Individual Project: This assignment requires you to act as a strategy consultant to an existing real-world organisation of your choice (or as a founder of your own startup, if relevant). Applying the concepts and frameworks introduced in the unit, you will develop two innovative business models for your chosen organisation centred on: (1) ecosystem strategy (e.g., open innovation, crowdsourcing, digital platforms), (2) sustainability strategy (e.g., ESG, circular economy, social enterprise), or (3) a combination of the two. You will present what you consider as the most suitable strategy, and concrete ways to implement the recommended business models, supported by a strategic analysis to arrive at these recommendations. This task involves drawing on strategy theories from the unit of study to inform the strategic initiatives, and presenting indepth insights and supporting evidence. You will share your strategic proposal in the form of a 10-minute explainer video. Additional details and resources for this assignment will be made available in Canvas and discussed in class.

Reflection: This assessment comprises two parts that ask you to reflect on the key concepts and theories introduced in this unit and your experience in making real-world strategic decisions during this unit of study. You will benchmark your insights against your learnings from two experiences that allow you to put into practice many of the strategy concepts discussed in the unit: (1) your participation in a two-day strategy simulation workshop, and (2) your journey as a strategy consultant in the individual and group projects. There is an intersubjective element in the format in that each student video interviews one other student in your group and, in turn, is interviewed by this student, thus leading a meaningful Q&A/discussion on each other's reflection. The video interview should contain in-depth reflective insights and a critical assessment of how the learnings can be implemented in your own (current or desired future) professional context. Additional details and resources for this assignment will be made available in Canvas and discussed in class.

Pitch Presentation: In this assignment, you will work as a group of strategy consultants to prepare a strategic analysis and recommendations for a real-world organisation belonging to specific industry sectors. In teams, you will analyse, assess, and propose a digital strategy for the organisation, including two distinct recommendations to grow the business in the short term (the next two years) and medium term (two to ten years out). To do this, you will apply concepts and frameworks discussed in the unit, and conduct in-depth research and analysis to diagnose the growth challenges and opportunities, evaluate strategic alternatives, and develop and justify recommendations that are desirable, feasible and viable. Groups present the proposal in the form of an oral pitch to a panel of experts and submit an annotated pitch deck. The objective is to convince them of how and why your team's strategy is the most likely to help the business scale and grow successfully. There is an opportunity to share progress and get feedback as you develop your project.

This assessment comprises two parts. In Part 1, which carries a weightage of 15%, teams will present a 5-minute interim pitch (followed by 5-min Q&A). Teams will get formative feedback after this interim pitch from the mentor, tutor, and peers to help develop their final pitch. 

In the final pitch, which forms Part 2 of this assessment and is worth 25%, teams will present their fully developed strategy. The 10-minute oral pitch will be followed by a 5-minute Q&A session. The live oral pitch will be supported by an annotated pitch deck containing extensive comments (in the notes section) to support the key points in the slides, and is to be submitted through Canvas by the specified due date.

The remaining 5% of marks is dedicated to the individual component, which includes each student’s contribution to the team’s outcome and the quality of feedback they provide to their teammates. Peer evaluation will be considered when assessing this individual component. Additional details and resources for this assignment will be made available in Canvas and discussed in class.

Participation and Professionalism: The grade for participation includes class attendance, punctuality, and in-class contributions. Students are not expected to have all the right answers nor are they expected to dominate the discussion. Students are required to come to class prepared having reviewed the online modules, be familiar with the cases and readings, contribute actively to class discussions, team activities and the group project, and also provide constructive feedback to their peers. 

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.