Task:

The coursework will take the form of an individual 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

briefly consider the company’s ethics and governance performance.

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.

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

Governance performance

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, which 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?

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