Assignment 2 (Portfolio); (50%)

You are required to submit a portfolio on five of the seminar

activities (topics) you have completed on the module. The
following table indicates which activities are available for you to
use in the portfolio.

Topic Assessed in Assessed

Portfolio? Activity
1 What is Strategy? NO NO
2 Industry Analysis – covered Yes 2a or 2b
in Ass 1
3 Internal Analysis NO NO
4 Generic Strategies Yes 4a –must do
5 Objectives Yes 5a or 5b or 5c
6 Means and Methods Yes 6a or 6b
7 Global factors Yes 7a- must do
8 Current issues NO NO

You should build up your seminar portfolio over the year,

taking advantage of the class discussions, your own research
and tutorial support that is available to you as shown on the
timetable//SOW. At the start of Term 3, choose your best five
activities, bearing in mind that you must include one from
each of topics 2, 4, 5, 6, 7. It is these five that will determine
your portfolio grade.

This assignment may seem like a lot of work but the idea is to
allow you to gain credit for the preparation work put into the
week by week activities – something which is often not given
credit for in other modules. Please note, that in order to
write-up a topic to a good standard you should also
participate in the class discussion of that topic.
Therefore, non-attendance may result in lower grades
being awarded.

Hand-in date:
11th May 2011. All students should also submit an electronic
copy of the portfolio via the “Submit Assignment” button on the
NILE menu.

Format and Hints

Your portfolio should meet the following specification:

• Include 5 activities as shown above
• Each activity should not exceed the maximum of 600 words - the
total for the whole portfolio, all five activities that you write up,
is therefore 3000 words excluding bibliography and appendices.
• Include the assessment front-sheet
• Include a contents page
• Include one list of references at the end of the portfolio (not
at the end of each activity) and should include full references to
company material as well as any academic sources
• You may include an introduction and conclusion to give
some context to your learning; these will not be included as
part of the 3000 word total
• Be in Verdana 11 point
• Have 1½ line-spacing

YOU MUST DO THIS WORK INDIVIDUALLY NOT IN YOUR

SEMINAR GROUPS

Marks will be awarded for:

30% layout, referencing, expression and presentation;

30% quality of research conducted and sources used in

discussion;

40% quality, relevance and robustness of

argument/discussion; level of critical thinking; level
of creativity and originality and ability to apply
models and concepts to the tasks.

Please include the essay/portfolio front sheet with your

submission

IB03014: Seminar 2a

For this seminar activity you will have to research Rolls Royce aero
engines – a UK plc:

http://ir.rolls-royce.com/rr/investors/finresults/results/
Work your way through the recent annual reports and
corporate information on the website in order to carry out a
five forces analysis of the industry. You should conclude with
your opinion as to how attractive the industry is.

IBO3014: Seminar 2b

For this seminar you are required to carry out a PEST

analysis of the UK supermarket industry (also known as the
grocery industry). You should carry out research as
necessary to complete this task but may find the following
sources useful:

http://www.supermarket.co.uk/compare-supermarkets.html

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/retail/tescos-
uk-grocery-market-share-rises---weeks---kantar/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7572199.stm

http://www.igd.com/index.asp?id=1&fid=1&sid=7&tid=26&cid=94

• Seminar 4a

What are the main generic strategies being used in the

airline industry? Why is survival in this industry so difficult?

See case below:

o Attached Files: Airlines.pdf Generic strategies.ppt

• Seminar 5a

Assess the effectiveness of Tesco's corporate objectives.

Seminar 5 b
Using the Mendelow approach, identify Tesco's main

stakeholder groups and suggest suitable strategies for the

management of the key stakeholder groups.

Your tutors will split you into groups and ask you to identify

and discuss ways in which stakeholders of a UK business

school can be managed using the Mendelow Power-Interest

Grid.

Seminar 5c

The Balanced Scorecard is a framework for measuring

corporate objectives and avoiding corporate strategic drift.

Using the framework proposed by Kaplan and Norton,

design a balanced scorecard that could be used to measure

the performance of an international UK business school that

is focused upon: academic quality, quality of tuition and

growth of international student base. . Your Scorecard

should use the original 4 dimensions and outline 2 metrics

per dimension. Try to ensure that each metric is:

specific; measurable; accurate; realistic;and time bound.

Kaplan and Norton have published three books and at least

six articles in the HBR on the Balanced Scorecard, the

following article offers the best summary;

http://portal.sfusd.edu/data/strategicplan/Harvard Business

Review article BSC.pdf

Attached Files: Lec56 Portfolio Planning.ppt Mendelow Matrix.docx

• Seminar 6a

For this task you will need to look back at Rolls Royce aero

engines. From the corporate website, identify and discuss

the importance of their strategic alliances.

http://www.rolls-royce.com/civil/
http://ir.rolls-royce.com/rr/investors/finresults/results/

Seminar 6b

Identify and discuss the various income streams used by

Manchester United and indicate how these are evolving. See

case below:

Attached Files Man Utd.pdf FBSLec4MMETHODS10.ppt

• Seminar 7a

For this seminar you will have to look back at the websites

listed in week 2 on supermarkets as well as looking at the

Tesco site - they are the market leader.

What are the main trends in world supermarket retailing?

Attached Files LEC2IB1002GBS.ppt