Strategic Audit Marking Guide

Assignment 1c (Part 1)

The marking guide is only that – a guide to the types of factors, and items your group should be researching, evaluating the sources of the information, analysing the information, and synthesising it into a discussion of the various parts of the guide. You should be focusing your analysis on if the factor is an opportunity or threat to the industry (Airline Industry) and your chosen corporation (Air New Zealand) or an internal factor strength or weakness. You should then decide if it should be included in the, as appropriate, e.g. EFAS Summary Table of IFAS Summary table. I’d also suggest you look at the Maytag Strategic Audit example in Chapter 12 of the course textbook, and see if you can follow how the bullet points are, or are not included in the EFAS table and IFAS table, also useful will be exhibit 4 which shows how to set out the financial ratios. After the marking guide is a suggested structure of the Strategic Audit report. You don’t have to necessarily follow this exactly, but it will give you an idea of the types of sections and subsections I’m looking for.

		Score	Out of
		100
	Study skills: report Formatting, research, evaluation, identification and use of data in communication Research: Retrieval and Evaluation of Data? Presentation: Correct table formats? Correct report formats? Interpretation and Analysis of data? Synthesis of Data APA 6th Style Referencing and Citations Communication		10
I and II	Updated sections from Assignment 1B (see checklist for 1B)		10
III	EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: Opportunities & Threats		50
A	Natural Physical Environment: Sustainability		5
	What forces from the natural physical environment are affecting the corporation and the industries in which it competes? Climate (temperature, sea level, fresh water availability, Weather (severe storms, floods, droughts)
B	Societal Environment		15
	What general environmental forces are affecting the corporation and the industries in which it competes? – Economic, Technological, Political-legal, Sociocultural
C	Task Environment		15
	What forces drive industry and parts of the task environment competition/Market/Suppliers/Government/Community/Interest Groups etc?  Is it the same globally?  Rate each force as high, medium or low for how it affects the corporation. Critical Success factors? 1.     Threat of new entrants 2.     Bargaining power of buyers 3.     Threat of substitute products or services 4.     Bargaining power of suppliers 5.     Rivalry among competing firms 6.     Relative power of unions, governments, special interest groups
D	Summary of External Factors		15
	(List in the EFAS Table) Which of these forces and factors are the most important to the corporation and to the industries in which it competes?  Which will be important in the future?		2 9 9
IV	INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: Strengths & Weaknesses		30
A	Corporate Structure		6
	1.      How is the corporation structured at present? –        Is decision making authority centralised around one group or decentralised to many units? –        Is the corporation organised on the basis of functions, projects, geography or some combination of these?		2
	2.     Is the structure clearly understood by everyone in the corporation?		–
	3.     Is the present structure consistent with current corporate objectives, strategies, policies and programmes?		2
	4.     In what ways does this structure compare with those of similar corporations?		2

B	Corporate Culture		6
	1.     Is there a well-defined or emerging culture composed of shared beliefs, expectations and values?
	2.     Is the culture consistent with the current objectives, strategies, policies and programmes?
	3.     What is the culture’s position on environmental sustainability?
	4.     What is the culture’s position on other important issues facing the corporation eg productivity, quality of performance, adaptability to changing conditions, and internationalisation?
	5.     Is the culture compatible with the employees’ diversity of backgrounds?
	6.     Does the company take into consideration the values of the culture of each nation in which the firm operates?
C	Corporate Resources		6
	1.     Marketing
	2.     Finance
	3.     Research & Development
	4.     Operations & Logistics
	5.     Human Resources Management
	6.     Information Technology
D	Summary of Internal Factors		22
	(List in the IFAS Table)		2
	Which of these factors are core competencies?		4
	Which if any are Distinctive Competencies?		4
	Which of these factors are the most important to the corporation and to the industries in which it competes?		4
	What might be important in the future?		4
	Which functions or activities are candidates for outsourcing?		4

V	ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC FACTORS (SWOT)	TOTAL	100
A	Situational Analysis		15
	Which of the external (EFAS) and internal (IFAS) factors listed in III.D and IV.D are the most strategic (most important) factors that strongly affect the corporation’s present and future performance? List in the SFAS Matrix
B	Review of Mission & Objectives		15
	Are the current mission & objectives appropriate in light of the key strategic factors and problems highlighted above?		5
	Should the mission & objectives be changed?  If so, how?		5
	If they are changed, what will be the effects on the firm?		5
VI	STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES & RECOMMENDED STRATEGY
A	Strategic Alternatives (see the TOWS Matrix)		30
	Can the current or revised objectives be met through more careful implementation of those strategies presently in use (for example fine-tuning the strategies)?		10
	What are the major feasible alternative strategies available to the corporation?  What are the pros and cons of each? §  Consider Stability, Growth, Retrenchment as corporate strategies §  Consider Cost Leadership and Differentiation as business strategies §  Consider any functional strategic alternatives that might be needed for reinforcement of an important corporate or business strategic alternative		20
B	Recommended Strategy		40
	Specify which of the strategic alternatives you are recommending for the corporate, business and functional levels of the corporation.  Do you recommend different business or functional strategies for different units of the corporation?		10
	Justify your recommendation in terms of its ability to resolve both long- and short-term problems and effectively deal with the strategic factors.		10
	What policies should be developed or revised to guide effective implementation?		10
	What is the impact of your recommended strategy on the company’s core and distinctive competencies		10

