Strategic Management and Leadership Assignment Brief Help
Assessment Brief – Level Six Undergraduate
Business and Management modules
We want you to tell us how you think the company has been able to compete successfully and justify
your answer with analysis based on topic areas taught as part of this module. “Success” could be
evaluated in terms of measures such as growth, profitability, market share and so on. But how has
the company achieved this position which may have taken several years?
To tackle the question you need to carry out a full strategic analysis of the company and the business
environment. But we only want to read the really important elements of that analysis and the
conclusions you draw. You have to judge what is most important and present this to us in a clear,
academically rigorous manner. You must present conclusions (your interpretation of the analysis) for
each section below.
Your assignment should contain the following sections (5cm spacing between each) numbered exactly
as follows. Mark allocations are shown in the marking scheme at the end of this brief.
1. A brief (maximum 100 words) introduction to the company
2. Company data which can be used to evaluate its success concluding with your thoughts about
whether or not the company can be described as “successful”.
3. An outline of 6 to10 business reasons behind the success stated in a simple, straightforward
way with a brief (4/5 sentences) explanation of each reason. Avoid strategy “jargon”; no
analysis is required – this is a test of your broad business knowledge and understanding.
4. A detailed analysis of the company’s strategic capabilities starting with a Value Chain and
followed by a VRIN evaluation. Your interpretation of the analysis must clearly show how the
company has been able to build competitive advantage.
5. An evaluation of the contribution of leadership to the company’s success, basing this on
appropriate theory. A wide range of topics will be acceptable including:
o Leadership (e.g. styles, attributes)
o Management theories
o Organisational culture
o Decision-making
6. A detailed analysis and interpretation based on one further topic area from the following list:
o Business (competitive) strategy consistent with strategic capabilities
o International strategy (based on the framework in Exploring Strategy)
o Innovation strategy
o Collaboration (alliances, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions)
7. An explanation of any external and/or internal factors that might make it difficult for the
company to be successful in the future and suggestions (based upon your prior analysis) as to
how the company can best deal with these.
ALL sections should cite sources of research data and theories/concepts on which your
analysis is based. The only exception to this are the suggestions contained in your strategic
recommendation that you make in Section 7; these should be YOUR original ideas and
therefore citations are not expected. However, we do expect you to refer to elements of your
previous analysis (by page number) to support your arguments.
All cited sources should be listed in APA format in the References section at the end of your
assignment.
Cutting and pasting material directly from sources without citation is plagiarism.
Cutting and pasting material directly from sources with citation is poor scholarship.
Short extracts from cited sources are permissible – use double quotation marks”” and citation
including page number
The majority of your assignment should use your own words. Large and frequent amounts of
quotation are to be avoided
Task:
Choose one company from the list published on the eLP (see Assessment Folder after Lecture L08).
You MUST choose from the list of companies provided on the eLP (attempts to use another company,
that is not on the list, will fail).
For you chosen company, explain how successful you think it is and discuss the strategic reasons
behind that success. Your explanation should include something about the contribution of leadership
to the company. Go on to suggest strategies and/or actions for ensuring success in the future.
You should read the guidance on page 2 of this brief and the marking scheme at the end of this brief
to understand how you should approach the assignment and how marks will be allocated.
Further guidance, including examples of marker feedback (shown in Lecture L08) and Revision AudioVisual
Presentations will appear on the eLP.
Notes:
a. Word limit = 3,600 words. See page 3 of this brief for an explanation.
b. Tables and figures with large amounts of descriptive text (rather than summary data) WILL be
included in the word count.
c. No appendices are permitted.
d. The assignment contributes 100% of the module mark.
Format for submission:
The assignment should be written in Arial, 11pt, left-justified, 1½ spacing.
DO NOT put Your Name, or any Tutor’s Name anywhere on your assignment.
Every page should be numbered (in header or footer) and show your student ID.
ESSENTIAL – You must leave at least 5cm of ‘white space’ at the end of each section. This is
the space for your marker to write feedback comments on the preceding section. Please note
that we may not use all of the 5cm – it depends what type of feedback we think is needed for
each answer.
All academic and other sources must be cited and included in a reference list. Do not cite
Northumbria Lectures, Seminars or Workshops.
The VRIN Summary Table (Barney, 1991) is usually shown in journals and textbooks with
ticks and crosses. We require you to use the letter “Y” for “Yes” and the letter “N” for “No”
(please do not use a font that provides ticks or crosses).
