Individual report

Individual report
You are required to conduct a strategic analysis of an organisation that you aspire to
work for upon graduating from the University of Glasgow.
Using relevant strategy tools, you should analyse the case organisation’s strategic
purpose, strategic position, and future strategic choices for sustaining a long-term
competitive advantage. To achieve this, you should:
1. Analyse the case organisation’s strategic purpose by evaluating strategy
statements on vision, mission, values, objectives, or long-term goals.
2. Examine the case organisation’s strategic position by analysing the macroenvironment and industry environment to identify important trends that could
impact the long-term direction.
3. Investigate the internal environment by analysing how existing resources,
capabilities or any core competencies influence the case organisation’s
strategic position.
4. Determine if the case organisation’s corporate and/or business-level strategy
provides a long-term competitive advantage. If not, what strategic choices are
available to build a long-term competitive advantage?
5. Conclude on whether the case organisation’s strategy aligns with your
personal values and career aspirations.
Individual report: 2500 words (excluding appendices)
Weighting 70% of course mark
Submission date: Friday 18
th December 2020 at 12pm
Purpose of assignment
The purpose of this report is to demonstrate your knowledge and experience with
using the strategy tools to conduct a strategic analysis of an organisation you aspire
to work for upon graduating from the University of Glasgow.
This assignment is intended to help advance your research and report writing skills,
while understanding the foundations of industry analysis, strategy consulting and
strategic planning.
You will be assessed on using the tools to analyse case evidence and interpret
meaningful findings rather than simply describing the strategic management theories
and frameworks. Description of the tools and theories are not necessary for this
report and you should make full use of the appendices to conserve wordcount.
Although you might feel inclined to write-up the report section by section, it is
strongly recommended that you complete the case analysis before writing-up the
final report. This will involve creating a range of Tables and Figures in the
appendices that can be summarised in the main report.
By completing the case analysis (e.g. Tables and Figures) before writing-up the final
report, you will find it easier to write concisely and summarise the main findings
within the strict 2500 word-limit.
2.2 Selecting a case organisation
You can select any case organisation within the private, public or third sector.
However, you are not permitted to re-use the following case studies that have
already been covered in the course:
• H&M
• Disney
• Starbucks
• IKEA
• Oak Tree Inn
Before selecting a case organisation, you should determine if the organisation
provides a rich context to use the strategy tools and if there is enough access to
publicly available data and information.
Ideally, you should select a case organisation that publishes most information in
English and operates in a well-known industry. At least 95% of all sources should
be published in English and any non-English sources should be translated into
English and included as an individual appendix.
Beyond these exceptions, you can select any small, medium or large organisation in
the private, public or the third sector that operates inside or outside the UK.