Assignment & Student Guidance Sheet Programme: MBA Module: Strategy, Business Information and Analysis Assessment Session: May 2012 – July 2012 Credits accrued for satisfactory completion of this...

1 answer below »






































Assignment & Student Guidance Sheet





Programme: MBA



Module: Strategy, Business Information and Analysis

Assessment Session:

May 2012 – July 2012

Credits accrued for satisfactory completion of this module: 15

Weighting of this assignment for obtaining module credits:

100
%



Assignment Question:

Using relevant theories, concepts and examples, critically assess Michael Porter’s contribution to the field of strategic management.

Assignment Guide:


There are two key aspects to this question that you need to address in your answer.

  • First, the question asks specifically that you assess Porter’s contribution to the field. As such, what you have to do here is think beyond individual tools, techniques and frameworks and instead locate these as indicators of his contribution on a broader level.

  • Second, it asks for a critical evaluation of Porter’s work and, therefore, a simple ‘describe and discuss’ approach will be insufficient to produce a good answer. You need to be able to ‘read’ the broader implications/impact of his work. Thus, his grounding in IO economics, focus on the external environment and the underlying forces shaping industry structure, recognition that there are multiple planes/levels of competition, and that strategy is about making trade-offs, are all examples of his contribution and you should use his various tools and frameworks as examples of these.



Taking the above into account, and to put it simply, it is neither necessary not especially valuable to describe, at great length, the 5 forces, generic strategies, value chain, etc.: the question does not ask for this. Time spent detailing each force or the difference between cost leadership and differentiation is time not assessing Porter’s wider contribution.
In terms of the critical evaluation, again this needs to operate at the broader level of Porter’s contribution to the field. Hence, whilst a critique of individual aspects of his work is not wholly without merit (weaknesses of the 5 force, etc.), it is not what the question specifically asks for. Instead, critique might turn on issues such as the neoliberal underpinnings driving his work; the limitations of IO economics in a dynamic market environment; the absence of the human factor in his strategy work, etc. You might also employ other approaches by way of critique, such as the RBV or value innovation approaches.
It is also important to offer a balanced evaluation and not simply to ‘criticize’. That Porter’s work still forms the basis of nearly every strategy textbook and many strategy courses suggests there is still value in his work. Therefore, naïve critique that suggests it is no longer valuable because the ideas are now over 30 years old will not go down well with the marker!
You should also draw on meaningful and relevant real world examples to support your arguments. These may be from your own employment experience, from case studies, media reports, etc.


Further Guidance for the Student:



Learning Aims

The purpose of the assignment is to help the student to:

  • understand key concepts, ideas and debates in the field of strategic management and,

  • to develop the ability to critique them through the use of real world examples




Content

The assignment should:

  1. begin with a clear and concise introduction that introduces the topic under investigation, interprets the basic premise of the question, and outlines the aims and the structure of the assignment;

  2. it should then provide a balanced and detailed answer to the question set. Try to avoid simply describing Porter’s main works and instead seek to analyse, challenge and critique his ideas to develop an appreciation of his wider contribution to the field. In this assignment you are engaging with one of the most influential contributors to the field of strategic management and it is important to demonstrate that you are able to produce a balanced and nuanced evaluation of his work.

  3. You should finish with a robust and persuasive conclusion that summarizes the arguments that have been made and then offers a final ‘answer’ to the question set. In this case, what do you consider to be Porter’s main contributions?




Sources and Referencing


It is important that you use a range of sources in order to formulate your ideas and arguments. Textbooks are a useful starting place but do not be restricted to them. It is possible that you may need to draw upon Internet sources in the production of this assignment. However, try to keep this to a bare minimum, especially where academic credibility of material cannot be verified. Referencing should strictly adhere to the Harvard referencing system. All sources, directly or indirectly used for completing the assignment (including Internet sources and any internal organizational documents), should be clearly identified and appropriately referenced in the main text and in the list of references. Any unacknowledged or insufficiently acknowledged use of sources will be qualified as plagiarism and will be subject to the appropriate penalties.

Format

The paper should:

  1. be word word-processed, double-spaced throughout, in point 12 size font, left justified, with standard margins (at least 2.5 cm on all sides), with all pages consecutively numbered;

  2. be formally structured, i.e. divided into sections (and, if necessary, subsections) with meaningful headings;

  3. include the list of references, documenting all the sources used in the preparation of the assignment.





Word Limit: 3,500
words. There is no lower limit however students may not exceed 10% of the stated word limit.




Assessment Criteria:

In addition to the criteria outlined above and in the Programme Handbook, students are expected to demonstrate:


  • in-depth knowledge and understanding of the module materials;

  • competence in identifying and using real world examples to support their arguments

  • an ability to clearly articulate and communicate their own ideas and opinions in writing, to develop arguments, and to structure a written presentation in a logical and coherent manner.







Submission Instructions:

Please visit the Online Submission facility on Blackboard for further information and guidance on submitting your assignment electronically. Only one file in the specified format can be submitted.


  • Please insert the assignment question to your submission.

  • Retain your electronic submission receipt.


If you have questions about the submission of your work via Blackboard please contact the School of Management for assistance, before the deadline date.





005_bywt8jk-otjdxd2x.doc
Answered Same DayDec 20, 2021

Answer To: Assignment & Student Guidance Sheet Programme: MBA Module: Strategy, Business Information and...

