Coursework Assignment – Report
INTRODUCTION:
Since you have limited word count, the intro should be very small – max one paragraph. Here you simply introduce the reader in what is this report about and what you will analyse.
Q1 – 20%:
Here you are analysing the external environment of BRITISH AIRWAYS market/industry– thus the focus is not BRITISH AIRWAYS – the focus is the micro (5 Forces) and macro (PESTEL) environment. That means both PESTEL and 5 forces should not be about BRITISH AIRWAYS but for the industry of BRITISH AIRWAYS (airline industry)… asking whether you should focus on UK or other countries or globally. Preferably ,either an external environment analysis for Europe, mentioning also some essential global trends OR make a Global analysis straightforward. In any case, you will need to make that explicitly clear in your executive summary and introduction, state in which level you make your external environment analysis.
Also, here you will need first to analyse PESTEL – just mention only those relevant trends to your industry . You don’t have to go into describing every dimension. If you want to and already done it – then use tables and/or appendices and mention in the text only the most important trends.
5Forces: Use the “Structural Determinants” slide from the external environment lecture slides – 1st semester. Please mention whether every force is high, moderate or low and in the end conclude whether the industry is attractive and profitable or not.
As to industry life cycle (ILC): You can either clearly incorporate it within the “existing competition” force of 5 forces, by saying whether the industry is in a development or maturity stage along with the market growth rate (which a structural determinant of the particular force) OR you can make a short section only for the industry life cycle theory.
In any case, you will need to reference every single concept and model used above both in text and in the final list of references.
Q2-20%:
In this question we expect you to use resources and capabilities theory (R+Cs or else Resource Based view of the Company) and/or Value Chain . Yes, please, mention both theories and reference them of course. However, if you feel comfortable using only one then it is still fine – just state it clearly. So, we would like you to: present the key strategic resources. Please see examples of resources and capabilities from our book and lecture slides. Within the financial resources you must mention some key financial indexes either of BRITISH AIRWAYS’ Strategic Business Unit (SBU) that you can find from Google, published statements, Mintel or Bloomberg databases. As for mentioning comparative measures from a key competitor, yes you can do it. More than that, you will need to state clearly what are the core capabilities/competencies of BRITISH AIRWAYS and why they are core? E.g. financial control and economies of scale-are they core? Also do they lead to competitive advantage? If yes, is it cost leadership or differentiation or a bit of both (hybrid strategy)? In this way you are actually describing BRITISH AIRWAYS’ existing business level strategy that you need in the last question.
As for Value Chain. You don’t need to analyse highly descriptive every single activity. If you want to or have done so, please use appendices and tables to avoid the word count. Here, you need to show those linkages (combinations of primary to support activities) that either increase the customer value or reduce the operating cost. In this way, again you can conclude into what competitive advantage(s) are created for BRITISH AIRWAYS and how. The outcomes of Resources+Capabilities and Value Chain should agree.
The above are the essential ones that we want for Q2.
As for leadership, decision making, culture, politics etc. Yes, you can mention them within the resources appraisal above! OR, if you want to make a separate section/part for those (since you have a limited word count), please keep it short and practically focused. In any case, please reference properly/academically every single of those concepts. The essential part of this question is R+Cs and Value Chain.
NOTE ABOUT SWOT: We didn’t and we don’t want you to do a SWOT analysis. Essentially you have analysed OT from Q1 and SW from Q2. If you want or have already done a SWOT please use is as framework to summarize your key points from questions one and two. You can put them in a table after Q2 and before Q3.
Q3-10%:
In this question you are required to identify one, two or three issues that affected the image of the company, either internal or external. You will need to briefly analyse what happened applying theories on organisational ethics theory,, corporate governance CSR concepts, stakeholder applications & reputation management concepts/metrics. Not all of them are required, but the more you apply and reference inside the PR crisis/issue the better it is. We want you to demonstrate application of relevant theories.
Q4 – 30%
This is obviously the most important question. Here you need to:
a) Identify the business level strategy of BRITISH AIRWAYS (this could be also been found/linked from question 2. That is either cost leadership or differentiation or hybrid (both). Of course you will need to reference all concepts such as “Porter, 1985”.
b) Identify the corporate level strategies. These could be growth: e.g. market penetration, market development, product development, vertical/horizontal integration, related/unrelated diversification. Here you can use the Ansoff’s matrix/directional policy table (it is essentially the same). Of course there are turnaround corporate strategies (e.g. downsizing, liquidation, divesture etc) and stability strategies ( no-change strategy, pause, etc)
So in a) and b) you can identify/record plenty of strategies but please use the terminology and reference properly every concept.
c) Suggest strategies: Either you can suggest sustaining the existing ones, or developing the existing ones, or developing new.
d) Choose two (advisable)-three (max) strategies to evaluate them according to certain criteria. These can be:
– suitability – acceptability – feasibility, that is SAF (highly recommended, simple and straightforward) or -STAIR model
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