Solution: Business and Management Strategy

Module Handbook

Faculty of Business, Computing & Digital Industries

School of Business

BMM6422: Business and Management Strategy

2022-23

Hello everyone!

I hope that you find this Module Handbook helpful in supporting your studies and that it provides you with all the information you need to know about this module.

This module is something right at the core of anyone engaging in a business degree -the focus on STRATEGIC DIRECTION and how the future you (because you’re going to have a stellar career in management!) can add the maximum value to whatever organisation you decide to work for, or career you pursue.

This is design to allow you to learn about how to effectively analyse and understand the interrelated nature of environment in business organisations. The module also gives you the chance to build a better understanding of business management, the course covers key business topics which connects with the rest of your programme. An introduction to models of industry analysis. Among the key topical areas in modern business management, we will be discussing the main theoretical planning models in organisational management, the use and application of financial information relevant to different groups of stakeholders, the implications and influence of cultural and ethical issues for strategic planning. Some of the effective strategies for organisational competition and growth will also be explored.

On the last page, you will see your module at a glance. This document helps you understand your assessment for level 6, how it connects to your programme outcomes and to the graduate attributes (skills and behaviours) you will develop during your studies. It is designed to help you understand both what you have to do, why you are being assessed in a particular way, and how it supports you successfully completing your level of study and when you have to submit work.

All assessments included at your current level study have been aligned against the programme outcomes to ensure you achieve these. These outcomes are included at the end of this document. We have designed your assessment so that it supports you to make meaningful connections across all the content you will study during this academic year.

There are several group sessions (a timetable is included in this handbook), but you will also undertake individual learning activities away from the group. The module is supported by the University’s Moodle platform, where you will find many learning resources. This should enable you to update your portfolio which is designed to help you to gather and save the evidence of your learning.

Best Wishes,

Dr Sumaila Asuru

Module Leader

MODULE GUIDE

Module Code and Title:

BMM6422 Business and Management Strategy

Where and When:

TBC

Module Leader:

Mr Imran Awan

Module Leader Contact Details & Availability:

Office: C 14

Email: i.awan@wic.ac.uk

Office hours: Monday 12:30-13:30, Thursday 12.30-13.30, Friday 9.30-12.00

Module Team Tutors / Contact Details:

Mr Gopinath Vedula

Email: g.vedula@wic.ac.uk

Summary of Content:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

Evaluate the benefits to organisations of strategic planning within the business environment.

Employ specific techniques, methods and models used in the assessment and evaluation of a given organisation’s strategy.

Investigate and interpret the external environment in which organisations exist and its effects on strategic planning.

Measure and interpret the relative strengths and weaknesses of a given business organisation.

Contrast appropriate strategic choices for a given organisation within a business context.

This module will allow the student to be able to analyse of the interrelated nature of the environment in which business organisations exist and the implications for the way they work. An introduction to models of industry analysis. An introduction to the main theoretical planning models. The use and application of financial information relevant to different groups of stakeholders. The implications and influence of cultural and ethical issues for strategic planning. The effective strategies for organisational competition and growth.

Learning and Teaching Strategies

The University has adopted a blended approach to Teaching and Learning across all modules. This is supported by the use of ‘pre’ and ‘post’ teaching session activities which you will find outlined ‘week by week’ on the enclosed module schedule. You should read and keep this schedule handy for weekly use. All activities and ‘pre’ and ‘post’ session tasks can be found on the Moodle page for BMM 6422.

Students should read the selected chapters, prepare questions for in class discussions in order to clarify areas of uncertainty or clarity. Students are also advised to start to think early in the semester what industry and company they would like to use for their reports.

The module consists of 10 lectures and workshops delivered over a 3-hour period. Typically, the first hour will be the formal lecture. The second and third hour will be used for group exercises, in class activities, writing workshops, question and answer sessions. The group work and activities will be focused on enhancing the lecture material in order to not only help you understand better the concepts and theories but also prepare for your written work.

These activities have been carefully selected to help insure all the objectives are better understood.

How your Module is Delivered

Your time on campus, learning through in-person teaching, is at the heart of your academic experience and the way we deliver our programmes. It helps to ensure that you are part of a connected learning community which provides you with the opportunity to interact with your peers and your tutors. Your on-campus in-person teaching session are supported and enhanced by a range of additional learning activities utilising digital teaching materials and online platforms.

