Part -1:

Develop Mission and Vision

Organisational mission and vision statements are foundation of the strategic planning process as they reflect organisation's business intent, commitment and future direction.

In this assessment task, you will be required to develop mission and vision for an organisation of your choice. You may use your existing or previous organisation as an example. As this task leads to the final project (Assessment Task4: Develop a Strategic Plan) you may also take this opportunity to develop a realistic strategic plan for a business idea that you might have.

Students, who cannot find an appropriate organisation, may conceive a fictitious organisation based on one of the real-life organisation of their choice. However, due care must be taken to avoid plagiarism and use of ready materials from existing or public domain organisations. Originality must be maintained in all the works.

This assessment task serves as a starting point for the final assessment (Assessment Task4: Develop a Strategic Plan). In your selection of organisation, make sure that you have enough organisational information to take it to the strategic planning process. If you any difficulty with organisation selection, speak to your trainer/assessor for assistance.

All the students must get their choice of organisation - real or conceived - approved by their trainer/assessor before commencing this task.

Choose/conceive an organisation and complete the following;

Write a brief introduction of the organisation Develop a mission statement

Develop a vision statement

Part -2:

Conduct a SWOT Analysis

A SWOT Analysis looks at a company's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It assesses the internal environment (a company's strengths and weaknesses) which a company operates in, as well as its external influences (opportunities and threats).

SWOT analysis is an important strategic planning tool used by organisations at all levels and management consultants.

This assessment task will contribute towards the final assessment task (Assessment Task4: Develop a Strategic Plan).

For your choice of organisation, you will be continuing from the same organisation selected in Assessment Taskl. In order to conduct a SWOT analysis, you must have enough information about organisation's internal and external environment. However, the same can be conceived for either a start-up or a fictitious business. If using a fictitious organisation, it is recommended that it is modelled on an existing organisation for familiarity and related information.

Using a SWOT analysis template provided in the class, conduct a SWOT analysis for an organisation;

• Internal Strengths
• Internal Weaknesses
• External Opportunity
• External threats

Then, provide a brief analysis of each of the above areas explaining the relevant factors in detail; and in context of the business environment.

Part -3:

Conduct a PEST Analysis

It is very important to consider the external environment that your business operates in before implementing any business strategy. A PEST (Political, Economic, Social, & Technological) analysis helps identify and understand the various environmental factors that can impact upon business and its marketing activities. PEST analysis provides a basis for assessment and decision-making.

This assessment task will contribute towards the final assessment task (Assessment Task4: Develop a Strategic Plan).

For your choice of organisation, you will be continuing from the same organisation selected in Assessment Taskl. In order to conduct a PEST analysis, you must have enough information about organisation's external and competitive environment. However, the same can be conceived for either a start-up or a fictitious business. If using a fictitious organisation, it is recommended that it is modelled on an existing organisation for familiarity and related information.

Using a PEST analysis template provided in the class, conduct a PEST analysis for an organisation;

• Political Environment
• Economic Environment
• Social Environment
• Technological Environment

Then, provide a brief analysis of each of the above areas explaining the relevant factors in detail; and in context of the business environment.

Part - 4:

Develop a Strategic Plan

Description:

This is the summative assessment task for this unit. In this task, you will be developing a strategic plan for an organisation of your choice.

You would have already completed organisation's mission and vision (Assessment Taskl), SWOT Analysis (Assessment Task2) and PEST Analysis (Assessment Task3) prior to this task. All of the previous works will form elements of the final strategic plan.

Although this assessment task can be completed on its own, you will be duplicating the tasks completed in earlier assessments. It is, therefore, recommended that this task builds up on previously completed tasks using the same organisational information and orientation.

Strategic plans are done and reviewed on yearly basis, and determine where an organisation is going over the next year or more and how it is going to get there. The strategic planning is dynamic process where it keeps pace with changing business environment.

A strategic plan typically contains;

• Executive Summary
• Organisational Profile/Introduction/Key Stakeholders
• Mission Statement
• Vision Statement
• Organisational Values
• Goals and Objectives
• Environmental Scan (Competitive Environment)
• PEST Analysis
• SWOT Analysis
• Key Strategies
• Implementation/Action Plan
• Risk Analysis and Contingency
• Financial Plan

Write a strategic plan for the organisation using the above structure or an appropriate structure that incorporates all the above components.

Originality of the work must be maintained throughout and all efforts must be made to avoid a simple cut and paste from external resources, which may result in plagiarism without appropriate referencing. It should also be noted that the complete document must be coherent and structured with a logical flow.

A strategic plan is a highly valuable business document and it should be prepared and submitted as an official document. Templates and examples of existing/sample plans can be used as guides with proper referencing.