Assessment 1: Rationale Critique Video: Evaluating a Company’s Mission and Vision

Assessment 1: Rationale Critique 

Overview

This individual assignment asks you to critically assess a company's vision, mission, and strategy statements. Present the rationale for your assessment in a short video using an evaluation matrix table described in the course.

In the video you will present your critical evaluation of the selected company's alignment between vision, mission and strategy statement. Your assessment should be based on a good understanding of the industry context and the players within. So, ensure that you have done research on key competitors in the specific industry. You are encouraged to use key industry players in the world, but do not ignore direct competitors in the country, especially if your organization is not a global company. This benchmarking will provide robustness and objectivity to your assessment. 

Learning Outcomes

The targeted Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this assessment are:

CLO1: Explain key business strategy and innovation concepts and theories such as competitive advantage, industry analysis and value creation and illustrate their interconnectedness in shaping business strategies.

CLO2: Analyse how internal and external factors, such as market trends and organisational capabilities, influence business environments and explain their role in strategic decision-making.

CLO3: Apply strategy and innovation tools to evaluate real-world business situations and develop adaptive strategies for dynamic contexts.

Assessment Details

1. Select a company of your choice. Prior to finalising your company ensure that you have researched the company website and located its vision, mission and strategy statements. You will research and discuss vision, mission and strategy statements in week.

2. Create an evaluation matrix statement (David & David 2024) to assess the alignment between the company's vision, mission, and strategy statements. Criteria for the matrix will include clear, futuristic, concise, unique, and inspiring.In your week 2 class, you will apply the evaluation matrix statement to a real example and discuss your final evaluation in groups.

3. Using the evaluation matrix, prepare a critical rationale for your assessment of the company's vision, mission, and strategy statements.To be objective in your assessment, you need to identify a competitive company to use it as benchmark for your strategic evaluation . You are encouraged to use global companies, but you must not ignore local key players in the country, especially if your company is not global. This would therefore require you do research prior to your evaluation. You will be using at least 1 other company for benchmarking purposes. This company will be from the same industry, and a direct competitor to the company you are assessing. For instance, if your chosen company is Rio Tinto then you should choose BHP to compare. If you want to include another global company for benchmarking, you can choose Vale. 

4. Create a short video that presents your evaluation matrix and explains your findings from the matrix, highlighting areas of alignment and misalignment. Provide objective assessment based on the benchmarking you have done. Explain your benchmarking criteria. That is, explain which other company/companies you selected for benchmarking and why you selected them. As part of your benchmarking, you have to showcase and discuss the other company's vision and mission based on the criteria, clear, futuristic, concise, unique, and inspiring, and compare to your chosen company. 

5. In your short video, you must reflect on the overall alignment between the company's vision, mission and strategy statements. Provide a critical reflection on what you think of the alignment and why you think that way.

Assessment 2: Critical SWOT Analysis Report 

Overview

This individual assignment requires you to use business strategy frameworks/tools learnt in the course and conduct a detailed external and internal analysis of the organization to identify any strategic gaps/ issues/challenges/opportunities. In doing so, you must develop a detailed understanding of the business context in general and industry context in particular (especially the competitive landscape). 

Learning Outcomes

The targeted Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this assessment are:

• CLO2: Analyse how internal and external factors, such as market trends and organisational capabilities, influence business environments and explain their role in strategic decision-making.
• CLO3: Apply strategy and innovation tools to evaluate real-world business situations and develop adaptive strategies for dynamic contexts.
• CLO5: Utilise digital tools and technologies to collect, assess and present business data for informed strategic decisions and innovation. 

Assessment Details

1. Company:  You will be assigned a company by the instructor (out of a set of 6-7 companies). In a class 4-5 students will be working individually on the same company for this report. The students working on the same company in a class will later form a group who will continue to work on the same company for their Assessment 3, which is a group presentation. You will be assigned your company in Week 4 class. 

2. External Analysis:  Analyse the external environment, including industry trends, market conditions, and competitive landscape. You will be using tools - PESTEL analysis, Porter's Five Forces, and Strategy Group Mapping - discussed in the class/lecture. You were introduced to key frameworks and theories for analysing the external environment in Week 3. Refer to course content in the canvas to refresh your knowledge prior to attempting this.

