Strategic & General managment

Order Description

The company i chose for this assignment to be done it “VolkerFitzpatrick” and there website is http://www.volkerfitzpatrick.co.uk/. there financial and annual reports are all available on there website and have to be presented in the coursework. also i have uploaded 2 example reports of how the coursework should be done .

The Assignment Criteria is also uploaded please take a look at it

TASK:

1. Select a well-documented construction company (e.g. FTSE 100) on which to carry out a strategic case study

2. You are a consultant employed by the company to investigate, analyse, and recommend a new strategic direction and report back on your findings.

3. Produce a professional strategic options paper (3000 words).

a) Briefly summarise the company’s current strategy

b) Critically analyse the main challenges and opportunities facing the company using simple strategic analysis (e.g. PESTEL/SWOT /Five forces). Tables of analysis should be placed in an appendix and cross referenced in the narrative of the report.

c) Identify and appraise 2 new strategic options to increase competitive advantage

d) Make appropriate recommendations for the future direction of the company and evaluate these based upon the framework proposed by Johnson & Scholes (i.e. suitability, feasibility, and acceptability).

School of Civil Engineering and Surveying Student Registration Number:

Course: U22408 Date Set: 06/11/2014Strategic & General Management U22408

Lecturer: Rebecca Allan Date Due: 24/03/2015Coursework 2 Report (0.5 weighting) Ref:

Objectives:

1. To summarise the principles of strategic management

2. To assess the processes involved in developing a new company strategy

3. To demonstrate the ability to formulate and critically appraise effective strategies using appropriate tools

Task:

1. Select a well-documented construction company (e.g. FTSE 100) on which to carry out a strategic case study

2. You are a consultant employed by the company to investigate, analyse, and recommend a new strategic direction and report back on your findings.

3. Produce a professional strategic options paper (3000 words).

a) Briefly summarise the company’s current strategy

c) Identify and appraise 2 new strategic options to increase competitive advantage

Learning outcomes:

On successful completion of this assignment, students will be expected, at threshold level, to be able to:

1. Critically discuss the principles of strategic management

2. Develop effective strategies using appropriate tools

3. Evaluate policies from a strategic management point of view

Reading / References:

Dainty, A., Green, S., and Bagilhole, B. (2007). People and culture in Construction : a reader. London : Taylor & Francis.

Green, S.G. (2011). Making Sense of Construction Improvement. Oxford: Blackwell.

Hitt, M., Black, S., and Porter, L.W. (2011). Management (3rd ed.). Pearson Education.

Johnson, G., Scholes, K. and Whittington R. (2008). Exploring Corporate Strategy. (8th ed.). Harlow, Financial Times Prentice Hall.

Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B. and Lampel, J. (2005). Strategy Bites Back : it is a lot more, and less, than you ever imagined … Harlow, Financial Times Prentice Hall. (ISBN 0273693468).

The University of Portsmouth regulations require students to keep electronic copies

of all assignments, and submit these at any time upon request.

This sheet must be submitted with your assignment.

Student Evaluation and Student Comment to be completed before submission.

Indicative Grade Criteria:

A* As below plus:

• Very high quality concise professional strategic direction report

• An exceptional report showing excellent insight into the strategic challenges and opportunities being faced and making well thought out and justified recommendations.

• Extensive references &/or bibliography using subject convention.

• Presented in a highly professional format with excellent structure and no errors in grammar, spelling, or punctuation.

A As below plus:

• Thorough completion of the strategic direction report and showing evidence of considerable research beyond recommended textbooks and the internet.

• An excellent report, written and presented in a professional manner with work showing awareness of the company challenges and opportunities, clear analysis and appropriate recommendations.

• References &/or bibliography presented according to subject convention

• Well presented, well structured, good organisation with few or no errors in grammar, spelling, or punctuation. Presentation of diagrams &/or tables follows required format

B As below plus:

• Adequate completion of the strategic direction report showing some evidence of research beyond recommended textbooks and the internet.

• A report written in an appropriate format, which answers the task set in a thorough, thoughtful and analytical manner with few errors or gaps in content, explanation or accuracy.

• Analysis and recommendations are appropriate.

• References &/or bibliography usually presented according to subject convention

• Well presented, clearly written, few errors in structure, organisation, expression, grammar, spelling, punctuation and presentation/use of diagrams &/or tables

C As below plus:

• Partial completion of the strategic direction report with little evidence of research.

• A report which strives to answer the task set, but may not be in an appropriate management format, may have omissions in content, or may be partially descriptive rather than reflective.

• Analysis and recommendations may be based on limited information.

• Attempts made to present/use references/ bibliography according to subject convention

• Generally follows instructions regarding organisation, expression, grammar, spelling, punctuation and presentation/use of diagrams &/or tables

• Adequate descriptive work that attempts to focus on & show basic grasp of the topic

• Limited research using mainly provided material. Attempts to use &/or present references/bibliography according to convention

• Limited prose style attempting to following instructions regarding organisation, expression, grammar, spelling, punctuation and presentation/use of diagrams &/or tables

Fail / E FAIL Anything which is inadequate in most or all of the following: length, content, structure, organisation, expression, discussion, explanation, accuracy and relevance. Work in this range attempts to address the question/problem but is substantially incomplete and deficient. Serious problems with a number of aspects of language use are often found in work in this range and the work may be severely under/over-length.

Fail / F FAIL No serious attempt to address the question, and/or manifests a serious misunderstanding of the requirements of the assignment. Acutely deficient in all aspects.

School of Civil Engineering and Surveying Student Registration Number:

Assignment Marks Sheet

Student comment: I have read and understood the University’s regulations on plagiarism – please tick box??

Assessment Criteria

Criteria Description

Weighting

% Student Evaluation

(to be completed before submission) Staff Evaluation

Pass Fail Pass Fail

A* A B C D E F A* A B C D E F

Professional options report

{ Learning outcome 1,2,3}

1. Briefly summarise the company’s current strategy

10%

2. Critique the challenges and opportunities facing your selected company. 30%

3. Select appropriate strategic tools to analyse the internal and external environment 10%

4. Propose 2 potential new strategic options (20%). 10%

5. Evaluate your options based upon the framework proposed by Johnson & Scholes (i.e. suitability, feasibility, and acceptability) and make recommendations. 30%

6. Professional report format, references, spelling and grammar 10%

Overall Grade

(NB all grades are provisional until confirmed by the Unit Assessment Board) Assessor Grade: Initials:

Verifier agreed:

Initials:

Key: A*: 80% or above, A: 70% – 79%, B: 60% – 69%, C: 50% – 59%, D: 40% – 49%, E: 30% – 39%, F: 29% or less

IMPORTANT: See separate Grade Criteria for characteristics of work in the above grades

Student Comment (to be completed before submission)

Staff Comment

? If ticked, it is advisable/essential* that you contact the Academic Skills Unit (ASK) (http://www.port.ac.uk/ask) for further support with the following aspect of your academic work:

The University of Portsmouth regulations require students to keep electronic copies

of all assignments, and submit these at any time upon request.

This sheet must be submitted with your assignment.

Student Evaluation and Student Comment to be completed before submission.

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