UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA

Norwich Business School

2009/2010
Strategic Dimensions Management
NBSAMB12

1. CONTENT AND ADMINISTRATION

(a) Module aims

The module will provide managers with a working understanding of the key concepts and
frameworks which form the language of strategy. Building upon this, it will provide, via case
studies, group discussions and coursework, insights into how strategies are developed to
meet the diverse challenges and opportunities that organisations face. There is no such
thing as a “right” or “wrong” strategy; however, the module will provide valuable insights in to
what makes some strategies succeed and others fail.

(b) Module objectives

i) Subject specific skills

By the end of the module the student will have a good understanding of:

- The purpose of strategy

- The most widely referenced strategic concepts and frameworks
- The strategic hierarchy including:
o Corporate level strategy
o Business level strategy
o Supply chain
o Channel strategy
o Functional strategy
o Operating model
- Key strategic questions
- Inductive (answer first) versus deductive (answer last) approaches to strategy
development

The student will also gain practical insight in to:

- The characteristics of successful and unsuccessful strategies

- The different triggers for strategy development
- The needs and expectations of senior stakeholders
- The impact of culture on strategy
- The key success factors and pitfalls of strategy implementation

ii) Cognitive and key skills

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By the end of the module the student should be able to demonstrate development of the
following abilities and skills:

(The following skills are mapped to the functional areas of management standards)

A. Managing Self
A2 Manage your own resources and professional development
B. Providing Direction
B2 Map the environment in which your organisation operates
B3 Develop a strategic business plan for your organisation
D. Working with People
D2 Develop productive working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders
F Achieving Results
F1 Managing a project

(c) Module linkages

There are no pre-requisites for this module. However strategy, by its nature, connects to all
areas of business management including, but not limited to:

- Customer Focus and Innovation

- International Business Environment
- Finance and Accounting
- Strategic Risk Management
- Management Consultancy Skills
- Leadership and Change

(d) Faculty

Dr. Roy McClarty, Executive MBA Course Director, will teach International Dimensions

The remainder of the module will be taught by Phil Churchman. Phil was previously
Strategy Director for Norwich Union (Aviva) and prior to that a management
consultant with Bain, Accenture and Coopers & Lybrand. He holds an MA in
Engineering, Economics and Management from Oxford University and runs an
independent consultancy.

Tel: 07590 803 578

Email: phil@philchurchman.com

(e) Reading

The course textbook is “Exploring Corporate Strategy”, 8th edition, by Gerry Johnson, Kevan
Scholes and Richard Whittington. The book comes in two versions - students should get the
“Text and Cases” version as the case studies will be referenced in the module lectures. For
this purpose, please bring a copy of the book with you to the lectures.

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(f) Lecture outline

Block 1 – 29-30 January 2010 (Phil Churchman)

- Introduction to strategy
- The strategic environment
- The strategic hierarchy
- Triggers for strategy development
- Corporate level strategy
- Business level strategy
- Supply chain and channel strategy
- Functional strategy and operating model

The afternoon of 30 January is set aside for group work for the group coursework
assignment.

Block 2 – 19-20 February 2010 (Phil Churchman)

- Group assignment presentations

- Needs and expectations of senior stakeholders
- Characteristics of successful and unsuccessful strategies
- Approaches to strategy development
- Individual assignment introduction
- Impact of culture
- Strategy implementation
- Wrap up and class test brief

There will be opportunities for class discussion and debate throughout the above two blocks.

Block 3 – 6 March (Roy McLarty)

- International Dimensions

2. ASSESSMENT

(a) Assessment mode and weights

Coursework: Group assignment (20%) and individual assignment (20%)

Course test: (60%)

(b) Coursework

Group Assignment

The group assignment will be introduced during Lecture Block 1. The class will be asked to
form in to groups of between 5 and 7 people, and select an organisation for which they will
conduct a strategic diagnostic. The diagnostic should:

• Analyse the strategic position (environment, capability, purpose, culture)

• Identify the principal challenges and opportunities facing the organisation
• Frame the most significant questions within the strategic hierarchy

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The groups will be asked to each prepare a 10-15 minute presentation for submission by
3pm on 17 February. The teams will present their presentations to the class on the morning
of 19 February. Phil Churchman and Roy McClarty will assess the presentations and
provide feedback to groups individually on 20 February.

