Reflective report on the Business Case Simulation

Contents page

The report should be clearly structured and follow a logical format. A contents page should be included which should adequately set out the structure of the report in a systematic way.

Introduction (100 words)

State clearly what the report is about and the sequence of key tasks/events to follow.

1. Company and its Competitive environment (450 words)

Please provide a brief background to the Company: the mission and vision of the company; the markets/regions it operates in; the company’s competitive positioning (per product type) for respective geographic regions. It is important to discuss a context of your business as well. Provide a brief overview of the industry, the number of rivals and discuss the level of competitiveness in the industry.

This section also requires the description of the (Generic) Competitive Strategy your company has pursued in its attempt to gain real competitive advantage. Please use academic literature to support your discussion.

2. Decision making and Results (800 words)

This section requires you to discuss a rationale behind making key decisions. Instead of describing what decisions you made, you should provide an explanation for the main principles guiding your decision making. Please use academic literature to support your discussion.
To stimulate your reflection consider the following questions: What key decisions did your company make? Why did you make these decisions? What results were you hoping for? Where did the company place in the industry? Did you meet investors’ expectations? How did you perform in relation to competitors?

Your reflections and self-appraisal of either business success or failure is the key aspect of this section. The actual success or failure in the game is not the key issue: the most important aspect of this section of your ability to reflect and learn from the results achieved.
Please note: you need to provide evidence of the decisions taken and results achieved every year by including the screenshots from the game in Appendix.

3. Key Learning Points about Strategy (500 words)

In this section you should provide some discussion and analysis on the need for strategic thinking, strategic visioning and strategic management of the company. Please use academic literature to support your discussion. Provide some discussion/analysis which might include the following:

• ·  Importance of assessing the industry and competitors.
• ·  Complexities of running a company.
• ·  Importance of having a clear and shared focus for the company.
• ·  Strategic analysis and planning required for maintaining competitive position.
• ·  Complexities of meeting different stakeholder expectations.

Conclusion (150 words) In this section you are expected to reflect on the main issues uncovered and lessons learned through the simulation exercise as they relate to: the actual strategic decision making process; the interaction among team members; and your own personal performance and experience.

Reference List (Alphabetical order and Harvard style. It is not included in the word count)

Appendices (Not included in the word count)

Marking Criteria for the first assignment (Reflective Report)

Marks allocated to criteria:

Analysis

Section 1

25 %

Decision making

Section 2

30 %

Reflection

Section 3

35 %

Mechanical Soundness

Does the report include coherent introduction and conclusion? Is the report clearly written, spell checked and grammatically sound and referenced appropriately?

10 %