| Unit learning outcomes | Establish knowledge and understanding of the main strategic approaches and change management theories and relate them to the external/internal environment that shapes a business.Determine skills and abilities to research and apply strategic options in a particular context and develop appropriate solutions to strategic problems in business with a consideration of the relevant critical success factors. |
| What am I required to do in this assignment? |
| In this assessment, you will be required to play a Sim Venture game – online simulation game. The report produced will consist of the results of an analysis of relevant strategic decisions taken whilst playing the game. You are expected to carry out research and discuss relevant strategy models when posting their diaries on BREO. You are expected to also reflect and connect your experience in the formative simulation activity to the literature on strategy. The final report should reference those findings and include a reflective account of learning from a formative in-class strategy simulation exercise. Business Simulation evaluation and reflective report guidelines: Step 1: You need to contact the Unit Coordinator or your tutor to help you gain access to an online SIM venture game. You may work alone or with others in playing the game but remember the report must be individual. The game needs to be ran for 12 quarters. Step2: The report should be focused on your self-awareness and understanding of the strategic decisions you undertook on behalf of the “company” and analyse how those decisions affected the outcome of the game. You are expected to utilize theories and frameworks from the strategy and the change management body of knowledge (academic journals and books) to underpin your decisions. Step3: You need to also include a reflective element in your analysis where you report on your performance within the industry. You will utilise your experience in writing reflective learning and your acquired knowledge on strategy and change management theory in order to dissect the simulation experience and account for your success (or not) within the simulation exercise. Step4: You need to keep an on-going log of all the actions and outcomes of the game and include those in the appendices. The word count of the logs will not be included in your word count and is only for reference. Good reports will be written clearly and concisely with good structure with links to page numbers in the appendices. The appendices will include referenced relevant theory. Your appendices should include: Initial strategic planPerformance print out per quarter Reflective logReference list More specifically the report will Review your initial strategy and the decisions you took to implement it. What performance criteria informed you of the success of your strategy and how successful were you. Consider proposals as to how the strategy might have been stronger in light of the retrospective analysis. Also consider the theory on change management and its relevance to the simulated experience. Demonstrate your knowledge of reflective learning theory and demonstrate its application by assessing and justifying your own contribution to the success or not of the team taking account of your behaviour and activity and justify your insights from the evidence. Draw conclusions about your future behaviour and practice. This should draw from your reflective learning log. Relate your experience to existing theory and explain how theoretical models and strategic tools could have helped your “company” do better. Then review and evaluate what you learnt from the simulated experience and how the theory has informed your practice. |
| What do I need to do to pass? (Threshold Expectations from UIF) |
| Evidence application of at least two strategy models in a business context Provide theoretical underpinning for strategic decision-making process using relevant literature Demonstrate critical reasoning using Harvard Referencing styleWrite a reflective report evidencing your preparedness to state a position on an issue but limited use of supporting evidence and limited reflection on own behaviour in relation to outcomes. |
| How do I produce high quality work that merits a good grade? |
| We will be filling this section in together in class onClick or tap to enter a date.make sure you have downloaded/printed out the Assignment Brief and bring it to the session with you. |
| How does assignment relate to what we are doing in scheduled sessions? |
| The aim of the unit is to develop independent strategic assessment skills using appropriate techniques and resources and demonstrate an understanding of and an ability to appraise strategy. This unit will help to prepare a well thought out plan for change based upon analysis and to formulate, justify and evaluate a range of actions for promoting an effective and strategic approach to change. The unit has a number of approaches to ensure deep learning as the lectures centre on fundamental concepts and frameworks in strategy. The exposure to case studies in seminars ensures grounding to real world strategic issues and provides instances of analytical skills development. Initially the unit introduces the range of strategic management paradigms and approaches; it then focuses on specific change issues and strategic challenges that affect contemporary business. A strong emphasis will then be placed on the management of change, and importantly the strategic and organisational impact of change all of which are global business issues. Furthermore, it will consider how concepts of strategy and change management overlap, and the importance of these processes to a contemporary business manager working anywhere in the world. Thus, this unit will enable you to understand the broader context of the business environment and the underlying drivers of change as well as to make informed decisions once you enter the professional environment. Therefore, an important aspect of the formative development is the business simulation where you will have the opportunity to experiment with strategic concepts and situations in a group setting and then write a reflective and analytical report of the experience and its relevance to the particular industry or business sector. |
| How will my assignment be marked? |
| Your assignment will be marked according to the threshold expectations and the criteria on the following page. You can use them to evaluate your own work and consider your grade before you submit. |
| 3rd Class – 40-49% | Lower 2nd – 50-59% | Upper 2nd – 60-69% | 1st Class – 70%+ | ||
| Application of appropriate strategic decisions supported by theories and models and frameworks (35%) | Evidence of preparedness to state a position on an issue but limited use of supporting evidence and limited reflection on own behaviour in relation to outcomes. | Clear outline of behaviour and actions relative to activities and outcomes. Detailed reflection of own involvement and impact on the task and other team members. | Evidence of ability to state and defend a position on activities and to take responsibility for progressing them. Evidence of taking responsibility for the consequences for activities that need further improvement. | Cogent and clear statements reflecting findings and future direction based on own ideas and progression of them. Clear and honest consideration of positive and negative impacts of own behaviour and future plans for self-development. | |
| Demonstration of critical reasoning that provides persuasive arguments (25%) | Weak or limited use of theories/ models to support the points made. Some models in appropriate, poorly explained or used | Appropriate choice and use of theories/ models to discuss the case. | Demonstrate good application of well-chosen theories and models to thoroughly evaluate the case with consideration of different perspectives. | Effective analysis and synthesis carried out using well-chosen theories and models and demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of different perspectives. | |
| Appropriate professional report and presentation of the information required with good structure. It should be well written (20%) | A poor attempt at a professional report. Many mistakes in grammar and word use. Weak presentation and structure. | A broadly professional report which may fall a little short in style and/or presentation quality. Complies fully with the assignment brief in respect of the assessed work. | A well-presented report. With good style and attempt to detail. Essentially a professionally written report. | A well-presented report which fully adopts a professional style and high standards of presentation. Full and accurate proof read and very good style. | |
| Review of personal responsibilities within a team and your impact on the organisations performance as well as the learning taken from the project (20%) | Poorly argued report with little coherence to the points made and narrow perspective on points made. The report shows limited understanding of the personal responsibilities within a team and the impact on the organisations’ performance. | A reasonable attempt at drawing conclusions and formulating a coherent argument based on appropriate critical thinking. The report shows some understanding of the personal responsibilities within a team and the impact on the organisations’ performance. | A good piece of work which demonstrates the student’s ability to synthesise logical arguments and shows strategic insights into the case from more than one perspective. The report shows good understanding of the personal responsibilities within a team and the impact on the organisations’ performance. | A soundly argued piece of work which clearly demonstrates the student’s ability to synthesise complex arguments and shows strategic insights into the case from more than one perspective. The report shows full understanding of the personal responsibilities within a team and impact on the organisations’ performance. |
