PRACTICE WITH WORKSHOP MANUAL
ARU BA (Hons) in Marketing / Business Management
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Check My Assignment!Strategic Management Analysis – ASOS PLC
Contents
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3
Section One – Mission, Vision and Stakeholders …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6
Section Two – Scenarios and Industry Analysis …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 17
Section Three – Resources and Capabilities ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 17
Section Four – Business and Corporate Strategies …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 17
Useful Information ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 38
Frequently Asked Questions ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 62
Introduction
This Practice with Workshop Manual aims to provide an overview of the key requirements of this time-constrained case study for June 2018 assessment. However, to understand this manual, you need to have read the case material provided and have the questions with you as neither of these are included in this manual owing to ARU copyright issues.
Section 4 of the assignment contains only a single question and this is mandatory. However, you have the option of selecting ONLY one question to answer from every other section from sections 1 to 3. In total, you should answer four questions taking only one question from each section.
Format and Structure
The following format and structure can be followed when drafting the report. However, you are free to adopt a suitable report format to present the answer.
• Cover page • Table of contents • Introduction • Section One – Mission, Vision and Stakeholders • Section Two – Scenarios and Industry Analysis • Section Three – Resources and Capabilities • Section Four – Business and Corporate Strategies • Conclusions and recommendations • References
Maximum word count allowed is 3,000 words
Cover page
The candidates are required to provide a cover page to include the following:
• The assignment title • Name of the candidate • Candidate’s ID • Supervisor’s name • University, school, and department
Table of Contents
An outline of the whole project in list form, setting out the order of the sections, with page numbers. It is conventional to number the preliminary pages (abstract, table of contents) with lower case Roman numerals (i.e. (i), (ii), (iii) etc.) and the main text pages (starting with the first chapter) in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) as shown:
Contents Page List of Tables i List of Figures ii List of Abbreviations iii Acknowledgements iv
Chapter 1 (Title) 1 (First Section heading) (Second etc.) (Third)
List of tables and figures
The student can present a list of the tables and figures used to support the argument at the beginning of your portfolio. Tables and figures should be clearly and consistently numbered, either above or below the table or figure. Each table and figure should have a separate heading (caption). The reader should be able to understand what the table or figure is about from this heading/ caption without referring to the text for explanations. The numbers of the tables and the figures you use in the body of the content and in the lists at the beginning should correspond exactly.
1.0 Introduction (Background of the study)
This is an important section in your analysis as it sets a preface to what is been discussed in the rest of the report. The introduction should be compiled in a way that readers can swiftly become acquainted with the key information without having to read it completely. Some of the areas that could be included under the introduction for the purpose of this assignment are;
• A brief overview to ASOS Plc (facts and figures can be depicted from the case study or through additional reading). This can include a brief description of the company size, revenue/profits, market share and growth, market capitalisation, competition, key products/markets, customer/business segments, structure, leadership style, business model, industry trends and key success areas required to compete effectively in the industry.
• The purpose of the report and what each section intends to cover.
2.0 – 5.0 Main body of the report (Broken down into four main sections)
The main body of the report contains answers to the four main sections of the assignment brief. As stated on the brief, candidates are required to select one of the two given questions from sections 1-3 and the compulsory question under section four. In total the main body of the report should contain answers to four questions.
A suitable format would be;
2.0 Section One – Mission, Vision and Stakeholders 3.0 Section Two – Scenarios and Industry Analysis 4.0 Section Three – Resources and Capabilities 5.0 Section Four – Business and Corporate Strategies
6.0 Conclusion
Every report should carry a conclusion at the end. The purpose of including a conclusion is no different to highlighting the points discussed in the main body of the report in a brief manner and providing a broad summary of what the report has attempted to address and whether the areas that were intending to cover (as stated in the introduction) are covered or not.
7.0 List of references/Bibliography
Academic writing involves using sound evidence to support and strengthen your own arguments. Your answer should demonstrate how widely you have read and how well you have understood what you have read. Then, you must interpret your findings in relation to the question you are answering and the arguments you are making. Use references to support your arguments, not to replace them.
To maintain accuracy and completeness of the references, candidates are required to follow Harvard referencing guidelines in the body of your text and at the end of the assignment. (E.g. books, articles, past findings, online resources, etc. should be properly cited using Harvard referencing guidelines.)
Citing references help to: • support your arguments and give your work a factual basis
• protect yourself against charges of plagiarism
• demonstrate to assessors or critics that you have carried out the necessary research
• allow the reader to locate the material you consulted.
Section One–Mission, Vision and Stakeholders
OR
Assignment Answer Process
Step 1
Write a mission and a vision statement for ASOS Plc. How will these statements support the development of sustainable competitive advantage?
Step 2 Identify ASOS Plc key stakeholders and map these stakeholders in terms of the power/interest grid. Critique, with supporting commentary, which of these stakeholders will need to be repositioned over the next 12 months.
2.1 Write a mission and a vision statement for ASOS Plc. How will these statements support the development of sustainable competitive advantage?
The mission and vision statements are developed so that they reflect the purpose, direction, and the goals of the company. Candidates are first required to explain how organisations such as ASOS Plc could develop vision and mission statements and the key constituents of a good vision and a mission statement. Subsequently, it is required to write a new mission and vision statement for ASOS Plc. Relevant points to be drawn from ASOS Plc.’s new mission and vision statements and explain how they contribute to sustainable competitive advantage.
2.2 Identify ASOS Plc key stakeholders and map these stakeholders in terms of the power/interest grid. Critique, with supporting commentary, which of these stakeholders will need to be repositioned over the next 12 months.
The power/interest grid, in other words the Mendelow’s Matrix, is a tool that ranks stakeholders according to their level of power in terms of decision making and their interest in the company. Candidates should identify the key stakeholders of ASOS Plc‘s and map them to demonstrate the power and interest of these stakeholders in the company.
Subsequently, students are required to critically evaluate theory in terms of the importance of stakeholder management and critique, with supporting commentary, which of these stakeholders will need to be repositioned over the next 12 months.
Outline of the Answer for Section One 20%
2.11 Analysing a vision statement
A vision statement takes into account the current status of the organisation, and serves to point the direction where the organisation is heading. A vision statement provides focus for the mission of the business organisation.
Therefore, a vision statement is an uplifting and inspiring statement for the company defining the purpose of the company focusing on its goals, aspirations, etc. A vision statement is the identification of the core interests of a company without providing a practical plan to achieve them. A vision statement is not periodically revised as a business strategy and stays intact for a relatively long period, often being timeless.
In general, candidates should be conscious of the following when analysing a vision statement:
• A vision statement is short and punchy –Vision statements are usually short and punchy statements which is easily memorable. • A vision statement needs to be concise – A concise vision statement should be provided which is specific to the company and its operations to describe the
unique outcome that only the said company can provide. • A vision statement should be aligned to the values upheld by the company. • A vision statement should be ambitious enough to be exciting but not too ambitious that it seems unachievable – Ideally, a company needs to develop a
vision for the long term, preferably for about 5, 10 or 15 years in the future. It needs to be an abstract, yet a concrete picture of the desired state. • A vision statementshould avoid technical jargon and words/phrases that need to be interpreted to unleash their true meanings – A vision statement needs
to be simple, to be understood by anyone with a reasonable level of understanding, without using technical jargon, metaphors, and business buzz-words.
Candidates should use the case study and conduct further research on ASOS Plc‘s to either, Understand the company’s culture, aims, activities etc. and explain write a newvision andmission statements to support the development of sustainable competitive advantage.
OR Identify ASOS Plc‘s key stakeholders and map these stakeholders in terms of the power/interest grid. Provide a critical discussion with regards to the importance of stakeholder management and which of these stakeholders will need to be repositioned over the next 12 months.
Detailed Guidelines
Some examples of vision statements are shown below:
PepsiCo (retail) – “At the heart of PepciCo is Performance with Purpose- our vision to deliver top-tier financial performance over the long term by integrating sustainability into our business strategy, leaving a positive imprint on society and the environment.”
Chevron (oil and gas) – “At the heart of The Chevron Way is our vision … to be the global energy company most admired for its people, partnership and performance.
Adidas (sports) – “To enhance social and environmental performance in the supply chain, thereby improving the lives of the people making our products.”
GlaxoSmithKline (pharmaceutical) – ‘Is for our value chain to be carbon neutral by 2050’.
Johnson & Johnson (pharmaceutical) – ‘Is for every person to use their unique experiences and backgrounds, together – to spark solutions that create a better, healthier world’.
So, in the PepsiCo vision statement the following main points could be noted. I.e.
1. Top financial performance
2. Sustainability
3. Corporate social responsibility
2.12 Analysing a mission statement
A mission statement is a formal, short, written statement of the purpose of an organisation. The mission statement guides the affairs of the organisation, carves
out its overall goal, provides focus, and guides decision-making.
Mission statements explain what the organisation must do day-to-day to make its vision statement a reality. It shapes the internal corporate culture and covers
the goals of the business together with the philosophies underlying them. It should inspire support and ongoing commitment to its vision.
The mission statement of a company is the driving force behind everything it does internally as well as externally, with prospects, customers, vendors, and
associates. Therefore, a mission statement needs to be clear and specific discussing the following:
A mission statement is essentially an answer to the following questions (kinesisinc, 2010). • What do we do?
• For whom do we do it?
• Why do we serve our clients in the way that we do?
• How do we serve our clients in the way that we do?
• Why are we in this industry?
• Why did we start this business?
• What image of our business do we want to convey?
However, the statements provided should be supported through their contribution to developing sustainable competitive advantage. In other words, how they
can outperform competitors by adopting these principles and strategies and acquiring the necessary capabilities and attributes.
