MBA

Master of Business Administration (International Centres)

STRATEGY ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION

ASSIGNMENT
(October 2012 September 2013)

Issued September 2012

THE SAE ASSIGNMENT

Introduction
Prior to commencing the SAE assignment, you should (re)acquaint yourself with the SMSS (Strategic Management for Sustainable Success) module outline in the MBA Course Handbook, with particular regard to the aims, learning outcomes, indicative content, and assessment of SAE and its role within the SMSS module. You should also ensure that you have received the following: The SAE core textbooks which are: (1) Fundamentals of Strategy by Johnson, Scholes & Whittington, and (2) Business Economics by Perman & Scouller; and The SAE Workbook which provides you with a set of activities, along with a process to guide you through SAE. The Workbook is designed around a range of analytic tasks that are to be undertaken, and provides an opportunity for you to reflect on your experience of undertaking these tasks to support your personal learning and development.

There are two separate assignments comprising the total SAE assessment, namely the Group assignment based on a case study which accounts for 70% of the overall SAE mark, and an individual reflection assignment which accounts for the remaining 30%.

Group Assignment (70% of the SAE assessment).

This assignment is based on a live case study which is to be undertaken as collaborative group work, and in order to complete the assignment you will need to have progressed through the SAE workbook as a group. The case study organisation for this assignment is an international or national/regional Hotel Chain which may or which may or may not have a presence in the country/region of your centre. In selecting a case study you may choose either a high-end international chain such as InterContinental, Marriot and Fairmont, or lower end budget hotel chain such as Accor, Travel Lodge and Best Western. You may also, after consultation with your Local Counsellor, select a hotel which is not part of a chain, but has a single presence in a particular city/state.

The Assignment Brief:

You have been asked by the CEO of the Hotel Chain to undertake a comprehensive strategic investigation of its contextual and transactional environments, together with an in-depth strategic analysis of the organisation. All strategic analysis should follow the approach set out in the SAE workbook and you should identify the challenges, opportunities and threats facing the Hotel Chain. Once you have completed your strategic analysis and investigation, you should follow the instructions set out in chapter 7 of the workbook, writing a report to the CEO of the Hotel Chain, making recommendations for the companys strategy for the 7 year period 2012 though to 2019. The report should be dated at the current date and should consider the companys position and options at this date. In your report, the CEO would particularly like you to focus on how the company can develop and sustain any competitive advantage that it may have, or may need to develop. At the same time, you will need to discuss the specific competencies that will underpin any competitive advantage. Your recommendations must be analytically grounded to enable you to produce coherent, wellreasoned arguments in support of the recommendations in your report, and should include both an executive summary, and suitable appendices to support the arguments where appropriate. The report should be no more than 2,500 words in length (which includes the executive summary, but excludes any appendices).

While there will be some articles and general information on the industry posted on the SAE intranet site, the onus is on you/your group to find the information you require on the Hotel Chain and its
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operations which you select as your case study. Access to information for example, on the ownership, management structure, competencies, resources, detailed operating history and (some) financial data is essential in this assignment to enable you to undertake a sufficiently comprehensive analysis. Note that while it is accepted that certain information on hotel chains will not be easy to obtain because it may not be publicly available, there are other ways to collect information you may for example wish to interview a manager(s) of your case study hotel chain in your city/state. If however your group cannot obtain sufficient information on your initial case study selection, you should in consultation with your Local Counsellor, choose another hotel chain as your case study.

Assignment Assessment:
Assessment of this assignment is based on two essential strategic management skills: (1) understanding and application of analytical concepts and techniques; and (2) synthesis of insights and argument building. Clearly therefore while analysis is extremely important, it is only one ingredient in the assessment of this assignment, and for an assignment to fall into the excellent range, it would require: In-depth analysis based on extensive research, of the organization, its structure, markets, competitors, stakeholders and wider contextual environment; Coherent and logical synthesis of the analysis presented, leading to key implications for future competitive advantage; A thorough assessment of the strategic options available to the organsiation; A thoughtful consideration of the fit between options, objectives, environment and the internal resources of the organisation; A strategic view rather than a listing of tactical suggestions; A cogent, substantive and credible argument detailing the benefits and drawbacks of the central idea being proposed, along with discussion on possibilities not considered, and the reasons why they were not considered; and A professional overall presentation which includes the selective use of appropriate supporting appendices.

