Business In Context and its Management

Assignment task - To provide an insight into what tools business can use to define their business context and how they use reactive and pro-active strategies to build and manage a competitive business.

This assignment has been designed to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your achievement of the following module learning outcomes:

• Analyse a business context and its influence on management decision making;
• Apply a range of analytical tools to aid in defining a given organisation's business context and markets;
• Demonstrate an understanding of management practice in response to a business context challenge;
• Reflect on a response by management functions to a business challenge and describe an alternative strategy.

Task requirements

OVERVIEW

Both the economy as a whole and industries within the economy go through cycles of expansion and contraction as part of the "business cycle". The COVID -19 pandemic had a dramatic effect on some industries. The hospitality industry suffered severely through restrictions on trading, whereas the E-Commerce industry benefited from people working from home and the increased usage of tools such as Zoom and Teams.

As a management consultant you have been contracted to provide recommendations and advice for businesses seeking to formulate ‘post-pandemic' strategic plans in oneof the industries listed below.

1) Select an organisation from either High Street Retail, Automobile or E-Commerce industries/sectors, and with reference to the economic business cycle, analyse how the trends in the chosen industry were affected by the Covid pandemic. (Learning Outcomes 1, 2 & 3).

2) Produce a Poster Presentation recommending business strategies and approaches to be employed by the organisation in the next five years. The business strategies you recommend should aim to add value to the company, in terms of increasedturnover, or increased market share vs competitors, by improving both internal and external factors relevant to the company. (Learning Outcome 4).

3) Produce a client report which summarises the information on the poster, and which outlines a strategic plan for the client over the next five years, The Client report will be submitted as part of the written work with the industry trend analysis in task 1. (Learning outcomes 1,2,3 &4)

DESCRIPTION OF THE TASK

PART 1: GROUP Poster Presentation - Industry Trend Report (750 words)

1) The poster and its presentation will be completed in groups of 4 students. Each group must complete their presentation in 10 minutes, each member of the group is required to speak for 2 minutes, concluding with a 5-10minutes question and answer session. The poster should display published, financial data relating to the company within the past three years of trading, showing recent growth or decline in revenues through the Covid 19 pandemic, and then analyse the internal environment for potential areas of improvement in organisational systems. The poster should then analyse the external environment of the chosen company, using the tools discussed in this module. Finally, the postershould recommend business strategies and approaches to be employed by the organisation in the next five years, to increase turnover or market share as described above.

For the internal environment: Discuss the competence of the organisation based on the past three years of financial data, and how the business can improve its internal systems to meet challenges, and take advantages of opportunities, using one of the following tools:

1. McKinsey's 7S's model,
2. VRIO Framework
3. Mintzberg 5P's Theory

For the external environment: Identify three trends in the external environment in the past three years of trading, based on research you conducted,using one of the following tools:

1. Market size (TAM, SAM, SOM),
2. The Business Cycle model,
3. Industry sector analysis
4. Blue Ocean strategy

Presentation times will be strictly observed, failure to present on the date specified will be considered a non-submission. When presenting, each group must use a 1-slide poster which has been created by the group for purposes of this assessment.

PART 2: Individual Report (1,750 words overall)

A. Continuation of the IndustryTrend- Report - (1250words)
Your analysis must cover the following topics:

a) External Environment Analysis:
Summarise the analysis carried out and the information you presented in the Poster Presentation.

b) Managing change:
Describe why organisations need to manage change and how staff are often resistant to change. Describe how, using one of the following frameworks, change in the organisation could be successfully implemented:

1. Kurt Lewin,
2. John Kotter,
3. Kubler Ross

c) Operational management:
Chooseone of the following theoretical models, describe the main ideas expressed by the model, and then describe how the model could be used by the company to achieve improved performance of their operational management.
1. TQM
2. JIT
3. Kaizen
4. Six Sigma
5. Kanban
6. AGILE

d) Stakeholder analysis:
Identify the main stakeholders for the organisation and analyse the impact stakeholders may have using a mapping tool such as a stakeholder power - interest relationship.

