Management Strategy Report for Oak Tree Inn

You are a recent graduate who has just started work at McKinsey, a consultancy, as a junior business management consultant. Your team leader has assigned you to a client engagement, (consultant speak for ‘a project’), to assist an SME firm in the hospitality and leisure sector based in Scotland to create some strategic options for the firm. McKinsey has already asked the client for some key information in order to assess the situation and this material is being provided to you in the separate notes provided.

The Directors of Oak Tree Inn have engaged you to write a management strategy report thatanalyses and assess Oak Tree Inn’s business situation taking into consideration internal, external and competitive factors. You are to produce two strategic options for the Directors and management team to consider and select one asyour preferred strategy for the firm to adopt. The firm requires you to;

1. Provide a brief overview of the firm and its activities providing pertinent data and information drawn from reputable sources. It is recommended that you write no more than 200 words in this section.
2. Identify the external threats and opportunities/challenges the firm is facing from both the wider macro and micro/competitive environments using PESTEL and 5 Forcesmodels. Usingthematic coding you are to then assign each macro and micro/competitive issue as either athreat or an opportunity in the SWOT table. Identify the firm’s strengths and weaknesses identified from the firm’s strategic capabilities which should then be summarized in a SWOT table. It is recommended you write no more than 750 words in this section.
3. Create and critically assess TWO potential strategic options from your SWOT analysis that will mitigate threats, exploit opportunities and strengths as well as play to the firm’s competitive advantage and strategic capabilities. It is recommended that you write no more than 850 words in this section.
4. Critically evaluate the two strategic choices generated from the research and analysis through the application of theories one of which must be a SAFe analysis. From the two strategies generated you are to make a recommendation for your preferred strategy that will convince the Directors of Oak Tree Inn ensuring you refer to previous evidence within your work as part of your rationale. It is recommended that you write no more than 200 words in this section.

This assignment has been designed to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your achievement of the following module learning outcomes:

LO 1 Analyse the external environment of an organisation and justify critical opportunities and threats appropriate to that organisation;

LO 2 Analyse the strategic capability of an organisation and justify critical strengths and weaknesses linked to competitive advantage;

LO 3 Develop suitable strategic choices for an organisation;

LO 4 Evaluate strategic choices for an organisation, referring back to previous analysis in 1 and 2.

LO 5 Recommend and justify an appropriate strategic choice for an organisation.

Have you read and understood the assessment criteria?

Have you met the learning outcomes? You will lose marks and your work may even be failed if you have not.

Have you demonstrated you can think and write critically in the completed work?

Have you maintained an academic tone throughout your work? Is your work formal, focused, developed and clear?

Have you checked that the referencing in your assignment is in line with your programme requirements?

Have you proof-read your work and used spellcheck software to check your spelling and grammar?

Have you checked the presentation of your work is as specified by your tutor, for example, are font size, colour,style, line spacing and margins as the tutor specified?

Have you kept to the word count (or equivalent)? If you are not sure, check with your tutor.

Can you confirm that the work submitted is your own and not plagiarised?