Supply Chain: Strategic Management
Individual Research Written Paper
Type: Essay
Purpose: The purpose of this assessment is to apply theories, principles, and analytical methodologies to discuss and conclude on an assigned topic at the core of the strategic management theory and practice.
Length:2000 words
Assessment Criteria: Overarching criteria for evaluation:
- Conceptual clarity
- Logic and critical argumentation
- Structure
Topic:
“Outline and discuss the Mega forces concepts of Porter’s 5 Forces Model and External Turbulence and how the y can be used in external analysis.”
The purpose of this assignment is to help you gain a deeper understanding of the nature, impact and implications for every organisation of one of the most important areas in the strategic management discipline. You are expected to draw on a minimum of SIX (6) peer reviewed or respected journal articles (e.g., Harvard Business Review) to underpin your arguments presented in this essay.
Process
- Undertake wide-ranging reading to ensure that you have a proper grasp of what ‘Porter’s 5 Forces Model” and ‘External Turbulence’ mean and the distinction between these concepts
- Ensure that your reading enables you to address the issue of what these concepts mean for businesses/organisations and for the Strategic Management process.
- Evaluate the literature and the research to identify a model (or models) that may help to assess and evaluate Porter’s 5 Forces Model and External Turbulence.
- Make sure that your reading equips you to be aware of how Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) might make sense of and strategically respond to such Megaforces.
- Identify an example and evaluate how a CEO has responded appropriately to these Megaforces.
Output
The output of the process is the production of an essay in academic style that fully addresses the issues and answers the topic. It is important that you adhere to academic conventions of citation and referencing.
The structure of your assignment is to be as follows:
Note: An essay ideally does not have headings and sub-headings. Worst case scenario may have 2 or 3 headings. Given below is a proposed structure for the flow of the essay and not headings/sub-headings.
1.A brief abstract (or overview) of your key arguments and conclusions (50 words)
2.Introduction to the topic of your essay and what the essay will cover.
3.Body of essay
- Outline the concepts of ‘Porter’s 5 Forces Model” and ‘External Turbulence’, including definitions of each concept, how they relate and how they differ.
- Discuss where these concepts fit within the Strategic Management process.
- Outline and discuss a model used to assess the role and impacts of these Megaforces on an organisation.
- Discuss how CEOs should respond to these Megaforces.
- Choose a case and evaluate how a CEO has responded appropriately to these Megaforces.
4.Conclusions and implications
5.References (at least 6 scholarly references).
6.The forms containing the criteria used to mark this assessment and the marking rubric are set out below.
Some additional points to note for this assessment:
- Remember that it is necessary to explain and/or justify the points that you make, and that unsubstantiated assertions provide no credibility to your discussion or analysis.
- You are expected to consult academic journals and texts for material to support your discussion in this assignment. At least six (6) of these sources must be used in your discussion and cited correctly within your text and in the References List. These sources must be additional to the prescribed text. Your Reference List should be indicative of the sources you actually cite in presenting this assignment. Please see the NBS Student Manual for the correct form of citation.
- Dot points should be used very, very sparingly, if at all. Dot points are a communication tool for presenting summary information and rarely progress discussion or argument. Your assessment requires integrated discussion and/or argument, not presentation of summary information