Strategic Management: Analysing the Operating Environment and Long-Term Planning Decisions

Analyse the strategic operating environment for a specific business organisation.

On successful completion of this module students will be able to:

· Analyse the strategic operating environment for a specific business organisation.

· Assess an organisation’s long term planning decisions in relation to itscompetitive advantage.

· Determine the strategic choice decision of an organisation in the light of their competitive advantage.

· Review the implementation and success of an organisation’s strategic management processes.

Strategic management is concerned with the actions organisations take to deal with the challenges, opportunities and threats in their external and internal environments. The module starts by examining how organisations analyse their strategic environment in the light of their resources and capabilities. This leads to a  of how they determine their desired objectives, consider the circumstances and events that may affect outcomes, decide upon the actions they need to take to achieve their objectives, implement a strategy and evaluate progress.

High First

· Exceptionally broad factual and conceptual understanding of how changes in the environment can affect business decisions and the behaviour of firms

· Exceptional discussions on the implementation and success of an organisation’s strategic management processes

· Exceptionally well structured and well-presented arguments

· Correct use of English language

· Referencing in correct Harvard Style

First Class

All components will have been submitted, and the remaining criteria will be as noted for the 80%+ marking band. However, in one or two areas, the submission will be open to minor criticism

· A good factual and conceptual understanding of how changes in the environment can affect business decisions and the behaviour of firms

· A good discussion on the implementation and success of an organisation’s strategic management processes

· Clear and logical structure showing the progression of ideas and argument

· Good use of the English language with minor errors

· Referencing in correct Harvard Style with minor errors

All components will have been submitted, and the remaining criteria will be as noted for the 60-69% marking band. However, there will be some gaps in knowledge and analysis.

Based on the below case study, assess long term planning decisions of Coca-Cola in relation to its competitive advantage and determine the strategic choice decision in the light of the competitive advantage. You are expected to carry out further research with special reference to the competitive advantage of their strategies.

International Business Strategy for Globalization

CEOs and top management teams of large corporations, particularly in North America, Europe and Japan, acknowledge that globalization is the most critical challenge they face today. They are also aware that it has become tougher during the past decade to identify internationalization strategies as well as with whom to do business (Krishna, 2005).

Entering into a foreign market is like discovering new territory for business owners. Foreign countries have different laws, economies, business strategies and currency. Cultural differences can also impede a country's success. Though every business should anticipate a huge learning curve, entering a foreign market can be easier with the adoption of a few strategies (Krishna, 2005). Entering into a foreign market could require changing your product to suit the new market's tastes and preferences. Though you may know how to issue surveys and offer samples in your base country, the foreign market might have a different protocol. Multinational companies need to know which stores are best suited for their products, what features the audience values and at what price to set their products. Sak Onkvisit and John J. Shawmention in their book, “International Marketing Analysis and Strategy” how McDonald's had to alter its menu offerings to accommodate different cultures. In India for example, beef is removed from dishes due to the country's religious beliefs.

For this report, we decided to discuss the international strategies of a company that sells more than 400 brands in 200 countries. Coca-Cola’s international success has helped it become one of the most recognized

Third Class

· A basic level of factual and conceptual understanding of how changes in the environment can affect business decisions and the behaviour of firms

· Mainly descriptive with limited evidence of deeper understanding of implementation and success of an organisation’s strategic management processes

· A basic structure with limited logic

· Limited use of the English language

· Limited use of Harvard referencing

· The submission has a few major flaws

· A few important sections are missing

· Inadequate explanation and/or analysis

· Major language and referencing errors