Portfolio Part 3 Strategic Proposal Report: Strategic Perspectives for Finance and Accounting Question

Last updated 26 April 2025

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Portfolio Part 3 Strategic Proposal Report

ASSESSMENT FORMAT:	Professional business strategy document with report elements
ASSESSMENT WEIGHTING:	50% of the portfolio mark
WORD COUNT / LENGTH OF PRESENTATION:	2000 words maximum, not including title page and referencing list.

Portfolio Part 3 Strategic Proposal Report

ASSESSMENT FORMAT:	Professional business strategy document with report elements
ASSESSMENT WEIGHTING:	50% of the portfolio mark
WORD COUNT / LENGTH OF PRESENTATION:	2000 words maximum, not including title page and referencing list.

Download the answer to the above question here: Strategic Perspectives for Finance and Accounting Research Paper

The Strategic proposal report is designed to assess students understanding and application of strategy theories to the analysis of a real organisation. Students can select any organisation as the focus of this proposal, but you are advised to discuss the suitability of your choice with your seminar tutor.

Your strategic proposal report, will include:

Introduction to company and internal and external analysis
Literature review of your chosen business strategies and theories (500 words)
Two strategic models that the company could follow in order to achieve organisational objectives
Justification of your suggested strategies using SAF or alternative framework
Conclusion
Reference list

PLAN

You choose a company as the focus of your report

1. Introduction to company and internal (week 2) and external (week 3 ) analysis

nature of business
operations
key data

2. literature review

-500 words
The literature review contains an analysis of the theory you have used in your report
You can draw from module readings and conduct further academic research to find up to date discourse on the strategic theory and models you have used in your report
this section will be written in third person academic style and referenced carefully
The inclusion of recent journal articles is encouraged
Better written upon completion of your analysis and strategic proposals

3. present two strategic models that the company could follow in order to achieve organisational objectives

business level strategy (week 4)
corporate level strategy week 6
international level strategy week 7
each strategic proposal will include a justification of the chosen strategy week 8

4. conclusion

short conclusion summary of report content and strategic proposals

5. reference list Harvard

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Criterion	Weight
Business introduction & internal & external analysis	20%
Literature review	25%
Strategies suggested for business development & justification	30%
Application of theory, research & referencing	15%
Presentation, format of document, writing and communication	10%
Total	100%

Proposed structure of the strategic proposal:

Start your strategic proposal with a brief introduction, that explains the purpose and structure of the document.

Introduction to the company including an internal and external analysis

Literature review of theories and strategies you employ in your report (500 words)

Two strategic options that the company may employ to meet organisational objectives include SAF or similar justification of your strategic proposals

Conclusion

Reference list

Strategy proposal report layout and design

The layout of your strategy document may be based on a strategy document of another real organisation. The report elements of the document include a cover sheet, use of clear subheadings, report numbering where appropriate and clear concise writing style. Support the points you make with Harvard referencing. While some aspects of your report will be presented as written paragraphs your report will include four strategic analyses; internal, external, two strategic proposals with SAF justifications. These elements may lend themselves to being presented using charts, tables, and diagrams. Please check these strategy documents for inspiration and conduct further research on presentation styles:

‘Being Westminster. Our Strategy 2022-2029’:

University of Oxford Strategic Plan 2018-23:

LSE 2030 (strategy document):

Remember that the above examples of strategy documents layout do not include all elements of this assessment, literature review, reference list, that you are required to include. The examples above show useful layout and design. Please use short sentences, short paragraphs, pictures, graphs etc where appropriate. Your reader should be able to read your document quickly, therefore avoid long sentences and long paragraphs. Further guidance on the presentation of your Strategic Proposal will be available under Assessments and discussed in the final three lectures.

REFERENCING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ASSESSMENT

Statements, assertions and ideas made in coursework should be supported by citing relevant sources. Sources cited in the text should be listed at the end of the assignment in a reference list. Any material that you read but do not cite in the report should go into a separate bibliography. Unless explicitly stated otherwise by the module teaching team, all referencing should be in Westminster Harvard format.

If you are not sure about this, the library provides guidance (available via the library website pages).

Please check information about Westminster Harvard Referencing style here: The fundamentals of referencing at Westminster.

THE DEADLINE AND SUBMITTING YOUR COURSEWORK - CHECKS

Unless indicated otherwise, coursework is submitted via Blackboard.

The deadline for this assessment is at 13:00 UK time. This means that your work should be fully uploaded before 13:00. The University would treat your submission as late, if your work has not been fully uploaded and stored on the server before 13:00. In order to avoid your submission being marked as late, you should upload your work as soon as possible before the deadline and must not wait until or just before the deadline to start uploading your work.

