Business Plan in Entrepreneurship Assignment

Assignment Task

Business profile summary

The following pages contain basic-level company and industry profile data to assist you with your assessment in both Course 1 on ‘Strategy Formulation’ and Course 2 on ‘Strategic Capabilities’.

Note: The information in this document is presented at a basic level only. You are expected to complete significant further research on the organisation, its competitors and the environment to satisfy the requirements of your two assessments.

Assessment Case

The company case for the assignment is Luxottica Japan Co Ltd, Japan - Eyewear in Japan

Assessment Application

In Assessment 1, you will be required to review the environment in which the organisation currently and the targeted sector operate. You will need to identify trends, opportunities, and threats for the next 3–5 years.

In Assessment 2, you will be required to take the key learnings from Assessment 1 and lay out strategic recommendations for the previously nominated assignment to leverage and build capabilities that will allow the organisation to exploit the identified opportunities and mitigate risks from threats.

Please review the specific assessment instructions for details of both assessments to fully appreciate what is required of you in completing each assessment.

Overview

For this assessment, you will need to prepare a written report of ~ 2,500 words to identify and prioritise the opportunities and threats facing an assigned organisation.

You will be required to review the external factors impacting the organisation it currently operates and the targeted sector. It is important to note that the focus is on trends, opportunities, and threats for the next 3-5 years.

Important Note

The company, environmental, competitor, and industry knowledge, you gain from Course 1 – Assessment 1, will significantly contribute to your thinking and decisions in Course 2 – Assessment 2. For this reason, you must be thorough in your analysis.

Objectives

1. Research and analyse the organisational environment factors to assist in diagnosing complex organisational issues and formulate evidence-based recommendations.
2. Utilise analysis and decision-making tools of strategic management to support the activities of strategy evaluation, formulation, and implementation in a variety of organisational contexts.

The Scenario

You are assuming the role of a newly appointed CEO for the company’s operations.

The board understands that this is your first CEO position and have placed you on probation for the first eight weeks of your appointment. During that time, they want you to demonstrate your skills in the area of evidence-based analysis and insight.

They have called you to a meeting on your first day and are assigning you a task. If you meet the task set, they will convert your appointment from probationary to permanent.

The Task

They have asked you to undertake a thorough and extensive market analysis of the industry and the respective sector that the organisation currently operates within. As a result of the investigation and analysis, the executive board wants a report on the organisation’s opportunities and threats over the next 3–5 years.

During the meeting, the executive board has shared with you their intent to pursue aggressive non-acquisitional growth in the coming years, with the aspirations to become the leading player for the industry, not just the sector.

They accept that to achieve the organisation’s growth aspirations, the organisation will need to enter new and progressive sectors. As part of your analysis, the executive board wants you to evaluate the sector for its existing and potential growth. They want this sector included in your analysis and report.

The executive board has provided you with a tight deadline for this work volume - only a few weeks. 

At the end of the meeting, one of the board members knew this task was not going to be easy, and that this was the first time you had undertaken this type of work. They pulled you to the side and provided you with a bit of professional advice:

• Block around 10-12 hours per week in your diary to work on the project each week. Try to make them a minimum of 2 hours, but not more than 4 (due to wear-out). 

They warned, “business will continue to operate as usual, as will personal and family commitments – nothing stops just because you have a project!”

Start immediately on the task.

They also warned, “Unfortunately, we don’t have all the industry data, so it takes time to gather all the necessary information to complete a project like this”.

Be precise

They said, “Don't ramble or misuse bullet points”. They went on to say, “the board loath disconnected or contradictory discussion. My recommendation is - be precise and be clear with the intent of what you are saying. Oh, and also, make sure your analysis is based on evidence. If, in the report, you use statement of fact, that is fine, as long as you provide them with the insight – after all, if they can read the numbers or find the information themselves, then why did they employ you?!"

Be professional

Last piece of advice they said, "One of the executive board members is very particular about the presentation of work. They will not tolerate typos, spelling, or grammatical errors. The layout needs to be easy to follow, and the transition of paragraphs are essential. If the report is difficult to read, they immediately tune out!"

Assessment Tasks

1. Now that you understand the broader approach to strategy development, it is time for you to dive into your Assessment task and start the first step of the Strategy Process – the external analysis.

Using secondary research techniques, collect information that will allow you to undertake a comprehensive analysis on the following areas:

• General environment
• Industry environment
• Competitive environment

Some TIPS to help you:

• Only collect information from credible sources such as:
  • Company and competitor websites
  • Governance documents (such as annual reports, shareholder meeting documents etc.)
  • Government websites.
  • University databases
• The focus for this stage of your assessment is to go as wide as possible to locate all the information that will allow you to apply the analysis.

