Reference no: EM132525984

MNG00114 Competitive Strategy - Southern Cross University

Assessment - Strategy Case Analysis

Assignment Brief

Publicly-owned companies (i.e., businesses owned by shareholders and managed by professional management teams) are ‘listed' on stock exchanges in their respective countries. Investors may buy and sell shares in listed companies through stock exchanges. Examples include the New York Stock Exchange (USA), London Stock Exchange (United Kingdom), and the Shanghai Stock Exchange (China).

In Australia publicly-owned businesses are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. The top-performing 200 companies listed on the ASX are known as the ‘ASX 200'.

Your task is to select one company listed on the ASX200, then:

- Use an internet search engine to access the official company website for your chosen company, then locate the ‘investors' or ‘investor relations' page
- Download the latest company annual report
- Download the company's latest strategic plan (if this is available - not all companies will make their strategic plans available)
- Look through other areas of your company's investor relations webpage to identify other materials that could inform your Strategy Case Analysis
You are then to address all of the following five (5) questions.

Problem 1

Drawing upon theories and concepts relating to strategy formation, discuss the company's approach(es) to forming its overarching strategy.
Issues you could take into consideration here include (though are not limited to):

o Does the company take a planned or emergent approach to strategy formation? Or a combination of both? What makes you say this?
o Are any of the schools of thought regarding strategy formation reflected in the company's materials? How, why?

Problem 2

Discuss how corporate-level strategy is practiced by the company.

Issues you could take into consideration here include (though are not limited to):

o Is the company a diversified organisation (i.e., participates in more than one industry)? What makes you say this?
o What types of corporate-level strategies has the company utilised? What makes you say this?
o If the company is not currently diversified, can you make any suggestions about corporate- level strategy options that could benefit the company? Or is there a case not to pursue corporate-level strategies? Be sure to discuss relevant internal and external environment factors to justify your suggestions

Problem 3

Discuss the company's approach to its business-level strategy.
Issues you could take into consideration here include (though are not limited to):

o Does the company adopt one of Porter's generic strategies? Or a combination? What makes you say this?
o What is the key foundation of the company's competitive advantage relative to its closest competitors? How, why?

Problem 4

Discuss how international strategy is practiced by the company.
Issues you could take into consideration here include (though are not limited to):

o Does the company currently utilise an international strategy? If so, how does the company's international strategy reflect the different kinds of international strategic options we have spoken about throughout the unit?
o What internal and external environmental factors encourage the company to pursue an international strategy? Yip's drivers of globalisation framework (Topic 7) might be useful here
o If the company does not currently have an international strategy, can you make any suggestions about international strategic options that could benefit the company? Or is there a case not to pursue international strategies? Be sure to discuss relevant internal and external environment factors to justify your suggestions

Problem 5

Discuss how business ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR) influence the company's strategic direction.
Issues you could take into consideration here include (though are not limited to):

o Is business ethics and/or CSR embedded into the company's mission and vision? If so, how?
o Does the company leverage business ethics and/or CSR to create competitive advantage? What makes you say this?
o Does the company engage in sustainability reporting? Why or why not?
o If CSR is not readily visible within the company's materials, can you identify and explain any opportunities where the company could utilise CSR initiatives? Relate your suggestions back to theories around the use of CSR in business contexts

Attachment:- Competitive Strategy.rar