Assignment No. and type:

CW1: Individual Management Report, 2,000-word, +/-10%.

Assessment weighting:

100%

Submission time and date:

12^th May 2023 (2pm) – submit on BlackBoard

Target feedback time and date:

3 weeks before submission date

Assignment task

This assignment tests your ability to apply business models to analyse a firm’s competitive position, evaluate contemporary macroenvironmental challenges, formulate and critically assess strategic options and make business decisions.

For this assignment you are to write a management report for the owners of Oak Tree Inn, a family owned and run hotel, pub and restaurant on the Eastern shore of Loch Lomond in Scotland.

The owners have hired you as management consultants to help them grow their business in the face a rapidly changing business environment which has seen a war break out in Ukraine, global fuel prices spike, a cost of living crisis in the UK, a recruitment crisis in the hospitality sector and a change in UK Prime Minister.

Your report must achieve the following:

Critically analyse the Oak Tree Inns strategic position and identify the firm’s strategic capabilities, along with any strengths and weakness.

Provide an overview of the competitiveness of the hospitality sector across the UK including a focus on the local Loch Lomond area.

Construct a macroenvironmental analysis of recent events that are impacting the hospitality sector, and in conjunction with the previous overview of competitiveness identify any significant opportunities and threats.

Formulate a choice of two potential growth strategies that will enable the firm to best navigate the present and future challenges.

Critically evaluate the two potential growth strategies in order to make a strategic recommendation to the owners of the best strategy they should adopt.

Further Support

This assessment takes the format of a 2,000-word, +/-10%, maximum of 16 pages from introduction to recommendation, professionally produced report that would be suitable for use in the boardroom of a FTSE100 company.

You are to complete the task set. The report must apply models and theoretical concepts and be supported by evidence, with references, from reputable sources throughout.

The case study materials will be provided for you via the module Blackboard shell and these should be used to aid you in the completion of your task. You should also refer to contemporary data sources as well as market data insight from sources such as Mintel and other such reputable sources.

This assignment has been designed to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your achievement of the following module learning outcomes:

LO1: Analyse the external environment of an organisation and justify critical opportunities and threats appropriate to that organisation;

LO2: Analyse the strategic capability of an organisation and justify critical strengths and weaknesses linked to competitive advantage;

LO3: Develop suitable strategic choices for an organisation;

LO4: Evaluate strategic choices for an organisation, referring to previous analysis in 1 and 2 above;

LO5: Recommend and justify an appropriate strategic choice for an organisation.

Referencing and presentational requirements

Please reference your work using the Harvard style as defined in Cite Them Right Online (http://www.citethemrightonline.com).

Pages should be numbered.

All work to be submitted as Arial 11 font with single line spacing.

All writing should be in the third person passive.

Written work must be word-processed

The module title and code number must be clearly marked on the front cover.

Work you submit for assessment must be properly referenced – a guide to the Harvard system of referencing can be found on the Bucks website at bucks.ac.uk/referencing.

You may seek clarification from the module tutor at any time.

There is no excuse for failing to submit your work in accordance with the guidance, work that does not meet the necessary standards in that respect will be marked accordingly.

No collaboration is allowed.

Front cover, executive summary, contents page, reference pages and appendices are NOT included in either the page count or the word count that have been allocated. Words used in tables, charts, diagrams are also NOT included in the word count.

Note we do not expect to see any Wikipedia, Investopedia, Business Balls, Slide Share, and Essays4U, Term Papers or other spurious non-academic non-reputable sources within your work or in the reference list.

There is a maximum of 4 pages allocated to appendices should you need them which do not form part of the total page count of 16 pages.

Submission details

You are required to submit your work electronically. Please use the relevant submission point in the Submit your work area in your Blackboard module shell at the time and date specified.