Eg:
PepsiCo’s mission
PepsiCo’s mission statement is “to provide consumers around the world with delicious, affordable, convenient and complementary foods and beverages from
wholesome breakfasts to healthy and fun daytime snacks and beverages to evening treats.” This mission statement highlights PepsiCo’s desire to satisfy
customers. In conjunction with the mission statement, PepsiCo also states, “We are committed to investing in our people, our company and the communities
where we operate to help position the company for long-term, sustainable growth.” The main points of PepsiCo’s mission statement focus on following:
1. Consumers around the world
2. Delicious, healthy and fun products
3. Affordability
4. Convenience
Therefore, PepsiCo’s mission statement focusses on company’s products, its target market and also its people.
When analysing the vision and the mission of PepsiCo it is clear that it provides a picture of what the organization intends ultimately to become on the long-
term and provides a picture of the desired state. Also the vision is well connected to mission and values of the company. The mission statement states
the core purpose of the company. It states, what they do, the purpose of their existence and what they want to be remembered for and positions the
company for long- term, sustainable growth’.
Note – Students are expected to write a new mission and vision statement for ASOS Plc and explain how they support the development
of competitive advantage.
2.2 Stakeholder mapping
Stakeholders of an organisation are the parties that are interested in the activities of the company.
Therefore, stakeholders include investors, employees, customers, suppliers, as well as, community, government, and trade associations – covering both
internal and external environments of a company.
It is important that candidates identify clearly the different stakeholder groups for
Fashion industry, from the different categories.
Stakeholder mapping is a way of visually demonstrating the level of
power/influence, and interest for each stakeholder. For this, candidates can use the
Mendelow’s Matrix.
Mendelow’s Matrix, or the power/interest grid, considers the following two
dimensions when mapping stakeholders.
• The level of interest the group has in the organisation, and
• The level of power or influence they have over the organisation
Quadrant A – Stakeholders falling into this category can be maintained through ‘minimal effort’. They are
of little focus to the organisation owing to both low level of interest and low level of power/influence. As
a result, they are more likely to go along with change without any resistance.
Quadrant B – Stakeholders falling into this category needs to be managed through the strategy ‘keep
informed’ as they have a high level of interest without much power/influence over the company. Their
interest in the organisation makes it very important to keep them informed, for example of changes, in
order to prevent them from joining other stakeholders and, thereby, increasing their power.
Quadrant C – Stakeholders falling into this category need to be managed through the ‘Keep satisfied’
strategy as they have high power, though the level of interest is low. Keeping these stakeholders satisfied
prevents them from gaining more interest and shifting into the ‘key player’ stakeholder category.
Quadrant D – Stakeholders falling into this category are the ‘key players’ with both
high interest and high power. Therefore, they are a very strong group that can
oppose and resist. Organisations need to invest to build relationships with this
stakeholder group, educating, communicating, and consulting them to gain their
support.
Upon identifying all the stakeholders for ASOS Plc, the candidates should determine
their level of interest for information and level of influence on decision making at
the company.
You are required to reason out your categorization of each stakeholder.
For example;
Stakeholder group A includes the architecture for OPQ Home Designers who have
high-interest and high-power/influence over the company. This stakeholder group
has gained high power owing to their high skill level and expertise in the field OPQ
Home Designers is operating in. As a result, they also have high interest in the
company; the number of new contracts the company enter into, etc. as their salary
and job security are dependent on the performance of the company.
They have high power owing to the need to build houses to
the customers on the agreed days, meeting the required
quality.
Finally, you are required to critically evaluate the
importance of stakeholder management. Stakeholder
management is often referred to by authors as a process of
forming, monitoring and maintaining constructive
relationships with investors in order to influence their
expectations of gain which is resulted from the investment
made. It is important to manage stakeholders for example,
to keep the existing investors satisfied and recruit new
investors in an ethical manner for the business to move
forward. Within the discussion you are also required to
explain the implications of not managing the stakeholders
Should I provide an introduction to ASOS Plc in my answer?
Yes. An introduction to ASOS Plc is already provided in the case material issued by the ARU. Therefore, you are advised to provide a brief introduction to the company and then answer the questions.
How do I determine the accuracy of the stakeholder map? The justification and supporting reasoning you provide for each stakeholder group when mapping them in the different quadrant determines the accuracy of the stakeholder map. You are therefore advised to provide clear reasons in your answer.
Should I answer both questions in this section?
No. You should answer only one of the two questions provided for this section. Answering both questions is not beneficial to candidates in anyway.
What should be the word count to my answer to this question? As the total word count for the whole assignment is limited to 3,000 words, you are advised to allocate this word count considering the mark allocation for
each section.
For example, as the mark allocation for this section is 20%, you are advised to limit your answer to 600 words. Should I provide a conclusion to the answer?
Yes, you need to provide a conclusion summarising what has been discussed in the report.
Helper Questions
This sample answer is if you have selected to answer question one under section one.
Vision Statement
“To be the most respected and successful enterprise, delight customers with a wide range of products and solutions in the automobile industry with the best people and best technology.”” (Toyota, 2016)
Mission Statement
“Mission of Toyota is to provide safe & sound journey. Toyota is developing various new technologies from the perspective of energy saving and diversifying energy sources. Environment has been first and most important issue in priorities of Toyota and working toward creating a prosperous society and clean world.” (Toyota, 2016)
How will these statements support the development of sustainable competitive advantage?
The vision statement articulates what organization wants to be and such vision is actioned through the mission statement. In other words, knowing what you are doing (the mission), where you want to go (the vision) and how you are going to get there (values and principles) are the glue that holds an organisation together. Also, the organisations vision and mission are formed based on their internal strengths and weaknesses as a way of developing skills and competences to sustain its competitiveness amongst its competitors. Where the organisation intends to achieve something and do not have the competencies yet, will work its way to develop the required skills in achieving the set vision in the long run and sustain its competitive position.
Note: Please note that this only a sample answer for a similar requirement. You are required to develop a detailed answer that meets the context identified, supporting reasons, word count, etc. as per the requirement of the assignment question.
Sample Answer – Mission, Vision and Stakeholder Mapping
This sample answer is if you have selected to answer question two under section one.
The stakeholders for ABC Ltd are investors, employees, customers, suppliers, community, government, and trade associations. These different stakeholders are mapped assessing their relative power and interests in the power/interest gird, Mendelow’s Matrix, below.
According to this model, the stakeholder ‘A’ and ‘Y’ have most power and highest level of interest as they are investors and the government. The investors hold the highest power and highest interest owing to their investments in the company and the specific interest in primarily the financial performance of the company as well as the sustainability of the company. After identifying the important stakeholders, the management needs to develop a communication management plan and through this engage and influence stakeholders towards the organization benefit. There are various types of stakeholder management that scholars have introduced for example Bunn, Savage and Holloway (2002) suggests 6 strategies that is; lead, collaborate, involve, defend, educate and monitor. Accordingly issues with stakeholder management such as relationship, communications and commitment should also be discussed. The discussion needs to be critical in quoting examples from the case study.
Section Two – Scenarios and Industry Analysis 25%
Step 1
Describe and analyse some of the key trends and uncertainties facing the fashion industry over the following 10 years. Build on this analysis to generate two possible scenarios for ASOS Plc, what implications are there for their strategy?
Step 2
By employing relevant data from the case, conduct a five forces analysis of the fashion Industry. What do you conclude about that industry’s attractiveness?
Assignment Answer process
OR
3.2 Industry analysis
Candidates are required to analyse the micro environment (industry) of ASOS Plc using Porter’s Five Forces framework. Using this analysis, candidates are required to comment on the attractiveness of the industry and conclude about the impact it has on the industry’s attractiveness.
3.1 Identification of industry trends, scenario generation, and implications on the strategy
Candidates are required to provide the following in the answer.
• Describe and analyse some of the key trends and uncertainties facing the fashion industry over the following 10 years. Build on this analysis to generate
two possible scenarios for ASOS Plc, what implications are there for their strategy?
• Generate two possible scenarios for ASOS Plc building on the trend/uncertainty analysis conducted. Candidates are advised to use the most impactful trends/uncertainties and generate two possible scenarios for the company focusing on the strategic aspects of the organisation.
• Identify implications for ASOS Plc’s strategy from the identified two possible scenarios. In the answer candidates are expected to identify the impact
on the organisation’s strategic intent and discuss possible actions for ASOS Plc to face the challenges.
• What implications are there for their strategy
Outline of the Answer
3.1 Market Environment Analysis
Depending on the requirement, candidates are required to identify the appropriate analytical tools to evaluate the conditions in the market environment. Market environment comprises of two elements: macro environment and micro environment.
• The macro environment A macro environmental analysis would enable candidates to identify and evaluate the macro environmental factors and their effect/impact on the Fashion industry. For example, a macro environment analysis identifies the impact of macro environmental factors such as economic factors, demographic changes, political conditions, social conditions, technological changes, natural forces, etc. on the Fashion industry.
In this context, a suitable framework for candidates to use is the PESTLE analysis. Using this framework, candidates can identify or evaluate different influential factors operating in the macro environment.
Detailed Guidelines
Each factor listed under the elements of PESTLE analysis could be classified by the impact it will have on the business.
• The micro environment
After the macro environmental analysis, candidates should then focus on the micro environment/ industry analysis for ASOS Plc. For this, candidates can use Porter’s Five Forces framework.
