
concepts and issues involved.

In the assignment you are expected to do a full case analysis. This case analysis will involve ---
  A full strategic appraisal
 The selection of strategic options
 Your strategic solutions for the company’s on-going health.

In the following paragraphs you will find advice on how to approach the different stages of
strategy analysis as reflected in the assignments. I also give you advice on how to do well in
these assignments.

Case Study Analysis in Strategy

When considering how you would answer a Case Study you might like to follow the model
outlined below.

Phase One: Locating the Company in its environment: This is where you set the scene and so
you should:

 Offer a brief overview of the company.

 Setting aspirations of your company. (Core ideology and envisioned future)
 Put the company in its context. At this point you will start to use the various analytical
tools available to tell about the environmental opportunities and constraints operating
on the Company and its Industry. PESTEL is the usual device. You should also analyse the
characteristics of the industry in which the company has to compete and here you
should employ Industry Life Cycle Analysis; market segmentation analysis but above all I
would expect to see 5 Forces Analysis carried out in some depth.
 Tools like analysis of factors driving industry, strategic group maps, competitor analysis,
and KSF’s (Key success Factors) of the industry may also be used.
 You could emerge from this phase with a partial SWOT, that is a specification of
Opportunities and Threats

Phase Two: Now you focus on the company by conducting an internal analysis. Your objective
here is to draw out the capabilities that the company has developed and to do so using well-
chosen analytical instruments and models. So consider the following:

 What Generic Strategy the company will follow (Generic Strategies)

 Company analyses and response to its markets. (Market Segmentation).
 What knowledge-based resources has the company has or plan to acquire (Resources,
Capabilities and Core Competencies).
 Does the company excel at managing value adding activities (Value Chain Analysis)?
 Plans to Grow and diversify.
 If the company is part of a larger corporation what part of the product or service
portfolio is it responsible for? (The Boston Matrix)
 How effectively has the company grown through Diversification? (Ansoff Matrix)
  How has the company expanded and has it done so effectively (The Porter Diamond and
The Expansion Methods Matrix)?

If you analyse the company using these instruments (in brackets) you will draw out the Key
Capabilities owned by the company within the limits of the case study contents.

Your aim is to match the KC’s (key capabilities) of the company against the KSF’s (Key success
Factors) of the industry (carried out in Phase One) i.e. what typical companies in the industry
must excel at to survive

You should emerge from Phase Two with a valid view of the company’s level of strategic
success and what it has to do to sustain that success or to continuously improve. A good way of
closing Phase Two is with the remaining half of your SWOT analysis that is the SW.

Somewhere in this Phase also you will need to appraise the Company’s financial situation using
well established ratios of outcome and resource utilisation. You should try to include a
commentary on the financial predicament of the company.

Phase Three: Now that you have derived a picture of the Company’s state of health – what
medicine are you going to prescribe? So Phase Three is about Strategic Options over the
foreseeable future; which would you offer and which would you recommend? Are you sure that
your proposals clearly emerge from your analysis at Phases One and Two, and make sure they
are feasible and can be resourced and implemented.

Your job is done. You have analysed the company as it is today, given your judgement about its
corporate health and offered your solutions for its future in turbulent times.

Marking Criteria
I expect you to engage with all three Phases and here I would weight them accordingly

 Phase One 40% of the marks

 Phase Two 40% of the marks
 Phase three 20% of the marks

Marking would be done on parameters given below:

80% plus: To obtain and exceed this mark you really should seek to match my model taking care
to select the instruments you feel will best fit the circumstances of the Case. Your work should
be analytical with clear signs of reading. I should see a clear structure, a link between the
Phases and a logical progression in your thoughts. I must have clear evidence that you have
researched the Company. I want to see depth of analysis and some intellectual risk taking. You
must engage with a financial appraisal here and it should be current.

70%plus: This is still a good mark at Master’s degree level. In terms of structure you will follow
my model and apply a more limited range of instruments but still demonstrate an awareness of
those that are essential. Your work will be analytical but at less depth and intermittent. Your
work will be safe in that you will avoid taking intellectual risks. There will be signs of
predictability but your work will be sound. Again I expect a limited engagement with financial
appraisal. I must have signs that you have engaged with the key text.

60% plus: You will just do enough here. I still expect to see my proposed structure but now the
linkages will not be so clearly drawn and the lines of argument will be limited and not so lucidly
articulated. You will apply a limited range of instruments and your analytical efforts will be
surface only as will be evidenced in your development of strategic options which can often
appear to be pulled like rabbits out of a hat. The Phases will be poorly connected and the work
can appear disjointed at times. I will accept some bullet points in the content and some
grammatical errors. Financial appraisal can be missing or at best superficial. But again there
should be clear evidence that you have done some up-to-date Research on the company.

50% or less: Here you are in trouble. Your work will be poorly structured and often poorly
written. Only basic instruments will be selected and used superficially. There will be a clear
dependency on reproducing material from the case quite mindlessly in relation to the concept
of plagiarism. You will generate little that is your own and analysis will be missing. Often parts
of the allocated task are not completed or when an attempt is made proposals bear no
relationship to any preceding content. You will not have engaged with the research to any
effect.

Assessment 2: AR/Quiz/ Individual viva

There will be a quiz/viva of 20 Minutes containing questions from the course covered in the
class or individual viva.

Conduct in the Class

LBSIM is committed to create an environment in which every individual can work and study in a
culture of mutual respect. While discussing, commenting or making presentations in the class
or outside we must demonstrate professionalism and a sense of mutual respect towards all
stakeholders. Your grade for class participation will be affected by:

Attending the class

Each class benefits from the attendance and participation of all students. You are expected to
attend all the classes.

Arriving on time
Late arrivals are disruptive to both lectures and class discussion, and show disrespect to those
who are on time.
Minimizing disruptions
All cell phones and electronic gadgets should be turned off during class. You should not leave
and re-enter the class. You should avoid engaging in side conversations after class has begun.

Focusing on the class

Laptops and other electronic devices should be turned off during class. Avoid cross-discussions
with your classmates. If you have a question or suggestion, address it the whole class.

Being prepared for class

Prepare for each class using all the resources. You should be ready to discuss any assigned
readings and to answer any assigned questions for each day's class, including being ready to
open a case assigned for that day.

Respect
You should act respectfully toward all class participants.

Upholding these expectations and the standards upon which they are based is a shared right
and responsibility for all stakeholders. As a learning and professional community, we seek and
deserve no less.