select on of the seven cases below and address at least two of the respective questions in their report. If you have worked in one of these cases throughout the module you may or not use it for the report. Instructions are provided after the case questions.

Week 4, group 1: Vodafone: Developing a Total Communications Strategy in the UK Market, Exploring Strategy 9th edition, p.557.

1. What are the key drivers of change in the communications industry as a whole (consider the macro-­?environment)? What do you expect their impact to be over the next five years?
2. At the time of the case, how do each of the 4 industries (fixed line, mobile, television and broadband) compare in terms of ‘attractiveness’ as suggested by Porter?
3. What should Vodafone’s strategy be to achieve its goal of being “The Communications Leader in an increasingly connected World”?

Week 5, group 2: European Tour Operators: confronting competition in the tourism industry, Exploring Strategy 9th edition, p.565.

1. What underlying forces in the macro-­?environment drive the competitive forces in the European tour operator industry?
2. Using Porter’s analysis structure, identify the relative importance of each one of the five forces.
3. How might these five forces change in the future and how might this impact on TUI Travel and Thomas Cook?

4. What kind of “blue oceans” could you foresee in the European tour operators industry? Try to substantiate your answer using evidence from industry experts (e.g. blogs or market reports).

Week 6, group 3: Web Reservations International: challenging industry norms, Exploring Strategy 9th edition, p.595

1. How has WRI’s use of technology transformed the budget youth and independent travel market? How have further technological advancements transformed the market since 2010 (e.g. social networking or airbnb.com)?
2. What do you believe to be the key strategic capabilities that WRI have generated using technology? Are they sustainable in the longer term?
3. Demonstrate how you believe WRI has used knowledge creation and information management as a source of competitiveness.
4. Do you believe that WRI’s competitors can imitate its key strategic capabilities?

Week 8, group 4: Will we still love Ikea? Exploring Strategy 9th edition, p.630.

1. Explain the aspects of Ikea’s strategy that make it a hybrid strategy.
2. Why is this strategy difficult for competitors to imitate?
3. What are the dangers of a hybrid strategy and how can managers guard against them? Do you think that IKEA one day might be “stuck in the middle”?

Week 9, group 5: iPod to iPad: Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Apple, Exploring Strategy 9th edition, p.677

1. Is Apple’s iPhone more than just a product innovation? What are the challenges of sustaining this in the future?
2. Discuss Apple’s closed ecosystem approach to the development of its mobile devices and software. How does this compare to Google’s Android ecosystem?
3. What is Apple’s pricing strategy and how is it supported by an underlying value network?

Week 10, group 6: Cordys: innovation in business process management, Exploring Strategy 9th edition, p. 672

1. Explain the innovation dilemmas that Cordys faces.
2. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages faced by Cordys as a first-­?mover.

3. What barriers to entry does Cordys face in its market? How can Cordys overcome these barriers?
4. What kind of characteristics does Jan Baan show as an entrepreneur? Is he a typical strategic leader?

Week 11, group 7: NHS Direct: managing in difficult times, Exploring Strategy 9th edition, p.739

1. What are the major benefits and difficulties of extending the ‘business model’ of NHS Direct into further areas such as emergency services?
2. From the government (tax payers’) perspective what are the arguments for and against NHS Direct being a good financial investment? In your response, consider the universal nature of healthcare in the UK compared to other countries.
3. What are the issues that will help or hinder the diffusion of Information Technology in the NHS as shown by the development of NHS Direct Online?
4. How is NHS’s strategy shaped as the outcome of political processes? For example, NHS Direct as a response to major government cuts in spending.