MGMT7.01 Assignment 1 (c) Suggested Structure

EIT Cover Page

Group Work Declaration Page

Plagiarism Declaration Page

Table of Contents Page

Table of Contents

1. Introduction. 6

1.1.1.         Current Performance. 6

1.1.2.         Strategic Posture. 6

1.2.        Strategic Managers. 6

1.2.1.         Board of Directors. 7

1.2.2.         Top Management. 7

2. EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: Opportunities & Threats. 7

2.1.        Natural Physical Environment: Sustainability. 7

2.2.        Societal Environment. 7

2.3.        Task Environment. 8

2.4.        Summary of External Factors. 8

3. INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: Strengths & Weaknesses. 8

3.1.        Corporate Structure. 8

3.2.        Corporate Culture. 9

3.3.        Corporate Resources. 9

3.4.        Summary of Internal Factors. 9

4. ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC FACTORS (SWOT) 9

4.1.        Situational Analysis. 9

5. STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES & RECOMMENDED STRATEGY. 10
6. REFERENCE LIST. 10
7. EXHIBITS. 10

7.1.        EFAS Table for (name of Corporation) 2016. 10

7.2.        IFAS Table for (name of Corporation) 2016. 10

7.3.        SFAS Matrix for (name of Corporation) 2016. 10

7.4.        TOWS Matrix. 11

7.5.        Financial Ratio Analysis for (name of Corporation) 2014, 2015, and 2016 Years. 11

7.6.        Board of Directors Table for (name of Corporation) 2017. 11

7.7.        Top Management Table for (Name of Corporation) 2017. 11

1.    Introduction

• Brief introduction to your corporation e.g. date incorporated, under what act, what is their primary industry or sector they operate in.
• A brief outline of the main points to be made in the report and cross-reference to the later sections (e.g. see section 2.1)
• About 100 to 200 words
  • Current Situation

Brief statement summarising the below subsections see the bullet points in the Maytag example Strategic Audit:

1.1.1.      Current Performance

• Brief Introduction to the Current Performance of your corporation e.g. years 2014, 2015, 2016 financial ratios discussion (this should have been done in Assignment 1 (b) but many did not. The actual exhibit is the same as Exhibit 4 in the Chapter 12 example. The ratios will tell you about how your corporation is performing and therefore give clues to what may be important happenings in the internal environment (strengths or weaknesses) or may coincide with something you notice happening in the external environment – so you can see if this affects the opportunities or threat. As this is part of assignment 1 (b) anything in this section does not count towards the 4,000 word limit for assignment 1 (c).

1.1.2.      Strategic Posture

• Brief Introduction to the Strategic Posture of your corporation e.g. Mission, objectives, and current strategies, and current polices of the corporation. This comes from your assignment 1 (b) but I recommend you update them and look into the Maytag example for the type of analysis/synthesis and commentary needed rather than just copy and paste from the corporations documents. However, if you need to copy and paste some sections make sure you show this by putting double quotation marks around them (and note how to show if you cut out some words or replace a word using either … or [replaced word] in APA style to show you have done this. As this is part of assignment 1 (b) anything in this section does not count towards the 4,000 word limit for assignment 1 (c).

1.2.   Strategic Managers

Brief introduction to the strategic factors such as Board of Directors and and Top Managers subsections below. Again, this comes from updating your Assignment 1 (b) sections, and again follow the ideas in Chapter 2 on corporate governance (use the textbook corporate governance terms and concepts like external directors, interlocking directorships etc) and look how this is done in the example Maytag strategic audit. Again, I’m looking for a tie up with the internal environment or external environment factors which will be in either your IFAS summary or your EFAS summary. As this is from Assignment 1 (b) it does not count towards the 4,000 word limit

1.2.1.      Board of Directors

As above, from Assignment 1 (b) and remarking on possible strategic factors that may later appear in your External Factors or Internal Factors analysis later in the report. As this is from assignment 1 (b) this does not count toward the 4,000 word limit for assignment 1 (c).

1.2.2.      Top Management

As above, from Assignment 1 (b) and remarking on possible strategic factors that may later appear in your External Factors or Internal Factors analysis later in the report. As this is from assignment 1 (b) this does not count toward the 4,000 word limit for assignment 1 (c).