This framework, by Michael E. Porter, identifies that there
are five forces that shape an industry, particularly its
competition. These five forces are as follows:
1. Risk of entry by potential competitors (or simply, threat of new entrants)
2. Intensity of rivalry amongst the established companies in the industry (or simply, rivalry amongst existing competitors)
3. Bargaining power of buyers 4. Bargaining power of suppliers 5. Closeness of substitutes to industry products (threat of substitute product
Political Economic Social
• Role of Government policies
• Political stability • International trade
regulations • International relations • Trade sanctions
/embargos
• Exchange rates • Economic growth
rates • Globalization • Interest rates • Inflation rates • Unemployment
• Changing cultures • Demographics change • Lifestyle trends and
shifts
Technological Legal Environmental
• Research & Development
• New machinery, technical formulas and processes
• Social media • Innovation and design • Innovative
alternatives
• Health and safety regulations
• Labor laws • Trade laws • Corporate
governance and compliance
• Climate change • Energy waste • Carbon footprint • Sustainability • Reserve of natural
resources • Impact from
environmental activists/pressure groups
As argued by Porter, the ability of the existing player to raise prices and earn more profits is limited if each of these forces are stronger. Therefore, strong competitive force can be considered as a threat to the existing players and week competitive force can be considered as an opportunity to the existing players.
The following are some of the factors that are influential in determining the strength of each force.
Threat of new entrants Economies of scale, brand loyalty, absolute cost advantage, access to the distribution channels, customer switching cost, and government regulation.
Threat of rivalry Industry competitive structure, demand conditions, cost conditions, and exit barriers of the industry.
Bargaining power of buyers Number of buyers relative to the number of sellers, product differentiation, switching cost to the buyer, threat of buyer’s backward/supplier’s forward integration, and volume of purchases.
Bargaining power of suppliers Supplier concentration, importance of suppliers’ input to the buyer, switching cost to other input, and importance of industry to suppliers.
Threat of substitutes Relative price of the substitute, relative quality of substitute, and switching cost to buyers.
If we think about a traditional phone company as an example, a cable television company can be considered as a potential competitor because they have the capacity to offer telephone service using the same cables. However, entry barriers decide the level of risk/ threat of new competitive entrants to an industry. Even at a time where the industry profits are high, potential competitors might not be willing to enter the industry because of the high entry barriers. Some of the barriers to the industry could be;
Economies of scale – The more the company produces, the unit cost of the unit will fall. Sources of economies of scale include;
• Reduction of cost due to mass production of a standardized product • Bulk purchase discounts on raw material inputs and other inputs • Benefits of spreading fixed production cost among large production volume • Benefits of spreading marketing and advertising cost among large production volume
Brand loyalty – Preference of the customers for products offered by an established company. This is evident especially in industries where the products are differentiated and, therefore, established companies have the advantage of brand recognition and customer loyalty over a new entrant to the market.
Absolute cost advantage – Production at a lower cost per unit than at which any other player can produce. Therefore, existing firms may have a unit cost advantage over the new entrant to the market.
Access to the distribution channels – Gaining distribution is one of the key entry barriers for a new supplier of consumer goods.
Customer switching cost – If the cost of moving to another supplier is high, the customer is less willing to change their supplier.
Government regulation – Regulatory requirements imposed by the government and other policies and standards on environmental and safety standards mostly act as a barrier for new entrants to an industry since the compliance costs imposed on the new entrant tend to weigh more heavily on them.
Candidates are required to argue the level of threats posed by the new competitive entrant to the Fashion industry based on the availability of the above industry barriers. It is important to note that the arguments/ discussion should be based on the facts extracted from the case material as well as other industry related facts.
Rivalry amongst existing competitors
This is the competitive battle between the existing players to gain market share from each other. More intense rivalry can lower the process and raise the cost, thereby squeezing the profit out of the industry. Rivalry among the existing competitors depends on the following aspects;
Industry competitive structure – This refers to the number and size distribution of the companies in the industry.
Demand conditions – Increasing and decreasing demand from the customers. Decreasing demand will increase the rivalry among the existing firms to grab market share from each other.
Cost conditions – Cost structure of the existing firms in the industry. If the fixed cost of the industry is high, the profitability can improve by selling a large volume of product. This in turns increases the rivalry amongst existing players.
Exit barriers of the industry – These can be emotional, economic and strategic aspects that prevent a company from withdrawing their operations from an industry.
Here again candidates are required to analyse the competitive battle between the existing players, using information from the case material and other industry facts.
Bargaining power of buyers
Buyers of an industry include the end user as well has the intermediary company that distributes the industry products to the end user (retailers and wholesalers). Bargaining power of the buyers means the ability of the buyers to bargain down the final product price and the ability of the buyers to raise the cost of the final product by demanding better product quality and service from companies. Therefore, a powerful buyer is considered as a threat to the company as that buyer can force down company profit. Buyers of an industry can be powerful in the following instances;
• if the industry consists of many small companies, and the buyers are large and few in numbers • if the buyer purchases in large quantities • if the industry depends on the buyers for a large percentage of purchase from total order • if the switching cost is low, the buyer can easily move to another alternative with a lower price Here again candidates could use facts from the industry and case material to analyse the bargaining power of the buyers in the energy sector.
Bargaining power of the suppliers
Suppliers include the organisation that offers inputs to a specific industry. For example, suppliers include organisations that provide materials, service and labour. The bargaining power of suppliers refers to the ability of these suppliers to raise the prices of the inputs to the industry. Therefore, a powerful supplier is a threat to the company. Suppliers of an industry can be powerful in the following instances;
• If the input provided by the supplier has few substitutes and is important to the companies in the industry • If the industry of consideration is not an important customer to the supplier
• If the input provided by the supplier is unique and, therefore, the companies in the industry would have to experience significant switching cost if they
moved to a different supplier
Here again, using facts from the industry and case material the candidates are required to analyse the bargaining power of the buyers in the Fashion sector.
Threat of substitute products
Substitute products are products from different businesses or industries that target similar customer needs. For example, coffee is a substitute product for tea and soft drinks, since all three serve the customers need for non-alcoholic drinks. The existence of close substitutes is considered a strong competitive threat since this can limit the price that companies in one industry can charge for their product. As this can make customers shift to another substitute product.
Here again, candidates could use facts from the industry and case material to analyse the threats of substitute in the Fashion sector.
Based on the analysis above candidates are required to discuss industry attractiveness. Therefore, the candidate needs to determine the industry potential for profit using the above analysis.
In addition to Porter’s Five Forces framework, an alternative framework that you can use where the model to use is not specified in the answer is the SPICC analysis.
Given below is an example of a SPICC analysis conducted for an organisation in the dairy products industry.
Scenario analysis is a systematic way of thinking about how the future might unfurl that builds on what we know about current trends and signals. Scenario analysis is not a forecasting technique but a process for thinking and communicating about the future. A multiple scenario approach presents several distinct views of how the future may look like in 5 to 25 years.
The possible scenarios that are developed following key uncertainties and trends are identified based on the environment scanning in which the industry/company operates.
Environmental scanning is a continuous process which includes the following activities:
Scanning: Identifying early signals of environmental changes (i.e. uncertainties) and trends
Monitoring: Detecting meaning through ongoing observations of environmental changes and trends
Forecasting: Developing projections of anticipated outcomes based on monitored changes and trends
Assessing: Determining the timing and importance of environmental changes and trends for firms’ strategies and their management
These four aspects are crucial for scenario planning, which is required under this task.
There are several aspects that can be considered when conducting an environmental analysis and it is important to follow a logical structure to funnel the key attributes/factors on which the scenarios are built.
Suppliers Raw material suppliers – e.g. farmers Publics Concerns from local authorities – e.g. concerns from
local authorities on health and safety, chemical usage, environment pollution, animal welfare, energy consumption Concerns from general public – e.g. Quality concerns, safety and food regulations, environmental damage, green processes, safety scandals, etc. Media and activists – e.g. large presence of activists/pressure groups on social media, publicity on corporate scandals, regulation violations, etc. Government – e.g. pressure from government on tax issues, scandals and regulatory requirements, environmental sustainability, etc. Other various regulatory bodies and social organisations
Intermediaries Retailers and wholesalers Customers
and Markets Market segments
Demographic changes directly affecting the company Purchase capacities, income distribution of the target market Lifestyle choices of the target market
Competition Main competitors and market share Nature of competitors – e.g. multinationals, government owned, etc. Market growth rate of competitors
Having conducted the environmental analyses, the candidate could identify two most impactful trends and uncertainties that are most likely to continue over the next 10 years, and build two scenarios that could possibly occur.
According to Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2008), scenario building is a process which provides managers with a view of how the environment would develop in the future.
1. Key Drivers – e.g. In the fashion industry ‘rebranding sustainability’ is a key driver.
2. Build two scenarios from the perspective of ‘Optimistic’ and ‘Pessimistic’, in other words, consider both a negative and a positive aspect. Nonetheless these scenarios need to be debated and argued to discuss both aspects, e.g. a scenario created on price instability would mostly have negative impacts. Yet, it could also carry certain positive impacts as well, depending on the nature of the uncertainty. As such, a debate is essential to validate which aspect is the strongest.
3. Scenarios that are projected may not occur in reality. The main idea is to explore a situation and have a contingency plan for if and when.
Based on the scenarios, the candidate could discuss the implications these scenarios will have on ASOS Plc’s strategy and possible strategic decisions/changes the company could make in order to face these scenarios successfully.
To begin with the industry analysis, first the candidates are required to identify the industry in which the company operates. As specified in the question the focus of the answer should be on the Fashion industry. Therefore, first, the candidates are required to identify the scope in terms of the Fashion industry.
As defined by Hill and Jones (2008) industry can be defined as a group of companies offering products or services that are a close substitute for each other. That is products or services that satisfy the same basic customer need. For example, carbonated drinks, fruit punches and bottled water serve the same basic need of customers. Therefore, players who offer these drinks can be viewed as close substitutes. Hence, the soft drink industry includes major players such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Cadbury, etc. For identifying the industry boundaries relevant for the Fashion industry, it is important to identify the basic customer needs that ASOS Plc is serving. It is important to note that candidates are required to take a customer-oriented view of the business conducted by ASOS Plc rather than a product-oriented view.
For example, Coca-Cola, considered to be first in the soda (carbonated drink) industry, whereas they compete in the soft drink market (which includes non- carbonated drinks as well). This resulted in them ignoring important customer trends such as rising demand for non-carbonated drinks for example water and fruit punches. Therefore, before undertaking the analysis of the Fashion industry, it is important to identify the industry boundaries.
