Strategic choices

School of xx

Assessment
Brief

Module Code Module Title
MBA7002 Strategic Management
Academic Year Semester
2022/23 1
Module Leader email

Content

Assessment Details 2
Submission Details 3
Assessment Criteria 3
Further Information 5
Who can answer questions about my assessment? 5
Referencing 5
Submission problems 5
Unfair academic practice 5
How is my work graded? 6
Assessment Details
Assessment title Abr. Weighting
Strategic Choices – Case Study
PORT1 50%
Pass marks are 50% for postgraduate work unless stated otherwise.

Task/assessment brief:
You are required to produce a powerpoint presentation and 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 are instruction in the assessment area of Moodle where there is a guidance video in Moodle to help you. The following general topic areas will help you:

• Description of current vision, mission and objectives
• Analysis of macro environment within which the firm operates including opportunities and threats
• Outline and critically assess the organisations business model
• Analysis of the organisation’s resources and capabilities, how the organisation adds value and to whom
• From this information present an informed strategic view using theory and strategy tools as to how the organisation has chosen its competitive position, and using these tools and results of your analysis, its future strategy.
You are encouraged to use a variety of strategy tools and examples. You should read around the case study yourselves forng your own views and evidence based view of its business strategy. You can use a variety of appropriate academic journals, business publications and media but must record and present them Harvard compliant in your references..

You can be creative in your powerpoint presentation mixing academic journals with other material that addresses your case study, 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 so far during the module.
The presentation should last no more than 20 minutes in total. You will be penalised for extending your presentation beyond this limit.

You will receive feedback and a mark in Moodle with comments based on the learning outcomes 1-4
1. Evaluate and reflect on the influences driving the business
2. Analyse the competitive landscape of the organisations
3. Identify strategic challenges and how strategic choices are made
4. Develop personal presentation and organisational skills

The Case studies

The following table offers five quite different case study organisations experiencing very different strategic challenges. You are at liberty to choose only one of them.
You should consider each element of the module material and seek to apply it to the case study and to discuss your choice and application with your tutor in seminars.

Organisation
Choice 1

Choice 2
Choice 3
Choice 4

Choice 5

Word count (or equivalent): 2000 (but word count is irrelevant)
This a reflection of the effort required for the assessment. Word counts will normally include any text, tables, calculations, figures, subtitles and citations. Reference lists and contents of appendices are excluded from the word count. Contents of appendices are not usually considered when determining your final assessment grade.

Academic or technical terms explained:
Strategy tools – theory and ideas drawn from authors usually supported by charts and diagrams that can be applied or to illustrate in a particular context or business challenge.

Strategic choices – the application of theory, process and systematic approach to selection of an appropriate business strategy

Competitive landscape – Analysis of the key competitors, competitive forces and basis of competition

Identify – Determine what are the key points to be addressed and implications thereof.

Evaluate – Discuss something in a way that allows you to reach a judgment (conclusion) about it. In your answer, explain the rationale behind your conclusion. In a mathematically or formally oriented question, “evaluate” might mean to work through the formal material to reach the result. (Think of evaluating an expression.)

Critically Evaluate – Give your verdict as to what extent a statement or findings within a piece of research are true, or to what extent you agree with them. Provide evidence taken from a wide range of sources which both agree with and contradict an argument. Conclude, basing your decision on what you judge to be the most important factors and justify how you have made your choice.

Analyse – Break an issue into its constituent parts. Look in depth at each part using supporting arguments and evidence for and against as well as how these interrelate to one another.

Submission Details
Submission Deadline: Monday 28th November Estimated Feedback
Return Date This will normally be 20 working days after initial submission.
Submission
Time: By 23.59hrs on the deadline day.
Moodle/Turnitin: Any assessments submitted after the deadline will not be marked and will be recorded as a non-attempt unless you have had an extension request agreed or have approved mitigating circumstances. See the School Moodle pages for more information on extensions and mitigating circumstances.
File Format: The assessment must be submitted as a recorded video along with the slide pack used.

Your assessment should be titled with your:

student ID number, module code and assessment ID,
e.g. st12345678 MBA 7002 PORT1
Feedback Feedback for the assessment will be provided electronically via Moodle. Feedback will be provided with comments on your strengths and the areas which you can improve. View the guidance on how to access your feedback.

