This document outlines case study assignments for four groups. Each group is assigned to analyze one of InFocus's four business units (Beverages, Snackfoods, Supplements, Sportswear) using the BCG matrix, GE-McKinsey matrix, and Synergy matrix. They must also provide a recommendation for what InFocus should do with that business unit. The document also provides InFocus business statistics and outlines portfolio analyses and recommendations for each business unit.

1. Case Study Answers Week 7 and 8
Group One
In your group, prepare a business portfolio analysis on the
InFocus businesses
Focus on the following:
Prepare the following charts and plot the InFocus Beverages
business:
BCG matrix
GE-McKinsey matrix
Synergy matrix
Provide a recommendation advising InFocus what it should do
with this business
Group Two
In your group, prepare a business portfolio analysis on the
InFocus businesses
Focus on the following:
Prepare the following charts and plot the InFocus Snackfoods
business:
BCG matrix
GE-McKinsey matrix
Synergy matrix
Provide a recommendation advising InFocus what it should do
with this business
Group Three
In your group, prepare a business portfolio analysis on the
InFocus businesses
Focus on the following:
Prepare the following charts and plot the InFocusSupplements
business:

2. BCG matrix
GE-McKinsey matrix
Synergy matrix
Provide a recommendation advising InFocus what it should do
with this business
Group Four
In your group, prepare a business portfolio analysis on the
InFocus businesses
Focus on the following:
Prepare the following charts and plot the InFocus Sportswear
business:
BCG matrix
GE-McKinsey matrix
Synergy matrix
Provide a recommendation advising InFocus what it should do
with this business
2
InFocus Business Statistics
Market Statistics

3. Week 7 inFocus case
3
BCG Matrix
GE-Mckinsey Matrix
Synergy Matrix
Recommendations
InFocus Beverages: Star, Growth, Fit – Keep and invest in this
business
InFocus Snack foods: Cash Cow, Selective, Giver – Keep this
business but minimise further investment
InFocus Supplements: Question Mark, Selective, Taker – Keep
this business and consider further investment
InFocus Sportswear: Dog, Harvest, Misfit – Sell this business
Group One
In your group, prepare a report for Jackie on InFocus’s dynamic
capability
Focus on the following:
Explain the concept of dynamic capability
Discuss the principle of core competency and identify an

4. InFocus core competency
List three types of activities InFocus could perform to develop
dynamic capabilities and provide a specific example for each
Group Two
In your group, prepare a report for Jackie on InFocus’s dynamic
capability
Focus on the following:
Explain the concept of learning
Discuss how learning is captured and leveraged by organisations
Demonstrate how InFocus could apply the 5 why process to
learn more about its current processes
Group Three
In your group, prepare a report for Jackie on InFocus’s dynamic
capability
Focus on the following:
Explain the concept of integration
Discuss why the successful integration of strategic assets and
new learnings into business processes is so important
List and discuss three techniques or models that InFocus could
integrate into its current processes and recommend the adoption
of one of them
Group Four
In your group, prepare a report for Jackie on InFocus’s dynamic
capability
Focus on the following:
Explain the need for transformation
Discuss the factors that determine an organisations
transformation capability
List and discuss three reconfiguration strategies InFocus could
implement to transform its business and recommend the
adoption of one of them
8

5. 4/04/2017
1
Dynamic capabilities
Week 8 Workshop
MBA501 Dynamic Strategy and
Disruptive Innovation
4/04/2017
2
• Do you agree with American

6. businessman Bill Gates when he says:
Small Group Discussion
Success is a lousy teacher.
4/04/2017
3
Small Group Challenge
Ontario, Canada 2013
In groups, advise Jim and Mike what potential issues they
should perhaps be contemplating at this point.
Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, co-CEOs of
telecommunications
company BlackBerry Ltd feel as though their problems are far
behind
them. Their company has been named by Fortune magazine as
the
fastest growing company in the world, with earnings exploding
by
84% a year. The BlackBerry phone, with its full keyboard and
push
email, is the premier mobile gadget on the market and a “must
have”
for email obsessed business customers. It is such a popular and

7. addictive device it has been nicknamed the ‘Crackberry’.
Although the iPhone is growing in popularity, Apple is
specifically
targeting the consumer market and Jim and Mike sense the
BlackBerry’s dominance of the corporate market will remain
unchallenged well into the foreseeable future.
4/04/2017
4
Resource based strategies
• Many organisations follow a resource
based strategy of accumulating
valuable technology assets and
guarding them aggressively
• However, this strategy is not enough to
support a significant competitive
advantage
4/04/2017