For candidates who selected to answer question 2 in this section; The candidate has to undertake an analysis of the competitive forces in the industry environment. Although there are various models and frameworks to analyse the competitive environment (such as SPICC, positioning map of the industry players, etc), the assignment specifically requires the candidate to use the Porter’s Five Forces framework to conduct the analysis.
And based on the findings of strength of each force the candidate is required to comment on the overall industry attractiveness and highlight the forces which are liable to change. And then comment on how these changes may affect the attractiveness of the industry.
Is there a specific word count for this section?
No. However, as the total word count for the whole assignment is limited to 3,000 words, you are advised to allocate this word count considering the mark allocation for each section. For example, as the mark allocation for this section is 25%, you are advised to limit your answer to about 750-800 words. Should I answer both questions in this section? No. You should answer only one of the two questions provided for this section. Answering both questions is not beneficial to the candidates in anyway. Will a simple listing of facts be adequate? No. Your answer should be detailed following an analytical approach. Your detailed answer should refer to the key competitors of ASOS Plc as well for a meaningful analysis and evaluation of the market environment. A comparative analysis considering the key competitors in your answer is strictly advised as this analysis will be used to build the answer to section 4. Do I need to include references in the answer? Yes, it is important that you include in-text references particularly when including theories and definitions. The examiner specifically considers this when providing higher grades. You are advised to comply with the Harvard referencing system.
Helper Questions
This sample answer is if you selected to answer question one under section two.
Scenario planning
1. The key trends that have a positive /negative impact on the business are:
The key trends that have a high impact on the business can be identified as follows:
Positive The new creation of a single European market to become the world’s largest free trade area will allow EU members the free movement of capital, services, goods and people.
Sample answer
Note: Please note that this is only a sample answer for a similar requirement. You are required to develop a detailed answer that meets the context identified, supporting reasons. Word count etc., as per the requirement of the assignment question.
Sample Answer
Scenario 1 Assuming over the next 10 years the UK is a part of the single European market and does not exit the Eurozone, the company could capitalize on the benefits of belonging to the largest free trade area to expand the market, gain access to better raw materials and expertise, gain tax concessions in terms of expanding into foreign territories, etc.
According to Ernst & Young Global Limited (n.d), section on Eurozone Forecast & outlook for financial services, there is a visible increase of the GDP growth rate of 0.4% to 0.5% over the last two quarters of 2015.
With this and the projected stabilization of consumer and export demand, they expect business investment within the Eurozone to accelerate from 2016 onwards. This could be taken as a positive indicator for the business and the XYZ Company could capitalize on the growing demand by catering to markets outside the UK.
On the other hand the IMF has recently downgraded the global growth forecast (Walker, 2015), and has predicted the recovery of the Eurozone to continue at a slower pace than anticipated. Therefore, the viability of the collaboration of European economies into a larger free trade zone may not yield the expected results to full potential.
Although a positive impact is anticipated for the organisation, it should be stated that due to the high uncertainty involved, the company would be implicated both positively and negatively. Hence the XYZ Company should be strategically aimed and directed to capitalize on the free trade zone benefits sooner rather than later when the negative effects may or may not take place.
Negative Economic downturn negatively affecting demand and the affordability of key market segments and changes in customer preference for furniture design.
Scenario 2 Certain economists predict the world economies to be more vulnerable to recession in the next decade as opposed to the previous (Accu-Vest Planning, 2010). In that connection the Eurozone, being one of the largest economies, interdependent on many countries, would plunge into recession more often. Although this is not considered as an abnormal situation, the recessions would have a severe impact on the buying power of the consumers and market demand.
According to the above prediction of the Euro areas recession, there appears to be a fluctuating pattern, which would make predictions uncertain and difficult. This would negatively affect the buying decisions of the customers, as less disposable income would lead to non-essentials such as furniture, home décor, etc., having less demand.
Source: Michael Roberts Blog, 2014
On the other hand, emerging markets are expected to be on the rise, as the recession and economic crisis would hit the lowest in certain parts of the world (Accu-Vest Planning, 2010). According to this report, the private consumption growth in emerging markets is already higher than developed markets, wage growth is high and the consumer segments are mainly young and well-educated.
Emerging Markets as a Percentage of MSCI All Country World Index
Source: MSCI. Markets weights are as of year-end. Accu-Vest Planning, 2010
It is said that the MSCI all country world index carried only 8 emerging markets in the late 1980s’ (2% of the index) as opposed to 22 in the year 2010 (12% of the index). Although it is not considered as a massive growth, the constant growth may indicate a possible expansion opportunity outside the western world.
XYZ therefore should strategically focus on expanding to markets out of the Eurozone in order to face the negative impacts of the recession and the decrease of affordability among key market segments in the UK.
This sample answer is if you selected to answer question one under section two.
Macro Environmental Analysis
References
Accu-Vest Planning, 2010, 10 Predictions over the Next 10 Years [online], available at http://www.accuvestplanning.com/services/market-commentary/10- predictions-over-the-next-10-years, Date accessed <11/10/2015>
Ernst & Young Global limited, n.d, EY – Eurozone Forecast & Outlook for financial services, [Online] http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Issues/Business- environment/EUROZONE, Date accessed <11/10/2015>
Roberts M, Japan: the failure of Abenomics, [Online] available at https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2014/10/13/japan-the-failure-of-abenomics/, Date accessed <12/10/2015>
Walker A., (2015), IMF downgrades global growth forecast [online], http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30876954, Date accessed <20/10/2015>
Comment
The candidates who select the first question to answer should provide a comprehensive analysis of the industry with supporting facts and figures to conclude about the attractiveness of the Fashion industry.
The macro and micro environmental analyses provided focuses on the general marketing practices of organisations and have not been specifically developed for ASOS Plc. In addition, the implications for the organisation from the two scenarios should have been further discussed showing your findings to back the trend/uncertainties for the following 10 years.
http://www.accuvestplanning.com/services/market-commentary/10-
http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Issues/Business-
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30876954
Section Three – Resources and Capabilities 25%
Step 1
Evaluate the bases of ASOS Plc strategic capabilities by utilising the VRIO/VRIN criteria (value, rarity, inimitability, organisation and/or non-substitutability). Which are the key strategic capabilities that provide, or could provide them with a sustainable competitive advantage? Why?
Step 2
Evaluate ASOS Plc resources and capabilities by utilising the value chain framework. How is the company creating value? Discuss how could the company develop and improve further in respect to this?
4.1 Evaluate the bases of strategic capabilities for a sustainable competitive advantage
Candidates are expected to evaluate the basis of ASOS Plc’s strategic capabilities utilising the VRIO/VRIN criteria and discuss how these key strategic capabilities provide/could provide a sustainable competitive advantage to the company with supporting reasoning.
Outline of the Answer
Assignment Answer process
Candidates should either evaluate the basis of ASOS Plc’s strategic capabilities utilizing the VRIO/VRIN frameworks to discuss how these contribute towards a sustainable competitive advantage, with reasons, or evaluate resources and capabilities utilising the value chain framework and identify how the company is creating value to discuss how this can be improved further.
4.1 Resources and Strategic capabilities
Organisational resources are all the assets that are available to a firm for use during the production process. Organisational resources are combined, used, and transformed into finished products during the production process. Resources can be either financial, physical, human, technological, or reputational.
An organisational capability is defined as an ability and capacity of an organisation expressed in terms of its human resource, their number, quality, skills, and experience; physical and material resources, such as, machines, land and buildings, etc.; financial resources, such as, money and credit; information resources, such as, pool of knowledge, databases, etc.; and intellectual resources, such as, copyrights, designs, and patents.
Organisational capabilities are, therefore, not factor inputs like tangible and intangible assets; they are complex combinations of assets, people, and processes that organisations use to transform inputs into outputs.
Resources vs capabilities
Resources can be acquired through money. For example, buying a manufacturing plant from a competitor. However, capabilities develop with time and cannot be bought outright like a resource. For example, service management by a restaurant is a capability that is mainly developed through human resource.
How resources translate into competitive advantages and sustainable competitive advantages are provided in the following diagram to help candidates build their answers.
Detailed Guidelines
4.2 2 Evaluate resources and capabilities to identify how value is created by the company
Candidates are expected to evaluate resources and capabilities utilising the value chain framework. This value chain framework should also be used to identify how the company is creating value with a discussion on how the company could develop and improve further its value creation.
An example of a competitive capability is Microsoft’s development of its brand image, which results from a number of competitive advantages including technological, marketing, distribution, and its ownership of the Windows operating system and the Office desktop applications. An example of a sustainable competitive advantage is Intel’s continuous ability to upgrade its product technically and market it faster than its competition. Therefore, something that provides continuous advantages competitively is a sustainable competitive advantage (highered. mheducation).
Developing resources into competitive advantages
Resources and capabilities must be constantly upgraded to enable an organisation to maintain its competitive advantage. This process ensures that the organisation has a sustainable competitive advantage. This requires managers to constantly identify the resources and capability gaps the company is faced with and ensure that these are addressed. For example, managers need to periodically analyse what opportunities/trends in the market they should focus on to identify what resources and capabilities they lack in order maximise the opportunities while developing a sustainable advantages in critical activities.
Reducing such gaps improves the probability of executing the strategy for the organisation. Therefore, the assessments of gaps and weaknesses of competitive advantages in a firm are critical to a sustainable competitive advantage.
