You are required to produce a report (LO8) on one international organization of their choosing and address the following issues:
Task 1:
Brief introduction to the organisation and sector it operates in, including a summary of the past 3 years’ revenue, operating profits and general overview of the business’s operational activities (LO2).
Task 2:
An outline of one strategic business issue they are, or have recently, faced; contextualised within the organisational setting, including an overview of relevant strategic decisions that led to their current position (discussed through relevant literature, tools and techniques) (LO2/3).
Task 3:
Critical analysis of why the issue has strategic implications and its impact on its stakeholders (discussed through relevant literature and supported by other contemporary examples) (LO2/6).
In selecting the company to analyse, spend time identifying an international organization which has experienced, or is experiencing, major issues as a result of current and emerging global trends, and satisfy themselves that there are a number of credible resources from which to refer. Well established media (e.g. BBC, Financial Times, New York Times, etc) may be used to develop the context of the discussion, but the material used to underpin the research and analysis should be from academic books and/or peer reviewed academic journals.
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Introduction (500 words)
General background on the topic you are going to discuss. Possible definitions for terms relating to the question.
What the essay will include and/or leave out (scope). What themes the essay will discuss and the order they are presented. What the essay will argue/demonstrate (thesis statement). |
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Main Body (3500 words)
The following structure can be used for discussion of the themes that you have identified:
T – topic (sentence to introduce the theme or topic of the paragraph) E – example (you could mention an example here to focus the topic) S – support (bring in supporting information from your research / eg. theory, research studies, statistics, legislation, professional guidelines, examples from practice) T – talk about the ideas (strengths, weaknesses, importance, relevance, usefulness, comparison to other ideas). Evaluation and critical discussion of the supporting materials and how they relate to the question under scrutiny – keep the discussion focused on answering the question in the essay title. |
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Conclusions (500 words)
Links back to the themes identified in the introduction.
A reminder of what the essay has argued. A recap of the main themes that have been discussed. |
Some sources to use
Baum, J. R., & Wally, S. (2003). STRATEGIC DECISION SPEED AND FIRM PERFORMANCE. Strategic Management Journal, 24(11), 1107-1129. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/strategic-decision-speed-firm-performance/docview/225005034/se-2?accountid=188730
2. Denise, M. C., Filho, E. G., & Veronica Eberle, d. A. (2018). Organizational performance and strategic inertia. REGE.Revista De Gestão, 25(1), 25-46. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/REGE-11-2017-003
3. Elbanna, S., & Naguib, R. (2009). How much does performance matter in strategic decision making? International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 58(5), 437-459. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17410400910965715
4. Kirchoff, J. F., Tate, W. L., & Mollenkopf, D. A. (2016). The impact of strategic organizational orientations on green supply chain management and firm performance. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 46(3), 269-292. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJPDLM-03-2015-0051)
6. Jeyarathmm, M. (2007) Strategic Management. Mumbai: Global
Media. Chapters 1,4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 17
7. Wurthmann, K. (2019). The essential
mix: Six tools for strategy-making in the next decade. The Journal of
Business Strategy, 40(2), 22-33.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JBS-09-2018-0147
8. Blanchard, David. Supply Chain
Management Best Practices: Best Practices, John Wiley & Sons,
Incorporated, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central,
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/UNICAF/detail.action?docID=514332.