Please ensure that your work has been saved in an appropriate file format. Turnitin will only accept the following file types: Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint, PostScript, PDF, HTML, RTF, OpenOffice (ODT), Hangul (HWP), Google Docs, or plain text. Your file must also contain at least 20 words of text, consist of fewer than 400 pages and be less than 40MB in size.

You can submit your file as many times as you like before the submission date. If you do submit your file more than once, your earlier submission will be replaced by the most recent version.

Once you have submitted your file, you will receive a digital receipt as proof of submission, which will be sent to your forwarded e-mail address (provided you have set this up). Please keep this receipt for future reference, along with the original electronic copy of the file.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity means taking responsibility for your own work.

When you submit an assignment, you are effectively making a declaration that it is your own work and that you have acknowledged the contribution of others and their ideas in its development (for example, by referencing them appropriately).

For further information and guidance, please see the University website: https://www.bucks.ac.uk/current-students/registry-helpdesk-and-academic-advice/academic-integrity-and-misconduct

You are also expected to take responsibility for maintaining and managing confidentiality issues in your work. You should maintain and respect confidentiality in relation to the protection of personal, technical and/or commercial information of a sensitive nature in their assessed work, whatever the format.

Confidentiality issues will vary from subject to subject and you are encouraged to seek advice from your course team if you are unclear about requirements in your context. For further information and guidance, please see the University website: https://www.bucks.ac.uk/academic-confidentiality

Criterion 1

Knowledge and understanding

25%

(Key indicators for Knowledge and understanding)

• Depth of knowledge and understanding

• Engagement with subject-specific theories, paradigms, concepts, and principles

• Background investigation, analysis, research, enquiry and/or study.

The work demonstrates a limited and/or substantially inaccurate or no understanding of key aspects of the subject, with few if any examples of coherent and detailed knowledge, which is unlikely to be at, or informed by, the forefront of defined aspects of the discipline e.g., recent research, latest techniques.

The work demonstrates insufficient understanding of key aspects of the subject, including some coherent and detailed knowledge, little of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of defined aspects of the discipline e.g., recent research, latest techniques.

The work demonstrates a basic yet systematic understanding of key aspects of the subject, including some coherent and detailed knowledge, at least some of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of defined aspects of the discipline e.g., recent research, latest techniques.

The work demonstrates a sound breadth and depth of systematic understanding of key aspects of the subject, including some coherent and detailed knowledge, some of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of defined aspects of the discipline e.g., recent research, latest techniques.

The work demonstrates a sophisticated and critical systematic understanding of key aspects of the subject, including coherent and detailed knowledge, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of defined aspects of the discipline e.g., recent research, latest techniques.

The work demonstrates a highly accomplished systematic understanding of key aspects of the subject beyond what has been taught, including coherent and detailed knowledge, most of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of defined aspects of the discipline e.g., recent research, latest techniques.

The work demonstrates an exceptional systematic understanding of key aspects of the subject, including coherent and detailed knowledge well beyond what has been taught, all of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of defined aspects of the discipline e.g., recent research, latest techniques.

Criterion 2

Analysis and criticality

25%

(Key indicators for analysis and criticality)

• Logic and argument

• Use and range of independently selected sources

• Analysis and synthesis

• Organisation and communication of ideas and evidence

The work demonstrates a limited or no ability to work independently and deploy relevant techniques of analysis and enquiry accurately;

The work shows insufficient knowledge of the subject areas; strategy,

leadership, management, firm performance, performance metrics, fiduciary duty, ethics, investor relations and stakeholder analysis, with which to formulate a coherent and logical argument.

The range, age and validity of secondary research sources & literature is inappropriate.

Analysis of the case study and synthesis of relevant academic theory is absent.

The communication and organisation of the work lacks flow and coherency.

The work demonstrates an insufficient ability to work independently, deploying accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within the discipline;

The work shows limited knowledge of the subject areas; strategy,

leadership, management, firm performance, performance metrics, fiduciary duty, ethics, investor relations and stakeholder analysis, with which to formulate a coherent and logical argument.

