Strategic Management Reflective Portfolio – Student number 21246765

In this reflective portfolio essay, I am going to discuss my learning journey in

the Strategic Management Module. In order to demonstrate a clear picture on
what I have learnt and developed in terms of academic knowledge, skills and
ability. I will review all the learning outcomes, and then I will reflect on my own
learning experience to illustrate what I have achieved over the weeks.

LO1: “have developed knowledge of relevant strategic management

frameworks to successfully carry out external analysis and apply this
knowledge in a wide variety of contexts”.

In week 4 and 5, I have learnt essential theoretical concepts in relation to

external analysis, and these theories include PESTEL analysis and Michael
Porter’s 5 forces model. I have learnt that PESTEL analysis and Porter’s 5
forces can be used by managers to critically analyse the different elements
and crucial scenarios of an external business environment (Johnson et al.
2014).

In addition, the process of writing up my group report allowed me to apply

theory to practice. Precisely, I integrated I PESTEL and Porter’s 5 forces to
analyse the UK Grocery Industry. As a result, group report helps me to: first,
develop my critical thinking and analytical skills; second, better understand
the political, economical, social, environmental and legal factors of the UK
Grocery Industry as well as the threats, opportunities and competitive
environment of the industry.

LO2: “have developed knowledge of relevant strategic management

frameworks to successfully address internal analysis”.

In week 6 and 7, I have learnt important theories in relation to internal

analysis, and these theoretical concepts include strategic capabilities, value
chain analysis, core competences and importantly SWOT analysis. The

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knowledge I have gained in the Strategic Management Module enables me to
better understand the business structure and environment of a business
internally.

In the meantime, the group report required us to analyse the competitive

business both externally and internally. The assessment assisted me to apply
strategic management frameworks to address analysis. I have adopted key
theories I have learnt in the class to critically evaluate the internal business
environment of Tesco. These theories included: Porter’s Value Chain
Analysis, Core Competency Analysis, SWOT and Bowman Strategy Clock
(Johnson et al. 2014; Renault 2014). As consequents, the assessment
enabled me to develop team working skills as well as the ability to link
theories with practice in the context of UK Grocery Industry.

LO3: “be able to analyse and evaluate case study information in a critical and
informed way”.

I have gradually developed my analytical and critical thinking skills since the
second week of my study. Over the weeks, I have gained valuable knowledge
and learnt essential theoretical concepts in relation to management and
strategy. Importantly, interesting case studies (e.g. McDonald, Nike, Brompton
Bikes, Apple, AOL, etc) the lecturer has provided in the Strategic
Management Module allowed me to link theory with real-life cases and
consequently helped me to analyse and evaluate case study information in a
critical and informed way.

LO4: “be able to identify key issues, evaluate alternatives and make
conclusions based on thorough analysis”.

The knowledge I have learnt assists me to better analyse and evaluate real-
life business problems and thus to design strategies accordingly. I have
analysed my own learning journey and summarised that I can be able to
identify core factors in the business as well as the industry, evaluate
alternative strategies and thus to make efficient solutions for the company.

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For example, I have learnt fundamental theories and concepts of practice of
strategy in week 2 and 3; I have also applied internal and external analysis
(week 4 – 7); I have learnt the different levels of alternative strategy choices
(week 8 – 10); and by the end of the module, I will be able to gain insights into
to the strategic methods and evaluations (week 11 – 13).

LO5: “be adept at accessing, selecting and utilising a variety of business

information sources”. LO6: “be able to formulate business reports and make
appropriate strategy recommendations”.

This module has guided me to integrate the different types of learning

resources, such as, textbooks, journal articles, websites and other online
resources. In the Module Study Guide, it has included a list of essential and
further reading materials and it has set an example and thus helped me to
develop my skills and ability in selecting and identifying academic materials
independently. Moreover, the writing up of my group report has upgraded my
research and information searching skills. For example, I used UK Grocery
Industry and Tesco as the context of my group report. I have learnt to access
and select academic articles with high quality and credibility (e.g. Harvard
Business Review).

In terms of LO6, the assessment of group report has assisted me to achieve

this learning outcome. The completion of my group report facilitated me to
develop an understanding of strategy implementation issues and problems as
well as decision-making. And the accomplishment of LO6 is highly correlated
to LO1 and LO2, which I have discussed thoroughly in the LO1 and LO2
sections.

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References

Johnson, G., Whittington, R., Scholes, K., Angwin, D. and Regnér, P. (2014),
“Exploring Strategy: Text & Cases”, 10th Edition, Pearson Education Limited.

Renault, V. (2014), Using Swot For A Neighbourhood Development Project,

[online], Available:
http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-
needs-and-resources/swot-analysis/example [Accessed: 8 March 2016].