Resources – Tangilbe or intangibile assets, skills that enable production of products and services
Tangilble resources Intangible resources Financial resources; Physical plant, raw materials, Technological resources, including patents,
and equipment; Human abilities, including trademarks, knowledge, etc.; Innovation abilities, experience knowledge, skills, attitude, etc.; including facilities and employee research skills; Orgaisational abilitie, including structure and Reputation, including perceptions by stakeholders
processes and brand name
Competitive Advantages – Resources that produce value to a firm’s customers. By providing value to the customers, the resources supplement the firm’s ability to
compete in its seleceted competitive position
Competitive Capabililities – Sets of competitive advantages that managemetn integrates and cooordinates to produce a multifaceted value-producing advantage
over competitiors
Sustainable Competitive Advantages and Capabilities – sustainable atttributesthat provide a firm with advantages over competition for the foreseeable future
because competitors find it difficult to emulate these competitive advantages and capabilities.
Core Competencies – Sustainable competitve advantages and capabiliteis that a firm has relied upon as the basis for its strategy througout all of its products and
businesses ovear period of time.
4.2 Evaluating Strategic Capabilities using VRIO/ VRIN Criteria
Candidates are required to identify strategic capabilities for the company using VRIN/VRIO criteria.
Though a theoretical definition to these criteria can be helpful, it is advised that the candidates keep this very brief. Instead the focal point of the answer should be to apply these to the context of ASOS Plc to identify the strategic capabilities for the company.
VRIO/VRIN criteria
VRIO/VRIN are a few criteria managers use to assess the quality of the resources and capabilities owned by the company. The more qualities the resources and capabilities of the company have, the more important they are for creating a competitive advantage for a company.
Through your answer, you are required to identify strategic capabilities for the company which in turn can be used for/translated to a sustainable competitive advantage.
The VRIO/VRIN criteria are as follows.
Valuable If a resource adds value either by enabling a firm to exploit opportunities or by defending against threats, such a resource is considered valuable. Resources are also valuable if they help organisations to increase the perceived customer value through increased differentiation or/and reduced cost. The resources that cannot meet this condition, lead to competitive disadvantage.
The value of a firm’s resources lies in the complex interplay between the firm and its competitive environment along the dimensions of demand, scarcity, and appropriateness. Value is created in the intersection of the three sets (section A in the following diagram): when a resource is demanded by customers (demand), when it cannot be replicated by competitors (scarcity), and when the profits it generates are captured by the firm (appropriateness or who actually captures the profits created by a resource?) (
Rare Resources that can only be acquired by one or very few companies are considered rare. Rare and valuable resources grant temporary competitive advantage. This is because access to the same resource by more than one company or the use of a capability in a similar way by all the industry players leads to competitive parity, thereby, depriving all from achieving superior performance.
A resource can be made rare through inimitability, the third criteria of VRIN/VRIO.
Inimitability A resource is inimitable if other organisations that do not own/have access to the said resource cannot replicate it. This would essentially make it difficult to make, buy or substitute the resource at a reasonable price. Imitation can occur in two ways: by directly imitating (duplicating) the resource or providing a comparable product/service (substituting).
A firm that has valuable, rare, and costly to imitate resources can (but not necessarily will) achieve sustainable competitive advantage.
Barnet (1991) has identified three reasons why resources can be hard to imitate:
• Historical conditions – Resources that were developed due to historical events or over a long period usually are costly to imitate. • Causal ambiguity – Due to the nature of the resource no company can easily imitate the company’s resources. • Social complexity – Resources and capabilities based on the company’s culture or interpersonal relationships are difficult to imitate. The range of resource imitability is provided in the following figure.
Source: highered.mheducation
Organised to capture value Resources themselves do not ensure any advantage for a company if they are not organised to create value from them. Therefore, a firm must organise its management systems, processes, policies, organisational structure, culture etc. to be able to fully realise the potential of its valuable, rare, and costly to imitate resources and capabilities. Only then can the companies achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.
Candidates are required to evaluate resources and capabilities of ASOS Plcutilising the value chain framework and then identify how the company is creating value to discuss further improvements in this regard. Care should be taken to avoid giving a description of the value chain framework and the different activities. Instead, candidates are required to apply the framework to the context of ASOS Plc and evaluate the resources and capabilities of the company.
Value Chain Analysis
This is an important analysis that could be conducted to identify non-value adding activities/resources which can be deviated to strengthen the value adding activities in an organisation. According to the value chain framework, firms try to gain competitive advantage by increasing value from their activities to customers relative to their competitors. Therefore, the discussion should be linked to the relative competitive position of the company.
Activities in the value chain framework are as follow.
Primary activities • Inbound logistics: the receiving and warehousing of raw materials, and distribution to manufacturing as they are required • Operations: the processes of transforming inputs into finished products and services • Outbound logistics: the warehousing and distribution of finished goods • Marketing and sales: all marketing and selling activities conducted to identify customer needs and pursue purchases • Service: after sales services
Supporting activities • Firm infrastructure: Includes physical infrastructure such as IT systems, buildings, as well as virtual infrastructure, such as, controls and culture, etc. • HR management: recruitment, development, and compensation • Technological development: includes IT capabilities, process improvements, etc. • Procurement: includes purchase of raw materials and capital equipment
Improving value to customers from the activities essentially refers to the improvement of the ”worth” of the product or service to the customer either through lower prices or better product/service characteristics.
For example, an organisation that sells to an expensive and highly differentiated market position will create value to the customers by offering products and services with enhanced product features/attributes. Similarly, an organisation that competes on costs will create more value to the customers by only keeping costs low.
Therefore, you are advised to approach your answer as follow.
1. Identify the value adding activities for British Petroleum 2. Value analysis – This is for the listing of the value-adding-factors for each activity 3. Evaluate changes/actions necessary to improve value to customers
Is there a specific word count for this section?
No. However, as the total word count for the whole assignment is limited to 3,000 words, you are advised to allocate this word count considering the mark
allocation for each section.
For example, as the mark allocation for this section is 25%, you are advised to limit your answer to about 750-800 words. Should I answer both questions in this section? No. You should answer only one of the two questions provided for this section. Answering both questions is not beneficial to the candidates in anyway. Is it important to provide introductions to the frameworks used for answering? It is not mandatory to provide introductions to the frameworks used for answering. However, if you opt to do this, you are advised to keep this very brief.
Marks are awarded for the identification of the correct frameworks and their application to the given context only. Therefore, you are thoroughly advised to meet this requirement and clearly identify the framework used to answer, instead of providing theoretical interpretations. Is it necessary to refer to the competitors of ASOS Plc in my answer? For a resource or capability to be a competitive advantage that resource or capability should be something that the competitors do not have access to.
Therefore, it is important to refer to the key competitors of ASOS Plc in your answer to provide a meaningful analysis to earn higher marks. This does not have
to be comprehensive, a brief reference with reasoning would meet the requirement as the given word count is limited.
A comparative analysis considering the key competitors in your answer is strictly advised as this analysis will be used to build the answer to section 4.
Helper Questions
Using the VRIO criteria, which stand for Value, Rarity, Imitability and Organisation, the different resources and capabilities for Starbucks can be analysed as follows;
According to the VRIO criteria, any resource or capability that fulfils value, rarity, imitability, and organisation requirements are of long-term competitive advantage. Therefore, propensity for innovation, relationships with coffee farmers, customer experience, corporate leadership and visions, and renowned brand are the resources and capabilities with long-term competitive advantage for Starbucks.
In a competitive business environment, a key important consideration is the sustainability of the competitive advantage. Sustainable competitive advantage refers to those sustainable attributes that have the capability of providing an organisation with advantages over competition for a foreseeable future.
For example, Starbucks owns a renowned brand and meets all four VRIO criteria. This brand is inimitable as it is a registered trademark. The brand is well recognised and has created a unique position for itself in the mind of consumers. Therefore, the brand has the ability to generate profits for the company. At present, the Starbucks brand is worth approximately USD 74bn.
Similarly, the propensity for innovation is creating a sustainable competitive advantage for the company. The company is ahead of all other brews with its intensity for innovative ideas when deciding on its in-store design. However, what creates a competitive edge for the company is their new flavours and drinks. Frappuccino can be given as an example for
Sample answer – This sample answer is if you selected to answer question one under section three.
Note: Please note that this is only a sample answer for a similar requirement. You are required to develop a detailed answer that meets the context identified, supporting reasons. Word count etc., as per the requirement of the assignment question.
Sample Answer
This sample answer is if you selected to answer question two under section three.
XYZ is a mobile application developer. The company also provides upgrades and other support services to clients for the mobile applications they have built by periodically reviewing the upgrades to mobile operation systems and new attributes/ features introduced to mobile phones. XYZ now considers improving the value to its customers through their offering.
Through a preliminary analysis XYZ has identified the following client-facing-activities as those activities that create value for its clients:
• Client order taking • Deciding on the specifications for the mobile application • Development of the mobile application • Preliminary testing of the application • Fixing of glitches • Secondary testing of the application • Launch of the mobile application • Support and upgrades
In addition, XYZ has identified the following non-client-facing activities also as important in creating value for its clients:
• Recruitment: Choosing the right people with the right expertise to work well in a team-based work environment • Training: Helping new recruits become a part of the company as quickly as possible, and help them with training to meet client requirements better
The resulting value chain for XYZ is as follows.
Comment: This is only a sample answer and is written to a context different to ASOS Plc. You are required to provide a comprehensive answer identifying the key strategic capabilities of ASOS Plc by evaluating the different capabilities of the company. You are also required to discuss how and why the identified key strategic capabilities create a sustainable competitive advantage.
By closely monitoring each of these value creating activities, XYZ could identify the following value factors for each activity. To each activity, XYZ has also identified the changes necessary to improve the value created for the customers.
Activity Value Factors Changes Needed Order taking Friendliness of the staff
Knowledge of customer requirements Clear communications and contract drafting
Understanding of the market the client operates in Training on soft skills to maintain client relationships Maintaining minutes at the end of each meeting with the client
Specifications Accurate and comprehensive understanding of the client requirements Clarity on cost factor/budget for the mobile application
Detailed description of the requirements Internal reviews for clarity Maintaining minutes at the end of each meeting with the client
Development Scheduling of development and delivery
Therefore, by implementing the changes required, XYZ can improve the value created for its customers.
