Case study
 
Length: 3,000 words 
 
Topic 
Business Strategy in Action.
 
Instructions 
The aim of this assignment is to give you a practical insight into the business strategy process at work in an organisation. The task requires you to work with a group of other students to conduct a case study of an organisation you are familiar with. You may:
 
i. Select any local, state, national or international organisation with enough publicly available information to enable you to address the case study questions.
 
ii. Select the organisation you work for but note that you must clearly acknowledge where you are getting your information from (e.g., if the SWOT analysis comes from your annual business plan you must acknowledge this). Any information provided in your case study will be treated in confidence.
 
Guidelines for This Task:
 
Introduction
Give a brief account of the history of the company and trace the evolution of its strategy over time. As  part of this introduction, identify the organisation's current mission and goals.

Analysis
1. Conduct an analysis of the organisation's internal and external environment including its resources and capabilities, and the nature of its competitive advantage.

2. On the basis of the internal and external analysis, identify the strategies that you think the company should pursue.

3. Identify the main stakeholder groups in your company. What claims do they place on the company and how is the company trying to satisfy those claims?

4. Find examples of recent changes in your company's strategy. What types of change did your company implement? Why did your company make these changes?

5. Critically analyse the organisation's approach to ethics and social responsibility. Explain why the organisation takes the approach it does. Would you make any recommendations to enhance the organisation's approach to ethics and corporate social responsibility?

6. Draw conclusions from the analysis that indicate a way forward for the organisation that is supported by the outcomes of the analysis.

7. Write a brief reflective critique of your experiences of relating the theory with practice that the whole group agrees with.

Rationale
The aims of this assignment are:
o To provide you with an opportunity to describe and explain concepts addressed.
o To develop cognitive and practical skills by applying theoretical concepts to practical, organisational situations.
o To  develop analytical  skills by analysing situations and actions that management might take in response to a given situation.
o To develop research skills through in-depth research on this particular topic.
o To practice and develop presentation skills through formal case study reporting.