3. Internal Analysis:  Examine the company's internal environment, including resources and capabilities. Use the VRIO frameworks to evaluate resources and capabilities of the organization to if they have all the characteristics (or not), that is valuable, rare, inimitable, and organised to capture value. In identifying the key resources and capabilities, you will think through the primary and support activities in the company's value chain. You were introduced to key frameworks and theories for analysing the internal environment in Week 4. Refer to course content in the canvas to refresh your knowledge prior to attempting this. 

4. SWOT Analysis:  Synthesise the internal and external analyses to construct a comprehensive SWOT analysis. Critically evaluate the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. You can gain significantly more insights by using TWOS matrix, however it needs to be analytically used to provide insights. You were introduced to SWOT and TWOS Analysis in Week 6. Refer to course content in the canvas to refresh your knowledge prior to attempting this. 

5. Report Structure:  A professional and visually appealing report, which includes an introduction, internal analysis, external analysis, SWOT/TWOS analysis, conclusion, and references. 

Assessment Requirements and Approach Summary

Assessment 1: Rationale Critique

Requirements:

• Select a company and review its vision, mission, and strategy statements.
• Use the David & David (2024) evaluation matrix (criteria: clear, futuristic, concise, unique, inspiring).
• Benchmark with at least one competitor (local or global).
• Critically evaluate alignment/misalignment between the company’s vision, mission, and strategy.
• Present findings in a short video showcasing the evaluation matrix and benchmarking analysis.
• Reflect on the overall alignment and provide rationale for your assessment.

Targeted Learning Outcomes (CLOs): CLO1, CLO2, CLO3

Assessment 2: Critical SWOT Analysis Report

Requirements:

• Assigned a company by the instructor (same company will continue for group project later).
• Conduct external analysis (PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Strategy Group Mapping).
• Conduct internal analysis (VRIO framework, value chain activities).
• Develop a SWOT Analysis (and optional TWOS for deeper insights).
• Present findings in a structured, professional report including introduction, analyses, SWOT/TWOS, conclusion, and references.

Targeted Learning Outcomes (CLOs): CLO2, CLO3, CLO5

Step-by-Step Approach by the Academic Mentor

Step 1: Understanding the Requirements

The mentor first walked the student through the assessment briefs, breaking down the instructions into manageable sections. Key focus was placed on:

• Identifying the company, competitor(s), and relevant industry context.
• Understanding frameworks like David & David evaluation matrix, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, and VRIO.
• Clarifying expectations around benchmarking, objective evaluation, and academic presentation.

Step 2: Research and Data Collection

• Guided the student to gather company information (vision, mission, strategy statements) from official reports/websites.
• Encouraged exploring industry reports, competitor websites, and databases for benchmarking insights.
• Highlighted how to differentiate between global vs local competitors for balanced analysis.

Step 3: Applying Frameworks

• For Assessment 1, the mentor demonstrated how to apply the evaluation matrix to check if the statements were clear, futuristic, inspiring, etc.
• For Assessment 2, the mentor provided examples of how to:
  • Use PESTEL for identifying external environmental influences.
  • Apply Porter’s Five Forces for industry competitiveness.
  • Map out VRIO for internal resources and capabilities.
• Students were shown how to synthesise findings into a SWOT matrix, identifying strategic gaps and opportunities.

Step 4: Structuring the Work

• Mentor emphasized structuring Assessment 1 around a matrix + benchmarking + reflection → leading into a clear video presentation.
• For Assessment 2, focus was on a professional report style with well-labeled sections, diagrams, and concise analysis.

Step 5: Drafting and Reviewing

• The student prepared a draft of both assessments.
• The mentor provided feedback on clarity, academic tone, and depth of analysis.
• Attention was given to critical reflection rather than descriptive writing.

Step 6: Final Outcome

• Assessment 1 Outcome: A structured video presentation showcasing the evaluation matrix, benchmarking insights, and reflection on alignment/misalignment.
• Assessment 2 Outcome: A professional SWOT/TWOS report highlighting internal strengths, weaknesses, external opportunities, and threats with strategic insights.

Learning Objectives Achieved

Through the mentor’s step-by-step guidance, the student successfully:

• Applied business strategy and innovation frameworks (CLO1, CLO3).
• Analysed internal and external factors shaping industry and company performance (CLO2).
• Demonstrated the ability to benchmark competitors for objective evaluation.
• Developed critical reflection skills to assess alignment between strategic statements.
• Utilised digital tools and strategic frameworks to present findings in both video and written formats (CLO5).

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