2. Undertake secondary research to identify your organisation's mission, values, vision, and strategic statement.

Apply your learnings from the reading and include them in your assessment submission.

Preparation Task

Using the PESTEL Analysis, Strategy Skills essential reading as a guide, along with the excel spreadsheet, apply the model and complete a quantified PESTEL for your Assessment topic.

Based on your analysis, identify and prioritise a minimum of six threats and opportunities in each of the six areas (PESTEL) for your organisation.

Be sure to identify the opportunities and threats within three horizon periods:

• immediate (12 months)
• medium (1 to 2 years) and 
• long term (3-5 years)

Some suggestions:

• Think carefully and creatively. Are there economic shifts that will impact your customers' ability to pay? Will there likely be technology opportunities and threats (like with newspaper companies)? Will social shifts play a role (for example, like the rise of vegan food)?
• Once you have completed your analysis, highlight the top two or three issues from each element that you believe your organisation should be focussing on as part of a five-year strategy. These three steps will all form part of your assignment.

 3 - The Macro Environment analysis

Using the PESTEL Analysis, Strategy Skills essential reading as a guide, along with the excel spreadsheet, apply the model and complete a quantified PESTEL for your Assessment topic.

Based on your analysis, identify and prioritise a minimum of six threats and opportunities in each of the six areas (PESTEL) for your organisation.

Be sure to identify the opportunities and threats within three horizon periods:

• immediate (12 months)
• medium (1 to 2 years) and 
• long term (3-5 years)

Some suggestions:

• Think carefully and creatively. Are there economic shifts that will impact your customers' ability to pay? Will there likely be technology opportunities and threats (like with newspaper companies)? Will social shifts play a role (for example, like the rise of vegan food)?
• Once you have completed your analysis, highlight the top two or three issues from each element that you believe your organisation should be focussing on as part of a five-year strategy. These three steps will all form part of your assignment.

4 - The Industry Analysis

When thinking about Porter's Five Forces model, keep the following things in mind:

• Industry forces typically have a different impact on organisations operating in various parts of the industry.
• Apply your Porter's Five Forces analysis at the most appropriate area within an industry, not necessarily at the whole industry level. 
• Use the model at the business level regarding products, markets, and customers for your organisation. 
• Consider the connections between the key drivers in the macro-environment and the competitive forces. 
• Evaluate the links between the five forces., e.g. new entrants may bypass suppliers and sell directly to customers.
• Build the 5 Forces similar to how you built the PESTEL analysis – apply a quantification to your analysis (using Microsoft Excel) to determine the most significant areas of threats and opportunities.
• A common way to visually present the analysis is:
  • Workings located in the appendix in table form
  • Insights and overarching key findings presented either as a radar graph or as a five box diagram.

5 - The Competitor Analysis

Identify the three most significant competitors to your organisation nominated in the Assessment Task. Conduct a competitor analysis based on the elements outlined above, along with any other competitive aspects you have identified, should be included.

Place the analysis in your appendix in table form and provide insights and conclusions in your report's body.

Assessment Preparation

Consider how a strategy canvas could be applied to the organisation you have been assigned to study as part of your assessment.

Based on the consumer criteria you identified earlier, draft a strategy canvas and rate your organisation against the two variables – wants and perception.

Reflect on your analysis and ask yourself the following questions:

• What opportunities can you conclude from your mapping of the canvas?
• What are key drivers associated with your macro-environmental analysis that is likely to have a high impact on the industry or market? What could contribute to the success or failure of strategies?

Revisit your competitor analysis and review it to see if you identified an opportunity or a threat based on your analysis in the strategy canvas

Assessment Preparation

Now that you have identified the customer needs and perceptions for your company and competitors in your industry.

Draft a 4-Action Framework for your organisation.

Are there opportunities you can conclude from your work to increase the value proposition for your organisation?

Sense-check your work by revisiting your competitor industry analysis and review it to see if you identified an opportunity or a threat based on your findings in the 4-Action framework.

When comparing the 4-Actions framework with your existing work, ask yourself the following questions:

• Does your analysis (competitor, industry and 4-Action framework) make sense?
• Is it consistent with the information already presented in the Appendix and report? Or is it in conflict?
• What opportunities or threats exist based on your 4-actions framework; and where is the connection with the existing analysis you have undertaken?

Notes:

• As with the Strategy Canvas, you do not need to include a 4-Action Framework section in the write-up of your report's body.
• We want you to apply the framework's thinking to help you identify any gaps in the analysis you have already undertaken.
• You can include your 4-Actions framework in the Appendix as this will help with the evidence support for your competitor and industry analysis.

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