RECENT ASSIGNMENT

Assignment 1 – Developing a Business Strategy
Assume that top management would like you to develop a medium to long-term strategy for your organisation (or alternatively for one of the following organisations):
• Australia Post
• Curtin University
• Fairfax Digital
• Iinet
• Jetstar
• Wikileaks
• Woolworths
Using any or all of the models and concepts and relevant course references discussed in the first six sessions of the course, advise top management how they should position the business for improved performance over the next five years. Identify the current strategy of the organisation and provide an actionable recommendation for improvement on the current strategy. Be sure to refute (or show how you might mitigate) any negative aspects or risks entailed in your recommended strategy.
You will need to be sure you support your recommendation with logical arguments and evidence. You will also need to be sure that your recommendation helps achieve the fundamental objective of the organisation, provides for competitive advantage over at least the five year period, and is feasible to implement in this timeframe.
NB: If you identify the current strategy of the organisation as the preferred medium-long-term strategy, you will need to a) identify the current strategy, b) provide support for this assertion using course concepts and c) identify an alternative strategy and explain why this alternative strategy would then be less-preferred.
The assignment should be submitted as a report of no more than 14 pages (not including references and appendices). The report should be double spaced, in times new roman font size 12. Use A4 page size. Margins for each page should be set as follows:
Top: 2.0 cm Left: 2.0 cm
Bottom: 2.0 cm Right: 2.0 cm
The assignment can use tables and figures to support arguments and can include appendices however your mark will be based on information in the body of the assignment only. Your appendices should therefore provide only supporting information to that in the body of the assignment.

The following marking scheme will be used to evaluate the report:
Marking Scheme
• Clear identification of the current organisation’s strategy supported by evidence (10)
• Well-argued recommendation regarding the organisation’s strategy. (25)
• Clear link to the fundamental objective of the organisation. (10)
• Clear consideration of both the positive and negative aspects (benefits and risks) of the recommendation (20)
• Correct and comprehensive use of models and concepts from the course (25)
• Readability of the assignment for a managerial audience (10)