BU7405 Strategic Management Assessment Brief

This assessment brief sets out the instructions, requirements and marking criteria for the BU7405 Strategic Management written report at Chester Business School. The brief covers the task structure, learning outcomes, word count, submission rules and academic integrity expectations. Sample answer extracts demonstrate how to analyse strategic business issues using relevant models and frameworks. The brief also includes references, an FAQ, writing guidance and a follow-up assessment suggestion for the study session.

Assessment Context and Module Details

Chester Business School delivers BU7405 Strategic Management at Level 7. The module carries 20 credits and contributes 100 per cent of the total module mark through a single written assessment. The assessment asks you to produce a 4,000-word fully referenced report that analyses how two strategic business issues impact or influence a chosen organisation’s strategy. Submission is via Turnitin before 12 noon on the stated deadline. The module leader for the current session is Tao Chang. The module is not approved as an elective. The assessment tests your ability to critically analyse the characteristics of strategic decisions, evaluate the role of organisational stakeholders and how their expectations shape strategy, and apply appropriate concepts and principles of strategic management in an organisational context. The report must use appropriate models, frameworks and concepts from the module.

Assessment Task Instructions

You must produce a fully referenced written report of approximately 4,000 words that uses appropriate models, frameworks and concepts to analyse how two strategic business issues might impact or influence the chosen organisation’s strategy. You can use your own employer or select a large international organisation. The chosen organisation cannot be one you have already significantly referred to in other assignments or your dissertation. The report must include a brief introduction to the organisation and the sector it operates in. You must outline two strategic business issues, explain why they are strategic, and contextualise them within the organisational setting, including an overview of relevant strategic decisions that led to the current position. You must include critical analysis of why the issues had strategic implications and the impact they had on competitive performance, discussed through relevant literature and supported by contemporary examples. The report should be structured around these requirements and demonstrate critical engagement with strategic management theory, not just description.

Learning Outcomes Tested in This Assessment

The assessment tests three learning outcomes. You must critically analyse the characteristics of strategic decisions and explain what is meant by strategy and strategic management. You must critically evaluate the role of organisational stakeholders, structures and processes and how stakeholders’ expectations shape strategy. You must critically assess and apply appropriate concepts and principles of strategic management in an organisational context. The University of Sheffield explains that assessment briefs include a link to the marking criteria and that students should read the brief carefully before starting work, as many details about how to approach the assessment sit in the brief rather than the rubric. Mapping your report sections to these learning outcomes before you write sharpens your focus and ensures you address what the marker expects.

Formatting and Submission Requirements

Submit your assignment through Turnitin before 12 noon on the stated deadline. The module uses a Turnitin submission portal. Include the module name and number and your student number, not your name. Use .doc or .pdf file formats. The university cannot guarantee to mark incorrect formats. Do not leave submission to the last minute, and always allow time for technical issues. The date and time of submission are taken from the server and recorded when the submission is complete, not when you click submit. Check that you have submitted the correct file. Feedback will be returned approximately four weeks after the submission deadline. The report must be fully referenced using the Harvard style, and the reference list should include only sources cited in the text.

Marking Criteria and Feedback

Performance is assessed against the learning outcomes and the module’s grading criteria. The marking criteria weight four areas: knowledge and understanding of strategic management concepts, application of those concepts to the chosen organisation, critical evaluation of the strategic issues and their impact, and structure, clarity and presentation. The University of Sheffield advises students to engage with marking criteria early and to tailor their approach to each individual assessment. For this report, that means allocating word count to critical evaluation in proportion to the rubric weighting, and ensuring every section advances the analysis rather than repeating framework definitions. Feedback will be provided in writing and will indicate how well each learning outcome was met.

