Title: ‘Strategic venturing increases the
diversity of strategic initiatives managers can use to extend current strategy.
However, successfully integrating new strategic initiatives requires careful
strategic management. Critically
evaluate the enablers and constraints influencing the process of generating,
evaluating and championing new strategic initiatives using 1. Concepts and
frameworks introduced in this module 2. Real world examples taken from your
groupwork case organisation and organisations discussed in the lectures and
relevant academic articles.
1.
Suggested Structure
The essay is an opportunity for you to apply
theoretical frameworks and concepts introduced in the module to critically evaluate
the enablers and constraints influencing the process of generating, evaluating
and championing strategic initiatives. These
are the same stages you have worked within the Formative and Summative
groupwork assessments, so you will be familiar with how they work ‘in
practice’. Your task is to demonstrate independent
research, especially with regards to engaging with peer reviewed academic
journal articles listed on the reading list.
This is because at level 6 you are expected to engage with management
research.
You are strongly advised to use management
research introduced in this module only, as it relates to strategic
management. References of articles from
other modules, or research that is not directly relevant to the core themes in
this essay, are likely to receive a lower score.
In addition to using relevant theoretical
concepts, you are advised to use ‘real world’ examples to illustrate your
answer. For example, you may want to
reflect on the enablers and constraints influencing strategic venturing in the
case organisation from your groupwork.
Following the formative and summative (video) assessments you should
have deep understanding of the case organisation. You can draw on your knowledge about the case
organisation to elaborate your answer, for instance by providing examples to
demonstrate your critical understanding of strategic venturing. Your can also draw on case studies introduced
in the lectures (e.g., WHSmith, Crown Castle etc) and those referenced in
relevant academic articles (e.g., TechPro, AG).
To help you structure you answer a template is
provided below. As the assessment is an essay
you do not need to use numbered sections as you might in a business report
(e.g., 1.1., 1.1.1, 1.1.2 etc). Instead,
use the headings (e.g., Introduction, Strategic Venturing, Enablers and
Constraints, Conclusion) and add sub-headings if needed.
Page
1 – Cover page outlining student registration
number, title, word-count, date of submission, course title.
Page
2 onwards:
Introduction – This section should briefly (1 paragraph) summarise how you are going to
answer the question. As there are multiple
enablers and constraints influencing strategic venturing you are advised to be
selective and focus your analysis upon a manageable number (e.g., three
enablers, three constraints). In the
introduction state which enablers and constraints you have decided to focus
upon. The rest of the essay is your
opportunity to extend your argument and demonstrate critical evaluation using
theoretical concepts and real-world examples from cases.
Main Body – You may find it helpful to separate the main
body of your discussion as follows:
Strategic
Venturing – In this section you should define what strategic
venturing is and explain how it is used in strategic management. To prepare your answer revisit Lectures 1-7
and the core readings, especially Hengst et al., 2020 and Reihlen et al., 2022.
This section should ‘set the scene’ by
providing a critical evaluation of how strategic venture is used in large
organisations as part of strategic management.
Enablers
– Using a mix of theory and real-world
case examples, this section should elaborate on the enablers supporting
successful strategic venturing. In the
lectures and academic articles there are a number of factors that are shown to
support the successful integration of new strategic initiatives into corporate
strategy. You should identify what you
believe these enablers are and use examples of case studies to elaborate how
successful project teams manage to attract the resources and support needed to
develop their strategic initiatives. You
can also draw on Strategy as Practice research covered in lectures 8-10 as this
also provides insights into the ‘micro-level’ of strategy work. Such research provides valuable suggestions
about, for example, who to include in strategy work; which activities help to
formulate and implement strategy, and which tools/methodologies are useful for undertaking
strategy work.
Constraints
– In this section you should demonstrate
your understanding of the constraints that may prevent new strategic
initiatives from being integrated into corporate strategy. Lectures 1-7 provide a starting point to begin
your analysis of the factors contributing to the failure of new strategic
initiatives. The academic articles also
provide additional insights about why some strategic initiatives are unable to
attract the resources needed to grow and develop. You may also find the strategy as practice
research covered in lectures 8-10 useful for identifying reasons why some
participants constrain strategy work, why some strategising activities
constrain strategising and why strategy tools are less effective. Again, you can use examples from case
studies from the module to demonstrate the types of constraints that impact
negatively upon strategic venturing.
1. Conclusion. In the final section you should summarise your
argument by ‘taking a view’ regarding what you think are the most important enablers
and constraints influencing strategic venturing. You will have to be selective, as there are
too many enablers and constraints to include.
So in the conclusion summarise which enablers and constraints you
decided to focus upon and state why you choose to focus on them? You might also
want to include a short personal reflection (2-3 lines max) summarising what
you have learned about how strategic venturing is used in strategic management during
this module.
Remember to
include the cover page outlining registration number, title, word-count, date
of submission, course title.
Make sure you use
1.5 line spacing and justified margins.
Please make sure
you submit either a PDF or MSWORD file only.
The word count
for this piece of work is: 2,000 words. Students must include their word
count on the coursework coversheet when they submit their work. Word limits for
written assignments are to include: footnotes and endnotes (irrespective of
whether they have been used for the purpose of referencing or not), references
(in the main text), tables and illustrations. The reference list at the end is not
included in the word count.