For this assignment you are required to assume the role of a strategy consultant to your current company (Abbott Laboratories-Pharmaceutical Company) and prepare a strategic board level management report on the company’s key competitive strategic issues addressing the following questions:
1. Using appropriate academic models and concepts identify and discuss the main internal and external factors that have affected the chosen organization and influenced the strategies it has employed to date. (30%)
2. Looking forwards, and again using suitable strategy models where appropriate, critically assess whether the organization’s current strategies offer a good fit between the its resources and capabilities and the evolving external environment, identifying whether there are any areas of opportunity or risk that need to be addressed by senior management? (40%)
3. As a result of your previous analysis, identify at least two strategic options for the organization, and make recommendations to the senior management about which one of these strategies it would be best to follow, supported by your reasons and commenting on how you would implement this single strategy. (30%)
Word Count: 2,500 words
(+ – 10% excluding cover and contents pages and appendices)
Notes
1. All references should be Harvard.
2. In order to answer these questions you must prepare a separate Appendix (maximum 750 words and 2 pages) providing some basic information about the organization – e.g. products/services, markets served, number of employees, financial information etc.
3. You encouraged undertaking independent research to gather key market data. You must only use material drawn from credible sources such as: academic articles and texts; quality newspaper and business periodicals, e.g., the FT, The Economist.
here comments of my supervisor after writing:
Your Appendix is good but should be at the end of
the report.
Q1: You have done a detailed SWOT and reasonable
Porters 5 Forces analysis to identif y f actors but
there is no discussion about their impact on
Abbott’s strategies.
Q2: You describe the companies strategies but do
not use any strategy models to analyse their f it. It
appears to be mostly your opinion.
Q3: Your answer is f ar too short and half of it is a
summary of your Appendix. You hardly answer the
question at all.
Your ref erence list is very eclectic and would have
been better if it contained some of the original
papers by Porter or Hamel and Prahalad, etc. rather
than just secondary sources. Also it should be in
alphabetical order by author surname.
Grade: F
2nd marker AP
No contents page. Abstract should be called Exec
Summary in a managt report.
No systematic analysis as per the strategy process.
SWOT is used too early – it is a 2nd stage synthesis
tool.
5F should be used to develop the O and T in SWOT
Otherwise comments agreed.
Grade : F+
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