Strategic & General Management

Strategic & General Management Order Description 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). 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 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). 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 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.