The range, age and validity of secondary research sources & literature is mostly inappropriate.

Analysis of the case study and synthesis of relevant academic theory is absent.

The communication and organisation of the work is weak and lacks flow and coherency.

The work demonstrates a sufficient ability to work independently, deploying accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within the discipline;

The work shows satisfactory knowledge of the subject areas; strategy,

leadership, management, firm performance, performance metrics, fiduciary duty, ethics, investor relations and stakeholder analysis, with which to formulate a coherent and logical argument.

The range, age and validity of secondary research sources & literature is satisfactory.

Analysis of the case study and synthesis of relevant academic theory is satisfactory but lacks depth and breadth.

The communication and organisation of the work is satisfactory and struggles for flow and coherency.

The work demonstrates a sound ability to work independently, deploying accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within the discipline;

The work shows good knowledge of the subject areas; strategy,

leadership, management, firm performance, performance metrics, fiduciary duty, ethics, investor relations and stakeholder analysis, with which to formulate a coherent and logical argument.

The range, age and validity of secondary research sources & literature is good.

Analysis of the case study and synthesis of relevant academic theory is good.

The communication and organisation of the work is good, with the flow and coherency of the argument clear to the reader.

The work demonstrates a sophisticated ability to work independently, deploying accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within the discipline.

The work shows very good knowledge of the subject areas; strategy,

leadership, management, firm performance, performance metrics, fiduciary duty, ethics, investor relations and stakeholder analysis, with which to formulate a coherent and logical argument.

The range, age and validity of secondary research sources & literature is very good. The use of wider and less obvious sources enhances the work.

Analysis of the case study and synthesis of relevant academic theory is very good, with excellent integration within the argument and evidence used.

The communication and organisation of the work is very good, with the flow and coherency of the argument clear to the reader.

The work demonstrates a highly accomplished ability to work independently, deploying accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within the discipline;

The work shows excellent knowledge of the subject areas; strategy, leadership, management, firm performance, performance metrics, fiduciary duty, ethics, investor relations and stakeholder analysis, with which to formulate a strong, coherent and logical argument.

The range, age and validity of secondary research sources & literature is excellent. The use of wider and less obvious sources enhances the work and demonstrates originality in their thinking and work.

Analysis of the case study and synthesis of relevant academic theory is excellent, with excellent integration within the argument and evidence used.

The communication and organisation of the work is excellent, with the flow and coherency of the argument clear to the reader and presents original conceptual thinking.

The work demonstrates a highly accomplished ability to work independently, deploying accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within the discipline;

The work shows outstanding knowledge of the subject areas; strategy, leadership, management, firm performance, performance metrics, fiduciary duty, ethics, investor relations and stakeholder analysis, with which to formulate an exceptionally strong, coherent and logical argument.

The range, age and validity of secondary research sources & literature is outstanding. The use of wider and less obvious sources enhances the work and demonstrates originality in their thinking and work.

Analysis of the case study and synthesis of relevant academic theory is outstanding, with exceptional integration within the argument and evidence used.

The communication and organisation of the work is outstanding, with the flow and coherency of the argument clear to the reader and presents original conceptual thinking.

Criterion 3

Application and practice

25%

(Key indicators for application and practice)

• Development and/or application discipline-specific specialist skills

• Accuracy, coordination, and proficiency in completion of practical tasks/processes

Work demonstrates a limited or no ability to select and apply appropriate, discipline-specific methods and techniques to develop and apply knowledge and understanding and to initiate, and in turn:

The development and application of secondary research skills, analysis, evaluation and synthesis of data and information is not evident within the work.

The ability to draw conclusions for the reader is clearly missing and/or inappropriate for the standard required as a manager.

The ability to read and follow instructions is clearly absent with no evidence of conceptual awareness of the wider business contexts involved that could be researched and/or integrated into the work.

The work fails to address all the required elements set out in the briefing.

