BUSM3125: Strategic Analysis Paper
You will working individually to conduct a strategic analysis, and write a report on areal-life business. Please note that this report will focus on business-level strategy.
You are required to conduct strategic analyses for Coles Supermarkets, a division of Coles Group(Corporation) which is a publicly listed company( https://www.colesgroup.com.au/home/ ),for this assignment. The focus of this assignment will be on Coles Supermarkets(“Coles”hereafter for short), an Australian supermarket chain. You are advised to conduct research such as Internet searching for industry and media reports, and browsing the website and annual reports of Coles Group( https://www.colesgroup.com.au/investors/?page=investors ) and other relevant organizations.
Write a 1500 word report, excluding references and appendix. In this report, you are required to perform the following tasks:
- Describe briefly the background information (strategic context) of the corporation and the organization. This information should be brief and relevant to the discussion of your assignment and thus may include ownership, history, size, business scope, major products/services, and major markets, and financial performance of the organization selected.
- Conduct a macro-environment analysis (focusing on Coles Supermarkets in this assignment) for the entire industry(The Australian Supermarkets Industry) within which the organization operates. You should use the analytical framework provided in the textbook. Foci will be placed on the understanding of the purpose of this analysis,the identification of key factors and their implications in terms of key opportunities and threats,and the discussion of their overall impact on the industry growth in the future.Draw your conclusion based on your macro-environment analysis.
- Undertake an industry (competitive)analysis using Porter’s 5-forces model. You are required to pay attention to the purpose of this analysis, the inter-connectedness of different aspects of the competitive forces, the links between the competitive forces and macro-environment, and their overall impact on the industry and the organization selected in terms of main driving forces in the competitive environment. Draw your conclusions based on your five-force analyses
References should be utilized within this Report to validate the information presented, and should be drawn from academic sources and organizational information such as the website and annual reports. The business press may be used to identify relevant issues.
Please note that no executive summary is required in this report.Learning outcome/s and capability development. This assessment is deliberately designed not only to test what you know, but also to build your lifelong learning skills. The skills that you will be developing include:
- cognitive conceptualization skills
- critical thinking and analysis skills
- creative application skills.All these are valuable skills you will need in future employment.
How well you are able to demonstrate these skills and knowledges will impact not only on you and your group (in terms of a mark) but also has the potential to influence the future of the case study organization. Your work matters.Specifically, completing this assignment can help you develop your capabilities in the following areas:
- Understanding of the key concepts, models, theories, and analytical concepts covered from the relevant Modules (1-3) in this Course;
- Developing your ability to apply strategic management concepts and theories to the organization selected, particularly in analyzing its strategic position;
- Enhancing your capability in critical think through evaluating existing strategic concepts, analytical frameworks, and theories; and Developing your generic skills for pursuing your professional career in the areas of communication and report writing