PLEASE NOTE ALL THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS DO COUNT TOWARDS THE 4,000 WORD LIMIT FOR ASSIGMENT 1 (c)

2.    EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: Opportunities & Threats

Brief introduction and summary of the main findings of the following external factors subsections. About 100 words. The entire section on external environment opportunities and threats is worth 60/100 marks so the entire section and associated subsections should be roughly 60% of the 4,000 word limit – so about 2,400 words. All sections and parts of the discussion need to be supported by cited sources and should be written in an analytical and evaluative style and synthesised (see the Maytag example in Chapter 12. For example you should note if this is an opportunity or threat for the industry and/or the corporation, and also discuss the weightings and why they are, or why they are not included in the EFAS table. You should research multiple sources of information – not just what the corporation says on its website or annual reports etc. I’d listed these on various occasions in class 9and in the emails I’ve sent, and in week 2 lecture and chapter 12 is lists of where else you could look – but this does not yet appear to be happening… plus chapter 12 appendix has a list (although this is USA centric it may give you some ideas).

2.1.  Natural Physical Environment: Sustainability

Follow the same formats as above in researching, analysing, evaluating and synthesising sources of information. The marking guide gives some ideas of the types of natural physical environment factors that may come into play. You should then explain if these are opportunities or threats (or are likely to be factors that impact on the societal or task environment factors rather than the internal environment directly) of the industry or corporation). As worth 10 marks this section should be no more than 200 words

2.2.  Societal Environment

You can get some hints on what variables to look out for in your research to research in chapter 4, Table 4-1 of the textbook, and also by looking at the Maytag example in Chapter 12. As per above I’m looking for discussion, and identification as to if these are opportunities or threats on the industry or corporations and the weightings justification and if the factors they should or should not be in the EFAS table. The societal environment is worth 15 marks in total so the Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological, and Political-Legal factors in total should be covered in about 300 words which as per all parts of this section count towards the 4,000 word report word limit. Therefore some tight, concise writing is needed – see the examples in the Maytag example for examples of bullet pointing. However don’t only bullet point, but discuss the relevancy etc as I’ve mentioned above.

2.3.  Task Environment

Similar to the Societal Environment – only be guided by the marking guide as to what should be in this section.

2.4.  Summary of External Factors

Take all the external factors above in the previous sections and decide which of these forces and factors are the most important to the corporation and to the industries in which it competes and which will be important in the future. The EFAS table should go in the Exhibits section of the report (see the Maytag example, and also chapter 4 as to how you construct an EFAS table. The EFAS table does not count towards the word limit. But the discussion in this part of the report (and you will likely also use cross references. A cross reference is used to guide the reader to another part of the report e.g (see section 2.2) or (see EFAS Table Exhibit 1). Cross references save you having to repeat information covered in another section. At 20 marks this subsection should be about 400 words, show a high level of critical thinking skills, and should not include any new ideas that have not been already discussed in earlier sections (since it is a summary of all the external factors you think are important).

3.    INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: Strengths & Weaknesses

Brief introduction and summary of the main findings of the following internal factors subsections. About 100 words. The entire section on internal environment strengths and weaknesses is worth 40/100 marks so the entire section and associated subsections should be roughly 40% of the 4,000 word limit – so about 1000 words. All sections and parts of the discussion need to be supported by cited sources and should be written in an analytical and evaluative style and synthesised (see the Maytag example in Chapter 12. Some of this will be cross referenced to section 1 and the subsections rewritten from your assignment 1 (b). In your discussion of the subsections you should note if this is a strength or weakness of the corporation, and also discuss the weightings and why they are, or why they are not included in the IFAS table. You should research multiple sources of information – not just what the corporation says on its website or annual reports etc (although there will be a lot of information on the corporations website be aware the website will not often really discuss internal matters – but analyst, news media etc may – even reports on shareholders meetings often has a questions from the shareholders that may reveal something of the internal environment of the corporation. I’d listed these source  on various occasions in class and in the emails I’ve sent, and in week 2 lecture and chapter 12 is lists of where else you could look – but this does not yet appear to be happening… plus chapter 12 appendix has a list (although this is USA centric it may give you some ideas).

3.1.  Corporate Structure

Similar to your external environment subsections be guided by the questions as to what you research, analysis, evaluate, synthesis. Chapter 5 covers the internal environment, and corporate structure terms and concepts. Some of the questions in this subsection are hard to find exact answers from one source – you may have to link ideas from a multiple number of sources to find some of the information you write about as an internal factors. Again say if it is a strength or weakness, and justify the weighting in the IFAS table and its inclusion or exclusion from the table.

3.2.  Corporate Culture

Similar to previous subsections. Inclusion in the IFAS etc needs to be justified – and by now you should be able to figure out the approximate word limit to use based on the marks out of 100 in the marking guide.