The group assignment will be assessed according to the following criteria:

• Rigour of analysis of strategic position

• Clarity with which the strategic challenges, opportunities and questions are articulated
• Intelligent use of appropriate frameworks – no need to use them all!
• Degree of insight and presentation of new and interesting perspectives
• Avoiding observations which do not pass the “so what” test and irrelevant detail
• Clarity with which the diagnosis provides focus to the strategy definition to follow
• Contribution of all team members and effectiveness of team working

The group assessment will form 20% of the total mark. All members of a group will receive
the same score.

Individual Assignment

Building on the group assignment, the individual assignment will be to develop a strategy for
the selected organisation. This should include:

• “As-is” description and “to-be” recommendation for one level of the strategic hierarchy
• Strategic rationale for recommendation, including alternative strategies and why these
were discounted
• Financial and non-financial benefits
• Key implementation success factors, including consideration of stakeholder
requirements

There will be an opportunity to discuss the individual assignment with other class members
on the morning of 20 February. Following this, no discussion between class members will
be permitted.

The individual assignment must be submitted by 3pm 8 March. The assignment will be
assessed according to the following criteria:

• Clarity with which the strategy is articulated

• Robustness of strategic rationale
• Robustness of financial and non-financial cost / benefits analysis
• Appreciation of implementation success factors
• Intelligent use of appropriate frameworks
• Succinctness, avoiding analyses that do not pass the “so what” test and irrelevant
detail
• Originality and fresh perspective

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(c) Class Test

The class test will take place on 19 March 2010. It will be a 2 hour case-study based test.
The case study will be provided to students 2 weeks prior to the test.

Deadlines

Group Assignment Individual Assignment

(20% of total score) (20% of total score)

Date set 29 January 2010 19 February 2010

Date 17 February 2010 8 March 2010

submitted
20 February 2010 19 March 2010
Date returned

(d) Coursework Extensions and Penalties for Unauthorised Late Submission of

Coursework

1. Coursework should be submitted to the relevant School or Faculty office. Students

should receive time and date stamped receipts for submission of coursework.

2. Each School should determine the deadline(s) for submitting coursework. This will be
delegated to appropriate role-holders (e.g. Course Directors, Module Organisers,
tutors setting coursework).

3. The deadline(s) should be announced when each piece of coursework is set and
should be by 1500 hours on the specified date(s). Such announcements may be made
via School or Faculty notice boards, School or course handbooks, by email
communication or any other appropriate means.

4. Schools should ensure that the distribution of coursework does not lead to
unacceptable workloads for students. The time allowed for coursework should be
commensurate with the amount of work expected of students.

5. Students should be reminded when coursework is set that the deadline for a piece of
coursework is the last possible time for the work to be submitted without penalty for
late submission (in the absence of extenuating circumstances) and not the preferred
time for the work to be submitted.

6. The specified date for submitting coursework should be a Monday, Tuesday,

Wednesday or Thursday.

7. The penalties for late submission of numerically marked coursework in the

absence of acceptable extenuating circumstances are:

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 Work submitted Marks deducted
on the due date after 1500 hours but 5 marks
before 1700 hours
on the day following the due date up to 10 marks
1700 hours
on either the 2nd or 3rd day after the due 20 marks
date up to 1700 hours
on the 4th day after the due date or later all the marks work merits if submitted on
time (i.e. no marks awarded)

Note
i) The penalties assume the work will have a maximum of 100 possible marks. The
penalties should be adjusted pro-rata for any other (numerical) marking scheme.

8. The penalties for late submission of pass/fail marked coursework in the absence of
acceptable extenuating circumstances are:

• Work submitted after 1500 hours on the due date will be awarded a fail mark

9. All submitted coursework will be marked normally and a non-penalised mark recorded
on the script/mark sheet along with any penalty for late submission where there are no
accepted extenuating circumstances.