Work demonstrates an insufficient ability to select and apply appropriate, disciplinespecific methods and techniques to develop and apply knowledge and understanding and to initiate, and in turn:

The development and application of secondary research skills, analysis, evaluation and synthesis of data and information is weak within the work.

The ability to draw conclusions for the reader is clearly missing and/or inappropriate for the standard required as a manager.

The ability to read and follow instructions is clearly absent with no evidence of conceptual awareness of the wider business contexts involved that could be researched and/or integrated into the work.

The work fails to address all the required elements set out in the briefing.

Work demonstrates a sufficient ability to select and apply appropriate, disciplinespecific methods and techniques to develop and apply knowledge and understanding and to initiate, and in turn:

The development and application of secondary research skills, analysis, evaluation and synthesis of data and information is acceptable within the work.

The ability to draw conclusions for the reader is evident but this is acceptable and mostly appropriate for the standard required as a manager.

The ability to read and follow instructions is acceptable with some evidence of conceptual awareness of the wider business contexts involved that could be researched and/or integrated into the work.

The work mostly addresses the required elements set out in the briefing.

Work demonstrates an ability to select and apply in a consistent and informed manner appropriate, disciplinespecific methods and techniques to develop and apply knowledge and understanding and to initiate, and in turn:

The development and application of secondary research skills, analysis, evaluation and synthesis of data and information is good.

The ability to draw conclusions for the reader is evident and what is presented is to a good standard and appropriate for the standard required as a manager.

The ability to read and follow instructions is good with some evidence of conceptual awareness of the wider business contexts involved that could be researched and/or integrated into the work.

The work meets all the required elements set out in the briefing.

Work demonstrates an ability to select and apply in a capable and effective manner appropriate, disciplinespecific methods and techniques to develop and apply knowledge and understanding and to initiate, and in turn:

The development and application of secondary research skills, analysis, evaluation and synthesis of data and information is very good.

The ability to draw conclusions for the reader is evident and what is presented is to a very good standard and appropriate for the standard required as a manager.

The ability to read and follow instructions is very good with clear evidence of conceptual awareness of the wider business contexts involved that could be researched and/or integrated into the work.

The work meets all the required elements set out in the briefing.

Work demonstrates an ability to select and apply in a highly accomplished manner appropriate, disciplinespecific methods and techniques to develop and apply knowledge and understanding and to initiate, and in turn:

The development and application of secondary research skills, analysis, evaluation and synthesis of data and information is excellent.

The ability to draw conclusions for the reader is evident and what is presented is to an excellent standard and appropriate for the standard required as a middle manager.

The ability to read and follow instructions is excellent with clear evidence of conceptual awareness of the wider business contexts involved that could be researched and/or integrated into the work.

The work meets all the required elements set out in the briefing.

Work demonstrates an ability to select and apply in a highly accomplished and innovative manner appropriate, disciplinespecific methods and techniques to develop and apply knowledge and understanding and to initiate, and in turn:

The development and application of secondary research skills, analysis, evaluation and synthesis of data and information is outstanding.

The ability to draw conclusions for the reader is evident and what is presented is to an outstanding standard and appropriate for the standard required as a senior manager.

The ability to read and follow instructions is outstanding with clear evidence of conceptual awareness of the wider business contexts involved that could be researched and integrated into the work.

The work meets all the required elements set out in the briefing.

Criterion 4

Transferable skills

15%

(Key indicators for transferable skills)

• Written, verbal and electronic communication

• Numeracy and digital literacy

• Personal motivation, organisation, and time-management

Work demonstrates limited or no ability to:

-communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions accurately and reliably utilising relevant numeracy, digital literacy, oral and written communication skills in a manner fit for purpose.

– an ability to manage their learning and work with minimal or no supervision.

-use initiative to take responsibility for determining and achieving personal outcomes and/or outputs.

