Reference no: EM133892946
Leading Strategic Decision Making
Assessment Brief: Part A
Assessment overview
In this assessment, you will identify a key player in the agricultural and food sector of any country/region. After selecting a company of your choice, you are required to produce a report including:
An analysis of the companies strategic position
Strategic recommendations, with a focus on how to implement a sustainable strategy to decarbonise its activities.
Background
The agricultural and food sector contributes to 25% of carbon emissions in the world. Governments, NGOs and private organisations are investing significant sums of money to develop alternate ways to produce sustainable crops. But there is still a long way to go.
Scenario
Following the successful completion of your Masters degree course, you have secured a strategy consultant job in a top-tier consultancy firm. You are attending the first meeting with your team. Your line manager asks you to introduce yourself to colleagues and share your passion for strategy and sustainability. You explain with brio how future business winners need to implement today sustainable strategies for tomorrow. Get academic success with expert online assignment help for students.
Task
Enthused by what you enthusiastically conveyed about sustainable strategy, your line manager is keen to test your strategic planning skills. Your manager asks you to select an organisation of your choice in the agricultural and food sector.
Your task is:
To produce a strategic position analysis for the company of your choice.
To make recommendations to adapt the company's strategy for a sustainable future.
You are expected to research relevant information about the sector and the company of your choice, and to use frameworks and models stemming from the lecture, textbook and academic sources covered in the module. You should use diagrams and tables to illustrate your core ideas.
Note - If tables and diagrams are used we advise that these are created within the document using word. This will help to ensure that they are good quality with clear and readable text. If it is necessary to paste an image of a diagram/table into the assessment please ensure that the source of that image is clearly stated. If you are the author, please state ‘authors own'.
Structure
Given that the report is going to be shared with the senior management team, the line manager suggests the following structure for your report:
Title
Executive summary
Table of contents
Introduction
Strategic Position Analysis
External Analysis: Macroenvironment and Industry Analysis
Internal Analysis: Analysis of resources and capabilities
SWOT resulting from the analysis
External (Opportunities and Threats)
Internal (Strengths and Weaknesses)
Recommendations for sustainable strategy
Conclusion
Reference list
Appendix
Wordcount
The total word count of your essay is 2,000 words. To help you to structure your report you may wish to follow these guidelines:
Introduction and background section: 200 words
Strategic position analysis: 1100 words
Recommendation: 500 words
Conclusion: 200 words
Assessment Brief: Component B
Assessment overview
In this assessment, you are required to write an essay that answers the following question:
It has been argued that transformational leadership ‘stimulates innovation and knowledge and generates advantages for organizational performance' (Garcia et al, 2008).
Given the increasing concerns over sustainability and ethics, to what extent can transformational leadership be considered an ideal leadership approach for bringing about strategic innovation in organisations today?
Structure
Your essay should be structured as follows:
Introduction
Main body, including:
Overview of transformational leadership
Critique of transformational leadership
Discussion of alternative leadership theories
Conclusion
Content guidance notes
The introduction should set the scene for the essay by explaining why the subject of leadership and sustainability are important areas a study in the current context. The introduction should also provide key definitions, and an outline of the essay structure.
Overview of transformational leadership: This section should provide a detailed description of transformational leadership. Your description must be based on and supported by academic literature.
Critique of transformational leadership: This section should provide a critique of transformational leadership, focusing specifically on its limitations in relation to sustainability and ethics.
Discussion of alternative leadership theories: In this section you should consider alternative leadership theories. A range of theories were presented in the lectures, and it is up to you which theory you choose to focus on. When selecting a theory keep in mind the essay's focus on sustainability. We advise that you focus on one or two theories. It is important that you cover the theory/theories in sufficient depth, demonstrating understanding developed through engagement with a range of academic literature. You should provide examples to illustrate your answer. Higher quality essays will consider any limitations or challenges associated with you chosen theory.
Conclusion: The conclusion should provide a summary of you essay and provide a clear answer, based on the content of your essay, to the essay question.
Wordcount
The total word count of your report is 2,000 words. To help you to structure your report you may wish to follow these guidelines:
Introduction: 200 words
Overview of transformational leadership: 3-400 words (diagram/table can be used)
Critique of transformational leadership: 4-500 words
Discussion of alternative leadership theories: 600-900 words
Conclusion: 2-300 words
Note: The company must be from agriculture & food industry or any of them along with sustainability dimensions.