Sample Answer Writing Help

A strong response to BU7405 opens by identifying a specific strategic business issue facing the chosen organisation and stating why that issue matters for the organisation’s competitive position and long-term viability. A student analysing a multinational retail chain might focus on the tension between digital transformation and legacy store operations. The analysis then applies relevant frameworks, such as PESTEL to identify the technological and regulatory pressures driving that tension, and the resource-based view to evaluate whether the organisation’s existing capabilities can support a digital-first strategy. The critical evaluation section weighs the organisation’s strategic options against its resource constraints and industry structure, using evidence from annual reports and credible industry sources. The conclusion states which option appears most viable and acknowledges the limitations of the analysis. This structure demonstrates the critical evaluation the rubric rewards, rather than simply describing what the frameworks say.

For the critical evaluation component, the marker looks for evidence that you can judge frameworks, not just apply them. A student might argue that the resource-based view offers a useful lens for identifying capabilities that may confer sustained advantage, but it assumes stable markets and may underestimate how quickly digital disruption erodes resource value. The stronger approach names these limitations and then explains how they affect the analysis of the chosen organisation. Similarly, stakeholder analysis helps map the interests and influence of different groups, but it can become a descriptive exercise if the report does not explain how those stakeholder pressures translate into strategic decisions. A report that connects stakeholder expectations to specific strategic choices, such as divestment or market exit, scores higher than one that lists stakeholder groups without linking them to action. Chester’s grading criteria reward this level of critical engagement.

Frequently Asked Question

How do I choose a suitable organisation for the BU7405 Strategic Management report?

Pick an organisation you can access credible information about. Public limited companies file annual reports and strategic statements that give you verifiable evidence for your analysis. Large international organisations work well because they face multiple strategic issues that frameworks can analyse. The brief states the chosen organisation cannot be one you have already significantly referred to in other assignments or your dissertation. Avoid relying on personal familiarity alone; you need sources you can cite. Check that the organisation faces identifiable strategic issues that link to the module learning outcomes. If the brief does not specify a sector, the choice is yours, but justify it in your introduction and ensure you can find sufficient published material.

Why This Matters in Practice

Strategic management assessment mirrors the analytical work that managers do when they evaluate a market entry decision, assess a competitor’s move or justify a resource allocation. The frameworks you practise in this module, PESTEL, the resource-based view, stakeholder analysis and scenario planning, are the same tools used in consulting, corporate strategy and public sector planning. Learning to apply them with incomplete information and to acknowledge their limitations builds the judgement that employers value. The BU7405 report format tests whether you can research independently, synthesise evidence and reach defensible conclusions. That capability transfers directly to professional settings where decisions cannot wait for perfect data.

References

• Chester Business School (2022) BU7405 Strategic Management Assessment Brief 2021/22. Available at: https://www.coursehero.com/file/126116463/Assessment-BU7405-21-22docx/ (Accessed: 17 September 2026).
• Barney, J.B. (1991) ‘Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage’, Journal of Management, 17(1), pp. 99-120. doi: 10.1177/014920639101700108.
• Fleisher, C.S. and Bensoussan, B.E. (2003) Strategic and Competitive Analysis: Methods and Techniques for Analyzing Business Competition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
• Porter, M.E. (2008) ‘The five competitive forces that shape strategy’, Harvard Business Review, 86(1), pp. 78-93.
• University of Sheffield (2025) How to use marking criteria and assessment briefs. Available at: https://www2.sheffield.ac.uk/study-skills/assessment/literacy/marking-criteria (Accessed: 17 September 2026).

Next Assessment

Week 10 Assessment: Strategic Management Presentation (30% weighting).

This assessment builds on the written report and asks you to deliver a 15-minute individual presentation with accompanying slides. You will summarise the two strategic issues identified in your report, present your framework analysis and justify your recommended strategic option. The presentation must include a slide deck and a spoken narrative. Submit via the module portal by the stated deadline. The rubric weights content knowledge at 40 per cent, analytical depth at 30 per cent, presentation structure at 20 per cent and delivery at 10 per cent. Refer to the module handbook for the video upload instructions and file size limits.