You are a member of the board of Sneakers Inc. and you have been asked to create a report to help assess and evaluate the current position of the company and make recommendations as to its future.

Strategic Management Report (100%)

3000 word report.

Sneakers Inc.

You are a member of the board of Sneakers Inc. and you have been asked to create a report to help assess and evaluate the current position of the company and make recommendations as to its future.

Report brief:

Based upon your practical experience with Sneakers Inc. and your learnings over the semester, you are to create a report of a maximum of 3000 words according to the following brief:

Acting as a business consultant, evaluate the business environment for your sneakers company in order to analyse gaps between desired and actual performance. Using the Ansoff Matrix, make recommendations for the business’s future strategy identifying how the business will achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

Assessment aims and marking criteria Assessment aims:

There are two key aims with this assignment:

1. To assess your ability to apply (not describe or explain) the core models/ concepts/ theories in a professional and logical manner based upon the practical learnings from the simulation;

2. To evaluate your analytical abilities in interpreting the models to determine the strategic position of Sneakers Inc. and advise on future strategy.

Evaluation of the generic strategies used:

• Understanding and critical analysis of competitive strategy applying the main concepts of cost Vs differentiation.

Analysis of the internal and external business environment

• Shows understanding in the relevant application of the models utilised.
• Ability to draw conclusions from models utilised in the analysis of the competitive market and environment.

• Shows critical awareness of the limitations of the models applied.
• Demonstrates understanding and awareness of the interrelationships of analytical models applied.

• Demonstrate ability to distinguish strategic, from non-strategic issues.

Critical evaluation of success and failures using strategic management theories

• Ability to identify and discuss the main issues and successes.
• Application of key models and tools and how these can be used to help overcome implementation issues.

Recommendations for future strategy

• Using analysis of current strategy and strategic analysis make sensible recommendations for changes to the strategy with appreciate of development opportunities and market risk.
• Application of key models and tools and how these can be used to help overcome implementation issues.
• Make recommendations as to how to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in the lights of the previous analysis.

Summary

Good indicators of a quality response will include:

• The assignment tries to use the taught models as rigorously as possible throughout;
• Evidence (data/statistics/opinion) is used to substantiate points throughout.
• The response is well written and logically structured and covers all required sections;
• The sections of the assignment are cross referenced, e.g. insights from analysis sections

inform discussions of future issues, current and future strategies.

Marking criteria

Executive Summary Be decisive in your recommendation(s), justify why (e.g., revenues/profit), how and when they will be implemented.	10 marks
Briefly outline your strategic positioning. Then, critically evaluate the business environment for Sneakers Inc. Use the Mintel Reports to assess the Micro-Environment and suitable tool/s to assess the Macro-Environment Note: This section should refer to the actual footwear market.	15 marks
Critically evaluate the successes and failures of your company during your involvement using strategic management theories and the conclusions from your analysis of the business environment Note: At the beginning of this section, please present a table with each year’s key financial data (Revenue, Gross Profit, Overheads, Profit) and how your targets (including your Key Performance Indicators (KPI)) related to your team performance within the Sneakers Inc. simulation.	20 marks
Recommendations Using the Ansoff Matrix, make clear recommendations as to implementing your business’s future strategy in the light of development opportunities and market risks. Use evidence (including market data) to justify, and, draw conclusions as to, how these recommendations will achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Note: This section should include reference to both the simulation and the actual footwear market.	25 marks
References, Style and Presentation Breadth of research sources utilised. Referencing and bibliographic details are thorough and accurate. Report is well structured with a table of contents. Layout is clear and easy to read, with clear headings and page numbers. Appropriate use is made of visual presentation, information and appendices. Appropriate use of language that meets the requirement so a formal business report.	10 marks
Appendix	20 marks
Please choose your one best initial post and one best reply and attach them in the appendix at the end of your report. Note: Your report may have more than one appendix if you would like to list figures, tables, images etc.
TOTAL MARKS	100 Marks

Word Count:

With only 3000 words your report should be concise and to the point. Much of your evaluation may not appear in the final report, though it will be evident from what you write that you have engaged in detailed evaluation and analysis.

How to structure a business report

What is a report?

A report is a formal and structured writing. It is often used to communicate the results or findings of a project and to recommend a specific action or sometimes a combination of future actions.

Reports are usually written in a concise style giving precise detail, with information presented under clear headings. They are structured in a way that allows people to find relevant information quickly, without necessarily having to read the whole report. A good report should be readable, interesting and well presented, and no longer than is strictly necessary (i.e. concise).

Report structure

A report is not an essay. It is usually structured with headings and numberings to help the reader through. Report structures can vary – but often follow the structure below:

Title page - title of the report, your name, company and the date in the centre of the first page.

Executive Summary – give a brief summary of the content of your report including its conclusions. Usually you would restrict the summary to one paragraph, and you would not be expected to go into great detail or give specific examples. This is best written last, after you have completed the rest of the report.

Table of contents - list the main sections of the report. You must make sure your contents page correctly represents the structure of your report

Introduction - explain what the report is about, why you are writing it and why the topic is important or significant. Outline your proposals or hypotheses briefly: say what you are going to show or prove in the main body of the report.

Main body of report - present your main findings then analyse and explain them.

Conclusions - summarise your key points. Your conclusions should follow naturally from the arguments in the main body of your report and they should not come as a surprise to your readers. You should not include any new material in your conclusions.

Recommendations - make your recommendations based on your research.
Appendices - You can use appendices to provide backup information, usually data or statistics,

but it is important that the information contained is directly relevant to the content of the report.

References - list all the sources you have used in your research using the Harvard referencing system.