CLA Comprehensive Learning Assessment. The book is attached here.
Book: Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2019). Strategic management: Concepts and cases: Competitiveness and globalization (13th ed.). Cengage.
ISBN 978-0-357-03383-8
● Reading:
o Chapter 7: Merger and Acquisitions Strategies
Please read Case 11(C-147) part 4, case studies “Pacific Drilling: The Preferred Offshore Driller” and write a paper with a minimum of 5 APA formatted pages.
Please provide at least six (6) peer-reviewed resources in support of your arguments.
After your learnt about the case study of “Pacific Drilling: The Preferred Offshore Driller,” provide written CLA 1 by answering the followings:
● Write a summary of the case as introduction of your paper
● Why offshore drilling?
● Offshore drilling typically used three types, what are the three types of offshore drilling?
● What was the reason for the fall of the company’s stock in 2014? Was the fall of the company’s stock related to the movement of Global Oil prices?
● Was collaboration with Chevron a wise move for the company?
● What were the challenges:
○ Competition in the market including the supply of shale oil,
○ Technological challenges, and
○ Dealing with fluctuations in the international oil prices
Discussion Question
Please read a mini case on page 302, chapter 9 and provide the answers to the following questions:
● What are some of the major complexities encountered in developing cooperative strategies such as strategic alliances and joint ventures?
● What role does competition from rivals play in the eventual success of cooperative strategies? Please explain.
● What costs are incurred in developing strategic alliances? How can these costs be managed?
● Should cost minimization or opportunity maximization be the primary goal of a cooperative strategy? Can both be achieved simultaneously? Why or why not?
SM9636 Assessment Brief
SM9636 Assignment Brief
Programme: Various – this is a Core Level 6 Module.
Module Code: SM9636
Module Title: Strategic Management for Sustainable Leadership
Distributed on: TBD
Submission Time and Date: To be submitted by TBD
Word Limit: 3000 words (+/- 10%) i.e. within the range 2700 – 3300 words
Weighting This coursework accounts for 100% of the total mark for this module
Submission of Assessment
Electronic Management of Assessment (EMA): Please note your assignment is submitted electronically. It will be submitted online (via Blackboard/TurnItIn) by the given deadline. You will find a Submission Folder on the module’s eLP site.
It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that the assignment arrives before the submission deadline stated above. See the University policy on late submission of work.
Instructions on Assessment:
The Assignment Task: You MUST choose one company from the official list of companies provided on your eLP for this semester. Explain how successful you think that company is, and discuss the strategic reasons behind that success.
Your explanation will include analysis of the contribution made by the leadership of the company, and will go on to suggest strategies and/or actions for ensuring future success in a sustainable manner.
You should read the Guidance on pages 2-4 and the Marking Rubric on pages 7-8 of this brief to understand how you should approach the assignment and how marks will be allocated.
Further guidance, including examples of marker feedback (shown in Lecture 8) and Revision Audio-Visual Presentations will appear on the eLP.
Format for Submission:
• The assignment should be written in Arial, 11pt, left-justified, 1½ spacing.
• DO NOT put Your Name (or any Tutor’s Name) anywhere on your assignment.
Every page should be numbered (in header or footer) and show your student ID.
• DESIRABLE – Please leave approximately 5cm of ‘white space’ at the end of each section. This is the space for your marker to write feedback comments about the preceding section. Please note that we may not use all of the 5cm – it depends what type of feedback we think is needed for each answer. If you do not leave space; we will be forced to leave a marker icon, and list the feedback comments at the end of the document.
All academic and other sources must be cited and included ONCE in a single reference list at the end of the document. Do not cite Northumbria Lectures, Seminars or Workshops.
• The VRIN Summary Table (Barney, 1991) is usually shown in journals and textbooks with ticks and crosses. We require you to use the letter “Y” for “Yes” and the letter “N” for “No” (please do not use a font that includes ticks or crosses as they are not visible in the marking software and just appear as location boxes).
SM9636 Assessment Brief
SM9636 Assignment Brief
Assessment Guidance
Full Assessment Guidance will be given in Lecture L08 (please make sure that you attend).