Work demonstrates insufficient ability to:

-communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions accurately and reliably utilising relevant numeracy, digital literacy, oral and written communication skills in a manner fit for purpose.

-an ability to manage their learning and work with minimal or no supervision.

-use initiative to take responsibility for determining and achieving personal outcomes and/or outputs.

Work demonstrates a sufficient ability to:

-communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions accurately and reliably utilising relevant numeracy, digital literacy, oral and written communication skills in a manner fit for purpose.

-an ability to manage their learning and work with minimal or no supervision.

-use initiative to take responsibility for determining and achieving personal outcomes and/or outputs.

Work demonstrates a consistent and confident ability to:

-communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions accurately and reliably utilising relevant numeracy, digital literacy, oral and written communication skills in a manner fit for purpose.

-an ability to manage their learning and work with minimal or no supervision.

-use initiative to take responsibility for determining and achieving personal outcomes and/or outputs

Work demonstrates a highly proficient ability to:

-communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions accurately and reliably utilising relevant numeracy, digital literacy, oral and written communication skills in a manner fit for purpose.

-an ability to manage their learning and work with minimal or no supervision.

-use initiative to take responsibility for determining and achieving personal outcomes and/or outputs.

Work demonstrates a highly accomplished ability to:

-communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions accurately and reliably utilising relevant numeracy, digital literacy, oral and written communication skills in a manner fit for purpose.

-an ability to manage their learning and work with minimal or no supervision.

-use initiative to take responsibility for determining and achieving personal outcomes and/or outputs.

Work demonstrates an exceptional ability to:

-communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions accurately and reliably utilising relevant numeracy, digital literacy, oral and written communication skills in a manner fit for purpose.

-an ability to manage their learning and work with minimal or no supervision.

-use initiative to take responsibility for determining and achieving personal outcomes and/or outputs.

– consideration of sustainability (environmental, economic, and personal) and social and ethical matters in their work/solutions.

Assignment Parameters

10%

An unacceptable range of academic, professional and peer reviewed sources applied within the work.

Incorrect Harvard referencing in text and in reference list pages.

Major spelling, grammar or punctuation errors.

Presentation of work is unacceptable and incapable of being presented to a board of directors. Work is outside of the +/-10% word count.

A below standard range of academic, professional and peer reviewed sources applied within the work.

Incorrect Harvard referencing in text and in reference list pages.

Major spelling, grammar or punctuation errors.

Presentation of work is below the standard required and incapable of being presented to a board of directors. Work is outside of the +/-10% word count.

A satisfactory range of academic, professional and peer reviewed sources applied within the work.

Harvard referencing in text and in reference list pages.

Significant spelling, grammar or punctuation errors.

Presentation of work is satisfactory but not suitable for being presented to a board of directors. Work is outside of the +/-10% word count.

Good range of academic, professional and peer reviewed sources applied within the work.

Noticeable issues with the Harvard referencing in text and in reference list pages.

Noticeable spelling, grammar or punctuation errors.

Presentation of work is good and capable of being presented to a board of directors only with significant corrections and improvement. Work is only just outside the +/-10% word count.

Very good range of academic, professional and peer reviewed sources applied within the work.

Correct Harvard referencing in text and in reference list pages.

Minor spelling, grammar or punctuation errors.

Presentation of work is very good and capable of being presented to a board of directors with some corrections. Work is within +/-10% word count.

Excellent range of academic, professional and peer reviewed sources applied within the work.

Correct Harvard referencing in text and in reference list pages.

Very minor spelling, grammar or punctuation errors.

Presentation of work is excellent and capable of being presented to a board of directors as is. Work is within +/-10% word count.

Outstanding range of academic, professional and peer reviewed sources applied within the work.

Correct Harvard referencing in text and in reference list pages.

No spelling, grammar or punctuation errors.

Presentation of work is outstanding and capable of being presented to a board of directors as is. Work is within +/-10% word count.