At busy times the coursework submission process may run slowly. To ensure that your submission is not recorded as a late submission, avoid submitting very close to the deadline.

STRATEGY PROPOSAL REPORT RUBRIC

	Needs to improve 30- 39	Acceptable 40 – 49	Good 50 -59	Very Good 60-69	Excellent 70-79	Outstanding 80
Introduction to company & internal & external analysis 20%	Descriptive introduction to company, lacks relevant detail, Internal and external analysis lacks detail and support. Elements missing. Poor sources used.	Adequate introduction to company. Simplistic Internal and External analysis conducted. Descriptive in places. Some elements could be improved. More research needed.	Good introduction to the company. Satisfactory internal and external analysis conducted. Models & theory used in this section. Findings from this section are clear though some improvements could be made.	Very good introduction to the company. Effective internal and external analysis conducted. Good use of theoretical models. Identifies important aspects of the wider business context and clearly establishes direction of report.	Critical and reflective understanding of company capacity. Excellent application of models and theories. Detailed internal and external analysis. Analyses wider business environment, trends, and implications for company objectives.	Exceptional understanding of organisational capacity and wider business environmental factors. Exemplary use of theoretical models and research in this section.
Literature review 25%	Descriptive summary of some theories relevant to subject matter. Not well aligned to content of report. Poor research sources or lack of citations.	Descriptive summary of some relevant strategic theories and models employed in report. More engagement with theories introduced on the module could improve the work. Wider range of ideas could be included. Research sources could be improved.	Good evaluation of strategic theory and models employed in report. Good range of ideas researched and included in this section. Well-presented and referenced correctly. Draws largely from module readings and online sources.	Very good literature review, eloquent analysis of all theories and models used in the report. Research goes beyond texts presented on module. Evidence of developed understanding of ideas presented. Well researched, journals included.	Critical and reflective analysis of theories and models used in report. Extensive research, including recent journal and non-academic commentary. Excellent understanding of ideas outlined in this review.	Exceptional critical evaluation of the sustainable solutions. Analyses the wider context and implications for practice/subject.
Strategic proposals suggested for business development & justification 30%	Little evidence of engagement with this activity	Descriptive or vague strategic proposal. Student has not included all elements of this section. One proposal only. SAF or similar justification missing.	Two strategic proposals included, logical if undeveloped ideas. Strategic models & theory employed. SAF or similar justification attempted. Good response to company objectives but needs development.	Two strategic proposals included, well research ideas, very good use of theory & models, well referenced. Very good SAF or similar justification included. Very good response to company objectives, well presented.	Excellent strategic proposals, very well researched, ideas are presented in professional style. Excellent use of theory and models. SAF or similar justification, detailed and clearly linked to internal and external analysis. Excellent presentation.	Exceptional strategic proposals. Professionally presented and supported. Exemplary use of research, theory and strategy models. Excellent SAF or similar justification of theory. Evidence of independent thought.
Presentation, format of document, writing and communication 10%	Presentation criteria not met well – please follow presentation guidance.	Adequate report style presentation, although some information is disorganised. Make sure report numbers are used and sections identified with clear subheadings.	Good report style presentation. Sections are well organised with subheadings, good design and diagrams most of the presentation guidance is followed.	Very good presentation. Report style is consistent with guidance. Well written, well organised work. Diagrams and charts communicate effectively. Well-designed document. Improvements possible.	Professionally presented strategic report. Guidance followed carefully. Attention to detail. Very well written and organised report. Very good use of diagrams and charts. Well-designed professional document.	Exemplary effort: All assessment criteria have been met at an exceptionally high standard. Extremely professional strategy report, excellent design, use of charts and diagrams. Flawless document.
Application of theory, research & referencing 15%	Little evidence of research and lack of references to support your work. Poor use of WHR style. Reference list missing.	Research is acceptable but could be improved with more academic sources and citations. Referencing and reference list present. Style of WHR needs improving.	Good balance of academic and non-academic literature sources cited in your work Reference list presented. Competent use of WHR, although with some mistakes.	Very good selection of up to date academic and non-academic literature sources, wider research than texts included in module teaching. Reference list WHR style, frequent in-text citations frequent to a very good standard.	Excellent selection of academic and non-academic sources, widely researched, journals included. Excellent WHR style with only a few minor mistakes. Frequent citations. Reference list correctly presented.	Extensive selection of academic and non-academic literature sources including recent journals. Reference list presented in flawless WHR style. Rigorous in text citations in the correct style.