All marks are provisional and are subject to quality assurance processes and confirmation at the programme Examination Board.

Assessment Criteria
Learning outcomes assessed
• Evaluate and reflect on the influences driving demand within the business to consumer and business to business markets and the factors influencing the strength of their influence
• Critically assess the debate that surround corporate values and social responsibilities.
• To analyse competition and customer requirements in order to identify opportunities for competitive advantage within an industry.

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 which provides additional learning and development through the preparation for and completion of the assessment.
• Ethical business practices
• Sustainability
• The application of new technologies and digital business
• International business strategy
• Entrepreneurship and innovation leadership

Marking/Assessment Criteria

This is an individual task and you will be assessed according to the learning outcomes, applying thorough research and appropriate theory and strategic tools:
1. Evaluate and reflect on the influences driving the business (25%)
2. Analyse the competitive landscape of the organisation (25%)
3. Identify strategic challenges and how choices are made (25%)
4. Develop personal presentation and organisational skills (25%)

The marking rubric is aligned to the University’s Grade Boundary Descriptors which can be found at eh following link Facilitation of Learning

1-29 30-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-89 90-99 100
Evaluate and reflect on the influences driving the business Little to no awareness of vision, mission, values, overall strategy, stakeholders or values Some awareness of vision, mission, values, overall strategy, stakeholders or values Good awareness of vision, mission, values, overall strategy, stakeholders or values Very good and detailed awareness of vision, mission, values, overall strategy, stakeholders or values Excellent awareness of vision, mission, values, overall strategy, stakeholders or values Outstanding awareness of vision, mission, values, overall strategy, stakeholders or values Outstanding awareness and inciteful of vision, mission, values, overall strategy, stakeholders or values
Analyse the competitive landscape of the organisations Little to no analysis, no understanding of resources or capabilities, no strengths or weaknesses outlined, little understanding of the wider macro environment Poor – analysis present but partial, resources and capabilities mentioned but unclear, capabilities noted but not clearly understood, few if any example, little understanding of business model Good – clearly understands resources and capabilities, can describe the business model, use of a couple of examples, demonstrates understanding of the competitive environment Very good – good grasp in detail of resources, their types and contributions to competitive advantage, good examples with detail, can outline in detail the business model and its facets, detailed analysis of macro environment Excellent – detailed and a critical assessment of detail of resources, their types and contributions to competitive advantage, excellent examples with detail, can outline in detail and critically assess the business model and its facets, detailed analysis and critical assessment of macro environment from a number of perspectives Outstanding– detailed and a critical assessment of resources, their types and contributions to competitive advantage, excellent examples with detail, outlined in detail, fluently and critically assess the business model and its facets, fluent analysis and critical assessment of macro environment from a number of perspectives Outstanding and inciteful – meets the full brief in an inciteful engaging narrative employing critical analysis and assessment of the wider environment and how it has shaped the business
Identify strategic challenges and how choices are made Little to no understanding of parameters to making choices, links to competitive advantage and application of theory or models Poor understanding of parameters to making choices, links to competitive advantage and application of theory or models Good understanding of parameters to making choices, links to competitive advantage and application of theory or models Very good understanding of parameters to making choices, links to competitive advantage and application of theory or models Excellent understanding of parameters to making choices, links to competitive advantage and application of theory or models Outstanding understanding of parameters to making choices, links to competitive advantage and application of theory or models Outstanding and inciteful understanding of parameters to making choices, links to competitive advantage and application of theory or models
Develop personal presentation and organisational skills Very poor – slides unclear, largely read, no referencing or internet sources, no flow, disjointed Poor – slides unclear, largely read, no referencing or internet sources, poor flow, disjointed Good – slides largely clear, mixture of reading and some interpretation in places, referencing from some academic sources or internet sources, patchy flow, disjointed in places Very good – slides clear, largely interpreted may have read in places, referencing largely from academic sources, some internet sources, flow but disjointed in places Excellent – slides perfectly clear, interpreted material in won words, referencing from academic sources fluid, not disjointed Outstanding – slides perfectly clear, interpreted slides into own words, full referencing using sources, Outstanding and inciteful – slides clear and show incite to topic, fully lucid, engaging and not read, confident, full referencing from academic sources
Mark
Overall

Further Information

Who can answer questions about my assessment?

