Assignment:
1. A brief (maximum 100 words) introduction to the company
2. Company data which can be used to evaluate its success concluding with your thoughts about whether or not the company can be described as "successful".
3. An outline of 6 to10 business reasons behind the success stated in a simple, straight forward way with a brief (4/5 sentences) explanation of each reason. Avoid strategy "jargon"; no analysis is required - this is a test of your broad business knowledge and understanding.
4. A detailed analysis of the company's strategic capabilities starting with the Value Chain and followed by a VRIN evaluation. Your interpretation of the analysis must clearly show how the company has been able to build competitive advantage.
5. An evaluation of the contribution of leadership to the company's success, basing this on appropriate theory. A wide range of topics will be acceptable including:
o Leadership (e.g. styles, attributes)
o Management theories
o Organisational culture
o Decision-making
6. A detailed analysis and interpretation based on one further topic area from the following list:
o Business (competitive) strategy consistent with strategic capabilities
o International strategy (based on the framework in Exploring Strategy)
o Innovation strategy
o Collaboration (alliances, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions)
7. An explanation of any external and/or internal factors that might make it difficult for the company to be successful in the future (cite sources) and suggestions as to how the company can best deal with these.
ALL sections should cite sources of research data and theories/concepts on which your analysis is based. The only exception to this is the suggestions you make in Section 7; these should be YOUR original ideas and therefore citations are not expected.