Assignment Brief

As part of the formal assessment for the HNC/D programme you are required to
submit an assignment for each module. Please refer to your Student Handbook
for full details of the programme assessment scheme and general information on
preparing and submitting assignments.
After completing the module you should be able to:
1. Understand the external environment affecting an organisation
2. Be able to review existing business plans and strategies of an organisation
3. Be able to develop options for strategic planning for an organisation
4. Be able to construct a strategy plan for an organisation
5. Be able to examine factors affecting an organisational strategy plan
6. Be able to plan for the implementation of a strategy plan

Assignment Task

You are working as a management consultant and have been contracted by the courier
company DHLs International Parcel Delivery sector to undertake an environmental
analysis and consider its current strategy with a view to evaluating options for the future
for operations within your own home country or country of your choice. This will include
proposals for the implementation of a strategy recommendation and an explanation as
to how DHL can monitor and evaluate its progress and success post launch
.
You do not need to undertake research into DHL, only to show appreciation that it
is a delivery company which collects and delivers parcels on a B2C and B2B
basis. Draw reasonable assumptions only, you are not expected to research the
organization beyond gaining an appreciation of their courier service.

Your analysis must be informed by relevant concepts (theories, models, frameworks)
from your strategic planning reading and module information and be supported by
evidence obtained through research involving more than one source of information
(such as DHLs website, published annual reports, newspaper articles or other
independent sources). You need to prepare a report for the senior management team
which should address:

Task 1

Environmental Analysis and existing business plans

1)

Explain the importance of analyzing the external environment when determining
strategy.
Identify two different models for analyzing the external environment and using
these models highlight three key factors which are currently affecting DHL
[AC1.1] [AC1.3] [AC2.1]

2)

Use appropriate tools to review the business current position including its current
portfolio of services and evaluate its competitive strengths and weaknesses. You
will need to identify and consider their key competitors here.
[AC2.1] [AC2.2] [AC2.3] [AC.2]

3)

Identify three stakeholders and analyze their needs and expectations of the
organization
[AC1.2]

Task 2

Determine strategic options

Using appropriate tools, advise strategic options for DHL and based upon your
environmental analysis, make recommendations for a future strategy. This should
consider
Generic competitive strategies which the organization can adopt
Service expansion options
Criteria which can be used to assess the strategic options
Before presenting a brief strategic plan which considers
the impact of the recommendation on stakeholders identified in task 1
implementation ie strategic growth / retrenchment options
resource implications for strategy implementation
[AC3.1] [AC3.2] [AC3.3] [AC4.1] [AC4.2] [AC4.3]


Task 3

Implement and Evaluate a Strategy

1)
Discuss how and why the strategy implementation needs to be planned and develop a
schedule to achieve this. Explain how the plan will be communicated to the
stakeholders identified in task 1 and their commitment secured
2)
You need to evaluate the strength of your plan to your client and to do this you need to
undertake the following tasks
demonstrate how your proposed strategy aligns with the organizations current
values
develop appropriate vision and mission statements for the organization
propose two SMART objectives for the coming year which will assist the
organization in achieving your proposed strategy
explain how the organization can measure and evaluate the progress and
success of
the strategic plan that you have proposed once it has been implemented

[AC5.1] [AC5.2] [AC5.3] [AC5.4] [AC6.1] [AC6.2] [AC6.3]

You should structure your assignment by answering each task in turn, labelling each
task with the appropriate number. The assignment should be 4000 words in length.
To address all the learning outcomes you must attempt all the tasks. Failure to do this
will result in a referral. In line with good academic practice at postgraduate level you
must reference all your citations in the text using the Harvard format
A draft outline of your assignment highlighting what you propose to include in
each section can be submitted to your tutor by email for review

Student Guidelines

1. You should write this assignment in report format unless otherwise stated
above
2. You should use diagrams and tables of figures where appropriate ensuring to
reference their
source.
3. You should include a reference list and a bibliography using the Harvard
referencing system. You
must ensure that the submitted assignment is all your own work and that all
sources used are
correctly attributed. Penalties apply to assignments which show evidence of
academic unfair practice.
4. It is advised that you write your assignment within approximately 4000 words
in order for your
research and summarising skills to be developed, and for effective time
management. You are
required to ensure that the assignment addresses all of the assessment tasks
.There is no penalty for
being over the suggested word count, however, in the interests of good academic
practice,
assignments submitted with excessive word counts (e.g. over 5000 words) may
be returned to
students and asked to be reduced before marking.
The word count excludes the title page, reference list and appendices. Where
assessment questions have been reprinted from the assessment brief these will also be
excluded from the word
count.
ALL other printed words ARE included in the word count. Printed words include
those
ontained within charts and tables.

Recommended Additional Resources

Textbooks

Johnson Whittington & Scholes, 2011, Exploring Strategy, 8th ed, Prentice Hall, Harlow
Wit, Bob de, Meyer, Ron, 2010, Strategy: process, content, context : an international
perspective, 4th
ed, South-Western Cengage Learning, ISBN-10 1408019027, ISBN-13 9781408019023
Jones, Gareth R., Hill, Charles W. L., 2010, 9th ed, Theory of strategic management:
with cases,
South-Western Cengage Learning, ISBN-10 0538752505, ISBN-13 9780538752503
Porter, Michael E., 1980, Competitive strategy: techniques for analyzing industries and
competitors,
Free Press, ISBN-10 0029253608

Websites

The Association for Strategic Planning http://www.strategyplus.org/
Strategic Management Society http://strategicmanagement.net/
Performance Management - http://www.performance-measurement.net/
Benchmarking - http://www.bpir.com/
Balanced Scorecard Institute - http://www.balancedscorecard.org/
Top 10 on stakeholder management http://www.coaching-businesses-tosuccess.
com/stakeholder_management.html









Assignment Checklist

Learning
Outcomes and
Assessment
Criteria met



1. Understand the external environment affecting an organisation
1.1 Explain the importance of external factors affecting an organisation
1.2 Analyse the needs and expectations of stakeholders of an organisation
1.3 Analyse the major changes taking place in the external environment that
will affect strategy
Task 1a
Task 1c

2. Be able to review existing business plans and strategies of an
organisation
2.1 Use appropriate tools to analyse the effects of current business plans
2.2 Review the position of an organisation in its current market
2.3 Evaluate the competitive strengths and weaknesses of an organisations
current business strategies
Task 1a
Task 1b

3. Be able to develop options for strategic planning for an organisation
3.1 Use modelling tools to develop strategic options for an organisation
3.2 Develop a comparative understanding of activity from organisations in
the market
3.3 Create options to form the basis of future organisational strategy
Task 2

4. Be able to construct a strategy plan for an organization
4.1 Propose a suitable structure of a strategy plan that ensures appropriate
participation from all stakeholders of an organisation
4.2 Develop criteria for reviewing potential options for a strategy plan
4.3 Construct an agreed strategy plan that includes resource implications
Task 2

5. Be able to present the outcomes of a project
5.1 Compare core organisational values )ethical, cultural, environmental,
social and business) with the current business objectives of an
organisation
5.2 Develop appropriate vision and mission statements for an organisation
5.3 Produce agreed future management objectives for an organisation
5.4 Develop measures for evaluating a strategy plan
Task 3

6. Be able to plan for the implementation of a strategy plan
6.1 Develop a schedule for implementing a strategy plan in an organisation
6.2 Create appropriate dissemination processes to gain commitment from
stakeholders in an organisation
6.3 Design monitoring and evaluation systems for the implementation of a
strategy plan in an organisation
Task 3