LD6061 Responsible Strategy

Instructions on Assessment:

For Part 1 Individual assignment you are required to produce a 2000-word (+/-10%) report based on the following tasks:

Select a company of your own choice or from the list of companies provided on the module eLP. Evaluate the strategic development of your selected organisation through the corporate social responsibility and sustainability lens using a range of suitable frameworks introduced and discussed throughout the course of the module. This will include theories, models and frameworks from the field of strategic management, business ethics and responsible organisational contexts.

Your assignment must follow the following structure:

An introduction.

This section introduces the content of the assignment and the company. It briefly outlines the organisation’s strategic position within their industry. We recommend that you do not use more than 100 words for this section. [10%]

A three-horizons analysis

Using a three-horizons framework discuss the company’s existing, emerging and prospective activities shaping the future of the organisation and its potential development. Drawing upon the value chain and resource-based view discuss the company’s sources of competitive advantage. Which of the company’s competencies and/or dynamic capabilities do contribute the most to its responsible and sustainable development and future? Use a range of scholarly sources, debates and frameworks to conduct a critical analysis. (aprox 800 words) [40%]

Stakeholder Assessment

Evaluate how responsible the strategic direction of the organisation has been from the point of view of its key stakeholders. Discuss how organisation tackled various corporate social irresponsibility (CSIR) acts it committed over the past 10 years and which stakeholder groups were affected the most by the company’s misconduct/s. Discuss whether the organisation has done enough to rectify the damages caused to its key stakeholders and whether and how the company invested to building and strengthening these relationships for future success. For this part of the analysis, you are welcome to use suitable CSR and CSI frameworks introduced and discussed throughout the course of the module (approx. 800 words) [40%]

Drawing upon the overall analysis, propose a suitable strategic direction for the company to make it more responsible, sustainable and ethical both short-term and long-term. (aprox 300 words) [10%]

Assessment Guidance

Full Assessment Guidance will be given in Assignment Lectures (please make sure that you review this material). You are allowed to choose a company of your choice for your assignment but will also be provided with an official list of companies on the module eLP. You will conduct a written strategic analysis (structure outlined above) that informs the reader about the strategic development of the organisation through using a range of corporate social responsibility and sustainability frameworks and what the company does or can do to increase and improve its social responsibility to its key stakeholder groups for a more sustained competitive advantage. The majority of your analysis will be based on the theory and frameworks taught as part of this module and the expert opinions from authoritative sources (all referenced and cited in the APA style) that you will use to support your strategic analysis. Your strategic recommendations will contain various suggestions on more responsible and sustainable future for the business and their key stakeholders.

Format for Submission   

The Part 1 of the assessment – Individual Assignment – should be written:

• in Arial, 11pt, left-justified, 1½spacing.
• DO NOT put Your Name (or any Tutor’s Name) anywhere on your assignment.
• Every page should be numbered (in header or footer) and show your student ID.
• Each section should start on a new page.
• DO NOT use appendices. Tables, figures and frameworks used for illustration and explanation should be placed on the same page or close to where it was referred to in text.
• All academic and other sources must be cited APA format and included ONCE in a single reference list at the end of the document. Do not cite Northumbria Lectures, Seminars or Workshops.
• Cutting and pasting material directly from sources without citation is Plagiarism.
• Cutting and pasting material directly from sources with citation is Poor Scholarship.
• Short quoted extracts from cited sources are permissible – use double quotation marks”” and citation that includes the page number of the cited document.
• The vast majority of your assignment word count should use your own words or paraphrase reputable sources.

For Part 2 of the assignment, which is a Group Presentation, you are required to prepare a group presentation.

In a group of (3-5 people) you are required to prepare a 10-minute recorded presentation. As management consultants you have been hired by a company that has been struggling to integrate CSR into its business functions and operations. You will be required to conduct research into your selected organisation and prepare a plan of how the organisation can develop and integrate or improve its CSR in one of its business functions. Recommendations provided would help the organisation to become a more socially responsible and sustainable business.

Your team will produce a 10-minute recorded presentation (i.e. a powerpoint with a recorded voiceover submitted as a recorded video file) and should include:

1. An introduction to the team and each member’s specific responsibilities for this task.
2. An introduction to the company outlining its key business specialisation, industry and strategic developments.
3. An overview of the organisation’s approach to CSR with specific examples related to a specific business function.
4. A plan with recommendations outlining the steps the organisation can/should take to become more socially responsible, ethical and sustainable.
5. A reference list that includes all the sources used in conducting your research and presentation.

Assessment Guidance

Your group PowerPoint presentation would need to be recorded and uploaded by each member of the team onto the module blackboard Part 2 submission point before the submission deadline stated above and on the module eLP.  

Your group presentation will be based on the research conducted from academic sources (articles, textbooks, conference papers), government reports, newspaper articles, practitioner literature and your selected company’s website. You can also refer to the suitable content covered in lectures and seminars especially around responsible decision making, the triple bottom line, CSR and CSI and other suitable frameworks. You should also consider how the company meets its sustainability agenda.  

We recommend that for this part of the assignment you read business related newspapers and magazines such as Financial Times, the Economist, the Times, the Harvard Business Review and a range of academic articles published over the past 10 years.

