T Managing Strategy Code

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Lecturer: Mr. Kevin KCB 06
t
O’Hara
l
e Email:
Kevin@kensingtoncoll.ac.u
k
Module This module introduces students into the
Overview: comprehensive and dynamic area of Managing
Strategy within organisations.
Globalisation, technology and economic and
environmental uncertainty are the new reality in the
contemporary business world. Organisations who wish
to survive in this ultra-competitive business world
must possess a deep awareness of their internal and
external environments as they seek out and evaluate
the numerous potential directions and methods of
development.
This module examines in depth, the practical
application of established theoretical principles in
three core areas: Strategic Analysis, Strategic Choice
and Strategy Implementation.
The key focus of the module is to develop students’
ability to think and tackle issues in a strategic manner.
Module Level & Level 7 [MASTERS] 15 CREDITS
Credit Rating
Pre-requisites No Pre-Requisites
Aims
1. To introduce students to strategic management concepts and to increase
students’ awareness of the role that strategic management plays in
organisational life and survival.
2. To familiarise students with the theories, analytical tools, terminology
and language of strategic management.
3. To develop critical judgment of strategic issues through application of
theory to practice

Learning Outcomes Assessed in this module K C P T

On successful completion of
the module the student will
be able to:
L1 Systematically analyse an organisation’s strengths and Yes
weaknesses together with environmental opportunities
and threats.
L2 Apply relevant concepts to strategic decision making Yes
and corporate change.
L3 Analyse strategic problems given within case studies Yes
and develop effective pragmatic solutions.

L4 Improve written and Yes

communication skills in strategic
applications
L5 Understand organisational Yes
processes within the context of
corporate strategy and policy.
L6 Develop a holistic view of an Yes
 organisation and its interaction
with its environment.
L7 Understand the various strategic Yes
components of corporate social
responsibility and sustainability
into business planning.’
L8 Ability to identify business Yes
strategies that align the self
interests of the corporation with
the greater public good’

Learning Experiences
The module will engage the student in the following types of learning
experiences:
The teaching and learning methods include:
1 Formal lectures with potential for use of guest lecturers from
industry
2 Class activities such as group presentations, DVDs etc.
3 Group work as part of their final assessment

Assessment Pattern
1. Assignment – 100% of total marks
Assignment Format: Group Assignment.
Assignment Length: Approximately 3,500 – 4,500 words
Assignment Topic: To examine and evaluate a real life example of
how an organisations has pursued various Business Strategies in their
quest to achieve success.
Hand in date: Friday December 03 rd @ 3 p.m at Reception
The assessment is designed to provide an opportunity for students to
demonstrate the extent to which they have understood the concepts
presented in the module
The assessment is designed to test the ability of students to explore,
critically appraise and make balanced assessments of an organisation’s
competitive position as well as their choice of strategy using strategic
frameworks learned in the Module.
Currently there is a huge emphasis on business students in possessing
the ability to work together effectively as part of a team. The group
format will encourage students to develop their interpersonal and
communication skills as they attempt to come up with innovative ideas
to tackle strategic issues.
Students will be assessed on:
1 Ability to explore and critically appraise complex and fundamental
concepts in strategic management.

2. Ability to make balanced and effective assessments of

organisations’ strategic position and strategic choices.
MBA Managing Strategy Assignment

Assignment Title:
Evaluation of business strategy

Task:
To examine and evaluate a real life example of how an organisation
has pursued various Business Strategies in their quest for success.

Format:
Group assignment. 3-4 members in a group.

Date of submission: Friday December 03rd @ 3 p.m at Reception

Length of Assignment: 3,500-4,500 words (excluding references and

appendices)
Assignment Content:
Choose only 1 company of the following categories
Category 1: Retail /Food
Interbrew (Becks,Stella, Budweiser)
Pepsico
Reckitt Benckiser (Nurofen,Dettol,vanish etc)
Kraft foods (toblerone, Cadbury chocolate)

Category 2: auto and energy industries

Volkswagen
General motors (GM)
BHP Billiton (Australian Mining giant)
Category :3 Media
News corporation (The Sun,sky t.v)
Viacom (MTV)
Category:4 cosmetic/pharmaceutical
Roche
L’Oreal
Bayer (Aspirin etc)
Pfizer
Category 5: Electronics
LG
Panasonic
Sharp
Research in motion (Black berry)
Category 6: Diversified Conglomerates
Boeing(747,F15 fighter jets,etc)
Hitachi
Rolls – Royce Group
General Electric(GE)

Assignment content
The Assignment should encompass the following 3 sections:
Sections 1 Merges and Acquisition Strategy
 1. Use the organisation you have selected.Examine their
merger,Acquisition and Divestment (sale of a business) strategy
in the period 2002-2010.Examine the name reasons behind why
they have chosen these methods.Please do not just look at one
take over/ acquisition/divestment,Instead look at a number
(e.g.3-5) of their key merges/acquisition and try to investigate
the overall reasons and strategy behind these decisions.
Section 2.Business Ethics and sustainability
2.Strategy Evaluation.Critically evaluate how effective the company
has been with regard to their Ethical and sustainability policies.
For instance Sustainable policies may relate to the reduction of energy
usage, waste management and water consumption. Many other firms
promote staff training and awareness as well as involving local
communities where possible.
Ethical policies would relate to how socially responsible the
companies have been; for instance in relation to local community
development, treatment of suppliers (working conditions etc), how
they treat their employees, charitable contributions etc. In your
answer highlight any successes or problem/criticism that they have
experienced. Scandals and controversies would obviously be of
interest here.
Section 3 Opportunity and threat
3.Analyse 1 key opportunity and 1 key threat that your selected
organisation faces in 2010.
Why are these such a key issue for the company?Justify youe
selection by citing sources supporting your choice and explaining the
impact of this threat.Please note:Do not perform a SWOT analysis
here.Just 1 opportunity and 1 threat,this should be at least 2 pages
long.
Compulsory Section: Student Diary
Each member of the group should submit a diary of their group
work. This should be a paragraph in length for each student. This
should contain the following information:
- What parts of the assignment did they contribute to
- What did they learn about their organisation and the industry they
are competing within . please do not write just 2 lines here.This must
be at least a paragraph.
Students who fail to complete the students diary or write only 1 line
may be at risk of losing marks or at worst ,not passing this subject.
Please put the dairy before the list of references
Marking Scheme
Marks will be allocated on the basis of :
􀂃 Depth and breadth of content