This multi-modal approach to your programme of study is designed to ensure a positive learning, teaching and academic experience and has been carefully designed around three stages:

Pre

Live

Post

These stages work as follows:

Preparation:

You will be given clear tasks to support you in preparing for live, in-person teaching. This could include watching a short-pre-recorded lecture (or other open educational resource), reading a paper or text chapter or preparing other material for use in class. Your Module Tutor will give you information to help you understand why you are completing an activity and how this will be built on during live, in-person teaching.

Live:

All your live, in-person teaching will be designed around active learning, providing you with valuable opportunities to build on preparation tasks, interact with staff and peers and be provided opportunities to deepen your understanding, apply knowledge and surface any misunderstandings.

Post:

Follow-up activities will include clear opportunities for you to check understanding, for staff to receive feedback from you and your peers to inform subsequent sessions and for you to apply learning to new situation or context.

Please refer to your module schedule at the end of your handbook

Assessment and Deadlines

Assessment

Component form
Critical report

Magnitude
4000 words

Weighting and/or Pass/Fail

100%

Deadline

TBC

Objective(s) assessed
1, 2, 3, 4

For this module you will complete one written assignment – a 4000 words report. If you decide to include a rich picture in your report (which is a matter of choice), you will need to complete a 3000 words report as the rich picture counts as 1000 words.

Assignments must be submitted to AF44/via Turnitin by 12.00 noon on the deadline day.

Assignment details:

Select a business case-study of a company, describe its operations and stated strategy. Use at least two theories or concepts that were taught during the module!

Draw a rich picture of the strategic situation by including relationships, lists of issues and challenges, capabilities and external environment

Note: the rich picture is optional. If you decide to do it, it counts as 1000 words written text. Eg report without a rich picture must be 4000 words, but a report with a rich picture must be 3000 words.

What are the main features of the industry where the organization is nested that influence competition and profitability?

Critically analyse competition and customer requirements in order to identify opportunities for competitive advantage within this industry/sector.

Identify how the firm’s tangible and intangible resources help explain management’s strategy implementation over the period selected. Analyse them as it relates to their strategy and implementation of the strategy.

Critically evaluate the firm’s strategic capabilities whether they can create sustainable competitive advantage or not, discuss. How do these capabilities tie-in with their stated strategy?

Identify the means through which a firm can develop its resources and capabilities in order to achieve their strategy.

Use the results of resource and capability analysis to diagnose the success/ lack of success of their current strategies and advise the company/organisation about future strategies.

If the company does not appear to have one explain what they communicate as one and analyse how this fall short of a true strategy. What could the company’s strategy be if they don’t appear to have one?

Late Submission: Where there is no agreed request for an extension, a deduction of 5 marks will be made for assignments which are submitted in the 24-hour period immediately after the deadline. This means that work submitted one minute after the submission time will lose 5 marks. Subsequent deductions of 5 marks will be made for assignments submitted during subsequent 24- hour periods (not including non-working days), down to a mark of 40% for work of a pass standard and 0% for work of a failure standard. Work submitted more than 5 working days after the deadline will not be marked and a mark of zero will be returned.

Plagiarism is a form of cheating which involves presenting another person’s ideas or expressions without acknowledging the source. The penalties for this are severe. Extensive and repeated instances can result in your removal from the degree programme. It is therefore very important that you understand how to avoid being accused of plagiarism. Any work submitted for assessment must, unless collaborative work has been specifically permitted in the assignment guidelines, be your own work. Any material used, from whatever source, must be clearly acknowledged. Any words that are not your own should be shown as quotes and their author and publication details given. Where you paraphrase the words of another you should make this clear and give details of where you found this material. You should make use of the referencing guidelines on the library website and complete the online plagiarism tutorial to ensure that you are providing such details correctly. Use Harvard referencing. https://lib.leedstrinity.ac.uk/iguana/www.main.cls?surl=Referencing. Doing so will gain you marks for showing evidence of research and ability to reference. Not doing so could lead to accusations of plagiarism. You can also use Turnitin in advance of the deadline to enable you to check for elements of plagiarism in your work and then correct these.