10. A request for an extension to a coursework deadline prior to the deadline should be
submitted by the student on an appropriate form available from School/Faculty Offices
to the module organiser or teacher setting the coursework. If this person is not
available the student should submit the application to a designated member of
academic staff in the School with overall responsibility for granting of coursework
extensions. This latter person is also responsible for consideration of retrospective
claims of extenuating circumstances for coursework submitted late. The Faculty
Manager associated with each School should assist with the extension request where
appropriate and provide a third point of contact for students when the academic
contacts are unavailable.

11. Coursework submitted after the deadline should be accompanied by a brief statement
by the student, recorded on an appropriate form available from School/Faculty offices
setting out the reason why the work is being submitted late. Allowance will be given for
acceptable extenuating circumstances and in such cases penalties for late submission
will not be applied.

12. The Academic Appeals Procedure may be used (1) where a request for coursework
extension before the specified submission date(s) has been denied and/or (2) where
coursework submitted late is penalised because the circumstances claimed by the
student are not considered to be sufficient.

13. Penalties applied to coursework submitted late without acceptable extenuating

circumstances are not open to appeal.

14. The date for return of marked coursework to students should be indicated when
coursework is set. If a marker is unexpectedly unavailable after this (e.g. through
illness) students should be informed that coursework marking will be delayed.

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(e) University Policy on Plagiarism and Collusion

STATEMENT OF POLICY

1. Introduction

The University takes very seriously cases of plagiarism or collusion. Students who
deliberately plagiarise or collude threaten the values and beliefs that underpin
academic work and devalue the integrity of the University’s awards. In proven cases,
offenders shall be punished, and the punishment may extend to failing their degree,
temporary suspension or expulsion from further study at the University if the case
comes before a Discipline Committee of the University. Plagiarism and collusion, at
any stage of a student’s course, whether discovered before or after graduation, will
be investigated and dealt with appropriately by the University.

2. Definitions

Plagiarism and collusion are defined as follows:

2.1 Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another person's work. It can take the
following forms:
The reproduction (or "quotation"), without acknowledgement, of the work of others
(including the work of fellow students), published or unpublished, either verbatim or in
close paraphrase, including material downloaded from computer files and the
internet. It can occur in ‘open-book’ examinations and/or coursework assessments
which may take a variety of forms, including, but not exclusively confined to: essays,
reports, presentations, dissertations, projects.
All work submitted for assessment by students is accepted on the understanding that
it is the student’s own effort without falsification of any kind. Students are expected to
offer their own analysis and presentation of information gleaned from research, even
when group exercises are carried out. In so far as students rely on sources, they
should indicate what these are in accordance with the appropriate convention in their
discipline.

2.2 Collusion
Collusion is a form of plagiarism, involving unauthorised co-operation between at
least two people, with the intent to deceive. It can take the following forms:
(a) The conspiring by two or more students to produce a piece of work together
with the intention that at least one passes it off as his or her own work.
(b) The submission by a student of the work of another student, in circumstances
where the former has willingly lent the latter the work, and where it should be evident
to the student lending the work that by so doing an advantage is conferred on the
other student. In this case both students are guilty of collusion.
(c) In cases where there is unauthorised co-operation between a student and
another person in the preparation and production of work which is presented as the
student’s own.
Various forms of collaborative assessment undertaken in accordance with published
requirements evidently do not fall under the heading of collusion.

3. Obligations of students

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3.1 All students must be willing to sign a declaration that the work they are submitting
(coursework, projects, dissertations etc) is their own work and that they have not
knowingly let other students copy it. Even when this is not required, the assumption is
that all submitted work is the student’s own.

3.2 Where appropriate, students are expected to familiarise themselves with and make
use of the method(s) of citing other people’s work in accordance with the appropriate
conventions in their discipline.

3.3 Research students are required to sign certifications of originality when submitting
their thesis. In circumstances where incidents of plagiarism for postgraduate research
students appear to constitute misconduct in research, students may be referred for
consideration under the “University Procedures for Dealing with Allegations of
Misconduct in Research” contained in the UEA Code of Practice: Assuring the Quality
of Research Degrees.

4. Graduates

Where plagiarism or cheating is found to have occurred in the work of a graduate, the
Senate has the authority to reduce the classification of a Degree conferred, or to
revoke a Degree, Diploma or Certificate or other distinction conferred by the
University.