David answered on Dec 20 2021
119 Votes
Strategic Management
Strategic Management 1
Michael Porter’s Contribution to Strategic Management
Introduction
Michael Porter is a well known personality in the field of management. There are
numerous of theories in use today by the managers proposed by him. Basically he was a Bishop
William Lawrence Professor at the Harvard University. Strategic management and
competitiveness were his leading topics. Various chief executive officers, both of government
corporations and million dollar private organizations, have used the principle of competitive
strategy given by him. He was the first person to analyze the contribution of management for
attaining and sustaining a competitive advantage in the industrial sector( Robbins, 1997,p-260).
He has a long list of writings in which he has given evidence of his work on management
thoughts. Overall Porter has written 16 books and 75 articles to the area of strategic
management.
Three of his major contributions in strategic management have been the books
‘Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors (1980)’ which is
now in it’s 53rd printing, ‘Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior
Performance (1985)’ and ‘The Competitive Advantage of Nations (1990)’.
The primary concern of all these textbooks is the structure-conduct-performance theory
(O’Shannassy, 1999, p.1). It shows how economics hold an important role in the numerous
management contexts. Using these three theories, he devised the diamond model, the value chain
model and the five forces analysis for the management. These three tools have become the
valuable tools for the managers since many times.
Strategic Management 2
Although the field of strategic management is full of theories given by Michael Porter but
still there are numerous critics of his theories. For example O’Shannesy and Mintzberg believe
that the scientific approach given by Porter is not sufficient for any firm or the management of
the firm. There are few others also who consider Porter’s ‘stuck in the middle’ theory
inconsistent and also say that one generic strategy model given by Porter cannot be applied to all
kinds of industries.
Main Contributions of Michael Porter
The concept of strategic Management came into existence in the year 1980. The focus of
it was on competitive advantage faced by an organization due to its external environment. The
primary focus of any business organization is to produce as per the wants and desires of the
consumers in a specific area and thus producing the goods as per the expectations of the
consumers. But there are some vital factors which influence the decision of the business
managers; some are controllable and hence termed as Internal factors, while others are
environmental known as External factors.
When we analyze the business decisions of any organization, all the controllable factors found
more influencing. These are promotion, place, price and product. All the external factors are
although have importance in those branches of hotel which are in other countries but in different
countries also if the business is done keeping in mind the controllable factors, it will be definitely
a progressive step. Thus Porter’s major contributions enable the organizations to create and thus
sustain for long using the theories of strategic management in this highly turbulent competitive
world. Along with the competitive advantage, the organizations can also deliver higher than
average industry profit.
Strategic Management 3
Michael Porter’s major work was done in the year 1980. It was ‘Competitive Strategy:
Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors’. In this work he presented a
comprehensive framework of various analytical techniques which can help a firm to analyze its
industry completely. All the future evolution of the industry, the position of the industry,
thorough understanding of the policies of the competitors and translation of all the analysis into a
competitive strategy for a particular business can be done using these techniques (Porter,
1980,p.x).
The five competitive forces model developed by Porter helps in bridging the gap between the
strategy and business economics. These five forces include potential entrants, industry
competitors, buyers of the products, suppliers and substitutes. According to him, the profitability
of the industry and the rules of competition both are governed by these five forces. This is
mainly because there is a direct influence on the cost structures, prices and capital investment by
these five forces. On the face of it, organizational commitment and job satisfaction appear to be
different in meaning. However, both of them are relate to the interest of the job. From the point of
humanity, people tend to work with a group that can provide high level of satisfaction for them. There is
no doubt that people all ways like to stay with people who they like. Similar in the work environment,
working is a kind of activity that all employees should cooperate with each other. There are a lot of
communication and collaboration. And working experience definitely will have a strong affect on job
satisfaction. From the interrelationship we can see how
Affective commitment may be more highly relate to organizational citizenship behavior. And these
behaviors tend to be more relative to employees’ attitudes toward an organization. Attitudes have strong
relationships with mood emotions.Moods and emotions will have direct affect employees feeling,
thinking and behaving. Then it will directly relate to job satisfaction.
Strategic Management 4
Among all the above the rivalry among the already existing competitors is the most
significant factor which can alter the strategy of an organization. For instance, Nissan, an
automobile company once was in its diminishing stage. But timely, it struggled and find out the
strong points of its competitors and win the profit again. To exist in this competition every
organization tries a lot to attract the consumers. Competitive dynamics consist of all those
factors, which informs about the policies, working conditions of the competitors. In general,
terms it will include the action and response a particular organization will give to the opponent
organization. A better understanding of all these factors will help the firm to formulate and
implement its own policy, its marketing strategy and also help the firm in making its product
better in quality then its opponent’s. Any company cannot be able to easily recognize its product
and services without making any significant effort as compared to its competitors. In one way,
this complete helps in promoting the awareness regarding the product to the public. It also helps
in boosting of the product sales. With the help of all these things, it also builds the company’s
reputation.
To excel in the business world, Porter thought that all the companies should try to use
any business strategy. They may include: product differentiation, cost leadership or focus
strategy. Product differentiation strategy means to develop a...
SOLUTION.PDF
SOLUTION.PDF

Answer To This Question Is Available To Download

Related Questions & Answers

More Questions »

Submit New Assignment

Copy and Paste Your Assignment Here
Have files?