Assignment Instructions: Analysis of Macro-Environment and Company Resources

The following assignment instructions provide a more detailed explanation of the requirements for your submission.

Details of the task

This component requires you to:

·Set the scene by providing information on the vision, main products/services, the industry the company operates in, main competitors and markets.

·Company’s core business and by looking at the macro- environment* and micro-environment. Identify important industry trends.

·The main opportunities and threats affecting the industry derived from the above analysis.

·Analysis of the strategic significance of organisation’s resources and capabilities.

When selecting criteria against which to assess the macro-environment, you should use PEST and select one further factor that is of significance for the organisation concerned.  This will be referred to later in this assessment brief as PEST+1

There will be one group presentation, strictly limited to 15 minutes in duration. You should distribute the material equally among yourselves.

You should present the following elements of sections a and b of your management report:

a.Set the scene by providing the company's vision, its main products/services, and the industry the company operates in.

b.Company’s core business and an analysis of its macro-environment. Identify important industry trends.

Assignment Instructions

This assessment is undertaken in your project groups of 5 members. All members are expected to contribute equally and receive equal marks for content. However each student will receive an individual mark for their communication skills and time management demonstrated within the presentation.

You should avoid delegating just the introduction and conclusion to any member of your group.  All members should be expected to cover material that answers part of the question.

Marking criteria

·Your analysis needs to be thorough, and supported with evidence from your research.

·The presentation should have a logical structure that is signposted and easy to follow.

Delivery of the Presentation 50%

·You should aim for a presentation that is well-rehearsed; you should appear interested in what you are saying and in command of your material.

·You should be easy to understand: your voice should not be too quiet and you should avoid talking too quickly.

·Your slides should be clear and easy to read, and you should look for ways to make them look interesting, for example by incorporating graphics.

Your work will be marked using the following guidelines

Group mark: Content

Vision, industry, core business and products and services.

Analysis of macro environment.

Indidual mark: Delivery Confidence, clarity, speed and volume.  Clear and interesting slides. 100% Accurate identification of all specified topics.

Details of the task

All presentation skills demonstrated to a high standard, accompanied by clear and interesting slides.

Error in / omission of one of the specified topics or elements of the macro environment.Room for minor improvement in all presentation skills and slide preparation or a problem that does not impair comprehension in one.

Error in a few topics / elements of the macro-environment or omission of two of the specified topics or Adequate demonstration of in all presentation skills and slide preparation with some elements showing a level of professionalism or a more apparent problem that does not impair comprehension in one or two areas.

Vague understanding of all of the elements of the presentation demonstrated, or some clearer understanding offset by problem areas.Adequate presentation that can be understood.

Predominantly a lack of understanding demonstrated Portions of the presentation could not be understood. Minimal skill level demonstrated in all areas.               

·Introduce the key topics of the report (the organisation concerned, its vision, main products/services, the industry the company operates in). A common error is for students to think this relates to the historical development of the issue when its past often has little relevance to current situations. This background material should make the purpose of the report relevant.  

·Explain the purpose of the report. This should be phrased in the terms you would expect to use if the report was to be handed as a professional consultancy report to the organisation concerned.

·Outline the structure of your response.

·Define any key terms (this might have been achieved in “1” above).

·Be engaging and professional.  By this, you should try to avoid the trap of starting the report with the words “in this report I am going to ...” or similar.

Keep the headings informative and remember that word “main body” is not appropriate.

Section 1:  Focus on the industry that is relevant to the company’s core business. Look at the macro- environment and micro-environment. Identify important industry trends.  Use PEST +1* and Porter’s Five Forces (Porter, 2008). Remember this should be an external analysis.  You should not be writing about the organisation, only the industry.

*The "+1" should be the additional factor that you decided was appropriate for your presentation.

This section must conclude with the main opportunities and threats affecting the industry derived from the above analysis.

Section 2: This section should begin with the identification of the company resources and capabilities.  Then follow with an indication of how they are needed to add value to the product or service.  

In a conclusion to this section, you should summarise the main strengths and weaknesses of the company.

·Briefly refer back to your task

·Summarise the key issues raised in sections 1 – 2 of the main body.

·Summarise your findings It should not:

·Contain any information that has not been discussed in the main body,

·Summarise the topics covered – e.g. “this report reviewed the main competitors and applied Porter's forces.” without summarising the actual content (a common mistake).

·Contain any recommendations.

Care should be taken with grammar and spelling and your work should be referenced in accordance with Cite them Right.

Provide your word count at the end of the report:

If you prepare a good answer, you will probably find the word limit quite tight:

·Do make sure that you make sure that all your content is relevant.

·Do not repeat anything that is covered in your appendices.

·Refer your reader to each appendix when discussing the associated concept.

Your word count should not include your title, reference list or any appendices.

It should be provided at the end of your report.  Provide an accurate word count.  If your report does not appear to be of the correct length it will be checked.

If you significantly exceed the word count, your work will be penalised, by the same percentage as the percentage by which the word count is exceeded.  If your work is significantly shorter, then you will probably have failed to provide the level of detail required.

Your work should be word processed in accordance with the following:

·Font style, Lucida Sans, Calibri or Arial, font size 12

·1.5-line spacing.

·The page orientation should be ‘portrait’

·Margins on both sides of the page should be no less than 2.5 cm

·Pages should be numbered

·Your name should not appear on the script.

·Your student numbers should be included on every page.

Analysis of the environment

Analysis of the organisation’s resources and capabilities.

Understanding of the extent to which the resources and

capabilities are critical to the success of the organisatio

The rubric overleaf will be used.