MGB133 Managing Strategy Assignment 1 2025 | QUT

MGB133 Managing Strategy Assignment 1 : Environmental Scan Report

In this assignment you will analyse the current business model of the case organisation. You will use a range of strategy tools to conduct an external and internal analysis of the case organisation.

You will use your analysis to identify the main strategic issues currently facing the case organisation and provide at least 2 preliminary recommendations for how the case organisation can address these issues. You will produce a written report that summarises your analysis and preliminary recommendations. This assignment will apply content covered in the online readings, lectures, and tutorials. You will be guided on how conduct the analysis required to complete the assessment during weekly tutorials.

The assignment is individual and worth 40% of your grade.

This assessment pieces qualifies for the 48-hour extension policy.

Decathlon’s Circular Business – Assessment Case – Additional Guidance

We would like you to spend your time analysing the case rather than trying to determine what to analysis. In the lecture material, we already provided guidance on what segments to use for the basis of your external analysis. In addition to this, we also make suggestions below about what resources and capabilities to use for your internal analysis. Note, these are only suggested, you are free to amend, revise, or use as is.

External Analysis – Segmentation Analysis
We are recommending you restrict your segmentation analysis to the market segments of Decathlon’s current top revenue circular business segment:

Second life market for bicycles/E-bikes in the European Union.
Internal Analysis – Resources And Capabilities
We are recommending you do your functional analysis of Decathlon Circular Business the following resources and capabilities:

Resources:

R1: In-store collection infrastructure: Large network of physical store locations with an embedded workforce of trained technicians for product collection, grading, testing, repair/refurbishment, certification, and resale.

R2: Regional distribution centres: Facilitate centralized inspection, grading, repair, and redistribution. Requires storage space for second life inventory.

R3: Reverse logistics IT systems (e.g., return authorizations, tracking tools): Track product movement, customer claims, and lifecycle status to enable traceability, material recovery insights, and warranty validation, and connect reverse logistics to sales, inventory, ESG reporting, and customer service.

R4: Digital platform and marketplace: customer facing online resale and rental platforms (e.g., Second Life marketplace, and Booking systems for repairs and rentals).

R5: Human capital: Dedicated circularity team, In-house Design/R&D team that creates modular, upgradable, and circular product/service offerings; and supply chain specialists to coordinate returns flows, manage transport, and optimize cost-efficiency.

R6: Second-life product brand reputation: consumer trust in refurbished products through certification, warranties, and trust signals to transform the perception from “used and cheap” to “smart, certified, and sustainable.” 

Capabilities:

C1: Reverse logistics capability:  Capability to collect, sort, refurbish, and redistribute products at scale. Efficient systems for product return, sorting, grading, repair, and redistribution. Spare parts inventory with availability of modular components for repair and refurbishment.

C2: Digital scaling for circularity:  Capability to scale digital tools to track product lifecycles and integrate resale/rental experiences.

C3: Marketing and sales: ability to establish and maintain lasting customer relationships that build trust in second-life products, and educate customers on maintenance, sustainability benefits, and reuse opportunities. Regional optimization through tailoring of approaches by region, product category, and business model maturity.

C4: Partnership and ecosystem building: Experience collaborating with recyclers, regulators, suppliers for system-wide circularity including advocating for favourable policies (e.g., regulations and emission standards), incentives (e.g. subsidies and tax incentives), and infrastructure investment.

C5: Strategic alignment and organizational culture: Strategic alignment of financial and sustainability goals; integration of environmental metrics into operations, performance metrics, decision-making, and executive incentives to embed circular thinking in design, operations, and sales.

Introduction

(recommended word count – approximately 150 words)

[Provide a brief introduction to the report that includes an overview of the company and the purpose of the report.]

External Analysis

(recommended word count – approximately 750 words)

[Identify key market/customer segments and what the key success factors in each segment are based on analysis of demand (what customers want), and analysis of competition (how do firms survive competition); Be sure to include a rationale/justification for why you believe these are the most important considerations].

Internal Analysis

(recommended word count – approximately 500 words)

[What are the organisation’s key resources and capabilities, and how do they compare to their competitors? Do they have any distinctive competencies? Be sure to include a rationale/justification for why you believe these are the most important considerations].

Issue Identification

(recommended word count – approximately 400 words)

[Provide an overview of at least 2 (two) issues that require senior executive attention. Be sure to include a rational/justification for each issue].

Recommendations

(recommended word count – approximately 200 words)

[Provide an overview of at least 2 (two) recommendations for how the client organisation can address the issues identified. Be sure to include a rational/justification for each recommendation. Be sure to note how the recommendations address the issues you identified in the previous section].

Reference List

(not included in word count, always start your reference list on a new page)

[APA referencing style. Include only sources that you have referred to in your report].

Appendix

(not included in word count – limit to 5 pages maximum)

[Consideration will only be given to the first five pages of the appendix. Only material referenced and described in the body of the report will contribute to your grade.

Tip: The appendix is an appropriate place to put your analysis, frameworks, models that you used to arrive at your conclusions, issues, and recommendations].