Analysis and Decision - Module Overview
The Analysis and Decision module forms part of the CIM Chartered Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing. This unit consists of three parts: strategic audit, strategic options, and making strategic marketing decisions. The overall purpose of the unit is to prepare students to undertake a strategic audit of an organisation, assess its capability and capacity to deliver the organisation's business and marketing strategy in a challenging, dynamic and diverse global market place, and to recommend a strategic option, or decision, based on a full critical evaluation of the various options available.
After completing the Analysis and Decision module students will be able to:
1. Undertake a strategic marketing audit, assessing an organisation's competencies, competitive advantage, market performance, customers, competitors, product and service portfolios, positioning, value proposition and market impact.
2. Assess the impact of external factors on an organisation and its strategic intent and direction.
3. Utilise the strategic marketing audit to critically evaluate a range of strategic marketing options available to an organisation, including innovation, mergers, acquisitions, partnering, alliances, environmental sustainability and CSR, in order to deliver best value growth and expansion opportunities for the organisation.
4. Utilise a range of financial and other measurement tools to critically assess the risk of strategic market decisions and their impact upon an organisation, including financial, corporate and reputational risk.
5. Utilise a range of risk assessment tools to critically assess the risk of strategic market decisions and their impact upon an organisation, including financial, corporate and reputational risk.
The following is a detailed breakdown of the Analysis and Decision module. As mentioned earlier this module consists of three key parts:
Part one - Strategic Audit
The strategic marketing audit: external (weighting 35%)
1.1.1 Utilise a range of techniques, processes and marketing information to assess the external marketing environment.
1.11.2 Utilise market-based information to critically evaluate an organisation's strategic position within the market place, including consideration of specific positioning issues.
1.1.3 Utilise a range of tools to critically evaluate an organisation's ability to understand its current customer base and their buying behaviour, in order to be able to develop customer insight and meet their preferences.
1.1.4 Assess the potential for strategic uncertainty in the external market and the extent to which it involves trends or events, and show how it will impact upon an organisation.
The strategic marketing audit: internal (weighting 35%)
1.2.1 Utilise a range of models and techniques to undertake a strategic audit of the internal environment.
1.2.2 Critically evaluate the resource-based view of an organisation and the value of this approach in developing resource and capability to deliver and organisation's vision and mission.
1.2.3 Critically evaluate the fit between an organisation's culture and its current strategy, and assess its ability to be flexible and agile in a changing marketing environment.
1.2.4 Utilise a range of internal information and assessment tools to evaluate an organisation's strengths and weaknesses in order to assess its readiness for development, including an assessment.
Developing the organisation's strategic intent and direction (weighting 30%)
1.3.1 Critically evaluate an organisation's current strategic intent, based upon its vision, mission, values and stakeholder expectations.
1.3.2 Critically analyse the role of strategic intent in shaping an organisation's strategy development.
Part two - Strategic Options
Assessing strategic marketing decisions (weighting 20%)
2.1.1 Critically evaluate the determinants of strategic options and choices.
2.1.2 Critically evaluate how strategic options can be developed to reflect an organisation's.
Strategic options available to a growing organisation (weighting 80%)
2.2.1 Critically evaluate the nature of innovation and new product development (NPD) in marketing and the related factors impacting upon marketing decisions, including on-going innovation management within an organisation.
2.2.2 Critically evaluate the appropriateness of developing an international marketing strategy for an organisation investing in international markets.
2.2.3 Critically evaluate a range of issues that impact on an organisation when entering new countries and markets and consider how they may be managed to achieve the organisation's objectives.
2.2.4 Assess the relevance to an organisation of mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances in growing, expanding and maximising business potential.
2.2.5 Critically evaluate a range of growth strategies for an organisation.
2.2.6 Critically evaluate the concept of relationship marketing (CRM) as a means of achieving growth and profitability within an organisation.
2.2.7 Critically evaluate the development of an organisation's brand and its contribution towards increasing the organisation's value and brand equity.
2.2.8 Critically assess the impact of changing an organisation's strategic position within the marketing place.
Part three - Making strategic marketing decisions
Making and justifying strategic marketing decisions (weighting 20%)
3.1.1 Critically assess strategic alternatives against pre-determined criteria for an organisation.
3.1.2 Assess an organisation's readiness for developing a global strategy.
Financial assessment of marketing opportunities (weighting 30%)
3.2.1 Utilising a range of financial tools, assess the financial benefits and risks for an organisation when selecting from its strategic options.
3.2.2 Critically evaluate the source of funds appropriate to the strategic marketing choice and the long-term sustainability and impact of their utilisation.
3.2.3 Assess the impact of the strategic choice upon the shareholder value of organisations in different contexts.
3.2.4 Assess the impact on the economic value of an organisation arising from specific decisions on expenditures/cash flows.
Corporate and reputational risk of marketing decisions (weighting 30%)
3.3.1 Utilising a range of risk analysis tools, assess the strategic risks facing an organisation in the selection of strategic alternatives leading to strategic choice.
3.3.2 Assess the potential for organisational constraints to limit an organisation's success in using any given strategic choice.
3.3.3 Asses the risk to an organisation of hostile or declining markets and recommend mitigation strategies.
3.3.4 Recommend a range of mitigation strategies designed to reduce risks, so as to enhance an organisation's selection of a strategic option.
Impact analysis of strategic marketing decisions (weighting 20%)
3.4.1 Critically analyse the impact of the priority decisions on an organisation.