This essay is to be based on the application of ideas from the Resources and Capabilities topic area to the organisation in the case study provided on Blackboard. The case study is 'Canon: Competing on Capabilities' and the organisation is Canon. Please note that your assignment shouldabe written around the evidence in the case study. There is no need to do any additional research on Canon, and we are not interested in what Canon is doing now.
You need to explore the Resources and Capabilitiestopic area discussing theoretical concepts within the area and look at how Canon's strategy can be understood by drawing on ideas from the literature. You are of course permitted to draw on other areas of the strategy literature, provided that they support an argument based on the Resources and Capabilities literature.
Q. Drawing on the Resources and Capabilities literature, evaluate whether and how Canon generates sustainable competitive advantage
This assessment task requires you to both discuss the theoretical area and, drawing on evidence from the case study provided, to apply these theoretical ideas to a 'real world' example. The key to doing well is to demonstrate that you can discuss the theoretical ideas and apply these in an analysis of an organisation.
The essay MUST be based on the case study provided, and all evidence drawn from the case study must be appropriately referenced, as should all of the academic ideas that you draw on. We regard the case study as 'common knowledge' for this assignment so you are only required to reference evidence drawn from the case study by page number and use the prefix 'C' to indicate it is the case. For example if you cite evidence from page 1044, you will reference it as (C1044). You do not need to put the case study in your references list as, again it is assumed to be common knowledge for this assignment. You must however fully reference all other sources.
Assignment Learning Objective
To demonstrate your ability to apply concepts from the module to an organisation or firm, to undertake a theoretically informed analysis and to draw conclusions that link the topic of study to the objective of sustaining competitive advantage. For this essay you will be required to independently investigate the academic literature on the topic and apply your knowledge of this literature to the organisation.
Assignment Output Style
Essays are a form of academic writing that require you to follow the general structure of - introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion. An essay is written in whole sentences and paragraphs. If you do not use an essay format you will lose marks. Essays do not necessarily need headings, though these are often useful for guiding the reader. Appendices are not permitted; any essential figures and tables should be included in the body of the assignment. The purpose of an essay as an assignment task is to demonstrate your understanding of the topic and your ability to sustain an argument.
Detailed formatting requirements will be posted on the Blackboard submissions page two weeks prior to the submission date.
Additional assistance with essay writing skills can be obtained via the faculty Academic Success Centre in room 2B076.