Assignment Regulations: The assignment is undertaken as a group assignment with a group size of between 4 and 6 students. In exceptional circumstances and with prior permission, a student may be permitted to undertake the assignment on an individual basis. The assignment has a designated word limit and infractions of the limit will incur a penalty in the form of a reduction in the assignment mark. On completion of the group assignment each member of the group will be required to complete a Peer Assessment form evaluating the contribution made by each team member (excluding him/herself) in undertaking the assignment. The composite average peer assessment total for each student will then be applied to the group assignment mark, which depending on the total, may result in each student in a group receiving a different mark. Note that the assessments will be treated as confidential. Ensure that you have read the section on group work/peer assessment in the Course Handbook, before you complete the peer assessment form for the group assignment. The Peer Assessment of your team members for the group assignment should be submitted at the same time as the assignment itself, but the completed forms from each team member should be placed in a separate sealed envelope to maintain the confidentiality of the assessments. Do not incorporate the completed forms in the group assignment.

Individual Reflective Assignment (30% of the SAE assessment).

On completion of the Group Assignment, you are required to submit an individual assignment reflecting on your learning from having undertaken the case study group work, and which clearly demonstrates your emergent and deeper understanding of a particular concept or theory.

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The Assignment Brief:

You are required, individually, to write a 1,000 word reflective essay on one concept or theory from SAE, for which your understanding has evolved significantly as a result of your experience of studying SAE and undertaking the group assignment tasks. This essay should use, as a starting point, one or more of the Individual reflections and personal learning insights which you will have noted as you worked through the Workbook. In the essay, you should explain your initial understanding of the concept or theory, and how your understanding of that concept or theory is now more sophisticated as a result of working through the group case study. You may invoke learning situations from other courses you have been through (or professional situations you have come across) and weave these into the learnings in SAE. You should also consider how what you have learnt could be applied to other contexts, for example in your professional practice or business. Note that reflection is not about regurgitation of theory; it is about personal understanding and making sense of theory and its role in practice that has arisen as a result of having undertaken SAE. We are not therefore interested in a reiteration/paraphrase of theory in this assignment but in your understanding and insights.

Assignment Assessment:
The format of the assignment is an essay and as such, does not warrant a cold and objective reporting style complete with establishment of facts and citations. You may of course quote authors but these should be in the nature of appreciation of insights offered, rather than as reportage of theories. You are being asked to focus on one concept in some depth, not several. If you choose to cover several concepts you will not be able to reach the level of depth expected within the word count, and this will be reflected in a lower mark In discussing the concept or theory do not use any of the following: SWOT, PEST, or the 7 Ps; these are taxonomic classifications; they are not concepts or theories. Avoid discussion on your groups interactions in undertaking the group assignment; the task in this assignment is to reflect on your evolving understanding of a concept or theory, not to reflect on teamwork. However you may want to refer to some of the group discussions if they show how your understanding of the concept or theory enabled your group to progress in their understanding of the case, or to draw new and powerful strategic implications. For an individual reflective essay to fall into the excellent range, it would require: Demonstration of a sophisticated understanding of the concept/theory based on the students work through the group case study, with reference made to key authors where applicable; Clear evidence of how the group case study work helped developed the students understanding of the concept or theory; Evidence that the learning is applicable to other contexts i.e. the student has shown how the learning applies to the students own professional practice or other organizations; and A clear structure and effective and persuasive communication.

Assignment Regulations:
The assignment is strictly an individual assignment and permission will not be granted for the assignment to be undertaken on a group basis. The assignment has a designated word limit and serious infractions of the limit will incur a penalty in the form of a reduction in the assignment mark. The individual reflective assignments must be submitted separately from the group assignment. Do not incorporate the individual assignments of group members in the group assignment submission.

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