Business strategy
Assignment Task
Making specific reference to relevant concepts covered on this module, critically assess the current crisis at Volkswagen/VW from a strategic point of view. Draw on material covered in Lectures 1-5 of this module. Please also see further specifications below.
Specifications

Submission Details

This is an individual assignment, worth 30% of the overall course mark.

Assignment Task
Making specific reference to relevant concepts covered on this module, critically assess the current crisis at Volkswagen/VW from a strategic point of view. Draw on material covered in Lectures 1-5 of this module.

Essential contents:

1. Your piece must include a brief overview of recent developments at VW. You can use the sources provided in this document, but you are also expected to update this unfolding case through your own desk research (e.g. ft.com, The Guardian, the BBC website, or other online sources). The University Library holds a wide range of relevant materials. Interlibrary loans should not be necessary for the completion of this assignment.

2. In your analysis and discussion of the case, you must make reference to specific topics studied in Lectures 1-5 of this module (e.g. to tools of communicating strategy, the macro/micro environment, resources, competences, corporate strategy).

3. Your answer must include some recommendations for VW’s strategy. If you were a Board member at VW, what would you see as important for VW’s strategy?

Additional guidelines:

• Remember that your work needs to be grounded in relevant academic literature. You can make reference to relevant journals and books available through the University Library.
• Your assignment should be clearly written in an academic style, following guidelines on essay writing available through MyEssex, the University’s Talent Development Centre, or the EBS Learning Support Co-ordinator.
• Remember that material from the WorldWideWeb must be referenced as any other source you use. You can list web sources separately in your reference list. Please remember to state when you last accessed these sites.
• Your assignment should contain a title page which should include the module name and code, your name, and your student registration number.
• Please include page numbers in your work, leave adequate margins, and use 1.5 line-spacing.

Useful links to get you started

VW emission test cheating rocks Europe’s carmakers (22-09-2015)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/970e54f8-6048-11e5-9846-de406ccb37f2.html?ftcamp=crm/email/2015922/nbe/BusinessEducation/product#axzz3pIIVvNtD

Volkswagen shares tumble as inquiries are launched worldwide (23-09-2015)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9bde89f0-6109-11e5-a28b-50226830d644.html?ftcamp=crm/email/2015923/nbe/BusinessEducation/product#axzz3pIIVvNtD

Volkswagen board gathers to appoint replacement for Winterkorn (25-09-2015)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d4feb2e2-628e-11e5-9846-de406ccb37f2.html?ftcamp=crm/email/2015925/nbe/BusinessEducation/product#axzz3pIIVvNtD

EU warned on devices at centre of VW scandal two years ago (25-09-2015)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d0d7ba40-6394-11e5-9846-de406ccb37f2.html?ftcamp=crm/email/2015926/nbe/BusinessEducation/product#axzz3pIIVvNtD

VW’s need for a crisis panel exposes the board’s failings (28-09-2015)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2793718e-62bf-11e5-a28b-50226830d644.html#axzz3pIIVvNtD

Culture clash gives clue to Volkswagen scandal (06-10-2015)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/24a9c128-6b5a-11e5-8608-a0853fb4e1fe.html#axzz3pIIVvNtD

Volkswagen’s home city enveloped in fear, anger and disbelief (11-10-2015)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5ae421be-6dcd-11e5-8171-ba1968cf791a.html#axzz3pIIVvNtD

“Volkswagen Group – Moving Ahead”; speech by Frank Witter, Member of the Board of Management, 20-01-2016
http://www.volkswagenag.com/content/vwcorp/info_center/en/talks_and_presentations/talks_and_presentations.html

Your attention is also drawn to the organization’s corporate website:
http://www.volkswagenag.com/content/vwcorp/content/en/homepage.html

Marking Criteria:

The criteria used to assess this assignment will be as follows:

Quality of reflection, interpretation and evaluation
Quality and depth of appraisal and interpretation of data and academic materials, including the appropriate use of relevant course concepts
Breadth and depth of issues analysed
Logical reasoning, analysis and debate
Originality and use of initiative

Use of academic concepts and theories
The extent to which the required academic materials (incl. relevant course concepts) have been incorporated
Depth of reading and application (esp. in terms of further reading)
Relevance of the content

Structure and clarity of presentation
The logic and rationale for the adopted structure
The clarity of the points made
Correct use of referencing style
Appropriate presentation of the work (e.g. the inclusion of page numbers, sub-headings etc.)

business strategy

1.    Briefly explain why it is important to understand a company’s business strategy in evaluating its financial performance. Illustrate your answer with reference to Porter’s Five Forces model.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2) Refer to the 2015 and 2014 annual reports of Tesco Plc – Financial Review pages 12-14, 2015 Annual Report and the performance highlighted in the 2014 ‘Tesco at a Glance’ section, 2014 Annual Report, page 3). Briefly outline the key changes in Tesco’s performance between 2014 and 2015.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3) Refer to the 2015 and 2014 annual reports of Tesco Plc – Financial Review page 12-144, 2015 Annual Report and the performance highlighted in the 2014 ‘Tesco at a Glance’ section, 2014 Annual Report, page 3). Critically comment on how Tesco’s current business strategy compares with its 2015 performance, in particular that reported on pages 12-14 of its 2015 Annual Report, and the performance highlighted in its 2014 ‘Tesco at a Glance’ (see 2014 Annual Report. page 3).
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4) What do you think about Tesco not reporting an identical, or very similar, format summary in its 2015 annual report like it did in its 2014 annual report (see 2014 ‘Tesco at a Glance’).
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

business strategy

1.    Briefly explain why it is important to understand a company’s business strategy in evaluating its financial performance. Illustrate your answer with reference to Porter’s Five Forces model.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2) Refer to the 2015 and 2014 annual reports of Tesco Plc – Financial Review pages 12-14, 2015 Annual Report and the performance highlighted in the 2014 ‘Tesco at a Glance’ section, 2014 Annual Report, page 3). Briefly outline the key changes in Tesco’s performance between 2014 and 2015.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3) Refer to the 2015 and 2014 annual reports of Tesco Plc – Financial Review page 12-144, 2015 Annual Report and the performance highlighted in the 2014 ‘Tesco at a Glance’ section, 2014 Annual Report, page 3). Critically comment on how Tesco’s current business strategy compares with its 2015 performance, in particular that reported on pages 12-14 of its 2015 Annual Report, and the performance highlighted in its 2014 ‘Tesco at a Glance’ (see 2014 Annual Report. page 3).
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4) What do you think about Tesco not reporting an identical, or very similar, format summary in its 2015 annual report like it did in its 2014 annual report (see 2014 ‘Tesco at a Glance’).
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________