Mapping to Programme Goals and Objectives

Module Level Objectives:

Knowledge & Understanding:

MLO1: Appreciate and critically evaluate strategic opportunities and challenges within a complex global business context.

MLO2: Evaluate the wider impact of strategic business decisions on social, economic and environmental contexts.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:

MLO3: Make theoretically and empirically informed arguments about the nature of responsible business.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

MLO4: Reflect on your interpersonal communication skills and with ability to work within multi-cultural teams.

Programme (Level) Learning Outcomes that this module contributes to:

Knowledge and Understanding (K&U):

6.1.1 Appraise knowledge of contemporary professional practice in business and management informed by theory and research. 

6.1.2 Appraise knowledge of business and management to complex problems in or related to professional practice in order to identify justifiable, sustainable and responsible solutions.

Intellectual / Professional Skills & Abilities (IPSA):

6.2.1 Evaluate effective interpersonal communication skills and the ability to work in multi-cultural teams. 

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural Awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

6.1.3 Appraise an awareness of the cultural and ethical contexts in which international business operates

ASSESSMENT REGULATIONS

You are advised to read the guidance for students regarding assessment policies. They are available online:

https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/university-services/student-library-and-academic-services/quality-and-teaching-excellence/assessment/assessment-regulations-and-policies

Academic Misconduct

The Assessment Regulations for Taught Awards (ARTA) contain the Regulations and procedures applying to cheating, plagiarism, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Systems, and other forms of academic misconduct.                                           

The full policy is available:

https://northumbria-cdn.azureedge.net/-/media/teaching-excellence/pl,-d-,005-v005-academic-misconduct-policy.pdf?modified=20230315105545

You are reminded that plagiarism, collusion, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Systems, and other forms of academic misconduct, as referred to in the Academic Misconduct procedure of the assessment regulations, are taken very seriously. Assignments in which evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct is found may receive a mark of zero.

Late submission of work

Where coursework is submitted without approval, after the published hand-in deadline, the following penalties will apply. For coursework submitted up to 1 working day (24 hours) after the published hand-in deadline without approval, 10% of the total marks available for the assessment (i.e.100%) shall be deducted from the assessment mark.

For clarity: a late piece of work that would have scored 65%, 55% or 45% had it been handed in on time will be awarded 55%, 45% or 35% respectively as 10% of the total available marks will have been deducted.

The Penalty does not apply to Pass/Fail Modules, i.e. there will be no penalty for late submission if assessments on Pass/Fail are submitted up to 1 working day (24 hours) after the published hand-in deadline.

Coursework submitted more than 1 day (24 hours) after the published hand-in deadline without approval will be marked as zero but will be eligible for referral. The reassessment should where appropriate, and as determined by the Module Leader, be the same method (e.g. essay) but maybe with a different task (e.g. different essay title) or with the same task (e.g. the same essay title) as indicated in the Module handbook.

In modules where there is more than one assessment component, Students are not required to complete all assessment components if an overall Pass Mark (40% UG, 50% PGT) has been achieved.

The only permitted exception will be in cases where the University is prevented from doing so by a PSRB requirement. In the case of PSRB requirements, a variation order will be required from the regulations.

In modules, where there is more than one assessment component and an overall pass mark has not been achieved, Students will be eligible for a referral* in the individual failed module and/or not attempted component(s) of assessment.

These provisions apply to all assessments, including those assessed on a Pass/Fail basis

The full policy can be found at:

https://northumbria-cdn.azureedge.net/-/media/teaching-excellence/pl,-d-,008-v005-late-submission-of-work-and-extension-requests-policy-stc.pdf?modified=20230401131943

Word limits

The word count is to be declared on the front page of your assignment and the assignment cover sheet.  The word count does not include:

If the assignment is within +10% of the stated word limit no penalty will apply.

Please note, in text citations [e.g. (Smith, 2011)] and direct secondary quotations [e.g. “dib-dab nonsense analysis” (Smith, 2011 p.123)] are INCLUDED in the word count.

If this word count is falsified, students are reminded that under ARTA this will be regarded as academic misconduct.

For those assessments where students are required to keep to the word limit, it is proposed that they should be informed that the marker will stop reading at the point when they judge that the word limit exceeds the recommended word count by more than 10%.  The marker will indicate the point at which they stop reading on the text. 

Students must retain an electronic copy of this assignment (including ALL appendices) and it must be made available within 24hours of them requesting it be submitted.

The full Word Limit Policy is available here

Time limits and penalties for presentations

The time allocated for the presentation must be adhered to.  At the end of this time, the presentation will be stopped and will be marked based on what has been delivered within the time limit.

Group Work

The group work policy can be found here

How to Start Writing Your Assignment

Appreciate and critically evaluate strategic opportunities and challenges within a complex global business context

Introduction

This assignment evaluates the strategic development of Unilever, a global leader in consumer goods, through the lens of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability. Operating in the highly competitive FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) sector, Unilever`s strategic position is distinguished by its commitment to integrating sustainability into its core business model. This approach not only addresses global challenges like climate change and social inequality but also seeks to drive long-term growth and competitiveness in a complex and evolving marketplace. The subsequent analysis will apply relevant strategic management and business ethics frameworks to critically assess Unilever`s opportunities and challenges in this context.