Strategic Management – Produce a detailed Swot analysis, then use this SWOT to strategically analyse the chosen company (focusing on core competencies as outlined in the instructions)

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Hi, this Essay has two parts. But you need to complete part one and then use it to complete part two – Use the same organisation throughout.   Choose a UK business organisation that you may be currently working at or have worked with previously. It can’t be one of the big companies such as google, amazon, Microsoft. Choose wisely.  I suggest Marks and Spencer’s or one of the big supermarkets such as ASDA or Sainsbury’s. (Also open to a suggestion from the writer.). Once you have chosen the organisation this is the one you stick to throughout the paper. (Do not deviate)   The aim of the first part of this project is for you to show you can collect data about an organisation of choice from a variety of sources, analyse it objectively, and, using recommended good practice, and produce a practical SWOT analysis. The next part of this project requires you to identify an organisation or business unit whose strategies you will examine. Use the same organisation throughout the project. Review your chosen company – If the company listed above is a large organisation, focus on one strategic business unit and if the organisation is operating in several locations, one geographical area. The choice of business unit and geography is based on knowledge of the organisation to make sure it is coherent. First part of the project – To prepare a SWOT of the organisation, which you will use in the second part of the project.  (so make it a good one!) To do this, you must collect and analyse data using PESTLE, Five Forces, Core Competency analysis and value chain analysis. These are all essential tools and must be included. Where can you get data? Internal organisation reports, published industry reports, financial analyst reports, commentaries by industry journalists in the business press, discussions with colleagues. You must do some searching on the web. The SWOT needs to be a concise and effective summary of the current situation of the organisation and you must provide evidence for each statement. A good SWOT will be based on a good range of data, both hard and soft data, and will follow recommended good practice. What is recommended good practice for producing an effective SWOT? Do some research into what experts say is good and bad SWOT practice. You will find examples on the web of good, and bad, SWOTs for organisations like yours. E.g. https://strategicmanagementinsight.com/tools/swot-analysis-how-to-do-it.html https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272353031_SWOT_Analysis https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/12/20/swot-analysis And many more.     The overall structure should be as follows: Introduction to the organisation – one or two paragraphs briefly saying what the organisation does and how it is organised SWOT – in a conventional matrix format. Only give the 4 most important items for each S, W, O and T An explanation of how the SWOT was produced, where the data was collected from, and how you chose the top 4 items for each S, W, O and T. You need to provide some “hard” evidence. Recommendations how the organisation might address the issues identified in the SWOT. Remember to always list references. Using the above SWOT formulate the essay as follows- 1.            Continue to use the chosen organisation you did the SWOT for. 2.            Using the SWOT you prepared  for part one of the project write a short evaluation of the current position of the organisationits environment and the degree of uncertainty and change going on, its strategies in use and the strategic issues it faces. 3.            From the evaluation, you need to propose future strategies for the organisation. There may be many alternative options open to the organisation, what are they? Then choose one direction you recommend the organisation goes in? Choose ONE concept from the following list that you argue is the number one priority concept the organisation should focus on: o             Core competencies o             Generic strategies – either cost leadership or differentiation, or focused cost leadership or differentiation, or outpacing. o             Mergers and acquisitions o             Alliances o             Outsourcing o             CSR and shared value o             Blue ocean strategy o             BSC o             Capability development and agility o             Culture change Make an argument to justify your choice. 4.            You must demonstrate you have a deep understanding of the concept you apply. You must do this by critically examining the concept. Research a minimum of 12 peer-reviewed articles about the concept from research literature.  Examine what different researchers say about how the concept is used in practice, what its strengths and weaknesses are, and how the concept can be adapted or strengthened to make it effective. This part of the paper should answer the following questions in a three-part structure: 1.            SWOT and its explanation – Where is the organisation now, i.e. its SWOT? What are its current strategies and how effective are they? What are the organisation’s main challenges and opportunities? (Approximately 1000 words) 2.            Recommended strategy – Of the alternative futures for the organisation, which direction do you recommend the organisation go in, and what needs to be done to go in that direction? What is your argument for your recommendation? Within that recommended strategy for the desired future, which ONE concept do you recommend the organisation focuses on, as its number one priority? Exploiting its core competencies? Or adapting its choice of generic strategy; or changing its value chain through M and A or alliances or outsourcing; or improving its relationship to society and the environment through better CSR strategies; or developing its own new and unique market through BOS; or carrying on doing what it is doing but improving the way it implements its current strategies through a BSC or similar framework; or developing its current capabilities to become more agile and robust? What is your argument for your recommendation? (Approximately 1500 words )   3.            Academic analysis – What do the different researchers say are the strengths and weaknesses of the ONE concept you recommend is the main priority, and what is the best way to make the concept work in practice? What does your chosen organisation need to pay attention to make the concept work? (You MUST critically examine the academic literature about the concept, including at least 10 peer-reviewed articles.) (Approximately 2000 words) All sources should be correctly referenced using the Harvard system. The overall structure for the paper should be as follows: 1.            Cover Page (1 page) 2.            Table of Contents/List of Appendices (1 page) 3.            Executive Summary 4.            Main Report in 3 sections  – SWOT, Recommendations, Academic analysis 5.            Appendices 6.            List of references (Properly Harvard Referenced)