Comment: This is only a sample answer and is written to a context different to ASOS Plc. You are required to provide a comprehensive answer identifying the different value creating activities and value factors in order to discuss how ASOS Plc is creating value for its customers and what improvements are necessary to improve the value created for customers.
Section Four – Business and Corporate Strategies 25%
Please note that this question is mandatory
5.1 Suggestions to achieve a Sustainable Competitive Advantage
• Develop a TOWS matrix for ASOS Plc. • Suggest how ASOS Plc can use its competitive strengths (resources/capabilities) to create a sustainable competitive advantage in the competitive global competitive
environment.
Outline of the Answer
Step 1
What suggestions could you make to ASOS Plc Senior Management team to support their position in achieving sustainable competitive advantage in the global fashion competitive environment?
Assignment Answer process
In this section, candidates should clearly discuss how ASOS Plc can achieve a sustainable competitive advantage in the competitive Fashion market by evaluating the strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats of the company. Candidates may use the analyses done in previous questions in section 2 & 3 when answering this question.
5.1 The TOWS Matrix
The question requires students to suggest how ASOS Plc’s senior management may support their position in achieving sustainable competitive advantage in the global Fashion competitive environment. The requirement of the question first calls for an analysis that goes beyond the SWOT framework. Therefore, candidates are required to use the TOWS matrix to address the requirement rather than resorting to a SWOT which is not an analytical tool.
TOWS and SWOT are acronyms for the different arrangement of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Therefore, as in SWOT, in the TOWS framework the strengths and weaknesses are identified by analysing the internal environment, while an external analysis is necessary to identify the opportunities and threats.
A TOWS matrix takes a step beyond this simple listing to also identify the strategic options available to a company. This is carried out by linking the identified strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to each other.
The resulting outcome of this is the TOWS strategic alternatives matrix.
Detailed Guidelines
The different links the TOWS matrix identifies are as follows. 1. Strengths to Opportunities 2. Strengths to Threats 3. Weaknesses to Opportunities 4. Weaknesses to Threats These links essentially answer the following questions,
• How can you use your strengths to take advantage of these opportunities? • How can you take advantage of your strengths to avoid real and potential threats? • How can you use your opportunities to overcome the weaknesses you are experiencing? • How can you minimise your weaknesses and avoid threats? Or simply, what defensive strategies have you put in place to protect your company from
experiencing any losses. The opportunities and threats needed for this TOWS matrix can be identified through the industry analysis you have carried out in your answer for section two.
The strengths and weaknesses needed for the TOWS matrix can be identified through the resources and capabilities analysis carried out in your answer to section three.
In order to revise your understanding on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats the following brief introduction is provided taking the context of Tesco, UK as an example.
Strengths The company has a strong brand image, and is associated with good quality, trustworthy goods that represent excellent value cf. to its closest competitor Asda.
Threats Tesco has been experiencing a downfall in profits recently and shows a fall in its store footfall compared to its closest and strongest competitor Asda.
Opportunities Tesco’s UK health and beauty ranges continue to grow, and it is currently the fastest growing skincare retailer in the market.
Threats Owing to the strong strategic alliance of Asda with the retail giant Wal-Mart, Asda competes on price and its array of offering, thereby, posing a greater competitive threat to Tesco.
Through the TOWS analysis you may identify the different strategic alternatives/ options available for ASOS Plc. Here you are advised to identify those strategies with the greatest benefit for the company. These identified strategies should be in line with the strategic direction of the company as is identified through the vision and mission for the company.
In addition to the strategic direction, your strategies should support to achieve sustainable competitive advantage for the company. This can be done by identifying the elements of cost advantages/ differentiation strategies and consideration of value creation in particular.
Comment: Strengths and weaknesses should always be discussed in comparison with key competitors. Unless this is provided, an accurate evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of your company cannot be carried out. Therefore, you are strongly advised to provide a comparison and source your facts.
Comment: Opportunities and threats should be identified from the market environment and should not be something the company is already experiencing. For example, a greater global expansion compared to competitors is not an opportunity, but a strength. However, being already positioned in a country before the competitors where the government in that country is considering a relaxed tax policy is an opportunity.
Is there a specific word count for this section?
No. However, as the total word count for the whole assignment is limited to 3,000 words, you are advised to allocate this word count considering the mark
allocation for each section.
For example, as the mark allocation for this section is 25%, you are advised to limit your answer to about 750-800 words. Is it adequate to provide a SWOT analysis in the answer? No. The requirement of this section goes beyond the identification of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Therefore, a SWOT analysis is not adequate and you are strongly advised to use a TOWS matrix in the answer. Is it adequate to provide only the TOWS matrix in the answer? No. You will earn some marks for identifying some strategic options in the answer. However, the requirement is to identify those strategic options that contribute to a sustainable competitive advantage in the competitive global Fashion market. Therefore, your answer should identify the best strategic options for the company considering its strengths and weaknesses (as well as the strategic direction of the company) by considering the competitiveness in the global fashion industry. Am I required to furnish a new analysis in my answer to this section? You are strictly advised to rely on your answers to sections 2 and sections 3 of the assessment to identify the opportunities and threats in the market and strengths and weaknesses of the company. However, you may refer to new information to bring in supporting facts to your answer. Do I need to include references in the answer? Yes, it is important that you include in-text references. The examiner specifically considers this when providing higher grades. You are advised to comply with the Harvard referencing system.
Helper Questions
Nike is an American-based multinational corporation that designs, develops, and manufactures sportswear products. The product portfolio of the company also includes equipment and accessories. In addition, the company engages in the marketing and sale of its products.
Following is a TOWS matrix conducted for Nike in order to identify the strategic options available for the company considering it strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Comment This is only a sample answer and it is not necessarily addressing the full requirement in the question. In your answer you are required to develop a TOWS matrix for ASOS Plc using your analyses for answers in sections 2 and 3. This matrix should be used to identify the different strategic options available to the company which needs to be followed by a discussion on the most suitable strategic options suggested to the company to attain sustainable competitive advantage. The strategic options you suggest should be in line with the vision and mission of the company as provided in your answer to section 1.
In your answer, the strengths and weaknesses of the company should be discussed comparing the same with the competitors. In addition, the opportunities and threats need to be identified relative to the competitors.
Strengths • Global audience • Market leadership • Wide array of suppliers
world-wide • Wide array of quality
products
Weaknesses • Social and ethical
issues • Higher concentration
on footwear • Reliance on cheap
labour Opportunities • Increased sports
initiatives • Potential for new
technology • Growing
preference to shop online
• Use current market position to influence customers
• Migrate customers to online purchasing
• Increased partnerships with intermediaries
• Use global sports events for marketing and advertising through sponsorships
• Lower production cost
Threats • Competitive
market • Dynamic market
• Constantly create new designs
• Search for innovative concepts
• Focus on improving quality
• Improved customisation
Sample answer
Note: Please note that these are sample answers are for similar requirements. Candidates are required to develop their own answers which meet the current context, word count and depth as per the requirements of the assignment question.
Sample Answer
Useful Information
Name Website
ASOS Plc https://http://www.asos.com
ASOS Plc Vision/Values https://https://www.asosplc.com/ Global Fashion & Luxury market Private Equity and investors survey 2016
https://www2.deloitte.com/my/en/pages/consumer-business/articles/fashion-luxury-pe-survey-2016.html
ASOS Plc Competitors http://financials.morningstar.com/competitors/industry-peer.action?t=ASC®ion=gbr&culture=en-US Fashion Industry Statistics https://www.statista.com/topics/965/apparel-market-in-the-us/ Integrated Report ASOS Plc,2016 https://www.asosplc.com/~/media/Files/A/Asos-V2/2016-in-review/financial-review/28-10-2016-ar.pdf
Resources and Capability Analysis (VRIO)
http://www.google.lk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CBsQFjAAahUKEwiEzMuoofn IAhVBN5QKHTUXA9w&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhighered.mheducation.com%2Fsites%2Fdl%2Ffree%2F0070917191%2F91885% 2FSample_Chapter3.pdf&usg=AFQjCNEw2Kjnnhsi-yL4BOG-_55NqfR6wQ
Stakeholder Management http://www.academia.edu/172847/Issues_and_Strategies_in_Stakeholder_Management
Additional References
http://www.asos.com/
http://www.asosplc.com/
http://www.asosplc.com/
http://financials.morningstar.com/competitors/industry-peer.action?t=ASC®ion=gbr&culture=en-US
http://www.statista.com/topics/965/apparel-market-in-the-us/
http://www.asosplc.com/%7E/media/Files/A/Asos-V2/2016-in-review/financial-review/28-10-2016-ar.pdf
http://www.asosplc.com/%7E/media/Files/A/Asos-V2/2016-in-review/financial-review/28-10-2016-ar.pdf
http://www.google.lk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CBsQFjAAahUKEwiEzMuoofnIAhVBN5QKHTUXA9w&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhighered.mheducation.com%2Fsites%2Fdl%2Ffree%2F0070917191%2F91885%2FSample_Chapter3.pdf&usg=AFQjCNEw2Kjnnhsi-yL4BOG-_55NqfR6wQ
http://www.google.lk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CBsQFjAAahUKEwiEzMuoofnIAhVBN5QKHTUXA9w&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhighered.mheducation.com%2Fsites%2Fdl%2Ffree%2F0070917191%2F91885%2FSample_Chapter3.pdf&usg=AFQjCNEw2Kjnnhsi-yL4BOG-_55NqfR6wQ
http://www.google.lk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CBsQFjAAahUKEwiEzMuoofnIAhVBN5QKHTUXA9w&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhighered.mheducation.com%2Fsites%2Fdl%2Ffree%2F0070917191%2F91885%2FSample_Chapter3.pdf&usg=AFQjCNEw2Kjnnhsi-yL4BOG-_55NqfR6wQ
http://www.academia.edu/172847/Issues_and_Strategies_in_Stakeholder_Management
Format and presentation of the assignments is also an important element to be considered. It is not worthwhile to have an excellent mechanism of conducting own research, analysis and building critical arguments, if the details are not presented in a structured and a legible manner. Hence, format and presentation of the research proposal is crucial.