8. 5
Organisational capabilities
• Resources are not productive by
themselves
• To achieve a result, a team of resources
must work together
• An organisational capability is an
organisation’s capacity to deploy
resources for a desired result
4/04/2017
6
Competitive advantage
• Of primary interest are those
capabilities that can provide the basis
for competitive advantage
• A core competency is a capability
fundamental to an organisation’s
strategy and performance
• They are the capabilities that an
organisation performs particularly well

9. relative to its competitors
4/04/2017
7
Core competencies
• Core competencies or fundamental
organisational capacities are those that:
o make a disproportionate
contribution to ultimate customer
value, or to the efficiency with
which that value is delivered
o provide a basis for entering new
markets
4/04/2017
8
Dynamic capability
• Rapid and unpredictable environmental
changes require organisations to
accumulate competitive advantage

10. through knowledge creation processes
• Dynamic capability is an organisation’s
ability to integrate, build, and
reconfigure internal and external
competencies to address rapidly
changing environments
4/04/2017
9
Sense, seize, and transform
• Dynamic capabilities belong to three
clusters of activities and adjustments:
1. identification and assessment of an
opportunity (sensing)
2. mobilisation of resources to
address the opportunity (seizing)
3. continued renewal (transforming)
In groups, discuss what Blackberry did not sense, did not
seize, and therefore did not transform.
4/04/2017

11. 10
BlackBerry
• In 2013 BlackBerry was one of the most
prominent smartphone vendors in the
world with 85 million subscribers
• The company’s share price has since
fallen in value by over 90%
• BlackBerry now holds a miniscule 3% of
the smartphone market
• What went wrong?
4/04/2017
11
Raspberry
• BlackBerry’s decline has become a
case study about what happens when a
tech giant fails to cultivate dynamic
capabilities in a consumer-technology

12. market evolving at breakneck speed
• The company failed to sense that
consumers – not business customers –
would drive the smartphone revolution
4/04/2017
12
• Do you agree with English philosopher
Francis Bacon when he says:
Small Group Discussion
A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.
4/04/2017
13
Small Group Challenge
Toyohashi, Japan 1899
Sakichi Toyoda, founder of Toyoda Loom Works, is working at
home when his five year old son, Kiichiro, asks him what he is
doing.

13. ‘I’m trying to develop a useful learning tool,’ Sakichi replies.
‘Why?’ Kiichiro asks.
‘Because I want my company to learn more,’ Sakichi replies.
‘Why?’ Kiichiro asks.
‘Because the more we learn the more we grow,’ Sakichi replies.
‘Why?’ Kiichiro asks.
‘Because we can change, we must change,’ Sakichi replies.
‘Why?’ Kiichiro asks.
‘Because if we do not change we will not survive,’ Sakichi
replies.
Kiichiro pauses for a moment. Then asks, ‘Why?’
In groups, help Sakichi find the answer.
4/04/2017
14
Three dynamic processes
1. Organisations and their employees
need the capability to learn quickly
and to build strategic assets
2. New strategic assets such as capability,

14. technology, and customer feedback
have to be integrated within the
organisation
3. Existing strategic assets have to be
transformed or reconfigured
4/04/2017
15
Learning quickly
• Learning is a process by which
repetition and experimentation enable
tasks to be performed better and
quicker
• Learning processes are social and
collective and therefore require
common codes of communication and
coordinated search procedures
4/04/2017
16

15. Toyota
• Toyota is often described as one of the
world’s greatest learning organisations
• One of several learning management
principles used at Toyota is a method
called the “five why’s”
• This simply means asking the question
“why” as many times as possible to
determine the root cause of a problem
4/04/2017
17
Five why’s
Boss, there’s a puddle of oil on the shop floor.
Ok, you better clean it up. Why is it there?
Because the machine is leaking oil.
Please fix the machine. Why is it leaking?
Because the gasket has deteriorated.
Let’s replace the gasket. Why has it deteriorated?
Because we bought inferior gaskets.

16. Let’s upgrade specifications. Why did we buy them?
Because we got a good price.
Let’s change our purchasing policies. Why the good price?
Because our purchasing agent is evaluated on
short term cost savings.
Let’s change the evaluation policy for our
purchasing agents.
4/04/2017
18
Individual Challenge
Consider a subject that you recently studied in which you did
not
achieve a high distinction.
Apply the 5 Why’s to reach a conclusion as to why that was
your result.
4/04/2017
19
Routines
• The organisational knowledge created

17. by learning resides in new patterns of
activity to solve problems or routines
• Collaborations and partnerships can be
a source for new organisational
learning, which helps companies to
recognise dysfunctional routines and
prevent strategic blind spots
4/04/2017
20
General Electric
• The GE Work-Out process initiated by
CEO Jack Welch is a series of
structured and facilitated forums,
bringing people together across levels,
functions, and geographies to solve
problems and make decisions in real
time

18. 4/04/2017
21
Building strategic assets
• Similar to learning, building strategic
assets is another dynamic capability
• Strategic assets are those assets
needed by an organisation –
technological, structural, financial – for it
to maintain its ability to achieve future
outcomes
4/04/2017
22
• Do you agree with American writer
Mark Twain when he says:
Small Group Discussion
Continuous improvement is better
than delayed perfection.