The Module eLP will also provide a download link to “SM9636 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)”. This is an evolving Word Document containing answers to the most common student questions regarding a Core Level 6 Assessment in Business Strategy. Please consult this in the first instance. Only if the question is not answered there, should you email the Module Tutor with your question. If your question is new it will be answered and added to the document to benefit other students.
We will provide you with an official list of companies for your semester on this module (it will be released in the fourth week of the semester). You must select one of the companies on the official list for your assignment. No other companies will be allowed. Using any company that is not on the official list will result in zero marks.
You will create a written strategic analysis (structure outlined below) that informs the reader about how the company can create (or retain) sustained competitive advantage into the future. The majority of your analysis will be based on the theory and techniques taught as part of this module. Your structured report will contain expert opinions from authoritative sources (all referenced and cited in the APA style) that you will use in your strategic analysis.
Your strategic recommendation will refer back (by page number) to your analysis and the collected expert opinions. Your Strategic Recommendation will contain various suggestions and some consideration will be given to ways in which future success can be achieved in a sustainable business environment.
Assignment Structure
Your assignment will contain the following sections (in the order shown). Mark range allocations are shown in the marking scheme on pages 7-8 of this brief. To save words, you only have to use the numbered section and title words shown in capitals (below); you do not have to use the prompting questions (shown in italics).
1. INTRODUCTION What is contained in the document? Why should someone read it? This should be a brief (maximum 100 words) introduction to the company and highlighting your key recommendations. Please note that the introduction is not given any marks. We restrict it to 100 words so that you do not waste valuable words from your assignment word-limit on a protracted introduction.
It is best practice to write the introduction last.
2. MEASURES OF SUCCESS What measures should be used to assess the relative success of your chosen company?
Financial and non-financial metrics should be suggested (with a preference for any data that are ‘benchmarked’ against direct competitors). Show example data for the company in question (in tabular or graphical form) that ideally spans four or five financial years to the present day.
Include in this section a brief discussion concerning the difficulties in determining and measuring business success (cite some of the key authors that have written about this subject).
3. REASONS FOR SUCCESS What do experts suggest as the reasons for this company’s relative business success? An outline of 6 to 10 business reasons behind the success stated in a simple, straightforward way with a brief (4 or 5 sentence) explanation of each reason. Each reason should be sub-titled in this section (i.e. 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 etc.). Cite the expert source(s) that have the opinion that you are listing. Do not speculate yourself in this section; just collect and sort the opinions of third-party experts. Do not rely solely upon the company’s own website or its publications. All company “jargon” and “acronyms” must have a brief explanation in brackets at the point of their first usage; thereafter they can be used without explanation.
SM9636 Assessment Brief
SM9636 Assignment Brief
4. STRATEGIC ANALYSIS (AVC+VRIN) What are the possible internal success factors and where might they be located in the company’s activities? This will be a detailed dual analysis of the company’s strategic capabilities starting with an Adapted Value Chain (AVC) and followed by a VRIN evaluation. This section carries the most marks. To score well in Section 4, you must also synthesise the AVC with the VRIN. This is achieved by demonstrating clear linkages between the two so that you can answer the two questions “What internal factors are contributing to future success?” (using VRIN); combined with, “Where are they happening within the activities of the company?” (using the AVC to show location, or locations).
The synthesis of AVC and VRIN is an iterative process (multi-pass), so we only need you to show the end result. To save words, only use additional textual description to make key points to which you refer in your Section 7 Recommendations, or where something is not obvious in the diagram or table of the AVC+VRIN synthesis.
5. LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTION How is the current leadership guiding towards success? Is there a leadership legacy from a predecessor? An evaluation of the contribution of leadership to the company’s success, basing this on appropriate leadership theory (as taught on this module). A wide range of topics will be acceptable including (but not limited to):
o Leadership Attributes or Styles o Organisational Culture o Decision-making Theory
6. STRATEGY FOCUS Which particular strategic factor of this company deserves closer scrutiny? A detailed analysis and interpretation based on one additional topic area from the following list:
o Business Strategy (consistent with strategic capabilities) o International Strategy o Innovation Strategy o Collaboration Strategy (alliances, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions) o Sustainability (can the company gain competitive advantage this way) Choose just one of the above to demonstrate your ability to conduct more in-depth research on one aspect of the company’s future.
7. STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATION With page referencing to your previous sections, can explain your strategic recommendation for this company? In this section, you make your strategic recommendation (which might encompass more than one particular suggestion to the company). Using the SAFe criteria (from your textbook); consider how Suitable your suggestions are to achieve the desired outcome of Sustained Competitive Advantage. Further estimate how Acceptable your suggestions might be to key stakeholders, and finally comment on the Feasibility of your suggestions.
Your recommendation must also demonstrate an awareness of future Sustainability issues.
SM9636 Assessment Brief
SM9636 Assignment Brief
Notes on the Assignment Structure: ALL sections should cite sources of research data and theories/concepts on which your analysis is based.
The only exception to this are the suggestions contained in your strategic recommendation that you make in Section 7; these should be YOUR original ideas and therefore citations are not expected. However, we do expect you to refer to elements of your previous analysis (by page number) to support your arguments.
All cited sources should be listed in APA format in the References section at the end of your assignment.
Cutting and pasting material directly from sources without citation is Plagiarism.
Cutting and pasting material directly from sources with citation is Poor Scholarship.
• Short quoted extracts from cited sources are permissible – use double quotation marks”” and citation that includes the page number of the cited document.
The vast majority of your assignment word count should use your own words or paraphrase reputable sources. Large and frequent amounts of direct quotation text will be included in the word count.
SM9636 Assessment Brief
SM9636 Assignment Brief
Mapping to Programme Goals and Objectives
Module Level Objectives:
Knowledge & Understanding:
MLO-1: Know how leaders and various stakeholder groups measure and appreciate business success.
MLO-2: Understand how to critically evaluate endogenous and exogenous strategy perspectives for a sustainable business environment.
Intellectual / Professional Skills & Abilities:
MLO-3: Develop Desk Research skills in preparing and writing a thoroughly researched and compelling strategic argument for a company.
MLO-4: Ability to critically analyse business strategies and present suitable, feasible, acceptable and sustainable recommendations to business leaders in a succinct manner.
Programme (Level) Learning Outcomes that this module contributes to:
Knowledge and Understanding:
6.1.1 Assess knowledge of contemporary professional practice in business and management informed by theory and research.
6.1.2 Critically apply knowledge of business and management to complex problems in or related to professional practice in order to identify justifiable, sustainable and responsible solutions.
Intellectual / Professional Skills and Abilities:
6.3.2 Critique their personal skills and attitudes for progression to post-graduate contexts including professional work, entrepreneurship and higher level study.
Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity):
6.1.3 Appraise an awareness of the cultural and ethical contexts in which international business operates.
6.2.2 Critique creative and critical thinking skills that involve independence, understanding, justification and the ability to challenge the thinking of self and others
SM9636 Assessment Brief
SM9636 Assignment Brief
Module Specific Assessment Criteria and Rubric
No print copy will be accepted for SM9636, it is on-line submission to TurnItIn ONLY.
• We strongly recommend that you do not leave submission to the final hour.
• This module requires only one submission to the eLP Assignment FINAL Submission Folder before the Module Submission Deadline.
• You must submit an electronic copy of your assignment in PDF format.
• Check that all of your tables, diagrams, charts and images are represented correctly in PDF (using a PDF file viewer before submitting).
• Do not submit in Word (or any other Word Processor file format).
You will not receive a TurnItIn Similarity Report for a Final Submission.
You must obtain (and safely retain) a receipt from TurnItIn with a timestamp showing that you submitted before deadline.
If you encounter difficulty in getting the receipt with a valid timestamp, you must contact the Module Tutor by email before the deadline expires; otherwise we have no evidence that you were prevented from submitting.
• If you miss the deadline (and have no approval for an extension) you must submit to the “24 HOURS LATE” Folder that opens after the deadline closes. See section on penalties for lateness.
