Reference no: EM132555371 , Length: word count:4000
ACC30009 Analysis for Competitive Advantage Assignment - Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Assignment - Team Research Report
Overview - In order to succeed, organisations must learn to respond and adapt to the challenges in today's rapidly changing business environment. Horngren, Datar and Rajan (2012, p. 467) stated that 'in formulating its strategy, an organisation must thoroughly understand its industry'. Understanding the firm's industry is important; however, learning to deal with changing circumstances and competing demands posed by various stakeholders-such as shareholders, customers, employees, the government and the media-is possibly more challenging. What's more, the latter could sway the firm to adopt one or both strategies of product differentiation and/or cost leadership.
This assignment has three specific requirements (A, B and C):
A. Company research
B. Industry research and recommendation
C. Overall report structure and team effort
A. Company research
You are required to select one company that has introduced a new product or service in the past twelve months. Once chosen, you must complete the following:
Company profile: Conduct an extensive research on the profile of the company chosen. Provide a brief but succinct discussion of the nature, origins and primary focus/foci of the firm; an analysis of the products and/or services provided by the firm before the launch of the new product/service; and a clear description of the new product's use, features and/or significant improvements from prior models.
Company performance: Considering the knowledge gained from prior studies and other related topics covered/to be covered in this unit-such as Business performance measures, Balanced Scorecard and the SWOT analysis-analyse and discuss the overall economic, social and/or environmental performance of the company for the past two years. Consider these factors before the launch of the new product and service. Your analysis and discussion should highlight how the company has either succeeded or failed to strengthen its competitive advantage over the past two years.
Company's generic strategy and competitive advantage: Identify and discuss the circumstances leading to the launch of the new product/service. Considering the two generic strategies of product differentiation and cost leadership, explain whether your chosen firm is adopting a singular and/or combination of these strategies. Analyse and explain whether the company has either succeeded or failed to strengthen its competitive advantage as a result of the new product/service launched. This must be supported by relevant literature on strategic management and other sources, such as media releases, statistics and/or industry reports.
B. Industry research and recommendation
Your research should also include the following:
Industry analysis: From the point-of-view of your chosen firm, prepare a Five-Force Analysis (Porter, 1980; 1985) of the industry to which your company belongs. Your analysis must be supported by research (e.g. media releases, statistics, industry report) and the relevant literature on strategic management and competitive advantage.
Strategic recommendation: Taking the role of a team of management accountant who is employed by the chosen company, provide recommendation/s on how the company could better adapt to changing circumstances to maintain its competitive advantage. Your recommendation must be supported by research (e.g. media releases, statistics, industry report), as well as the relevant academic literature on strategic management and competitive advantage.
C. Overall report structure and team effort
Your report should additionally adhere to the following:
Present your research in a report format with an approximate word length of 4,000 words.
Use Swinburne Harvard referencing style throughout your report.
You are expected to use a combination of books, journals/newspaper articles, industry report and company annual reports. An examination of between 20-40 articles is a guide to the level of research required.