MBA7002 Strategic Management SEM 2 Assignment 2 Brief | Cardiff Metropolitan University

Task\ assessment brief:

This is an individual task.

Assume you are working for a top consulting firm and a senior partner has asked you to produce a 15-minute PowerPoint presentation, comparing the strategic approaches of two case study companies in the same industry, based on how they have achieved and maintained their sustainable competitive advantage. 

The assessment requires you to: 
 
Analyse how your focus case company has a lasting competitive advantage (or possibly not), using your second company as a comparator. You should apply the following to undertake this analysis:

• Define competitive position, what are strategies, value creation and lasting sustainable competitive advantages  
• Demonstrate external forces operating in the industry and the chosen position of the companies (PESTEL) … (Macro analysis)
• Apply Porters Generic Strategy and Porters 5 Forces to further expand on choice of competitive position … (industry analysis)
• Demonstrate how to consider and assess internal resources and capabilities and specifically, apply VRIO analysis … (firm’s analysis)
• Summarise the internal and external analysis carried out (applying SWOT or TOWS analysis)
• Analyse their various value propositions using the BMC (link with SWOT/TOWS)

You must record the presentation in Microsoft ‘Teams’. You must upload the final presentation in an MP4 format generated from Microsoft Teams. If you are unsure how to do this, please ask your Tutor and there is instruction in the assessment area of Moodle where there is a guidance video in Moodle to help you.  
 
You can be creative in your PowerPoint presentation mixing academic journals with other material that addresses your case studies, for example business and trade magazines, links to news and magazine articles etc. These sources are often used in business to form opinions and provide contextual information. However, you must use the material to draw robust strategic conclusions through the application of theory covered during the module up to this point. 
 
The presentation should last no more than 15 minutes in total. You will be penalised for extending your presentation beyond this limit. 

Assessment Criteria

Learning outcomes assessed

• Critically evaluate and reflect on the derivation of competitive positioning, and lasting and sustainable competitive advantage. 
• Critically assess and debate theory and practice critical to contemporary strategic issues including technology, corporate values and social responsibilities.  
• Analyse competition and wider strategic considerations to identify opportunities for sustainable competitive advantage as an organization and within an industry.
• Critically consider fundamentals of corporate competitiveness including culture, leadership and change management in response to a variety of external and internal pressures and assess the value of different leadership styles in managing strategic change.

Other skills/attributes developed

This includes elements of the Cardiff Met EDGE (Ethical, Digital, Global and Entrepreneurial skills) and other attributes developed in students through the completion of the module and assessment. These will also be highlighted in the module guidance, which should be read by all students completing the module. Assessments are not just a way of auditing student knowledge. They are a process that provides additional learning and development through the preparation for and completion of the assessment. 

• Ethical business practices – include consideration of how ethical business fits within sustainable competitive business position 
• Digital – to practice and develop presentation skills using digital media
• Global – to consider business with a global macro environment and the analysis of business operating in a global context.  
• Entrepreneurial – to consider how the approach to maintaining competitiveness relies upon leadership and entrepreneurial mindset.

Marking\Assessment Criteria

The requirement is to address all the subject areas noted that relate to the noted learning objectives:

• Define competitive position, what is strategy, value creation and lasting sustainable competitive advantage (LO1); (LO2) 
• Demonstrate external forces operating in the industry and the chosen position of the companies (PESTEL; SWOT; TOWS)  
• Apply Porters Generic Strategy and Porters 5 Forces to further expand on choice of competitive position (LO3); (LO4)
• Demonstrate how to consider and assess internal resources and capabilities and specifically, apply VRIO analysis (LO1)(LO3)
• Analyse their various value propositions using the BMC (LO1)