3.3.  Corporate Resources

Similar to other subsections; I don’t think I need to explain this any further – but naturally with only six marks therefore roughly 120 words some very tight writing and bullet pointing will be needed to cover all six factors and only the most important factors will likely be mentioned.

3.4.  Summary of Internal Factors

Take all the internal factors above in the previous sections and decide which of these forces and factors are the most important to the corporation (in terms of core competencies, distinctive competences; the factors important to the corporation and the industries in which in competes, and what might be important in the future; which could be outsourced etc. The IFAS table should go in the Exhibits section of the report (see the Maytag example, and also chapter 5 as to how you construct an IFAS table. The IFAS table does not count towards the word limit. But the discussion in this part of the report (and you will likely also use cross references. A cross reference is used to guide the reader to another part of the report e.g. (see section 3.2) or (see IFAS Table Exhibit 2). Cross references save you having to repeat information covered in another section. At 22 marks this subsection should be about 440 words, show a high level of critical thinking skills, and should not include any new ideas that have not been already discussed in earlier sections (since it is a summary of all the internal factors you think are important).

4.    ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC FACTORS (SWOT)

4.1.  Situational Analysis

Which of the external (EFAS) and internal (IFAS) factors listed are the most strategic (most important) factors that strongly affect the corporation’s present and future performance? Make sure you label these at ,S1, S2, W1, W2, W3, O1, O2, T1, T2, T3, T4, etc same as you have labelled them in EFAS table and IFAS Table and ensure the rationale for these being the most important is clearly given. These should be in the SFAS table in your exhibits – see Chapter 6 Strategy Formulation Situational Analysis and Business Strategy and Chapters 1 and 12 for examples and questions. Also link to other relevant parts of the strategic audit via cross-referencing and only summarise information in your discussion – avoid repetition.

• Review Mission and Objectives

Review the current Mission and objectives in relation to the current and future internal and external environments and the strategic factors (most important factors) identified in the SFAS table. See Chapters 1 and 12 for examples of types of items to ask. Link via cross references to earlier sections

5.    STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES & RECOMMENDED STRATEGY

You should take the SFAS table and relevant discussion and convert to a TOWS Matrix in your exhibit. Make sure in this section you discussion the TOWS matrix in terms of your Strategic alternatives and Recommended Strategies. Start with your corporate strategy as either Growth, Stability or retrenchment and move through the alternatives of types of strategy – it is likely that you may be considering a Growth strategy, but make sure this makes sense in terms of your analysis in early sections – and relate alternatives. Explain how the revised or current objectives can be meet by the proposed strategy or strategies. See steps 6 A and 6 B in Chapters 1 and 12 of the Strategic Audit examples. You should discuss alternative and recommended strategies at the Corporate, Business and you may also consider the Functional level (see relevant chapters 6, 7, and 8 on strategic formulation) See the guidelines from the lecture – you should discuss three strategic alternatives in relation to corporate strategy and directional strategy before you the business level for your selected business unit.

Summary you overall decisions as your recommended strategy from what you consider the best alternative, and briefly discuss why this is the best alternative (relate back to earlier parts of the report via cross referencing).

6.    REFERENCE LIST

This is where you place an APA style reference for every source of information you used and cited in the report. Every reference should be proof read for correct APA style (APA style guides can be found at the Library website). A main purpose of having a correctly constructed reference list is it shows the reader where you got your information from, the quality of the research you have done, and allows to reader to go to the source themselves to look up the information and verify it themselves.

7.    EXHIBITS

This is where you put the various exhibits. See the Maytag example in Chapter 12. Here I would expect to see a minimum of seven exhibits: The EFAS Table, The IFAS table, The SFAS Matrix, The TOWS Matrix, the Financial Ratio Analysis of the Corporation, and the Board of Directors and Top Management tables. However, you may think it necessary to include other exhibits if you think it adds to the strategic audit. While these don’t count towards the word limit don’t overdo the number or length of the exhibits – a reader will still have to read them, so don’t try to hide extra words to get around the word limit…

7.1.  EFAS Table for (name of Corporation) 2016

Place your EFAS table here

7.2.  IFAS Table for (name of Corporation) 2016

Place your IFAS table here

7.3.  SFAS Matrix for (name of Corporation) 2016

Place your SFAS Matrix here

7.4.  TOWS Matrix

Place your TOWS Matrix here

7.5.  Financial Ratio Analysis for (name of Corporation) 2014, 2015, and 2016 Years

Place your Ratio Analysis Table here for the financial years 2014, 2015, and 2016

7.6.  Board of Directors Table for (name of Corporation) 2017

Place your Board of Directors table here

7.7.  Top Management Table for (Name of Corporation) 2017

Place your Top Management table here