19. 4/04/2017
23
Small Group Challenge
Boston, US 1885
Frank Gilbreth, 17 year old bricklayer’s helper, has a problem.
The
survival of his employer, the Widden Construction Company, is
entirely dependent on the speed with which the bricklayers he
helps
ply their trade.
The men indeed work very hard, bending over many hundreds of
times a day to pick up bricks before buttering each one with
mortar
and gently tapping it into place with a trowel. Although the
bricks
themselves are not individually heavy - weighing in at only 2.3
kg
each - Frank notices they can be cumbersome and difficult for
the
bricklayers to initially grasp with their hands. He is aware that
brick
masonry is a proud trade with long held practices and traditions
but
he wonders if there may just be a better way to lay bricks.

20. In groups, suggest an improvement Frank could make to the
process of bricklaying.
4/04/2017
24
Integration
• The effective and efficient internal
coordination or integration of strategic
assets may also determine an
organisation’s performance
• The way production is organised inside
an organisation can be a source of
differences in the organisation’s
capabilities
4/04/2017
25
Lean production model
• Lean production or lean manufacturing

21. is a systematic method for the
elimination of waste within a
manufacturing system
• Lean also takes into account waste
created through overburden and waste
created through unevenness in work
loads
4/04/2017
26
Intel
• Five years ago the world’s largest
computer chip maker took 14 weeks to
introduce a new chip to their factory
• Since incorporating lean principles into
their production processes the company
has reduced the chip introduction
timeframe to 10 days

22. 4/04/2017
27
Kaizen
• Kaizen is Japanese for improvement
• It is an approach to production that
systematically seeks to achieve small,
incremental changes in processes in
order to improve efficiency and quality
• By improving standardised programs
and processes, kaizen aims to eliminate
waste
4/04/2017
28
Toyota
• The Toyota Production System
incorporates kaizen
• All line personnel are expected to stop

23. their moving production line in case of
any abnormality and, along with their
supervisor, suggest an improvement to
resolve the abnormality which may
initiate a kaizen
4/04/2017
29
Six Sigma
• Six Sigma is a set of techniques and
tools for process improvement
• It seeks to improve the quality of the
output of a process by identifying and
removing the causes of defects and
minimising variability in manufacturing
and business processes
4/04/2017
30

24. Amazon
• Amazon has an operational excellence
program that incorporates lean
production, kaizen, and Six Sigma
• Amazon has adopted a number of Six
Sigma concepts, including a deliberate
effort to recruit the finest thought
leaders from an exclusive selection of
top business schools
4/04/2017
31
• Do you agree with German philosopher
Friedrich Nietzsche when he says:
Small Group Discussion
A thought, even a possibility, can
shatter and transform us.

25. 4/04/2017
32
Small Group Challenge
New Jersey, US 2000
William Weldon, CEO of pharmaceutical and medical device
manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, has a problem. The company
is
losing market share in the increasingly competitive cardio-
vascular
disease market.
Johnson & Johnson produces two different kinds of remedies for
treating cardio-vascular disease. The first is a stent, a product
manufactured by the Medical Device & Diagnostics Group that
is
inserted into clogged arteries to hold them open and help blood
flow
more freely. The second is a series of drug therapies produced
by
the pharmaceutical businesses that include medicines used to
reduce arterial narrowing and anti-clotting agents. Sales are
falling
steadily in both stents and cardio-vascular drug treatments.
In groups, recommend a course of action William could take to
regain market share.

