Description
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1st Assessment (60%): Individual work of 3000 words
Job description
During your studies so far, you have been exposed to a wide range of scientific fields, which
concern and provide knowledge in the management of businesses and organizations. Taking
into account this knowledge and in particular Business Strategy and Business Research
Methods, you are invited in this paper to combine knowledge, make appropriate analyzes and
propose concrete and evidenced solutions with a critical approach, to a real problem faced
(or faced in the past) a business of your choice . The unique premise of the job is that this
company has appointed you as an external consultant to propose specific solutions.
Specifically, from the print and/or electronic media you are informed about (and choose) an
issue (a business crisis or a new emerging strategic opportunity) for a business/organization
of your choice. On the assumption that you are an external consultant to this business (and
on the assumption that there would be an agreement to provide such services to it), you
undertake, with the knowledge you have, to analyze the business and its needs ( with
secondary research, from data which you can find on the internet, in industry studies , etc. ,
without coming into direct contact with the organization or its executives ) on the specific
issue, as well as proposing documented solutions with detailed planning in relation to the
company’s current and future activities . The emphasis should be on the Strategic and
Operational Processes, or on the Human Resources of the business.
Listed here are illustrative examples that you might find from the press. Let you be informed
that:
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In a Pharmaceutical company there is a drop in its sales in the last year in m
prescription drugs & nutritional supplements, which may possibly be due (also)
to the insufficient skills of its salespeople. To improve these skills, an appropriate
training program should be designed and implemented, given the financial
constraints ( eg net profits of the business from the previous financial year that
could be allocated for this investment).
A private clinic conducts extensive training of medical and nursing staff in
innovative intervention methods, to create a competitive advantage. In contrast,
a competing private group of Nursing Institutions will have to deal with the
competitive advantage that this clinic is going to create in order to maintain its
market share in medical services.
An international company in the clothing (fashion) sector, faces serious
accusations of employing minors in its factories in Asian countries. He should deal
with these categories at the level of Public Relations & Marketing .
Start-up company presents Pre-Tax Profits +45% compared to the previous, third
year of operation. This company is active in the catering industry and specifically
in the production of ready meals from organic products, with distribution in
Ampelokipi Attica and Ano Poli Thessaloniki. Should he invest these profits in
entering other markets in new products (eg meals) and how will he evaluate
these alternatives?
Correspondingly, any other issue may be selected for any company, in any industry, that you
may be informed by the press that the business/organization is dealing with. So in this case, if
you are the external Consultant you must submit a documented project, in which you explain
in a critical way what exactly you propose that the company should implement.
Detailed content of the work
The thesis must cover, through secondary research, the following sections, suitably supported
by bibliographic references to academically valid sources and sources of secondary data (data
from industry studies, from publications to articles of a valid business type).
1.
Business/Organizational Strategic Planning and consulting service
Analyze the information you capture from the secondary sources and link the resolution
of the issues you are asked to propose solutions to the broader strategic planning of
the business/organization.
2.
Analysis of issues and objectives of advisory proposal:
Sufficiently present and analyze the most important issues and opportunities facing the
business (the information from the press may refer to phenomena rather than real
problems). Identify the parameters that prevent the business from
exploiting/addressing these opportunities/threats. Present the ways your consulting
service will help the business address these issues (ie: brief documentation of the
consulting service’s usefulness on the real issues).
3.
Action Plan :
Develop fully and as detailed as possible the actions that must be taken for the
business/organization to resolve the problems that arise or to reap the opportunities
that emerge. Include necessary timelines for actions, milestones and assign tasks.
4.
Action Plan implementation and control/evaluation
Describe in detail the actions required to successfully implement the proposed
solutions. Propose specific ways of monitoring the implementation of the action plan
as well as methods of feedback to the processes for future interventions.
Proposed structure of the Work
It is expected that the work will provide clear and adequate answers to the issues raised, with
sufficient documentation. At the same time, writing should be economical in order to fully
cover the necessary structural elements, giving weight to the Analysis, Methodology and
Action Plan.
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Introduction
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Current Situation Analysis
o
Strategic Planning and Operations Planning
o
Issue Analysis
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Goals of counseling service
o
Problem formulation
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Research Results and Action Plan
o
Analysis of results
o
Action Plan
o
Action Plan Implementation and Control/Evaluation
•
Conclusions
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Bibliographic References (at least 20 official/academic sources, pay attention to HRS
formatting )
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Appendices (optional)
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS
The highest word limit of the paper (excluding bibliographic references, diagrams / tables and
possible appendices) is 3000 words, with a tolerance of +/- 10% on the word limit.
Evaluation criterias
Evaluation criterias
Weight %
Content
10%
Use of appropriate literature and sources of secondary data.
Analysis and critical evaluation of the strategic planning and
15%
planning of business operations
Issue analysis ( problem/opportunity formulation, causes &
10%
negative/positive consequences )
Advisory Proposal Objectives
10%
Presentation of research results
10%
Action Plan
15%
Action Plan Implementation and Control/Evaluation
15%
Structure- Academic Writing- References
The work follows an appropriate structure for the analysis of the
issues and the implementation planning of the proposed solutions.
Academic and neutral writing style. Correct use of grammar,
15 %
syntax and spelling
Correct presentation of in-text references and bibliography
according to Harvard Referencing System
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