Guidance for the Essay Critiquing Organisations Development Activities
Students will base their essay content on the following:
Using the organisation Apple Inc.
Outline the organisations strategic development activities based on one or
more of the following areas:
o Internal Development/Organic Growth (including knowledge
management and environments); o Mergers and Acquisitions;
o Strategic Alliances.
Critique the strategic development activities your organisation has chosen, using academic literature;
Consider the impact of the activities undertaken by the organisation, in relation to themes such as stakeholders, CSR, etc.
Advisory Notes for Students:
The company you choose should have examples of current or recent (within
the last 2 years) strategic development activities outlined above;
The introduction to your essay should outline the strategic development
activities of that company which you are going to focus on in the essay;
The main body of the essay should critique the approaches of the company you have identified, using academic literature (predominantly Academic
Journal Articles);
If relevant, the main body should also consider the impact of these decisions
in relation other themes such as stakeholders or Corporate Social
Responsibility;
The conclusions should summarise the key points of the essay and make a
statement discussing whether the activities chosen by the company have been successful and any potential problems which they may incur.
Please remember that an essay is not meant to DESCRIBE what you have found. Critical Analysis means assessing the different academic viewpoints on a subject, seeing which literature agrees/disagrees with each other AND how that relates to your organisations context, in relation to strategic developments.