Structure: There are four main sections (use sub-sections where required) of the report to be completed. The word counts included are for guidance only:
Section 1: Introduction (200-300 words):
• Brief overview of the company and the industry the company operates in
• Brief justification for selected company in focus (main reason(s) for failure)
Section 2: Critical Analysis (250-500 words): (-1
• What decisions/strategies lead to its failure/decline
• Brief overview of external environment (apply PESTEL) — retrospective analysis/review of considerations given to external impacts
Section 3: Competitor Analysis & Comparison (750-1000 words):
• What effect competition had on the failure of the company.
Give an overview of their main competitors (apply Game Theory and Porter’s 5 Forces).
• Analyse a successful competitor and compare and contrast their methods and strategies with the struggling/failed business (use a SWOT analysis on chosen company and include as an appendix — this will not be included in the overall word count).
Section 4: Conclusion & Recommendations (300-500 words):
• Consider how the market/industry will evolve and the likely impacts on the industry (citing/briefly discussing relevant theories)
• Recommend a strategy for the failing company to move forward
References (not included in word count) (-3
Theory and/or task resources required for the assessment: The assessment will cover the materials covered in the ALL 4 cycles of your programme.
You must conduct secondary research for this assessment finding relevant sources independently, in addition to the resources listed in your lesson resources.
Your analysis of the business must demonstrate your understanding of the theory of strategic management studied in Themes 2, 5 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the gandule
Therefore, you should try to include reference to concepts and theories throughout, e.g. PESTLE, PORTER’S FIVE FORCES, ANSOFF MATRIX, PORTER’S GENERIC STRATEGIES, INTERNATIONAL GROWTH STRATEGIES, PRODUCT INNOVATION, MARKET DEVELOPMENT.
You do NOT have to include ALL of these theories, however. You should not use blogs, Wikipedia, social media or unattributed sources.
Referencing style: You should refer to a minimum of 10 relevant sources for your report. A minimum of 4 sources should be from academic journals. Please refer to your module handbook for a list of useful resources.
You must include a Harvard style reference list at the end of your report.