Following are a few steps that will enhance the quality of the final report prepared for an assignment.
• Creating a clear and a concise cover page
• Keeping uniformity in left and right margins throughout the document.
• Maintaining the uniformity in font type, font size and line spacing throughout the report. (Font Type: Verdana, Font size: 11, Line Spacing: 1.5)
• Using a professional tone throughout the report and avoiding ambiguity when presenting data/judgements.
• Arranging data in a logical manner where appropriate.
• Making the report free from errors and grammatical mistakes.
• Providing references appropriately and sufficiently.
Format and Presentation
Common mistakes of candidates
• Failure to provide the proper context to frame the assignment question.
• Failure to cite main and most important points.
• Failure to use relevant theory and theoretical frameworks to structure and support the arguments.
• Failure to stay focused on the assignment question.
• Failure to develop a coherent and convincing argument to address the assignment question.
• Discuss mostly on minor issues and less focus on the major issue.
• Too much incoherence — going “all over the map” without a clear sense of direction.
• Too many citation lapses and incorrect references.
• Too lengthy or too brief- You MUST always stay within the word limit.
Citing references in the text
In-text citations should give the surname of the author or editor, the date of publication and, where necessary a precise. Page reference which is separated from the rest of the information by a comma. Some examples are listed below:
Single author
Kaufman (1987) advances the notion that elderly people maintain a sense of continuity with their past lives. Health is dynamic and this makes it difficult to define it unambiguously as a concept (Seedhouse, 1986). Early recordings show how distinctive the orchestras of different countries sounded at the start of the
Harvard Referencing System
twentieth century (Roberts, 1989, p.22-48). When an author has published more than one cited source in the same year these are distinguished by adding a lower case letter after the year: Burnard (1992a) wrote about communication for health care professionals that.
Burnard (1992b) predicted problems of childhood obesity
Two authors In the study by Basford and Slevin (1995).
6.4.1.3 More than two authors Benner et al (1996) concluded that. Note: However all the authors’ names should appear in the reference list.
6.4.1.4 Direct quotation When quoting directly from a source use quotation marks and acknowledge the writer’s name, year of publication and page number. Short quotations (up to 2 lines) can be included in the body of the text: Weir (1995, p.10) states that “defining roles and their remits is not simple”. Longer quotations should be indented in a separate paragraph: In discussing staff development Thomas and Ingham (1995, p.33) state that: “Development is infectious, and staff who previously have recoiled from undertaking a degree or conversion course have been encouraged by the success of others”.
6.4.1.5 Secondary referencing Secondary referencing is when one author is referring to the work of another and the primary source is not available. You should cite the primary source and the source you have read thus: Torres (1990) suggests that the individual is the core’ of nursing practice (cited by Jasper, 1994) Merleau-Ponty (1962, cited by Munhall, 1989) suggests that key concepts relating to this are embedded in individual experience. In your reference list details of the publications by Jasper (1994) and Munhall (1989).
6.4.2 Citing References in the Reference List or Bibliography Printed Sources
Arrangement
• A book by a single author • A book by two authors • A book by more than two authors • A book by a corporate author (e.g. a government department or other organisation) • An edited book:
• A chapter in a book • An article in a journal by one author • An article in a journal by two or more authors • An article in a newspaper • Official and Government publications
Conference Proceedings
• Published conference proceedings with author or editor(s): • Paper from published conference proceedings with author or editor(s)
Thesis or Dissertation
A Secondary Reference
Arrangement References should be listed in alphabetical order of author’s or editor’s surnames. If the author’s surname is not known use the abbreviation ‘Anon.’ for ‘Anonymous’, and list the book under ‘A’. If the publication is produced by a company or organisation it should be listed in the alphabetical sequence under the initial letter of the first major word of the organisation’s name (‘A’, ‘An’ and ‘The’ are not regarded as major words).
Two abbreviations that you may need to use are ‘n.d.’ and ‘n.p.’. ‘n.d.’ means ‘no date’ and is used when the date of publication is not known. Put this in square brackets [n.d.] ‘n.p.’ means ‘no place of publication’ and is used when the place of publication is not known. Again put this in square brackets [n.p.] If more than one item by the same author has been published during a specific year, use lower case letters after the year (1999a, 1999b etc.):
Aggleton, P. And Chlmers, H. (2000) Burnard,
P.(1998a) Burnard, P. (1998b) Drain, C.B
(1994) health Education Authority (1993)
Hinchliff, S.M. ed. (1979) Hinchliff, S.M. (1987)
Whenever possible details should be taken from the title page of a publication and not from the front cover, which may be different. Each reference should include the detail and punctuation given in the examples below. Author’s forenames can be included if given on the title page but the initial is sufficient. The title of the publication should either be in italics or underlined, followed by the place of publication and the publisher’s name. The examples given below are in italics:
• A book by a single author:
Stiglitz, J. (2002) Globalisation and its discontents. London: Allen Lane.
• A book by two authors:
Aggleton, P. and Chalmers, H. (2000) Nursing models and nursing practice. 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
• A book by more than two authors should have all the authors acknowledged:
Bowes, A., Gleason, D. and Smith, P. (1990) Sociology: a modular approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press
• A book by a corporate author (e.g. a government department or other organisation):
United Nations. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2001) World public sector report: globalisation and the state 2001. New York: United Nations.
• An edited book:
Basford, L. and Slevin, O. (eds.) (1995) Theory and practice of nursing: an integrated approach to patient care. Edinburgh: Campion.
• A chapter in a book:
Taruskin, R. (1988) Thepastness of the present and the present of the past. In Authenticity and Early Music, ed. N. Kenyon, p.137-207. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• An article in a journal by one author:
Allen, A. (1993) Changing theory in nursing practice. Senior Nurse, 13 (1), p.43-5.
• An article in a journal by two or more authors:
As with books (see above), you should list all the authors in the reference or bibliography: Colley, A., Banton, L., Down, J and Pither, A. (1992) An expert-novice comparison in musical composition. Psychology of music, 20, p.124-34.
• An article in a newspaper:
Leadbetter, C. (2002) Whyglobalisation is a good thing: analysis. The Times, June 26, p.6.
• Official and Government publications:
Official and government documents include such items as laws and statutes, reports of government committees and the debates that take place in the legislature of a country. There is no standard pattern for the citation of official documents; the information you are able to give will depend on what is supplied by the official body that issued the document. If there is a possibility of confusion, you should give the name of the country concerned as the first part of the citation. This is followed by the name of the body or agency that issued the document, the title of the document in italics, the publication date, the place of publication and the publisher’s name:
Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. International Development Committee (2001) TheGlobalisation White Paper. Report, together with minutes of evidence, appendices and proceedings of the committee. London: The Stationery Office (HC 2000-2001 (208)).
Conference Proceedings
• Published conference proceedings with author or editor(s):
Banks, S. et al (1998) Networked Lifelong Learning: innovative approaches to education and training through the Internet: Proceedings of the 1998 International Conference held at the University of Sheffield. Sheffield: University of Sheffield.
• Paper from published conference proceedings with author or editor(s)
Proctor, P. (1998) The tutorial: combining asynchronous and synchronous learning. In Banks, S. et al . Networked Lifelong Learning: innovative approaches to education and training through the Internet: Proceedings of the 1998 International Conference held at the University of Sheffield . Sheffield, University of Sheffield.
Thesis or Dissertation
Most dissertations and theses are unpublished, so they need a special citation method: Jones, J.B. (1974) The piano and chamber works of Gabriel Fauré.
PhD dissertation. Cambridge University. If a dissertation or thesis is published, it should be cited as a book.
A Secondary Reference You may find that you need to cite a specific chapter or essay in a book, particularly where the chapters are written by different authors: Bushy, A. (1996) Cultural and ethnic diversity: cultural competence. In Hickey, J.V. Advanced practice nursing: changing roles and clinical applications. Philadelphia: Lippincott, p.91-106
Internet Sources • Individual works • No specified Author • Citing electronic journals • Email Discussion Lists • Personal e-mail
• Individual works
Author/editor surname, Initial (year) Title [online]. Edition. Place of publication, Publisher. Available from: [Accessed date].
Marieb, E. (2000) Essentials of human anatomy and physiology: AWL Companion Web Site. [online]. 6th edition. San Francisco: Benjamin Cummings. Available from:
<http://occ.awlonline.com/bookbind/pubbooks/marieb-essentials/> [Accessed 4 July 2001].
The date of publication is the date the pages were last updated. If no publication date is given write (No date) or (n.d.).
• No specified Author
Organisation. (Year) Title [online]. Edition statement if given. Place of publication: Publisher. Available from: . [Accessed date].
University of Reading (2000) Education: a brief guide to internet resources [online]. Reading: Reading University. Available from: <http://www.reading.ac.uk/libweb/Lib/Subj/Ir/ireduc.html> [Accessed 6 October 2000]
• Citing electronic journals
Author surname, Initial. (Year) Title of article. Journal title [online], Volume (part). Available from: . [Accessed date].
Snyder, M. (2001) Overview and summary of complementary therapies: Are these really nursing? Online Journal of Issues in Nursing [online], 6 (2), 31 May 2001. Available from: <http://www.nursingworld/ojin/topic15/tpc15ntr.htm> [Accessed 4 July 2001].