Questions about the assessment should be directed to the staff member who has set the task/assessment brief. This will usually be the Module Leader and also your seminar tutor. They will be happy to answer any queries you have.

Staff members can often provide feedback on an assignment plan but cannot review any drafts of your work prior to submission. The only exception to this rule is for Dissertation Supervisors to provide feedback on a draft of your dissertation.

Referencing and independent learning

Please ensure you reference a range of credible sources, with due attention to the academic literature in the area. The time spent on research and reading from good quality sources will be reflected in the quality of your submitted work.

Remember that what you get out of university depends on what you put in. Your teaching sessions typically represent between 10% and 30% of the time you are expected to study for your degree. A 20-credit module represents 200 hours of study time. The rest of your time should be taken up by self-directed study.

Unless stated otherwise you must use the HARVARD referencing system. Further guidance on referencing can be found in the Study Smart area on Moodle and at www.citethemrightonline.com (use your university login details to access the site). Correct referencing is an easy way to improve your marks and essential in achieving higher grades on most assessments.

Technical submission problems

It is strongly advised that you submit your work at least 24 hours before the deadline to allow time to resolve any last minute problems you might have. If you are having issues with IT or Turnitin you should contact the IT Helpdesk on (+44) 2920 417000. You may require evidence of the Helpdesk call if you are trying to demonstrate that a fault with Moodle or Turnitin was the cause of a late submission.

Extensions and mitigating circumstances

Short extensions on assessment deadlines can be requested in specific circumstances. If you are encountering particular hardship which has been affecting your studies, then you may be able to apply for mitigating circumstances. This can give the teachers on your programme more scope to adapt the assessment requirements to support your needs. Extensions and mitigating circumstances policies and procedures are regularly updated. You should refer to your degree programme or school Moodle pages for information on extensions and mitigating circumstances.

Unfair academic practice

Cardiff Met takes issues of unfair practice extremely seriously. The University has procedures and penalties for dealing with unfair academic practice. These are explained in full in the University’s Unfair Practice regulations and procedures under Volume 1, Section 8 of the Academic Handbook. The Module Leader reserves the right to interview students regarding any aspect of their work submitted for assessment.

Types of Unfair Practice, include:

Plagiarism, which can be defined as using without acknowledgement another person’s words or ideas and submitting them for assessment as though it were one’s own work, for instance by copying, translating from one language to another or unacknowledged paraphrasing. Further examples include:
• Use of any quotation(s) from the published or unpublished work of other persons, whether published in textbooks, articles, the Web, or in any other format, where quotations have not been clearly identified as such by being placed in quotation marks and acknowledged.
• Use of another person’s words or ideas that have been slightly changed or paraphrased to make it look different from the original.
• Summarising another person’s ideas, judgments, diagrams, figures, or computer programmes without reference to that person in the text and the source in a bibliography/reference list.
• Use of assessment writing services, essay banks and/or any other similar agencies (NB. Students are commonly being blackmailed after using essay mills).
• Use of unacknowledged material downloaded from the Internet.
• Re-use of one’s own material except as authorised by your degree programme.
Collusion, which can be defined as when work that that has been undertaken with others is submitted and passed off as solely the work of one person. Modules will clearly identify where joint preparation and joint submission are permitted, in all other cases they are not.
Fabrication of data, making false claims to have carried out experiments, observations, interviews or other forms of data collection and analysis, or acting dishonestly in any other way.

How is my work graded?

Assessment grading is subject to thorough quality control processes. You can view a summary of these processes on the Assessment Explained Infographic.

Grading of work at each level of Cardiff Met degree courses is benchmarked against a set of general requirements set out in Volume 1, Section 4.3 of our Academic Handbook. A simplified version of these Grade Band Descriptors (GBDs) with short videos explaining some of the academic terminology used can be accessed via the Facilitation of Learning resource page.

We would strongly recommend looking at the Study Smart area of Moodle to find out more about assessments and key academic skills which can have a significant impact on your grades. Always check your work thoroughly before submission.