Please also keep in mind that if you exceed the word count stipulated by more than 10% this may result in the paper only being marked until the maximum word count is reached and marked accordingly.

10.

Assessment Criteria

You will need in your own words explain what you have learnt so far with regards to strategic theories, vision, and implementation where required. You will be expected to include both theory and class material (properly referenced), a thorough analysis and your own personal opinion and preferences.

11.

Assessment Criteria Grid

Classification:

Criterion:

Exceptional 1st

/ Distinction

100, 95, 92

Outstanding 1st

/ Distinction

88, 85, 82

1st

/ Distinction

78, 75, 72

2.1

/ Merit

68, 65, 62

2.2

/ Pass

58, 55, 52

3rd

/ Pass

48, 45, 42

Fail

38, 35, 32

Abject Fail

25, 20, 10, 0

Knowledge & Understanding

Polished grasp of subject. Astute and authoritative approach to complexity.

Comprehensive and confident grasp with strong sense of subject complexity.

Thorough understanding evident and well applied to specific assessment task.

Secure, general understanding and reasonable application to assessment task.

Sound knowledge relevant to the assessment task.

Limited knowledge shows basic understanding. Some awareness of the context of the assessment task.

Faulty understanding of assessment task or concepts. Irrelevant or mostly absent content.

No understanding of assessment task or concepts. Irrelevant or absent content.

Structure, Argument

Effective and integrated over-arching argument or structure, clear, insightful synthesis. Highly creative understanding of topic.

Effective overall argument with clear and insightful connections between claims. Creative understanding of topic.

Clear and logical focus and direction with valuable connections made between claims. Good level of creativity.

Well-focused on the question with some clear connections made between claims and some overall direction. Some creativity.

Addresses the topic with some direction and makes some connections between claims or different parts of artefact/assignment.

Argument is weak and difficult to detect. Connections made between statements limited

Lack of argument. Faulty connection between statements.

No argument. Many faulty connections between statements.

Analysis and Conclusions

Original and searching analysis, critical appraisal of task and judicious conclusions.

Searching analysis with pertinent conclusions drawn.

Insightful analysis throughout with appropriate conclusions drawn.

Strong analysis of salient illustrative examples. Some general conclusions drawn.

Some conclusions drawn based on some reasonable comparisons and examples.

Basic analysis. Remains descriptive, little evaluation or comparison. Few clear conclusions.

Insufficient evaluation or attempt to make comparisons. Conclusions illogical insufficient.

No evaluation or attempt to make comparisons. Conclusions illogical or absent.

Sources & Evidence

Extensive and evaluative use of evidential support for argument.

Extensive use of evidence with some evaluation.

Clear support of argument with well selected evidence.

Draws on relevant independent sources and evidence to support claims.

Makes simple use of evidence from recommended sources.

Relies on superficial statements with little supporting evidence.

Lack of evidence or relevant sources.

No evidence or relevant sources.

Adherence to Referencing Conventions, Technical Skills

Flawless referencing or technical skills.

Excellent referencing or technical skills.

Consistent and accurate referencing or technical skills.

Largely consistent accurate referencing. or technical skills.

Limited referencing/ adherence to convention or technical skills.

Inadequate referencing or technical skills.

Inadequate or no referencing or technical skills.

Written/Visual/ Oral

Style & Clarity

Professional and sophisticated with exceptional clarity and coherence. Excellent, controlled, confident delivery, pace, and audience engagement.

Professional and fluent with great clarity and coherence. Confident delivery, pace and audience engagement.

Fluent and accurate with great clarity and coherence. Mostly confident delivery, pace and audience engagement.

Clear and coherent. Good delivery, pace and audience engagement

Some lapses of clarity. Some expression is ineffective. Satisfactory delivery, pace and audience engagement

Adequate, but awkward expression throughout with little clarity. Poor delivery, pace and audience engagement

Inadequate and unclear presentation. Impaired communication. Error-strewn.

Grossly inadequate and unclear presentation. Severely impaired communication.

Error-strewn.

12. Resources

Textbooks

The core textbook for this module is:

Johnson, G. & et al. (2017) Exploring Strategy, 11th ed. Harlow: Pearson. Leeds Trinity University Library- 658.4012 JOH. Also available as an e-book. – 4 copies plus ebook

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