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MBA701 Assignment 1: External Analysis

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

The objective of this assignment is to demonstrate a strong understanding of the concepts and tools that underpin and guide the practice of strategy, and then to draw on this understanding to critically analyse the macro and industry environment of an organisation of your choice.

Your focus is on the business level of analysis. That is, you are to select a stand-alone organisation or a business unit within a corporation operating in one industry. You may select an organisation operating in the public sector.

Assume the perspective of a strategy consultant who has been retained by the senior management team of an organisation. Your brief is to provide a report that evaluates the external environment of the organisation.

INSTRUCTIONS 

1. The business you select may be one in which you work, or one that you are able to collect data on through a variety of means (e.g. business reports, journal articles, media reports, industry reports, access via colleagues or friends). You must conduct your research in an ethical manner. In the case of direct access to a business and interviewees, you must gain their signed consent to be a participant in your project; provide a clear explanation of the purpose of the interview (to collect data for the completion of an MBA assignment); provide a guarantee that the data collected will be treated in a confidential manner and that the anonymity of the business and participants will be protected. If necessary this can be achieved by using pseudonyms in place of the name of the business and participants. We recommend adhering to the following criteria
   • Listed on the ASX – which will allow you to gather financial details as well as other relevant internal data

• Not too big or too complex – it will be hard to undertake a thorough analysis of Apple – but much easier to make sense of Bunnings. Remember the objective of this assessment is to demonstrate your understanding of the ‘tools’ of strategic management.
• Australian owned – therefore only subject to Australian Law
• Operating a Business to Consumer model.

2. Your report should be written in a clear and concise manner, presenting a summary of the key points of your analysis and findings.
3. Your report will be assessed on how well it demonstrates a clear understanding and application of strategy concepts and models to the external environment of the organisation. In order to do well in this assignment please follow carefully the report format set out below.

ASSIGNMENT FORMAT

You should consider the audience of this report the company’s Board of Directors/senior managers. That is, a professional busy audience who do not wish to trawl through a ‘textbook’ or be delivered an ‘essay’ containing lots of jargon.

The emphasis of this report is on the analysis you undertake, the sources you use, the issues you identify, and the sense you make of the analysis you undertake. That said, it must be clear from your assignment that you have utilised appropriate frameworks to undertake your analysis.

The references used will most likely be reports, documents, newspaper clippings, trade publications – rather than academic journal articles and books.

Your report must be professionally presented and structured, and be no more than 2,000 words.

The word count includes:

• The executive summary
• Introduction
• Report body
• Conclusions

The title page, table of contents, reference lists and appendices are not included in the word count. Appendices are further limited to 1000 words in total. Appendices should only include information relevant to the report, but too large to be incorporated in the main body. Do not include information of general interest to which you do not refer in the report. If the information is substantially relevant you will need to locate this in the report body.

Hints that will help you prepare a good report:

1. You will be marked on the quality of the analysis you undertake from the data you collect, and not simply on the background data you utilise. You will require good data to undertake your analysis and it is expected that you will consult a number of sources. Remember: we’re looking for analysis, not description.
2. A good report builds a logical argument throughout that is brought to an effective conclusion at the end of the report (you should also pre-empt it in the executive summary and introduction).
3. Write your report to convey your key ideas. There are really two phases to completing a report such as this: data gathering, interpretation and analysis; then communication of your thinking and findings. We’re looking for tight, concise discussion of your thoughts.
4. Make use of the theory from the text in framing your answers, but do not let it dominate what you write. This will help you present your findings in a more objective, discriminating and sophisticated manner than if you rely only on general observations and ad hoc analysis. Reference your sources accurately (use Harvard style). Avoid long, detailed explanations of the theory (your audience doesn’t want to read a textbook account of Porter’s ideas). Use the theory to explain your expectations of what will happen.
5. Individual marks will not be allocated to each section of the report: you may wish to adjust the level of focus you give to each section to suit the data you’re presenting, and a high level of integration across the sections of your report is expected. Your assignment feedback will contain an indicative grade for each section, however, the relative contribution of each of the sections will be part of the determination of the final assignment grade.

How do I get a good grade?

The best way of ensuring a good grade is to focus on thorough analysis that rests on the quality of the data you find and utilise. It is expected that your analyses and conclusions will reflect your understanding of the overall external environment and the implications for strategy setting.

Stick to the word limit – the limit is 2,000 words which is more than sufficient if you have made appropriate use of appendices.  If you’re struggling to get the word limit down then the material in the report is too loosely written, too descriptive, or not focused sufficiently. It will need to be edited and focus more on analysis (making sense of the data) than analysis if you wish to gain a good mark.

As you know — volume does not equal quality.  You will find that about 50% of the words you have used in your first draft will not be required in the final report.  The best culling is by review and consideration of what you have written to remove overlap, redundancies, inconsistencies and strengthen terminology usage.  There should be a clear line of argument that runs throughout and everything you include in your report should be connected to this argument.  For example, multiple examples are not required, just choose the best example.

It will help to consider your audience, and their needs. Prepare your report in accordance with the type of tight, focused and completely consistent document that they would be expecting.