Strategic Management Capstone Assignment - Development of a Case Study

Objectives -

• Apply strategic management theory into practice;
• Development understanding of theories, concepts and models to support operations frm a strategic perspective;
• Identify and analyse strategic issues;
• Assess organisational strengths and limitations;
• Build awareness of ethical and social considerations for strategic issues;
• Evaluate information in support of the development of a case study report; and
• Gain global perspectives in the analysis of strategic issues.

Instructions - Choose an organisation you are familiar with. Draw on several peer-reviewed academic journal articles using the library resources available to you. You are to use your chosen firm as the vehicle through which to validate the theory in this subject. This means your primary job in this assignment is to bridge theory and praxis. In preparing your report, ensure you cover the following points:

1. Introduce your organisation, its objectives and examine its ownership structure. Comment on the external and internal governance mechanisms and any forms of external control;

2. Identify and explain the basic sources of cost and differentiation advantage in the industry. Position the organisation and its major competitors in a strategic group diagram, using theory to explain it as well as any assumptions you make;

3. Use a value chain analysis of your organisation to identify sources of competitive advantage;

4. Conduct a VIRO analysis of the sources of competitive advantage from question 3 to determine whether they are indeed sources of sustainable competitive advantage. Connect the development of these resources with the corporate governance mechanisms you identified in question 1;

5. Make recommendations for the development of strategic resources (including corporate governance processes) to increase the competitiveness of your organisation, while staying within the same strategic group (recommendations that create competitive advantage consistent with the organisation's current competitive posture are expected).

You are expected to produce an academic report that includes an executive summary, formal document sections such as a table of contents, introduction and conclusion. As this is the capstone (or equivalent) subject, it is expected you will be very used to and comfortable with using external sources to validate your thinking and to demonstrate substantial wider reading.