B. CLIENT REPORT (500 words)
a) Outline the conclusions of the analysis conducted from section A.
b) Provide strategic recommendations to the organisation by suggestinga business strategy using one of the followingapproaches:

1. Plan, Do, Check Act(PDCA)
2. OODA Loop
3. Strategic Planning cycle.
 
Summary of Assessment Tasks:

Part Element Word Limit Tasks Weighing Submission
1. Group Poster 1 Power Point slide only, 700 words i. Analysis of the last three years of financial data for the organisation.
ii. Analysis of internal environment using onetool only.
iii. Analysis of the external environment using one tool only.
iv. Recommend suitable business strategies to improve internal and external factors. 35% By group presentation to the class, 10 mins group presentation, all group members must speak, + 5-10 mins question and answer session.
2A Industry Trend analysis

1250 words i. Summarise information presented on the poster.
ii. Describe why change is needed in the company, why staff may oppose change, and describe one framework for instigating successful change.
iii. Describe one model that could be used to improve operational management.
iv. Analyse the main stakeholders in terms ofa power and interestrelationship. 50% By essay assignment through Turnitin on the Moodle, together with the Client report as 1 document.
2B Client Report

500 words i. Summarise the conclusions of the industry trend report.
ii. Give strategic planning and strategic recommendations using one of the tools available. 15% By essay assignment through Turnitin on the Moodle, together with the Industry Trend Analysis, as one document.

Referencing and research requirements
Please reference your work according to the Harvard style.

PART 1: Poster (750) + Individual Report (1250) = Industry Trend Report (2,000) words

2.1. Introduction &Identifying Issues
Select an organisation from either high street retail, automotive or E-commerce industries(sectors), and give a brief overview of the chosen sector.
Your introduction should set the pace, indicating what is to be covered in the entire report. Emphasises should be given to the areas and industry sector the report will analyse and base strategy recommendation.
2.2. An analysis of an organisation's external environment

a) Determine the components of the industry sector(external environment)in which your chosen business operates.
b) Analyse the sector by applying relevant model(s)discussed in this module (ONLY ONE must be Chosen):
(1) Market size(TAM,SAM,SOM)andIndustry sector performance.
(2) Stage in the economic cycle(Business cycle analysis)
(3) Market or industry opportunities (Red Ocean&Blue Ocean strategy).
c) Formulate a suitable industry report and ensure you utilise current journals and other publications pertaining to the Covid 19pandemic period.

2.3. Aninternal environment competence analysis

a) Review the internal factors which determine the chosenorganisation's competences in competitive sector.
b) Apply appropriate assessment tool(s)(ONLY ONE must be Chosen):
Mckinsey's 7S'smodel, VRIO Framework or Mintzberg 5P'sto identify challenges and opportunities for the business in response to its competitive environment.
c) Combinefindings withof the external scan of the business environment previously conducted

PESTLE and SWOT analysis are not required in this assignment to analyse the external and the internal environment.
2.4 The impact and influence of change and culture

Demonstrate an understanding of management practice in response to a business context challenge

a) Assess the impact of implementing of change on an organisation using relevant models,(ONLY ONE must be Chosen from:Kurt Lewin, John Kotter or Kubler Ross)
b) Explain the influence of culture on management decisions during transition,
(ONLY ONE must be Chosen from:Handy,Scholes and Edgar Schein)using an appropriate theory.
c) Illustrate the effectiveness of operational functions using tools such as TQM, Six-Sigma, JIT, Kanban, Kaizen, AGILE.(Choose ONLY two).
d)Stakeholder landscape- Identify internal and external stakeholders
1. Construct stakeholder analysis Power and Influence grid to visually represent individuals or groups who have power and can have an impact on decision making
2. Explain the process of stakeholder mapping.
e)Summarise relevant information andcomplete the industry report with a conclusion.

PART 2-CLIENT REPORT 500 words
2.5 Strategic planning
For the selected business
a) Explain the benefits of planning when formulating strategy
b) Applyrelevant model to produce plan, objective, and future strategy to aid in the management of performance and task over an extended period.Model options includePDCA, Planning Cycle or OODA Loop.(Choose ONLY one).
c) Recommendsuitable strategies and approaches for the selected business employed post-pandemic and the long term.

3. Conclusion
Include a conclusion for both Industry Trend Report and Client Report, summarising what has been done in the entire report, including the recommendations for the selected business.

PLEASE NOTE:
a) Ensure that the report followed the required report structure as follows:
• Cover Page
• Content Page
• The report - from introduction to conclusion
• Reference list
• Appendix (if applicable)
b) Ensure that each piece of information you use in your work comes from research you conducted (Your work must be evidence-based).
c) Make sure you follow the Harvard style of Referencing on the reference page and within your work (that is, in-text citation).
d) Ensure you understand the task requirements from the command verb.
e) Ensure to engage with a wide variety of academic sources (textbooks, journal articles, official report, electronic sources, etc), particularly the core text recommended for this module in order to deepen your knowledge.
f) It is useful to proofread your work a couple of times before final submission, paying attention to spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.