04 Jul Proposal Individual

Some Key Highlights are as follows: A strategy is a way in which an organisation achieves its objectives. Strategies can be seen at three levels in an organisation (corporate, business and functional/departmental). A corporate-level strategy is at the highest level which sets long-term direction and scope for the entire organisation. A business-level strategy is concerned with how to compete in the market. It defines how the company’s products/services will get a competitive advantage (price, quality, speed, innovation, etc). Functional/divisional level strategy is concerned with managing resources within the functional unit to contribute to the business strategy of the organisation. Operations strategy is concerned with developing organisational capabilities to reflect the competitive needs of its markets. The success of an organisation depends on its operational capability. Therefore, operations can provide a competitive advantage. An operations strategy that is supportive of the business strategy can increase the chances of achieving a competitive advantage. Operations of these organisations are likely to be the best in the industry. Organisations that have prioritised operations in strategy making can achieve a competitive advantage through their ability to innovate and adapt to market changes. These organisations set the standards in their industry. Strategic management is a three-step process of strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation. Evaluation of the external environment (socio-cultural, political, economic, legal, competitors, etc.) helps to identify opportunities and threats in the markets. Evaluation of the internal environment (resources within the organisation) helps to identify the areas an organisation is good at (strengths) and does not perform well (weaknesses). Operations strategies can be developed in response to the market needs (market-based approach) or based on the operational capabilities of an organisation (resource-based approach). In reality, an operations strategy does not evolve purely based on one of these approaches. It reconciles market requirements with operational capabilities. Operations strategy involves taking decisions of physical attributes of operations (facility location, capacity, processes, product design, supply and distribution network, etc) and managing of these physical attributes (planning, scheduling, inventory management, operations improvement, etc.) These decision areas represent activities that an organisation perform to deliver valuable product/service to markets. Therefore, operations strategy is about making value chain decisions. An important decision of an organisation’s value chain a manager makes is whether to integrate vertically (forward – increases the control of distribution, backward – increases ownership of the supply side) or outsource (hiring an outside party to supply).The above-mentioned highlights as well as Understanding and knowing what are CATWOE and Rich Picture and how they can be helpful in overcoming a complex business problem are very important information in this subject.  For Assessment 1 (Part A) you require to do the following 4 tasks: Choose a REAL “local” OR “global” organisation that is currently facing significant issue(s)/problem(s)/consequence(s). Due to the word count limit, please only focus on 1 or 2 issues/problems/consequences.  Identify the “intended or unintended” consequences of such issue(s) on various (Internal and/or external) stakeholders of your chosen organisation.  Critically analyse how a Systems thinking approach can assist in making optimal decisions to overcome such issue(s)/problem(s)/consequence(s). Finally, recommend/propose alternative solutions/policies/procedures using the “Systems Thinking” approach to help the organisation to overcome its issue(s)/problem(s)/consequence(s). Important Information: Assessment 1 (Part A) should be holistic and should be a maximum of 500 words and is an “individual” proposal. Simply this means that you need to develop and write your assessment on your own. Consider using Systems Thinking tools such as Rich Pictures and CATWOE, etc. Please make sure to “provide a brief rationale of why it is important to use Systems Thinking and relevant tools/techniques to solve the identified organisational problem to minimise consequences”. Please make sure to include at least 3 academic-related (peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, conference papers) references in your Assessment 1 (Part A). Please also keep in mind that all the in-text citations/references should be listed at the end of your writings in the “References” section. References within the “References” the section should be alphabetically listed. Please be advised that the referencing needs to be done based on APA 6th Ed Referencing Style Guide.pdf  Please remember to attach your Assessment 1 (Part A) SafeAssign Report when submitting your Assessment 1 (Part A) as it is required and without it the marking process can be affected. Please also, keep in mind that it may take up to 24 hours to have the SafeAssign Report at your end; therefore, make sure to plan ahead and get the required tasks completed as early as possible and before the deadline. Furthermore, please keep in mind that Torrens University is committed to deal with allegations of any academic misconduct. This is clearly highlighted in the related Academic Integrity Policies Document which is accessible via the university website. So please make sure to review this policy and the shared AI Infographic.