• Email Discussion Lists
References to these messages should be treated in the same way as journal references; using the list name in place of the journal title and the subject line of the message in place of the article title. For ‘Available from’ use the email address of the list administrator. These details, together with the author, will appear in the message header. Author, (Day Month Year). Subject of Message. Discussion list [online]. Available from: email list address [Accessed 5th July 2001]
Nott, A.J. (26 Jan 2000) Integrated care pathways. Psychiatric-nursing [online]. Available from: <http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/psychiatric-nursing.html> [Accessed 5 July 2001]
http://occ.awlonline.com/bookbind/pubbooks/marieb-essentials/
http://www.reading.ac.uk/libweb/Lib/Subj/Ir/ireduc.html
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/psychiatric-nursing.html
• Personal email
If you wish to refer to a personal email message then the following format is recommended. Always get the sender’s permission to quote a message especially if you quote their email address. Sender (Sender’s email address) (Day Month Year). Subject of Message. Email to recipient (Recipient’s email address). McConnell, D. (D.McConnell@sheffield.ac.uk) (28th November 1997) Follow up to your interview. Personal email to L. Parker (l.a.parker@sheffield.ac.uk)
Other Sources Audio-visual
Author, Initials. (Year) Title [format]. Edition statement if given. Place of publication: Publisher. If no author, use the title as the first part of the citation.
Now wash your hands. (1996) [Videocassette]. Southampton: University of Southampton, Teaching Support and Media Services Gandhi. (1982) [DVD]. Dir.
Richard Attenborough. Columbia.
Thatcher, Margaret. (1986) Interview. In Six O’Clock News. TV, BBC 1. 1986 Jan 29. 18.00 hrs.
CD sleeve/liner notes
Al Hilgart, liner note to Ella Fitzgerald sings the Rodgers and Hart Song Book. 1997. Compact disc. Verve. 537 258-2.
Source ; http://lrs.tvu.ac.uk/find/recording_your_references.html
mailto:l.a.parker@sheffield.ac.uk
http://lrs.tvu.ac.uk/find/recording_your_references.html
Frequently Asked Questions
General FAQs
Is there a core text that needs to be followed for this module?
Johnson, G., Whittington, R. and Scholes, K. (2011) Exploring Strategy: Text & Cases. 9th ed.London: FT Prentice Hall.
Where can I access the e-library? You can access to the e-library via the Learning Platform.
From where can I get a general idea of the module and overall requirements? If you are an online candidate you are recommended to contact your tutor.
Subject related FAQs
What is strategic management?
Strategic management is the process of developing a vision, mission, objectives, strategies, and an action plan in order to ensure that an organisation meets its shareholders objectives.
Strategic management takes the long term planning horizons of the company into consideration when making strategic decisions. It also pays attention to how best the resources of the
organisation can be allocated. Strategic management determines the nature of an organisation (according to the type of business they are in) and what it should be in the future, based
on the expectations of the stakeholders.
What is meant by strategic intent?
Strategic intent is the means by which an organisation achieves its vision. Expression of strategic intent helps individuals and organisations share the common intention to survive and
continue or extend themselves through time and space.
What is meant by environmental analysis?
Marketing environment generally refers to both internal and external environments in which organisations operate. The marketing environment has been subdivided into three
different sections.
Macro environment – Wider politico-economic variables • Meso environment – Organisation’s industry and market place
• Micro environment – Organisation’s internal environment
Relevant information and analysis are needed for an organisation to build and renew its knowledge base for developing successful strategies in the face of external opportunities and
threats and internal strengths and weaknesses.
If I am to undertake an external environmental analysis what are the tools and frameworks I can use?
You can use a PESTEL framework to undertake a macro environmental analysis and Porter’s Five Forces framework to undertake a micro environmental analysis. These are the two
essential frameworks to use when conducting an external market environmental analysis.
What is strategic capability? A strategic capability is the adequacy and suitability of the resources and competences of an organisation for it to survive and grow. These are underpinned by the resources and
competencies of the organisation.
What are Critical Success Factors (CSF)?
Critical Success Factors are those factors that are either particularly valued by customers or which provide a significant advantage in terms of cost (Johnson, Whittington, & Scholes,
2012). These factors are internal to the organisation and are imperative to operational success. For example, having the right set of resources is of critical importance to enabling
capabilities and so on.
What is organisational culture? Organisational culture is the set of beliefs, customs, practices and ways of thinking that an organisation’s employees have come to share with each other through working together. The
culture of an organisation often evolves over a period of time and is influenced by a range of factors such as the nature of business, management style, organisational structure and
leadership.
What are core competences? Core competencies are the skills and technologies that are unique to the organisation. These provide benefits to the customer of the organisation and equip the organisation with a
competitive advantage. The core competencies of the organisation are achieved through collective learning and can consist of superior production skills and advanced technologies,
which enable the organisation to provide customers a better value than competitors.
What is meant by competitive advantage?
Competitive advantage is the advantage that the company has over its competitors which adds value to the organisation’s product portfolio over that of its competitors. Sustainable
competitive advantage is the advantage of the company over its competitors which cannot be copied or imitated.
When citing references what is the preferred style of referencing? Sources should be properly cited and displayed in a reference list according to the Harvard System of Referencing style.
https://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm
Assessment related FAQs
What is the form of assessment for this module?
The form of assessment is a time-constrained case study for which you have only four weeks to answer. The assessment is an individual coursework.
Am I expected to go through other sources apart from recommended reading material?
It is important that you draw on articles published in the world’s leading management journals which will contribute to the development of your academic and professional skills. There
are some relevant titles that are available in the Digital Library. In addition, it is strongly recommended that you keep updated with the latest news from the business world on a daily
basis.
What is the key aim of this module?
This module is designed to provide candidates with a holistic view of an organisation’s strategic position. The module content is mainly concerned with the strategic analysis of
organisations regarding their competitive positioning and strategic fit. This analysis will provide a springboard for reviewing strategic options in response to the competitive
environment and for considering issues involved in strategy implementation.
https://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm
Where can I find the recommended reading list for this module?
The key reading materials for this module are listed in the module guide.
Is a draft submission allowed for this module?
Yes, a two page draft is allowed.
What is the word count allowed for the coursework?
The word count is limited to 3,000 words. Therefore, candidates are advised to apportion this word limit to each task based on the marks allocated for them
Final submission related FAQs
Am I expected to submit the final assignment via Turnitin UK?
Yes, you are expected to submit the final assignment to Turnitin before final submission. The originality report accessed through Turnitin should be submitted along with your final
submission.
When submitting the final submission via Turnitin, can I include my name in the submission?
It is very important that you enter your SID as the submission title. All work submitted MUST be entitled by your Candidate ID number.
What is the submission procedure when submitting the final submission of the assignment?
You are required to submit a soft copy of the final assignment according to the submission guidelines informed by the LS Academic Office. Usually, the soft copy of the final assignment
should be submitted via the Canvas. You are advised to refrain from sending the final submission to the academic staff.
What are the consequences I will have to face if I am unable to submit the assignment on time?
The assignment must be submitted by 5 pm on the date of the deadline for final submission. Late work will not be accepted and zero marks will be awarded for the assignment task.ss
Published by
London School of Marketing 10 Greycoat Place
London SW1P 1 SB
United Kingdom
PRACTICE WITH WORKSHOP MANUAL
Strategic Management Analysis – ASOS PLC
Introduction
Cover page
Table of Contents
Contents Page
List of tables and figures
1.0 Introduction (Background of the study)
2.0 – 5.0 Main body of the report (Broken down into four main sections)
6.0 Conclusion
7.0 List of references/Bibliography
OR
Note – Students are expected to write a new mission and vision statement for ASOS Plc and explain how they support the development of competitive advantage.
This sample answer is if you have selected to answer question one under section one.
Vision Statement
Mission Statement
How will these statements support the development of sustainable competitive advantage?
This sample answer is if you have selected to answer question two under section one.
Section Two – Scenarios and Industry Analysis 25%
OR
Threat of new entrants
Threat of rivalry
Bargaining power of buyers
Bargaining power of suppliers
Threat of substitutes
Rivalry amongst existing competitors
Bargaining power of buyers
Bargaining power of the suppliers
Threat of substitute products
This sample answer is if you selected to answer question one under section two.
Positive
Scenario 1
Negative
Scenario 2
Emerging Markets as a Percentage of MSCI All Country World Index
This sample answer is if you selected to answer question one under section two.
References
Section Three – Resources and Capabilities 25%
4.1 Resources and Strategic capabilities
Resources vs capabilities
4.2 Evaluating Strategic Capabilities using VRIO/ VRIN Criteria
VRIO/VRIN criteria
Valuable
Rare
Inimitability
Organised to capture value
Value Chain Analysis
This sample answer is if you selected to answer question two under section three.
Section Four – Business and Corporate Strategies 25%
5.1 The TOWS Matrix
Format and presentation of the assignments is also an important element to be considered. It is not worthwhile to have an excellent mechanism of conducting own research, analysis and building critical arguments, if the details are not presented in a s…
Citing references in the text
Single author
Two authors
6.4.1.3 More than two authors
6.4.1.4 Direct quotation
6.4.1.5 Secondary referencing
6.4.2 Citing References in the Reference List or Bibliography Printed Sources
Arrangement
A book by a single author:
A book by two authors:
A book by more than two authors should have all the authors acknowledged:
A book by a corporate author (e.g. a government department or other organisation):
An edited book:
A chapter in a book:
An article in a journal by one author:
An article in a journal by two or more authors:
An article in a newspaper:
Official and Government publications:
Conference Proceedings
Paper from published conference proceedings with author or editor(s)
Thesis or Dissertation
A Secondary Reference
Internet Sources
Individual works
No specified Author
Citing electronic journals
Email Discussion Lists
Personal email
Other Sources Audio-visual
CD sleeve/liner notes
Frequently Asked Questions
General FAQs
Assessment related FAQs
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