􀂃 Level of Analysis and discussion

􀂃 Structure and coherence of argument

For the following sections:

a) Merges and acquisition strategy Up to 40 marks
b) Examine of Ethical/Sustainability policies Up to 30 marks
c) Key opportunities and threat Up to 20 marks
d) Presentation and handling of references Up to 10 marks
Recommended Reading:

• Johnson, G., Scholes, K. and Whittington, R (2008) Exploring Corporate

Strategy, 8th edition, Prentice Hall.
• Thompson,A,A., Strickland, A,J.,Gamble,J,E. (2008) The Quest for
Competitive Advantage- concepts and cases.16th edition, McGrawHill.
• Thompson, J.L & Martin, F. Strategic Management (2005), Awareness,
Analysis and Change, 5th edition On line version accessible at: ISBN-13:
9781844800834 / eISBN-13: 9781844808373. ISBN: 1844800830 /
eISBN: 1844808378
• Cole, G (2003) Management Theory and Practice. Available on BizEd
Premier:

Further Reading:
• Lynch, R. (2009) Corporate Strategy 5th edition, London: PrenticeHall,
• Ball, D,A. McCulloch Jr., W.H., Frantz, P.L., Deringer, J,M. & Minor,
S.A., (2004) International Business – The Challenge of Global
Competition 9th edition, McGrawHill.
• Stacey, R. Strategic Management and Organisational Dynamics. Pitman.
• Thompson, J.L. (2003) Strategic Management. 13th edition, Chapman
Hall, London.
• Welch, J. (2005) Winning, HarperCollins.
• Coulter, M. (2008) Strategic Management in Action, 4th edition, New
Jersey: Pearson PrenticeHall.
• David, F.R. (2003) Strategic Management Concepts, 9th edition, New
Jersey: Pearson PrenticeHall.
• Thompson, A. and Strickland, A.J. (2003) Strategic Management, Concepts
and Cases, 13th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• De wit, B and Meyer, R. (2005) Strategy: Process, Content, Context. An
International Perspective. Thomson Press.

Research resources
Students are expected to use a wide variety of sources such as books,
journals and the internet to make an in-depth critical examination of
the situation. All students will be expected to be aware of current
business and economic issues through the reading of quality business
press e.g. The Economist, Financial Times, Sunday Times etc.. –
available free on the Internet
Great insights into the latest academic thinking can be obtained from
consulting the leading relevant academic journals, some of the most
prominent in this area being:
1 Harvard Business Review
2 McKinsey Quarterly
3 MIT Sloan Management Review
4 Journal of Management Studies
5 Strategic Management Journal:

Electronic databases
Bized Premier Database:
Online library link: http://premier.bized.co.uk/
Username: kencolbus
Password: information
Ebsco database
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
authtype=uid&password=information
You will be prompted for the userid: kencolbus
The sources should be properly referenced both within the text
and at the end of the assignment.
It is important to note that students should not attempt to just state the
obvious facts. Instead they should aim to critically examine and
evaluate the strategic choice and methods that organisations have
chosen.
Plagiarism
Students must submit their work through turnitin.com.
Assignments will not be corrected without this report attached.
There will be no exceptions to the rule.
Plagiarism is a very serious academic offence. It arises when a student
is suspected of presenting work undertaken by other people as if it
were their own.A student is liable to be found guilty of plagiarism if
any work presented for individual assessment is found to contain the
unacknowledged work of some other person or persons. If this
involves deliberate misrepresentation of material as the student’s own
in an attempt to deceive the examiners then the offence is considered
a very serious one.
All sources should be cited within the text e.g. Murphy (2008)
believes that… All quotations from the works of authors must be
clearly identified as such. “Organisations must be aware of their
external environment” (Taylor, 2007)
Hence the full reference should be listed in the bibliography at the
end of the assignment. Students must use the Harvard system of
referencing
If a student’s work is found to contain a number of cleat verbatim (or
near verbatim) quotations from the work of other authors (including
other students past or present) without clear acknowledgement, then
plagiarism has been committed whether or not the student intended to
deceive the examiners.
college computers.

Referencing
The sources should be properly referenced both within the text
and at the end of the assignment
- All sources should be cited within the text e.g. Murphy (2008)
believes that… All quotations from the works of authors must be
clearly identified as such. “Organisations must be aware of their
external environment” (Murphy, 2008)
Hence the full reference should be listed in the bibliography at
the end of the assignment.
It is important to note that students should not attempt to just state
the obvious facts.Instead they should aim to critically examine
and evaluate the strategic choice and methods that organisations
have chosen.