26. 4/04/2017
33
Transformation of assets
• Fast-changing markets require the
ability to reconfigure the organisation’s
asset structure and accomplish the
necessary internal and external
transformation
• Change is costly, and so organisations
must develop processes to find high-
payoff changes at low costs
4/04/2017
34
Transformation capability
• The capability to change depends on
the ability to scan the environment,

27. evaluate markets, and quickly
accomplish reconfiguration and
transformation ahead of the competition
• This can be supported by
decentralisation, local autonomy, and
strategic alliances
4/04/2017
35
Decentralisation
• In a centralised organisational structure,
the company typically has a
headquarters where key managers
make most of the important company
decisions
• Decentralisation is the process of
redistributing or dispersing functions,
powers, people or things away from a
central location or authority
4/04/2017
36

28. Illinois Tool Works
• Fortune 500 company Illinois Tool
Works is made up of 400 decentralised
business units
• There are no company wide, preset
benchmark profit goals
• Instead, senior management imposes
performance standards on the general
managers of each unit based on the
particular unit’s competition
4/04/2017
37
Local autonomy
• Local autonomy means an
organisation’s front line and local
managers have important decision-
making authority versus reserving all
critical decisions at the top
• This allows local managers to adapt
more readily to changes in the local

29. market
4/04/2017
38
General Electric
• General Electric establishes research
and development teams to create
products in countries like China and
India then distribute them globally
• The teams are given a high degree of
autonomy and report directly to GE
headquarters in the US rather than the
local company office
4/04/2017
39
Strategic alliances
• Organisational units can increase their

30. capacity for innovation by entering
internal and external strategic alliances
• Strategic alliances promote innovation
by allowing different people with
different skills to bring together different
products and technologies to satisfy the
unmet needs of customers
4/04/2017
40
Johnson & Johnson
• The multinational medical devices,
pharmaceutical and consumer
packaged goods manufacturer brought
together teams from its medical
products and drug business units
• The strategic alliance developed a
breakthrough technology for better
managing cardio-vascular disease
called a drug-eluting stent
4/04/2017

31. 1
Business portfolios
Week 7 Workshop
MBA501 Dynamic Strategy and
Disruptive Innovation
4/04/2017
2
• Do you agree with American
businessman Harold Geneen when he
says:
Small Group Discussion
It is much more difficult to measure non-
performance than performance.
Performance stands out like a ton of
diamonds. Non-performance can almost
always be explained away.
4/04/2017

32. 3
Small Group Challenge
Armonk, US 2004
In groups, suggest a strategy Sam could implement to address
the losses stemming from the personal computer business.
Sam Palmisano, President and CEO of multinational tech
company
IBM, has a problem. Although the company helped make
personal
computers a global phenomenon, its personal computer business
has lost nearly $1 billion over the last 4 years.
Despite this the company is still on track to achieve an annual
profit
close to $7.7 billion thanks largely to other parts of the
organisation
that are performing strongly such as the recently acquired
consultancy business, PwC Consultancy. The acquisition was
absorbed into IBM Global Business Services, increasing the size
and
capabilities of the company’s growing consulting practice.
Sam is happy with the performance of the company’s consulting
business but not the company’s personal computer business.
4/04/2017
4
Business portfolios

33. • Organisations are typically involved in
more than just one kind of business
• General Electric (GE) has 49 separately
managed businesses all responsible to
its parent company
• This is GE’s business portfolio of
strategic business units; profit centres
that each focus on their own product
range and market segment
4/04/2017
5
Product portfolios
• Each strategic business unit is made up
of a portfolio of products and services
• GE Money is a consumer finance
business that offers personal loans, car
loans, credit cards, personal insurance
and retail finance
• This range of products is GE Money’s
product portfolio
4/04/2017
6

34. Portfolio analysis
• Not all of the businesses in GE’s
business portfolio or even all of the
products within each business will
perform well
• Portfolio analysis helps organisations
identify those businesses and products
that should be maintained and
developed further and those that should
be sold off or phased out
4/04/2017
7
IBM
• By 2004 IBM's business had changed,
and it was interested in getting out of
the personal computer hardware
business
• So it sold its PC business to Chinese
competitor Lenovo
4/04/2017
8

35. Objectives and resources
• Business portfolio analysis encourages
organisations to evaluate each of their
businesses individually and to set
objectives and allocate resources for
each
4/04/2017
9
• What does German physicist
Albert Einstein mean when he says:
Small Group Discussion
We can’t solve problems by using
the same kind of thinking we used
when we created them.
4/04/2017
10
Small Group Challenge
Boston, US 1963
In groups, discuss some of the factors that Bruce should take
into account when developing his strategic tool.

36. Bruce D. Henderson, founder of the one-man, one-telephone
business consultancy Boston Consultancy Group, has a problem.
Billings for his fledgling firm’s first month are only $500. If the
business is going to survive he will need to offer his clients a
new
business strategy tool to help guide their strategic planning.
Unable to sleep one night, Bruce decides to take his dogs out
for a
walk around the neighbouring dairy farms. Beneath the bright
stars,
he walks his dogs by pastures of sleeping cows and asks himself
this question: what new tool can I create to help organisations
rank
their business units and product lines based on relative
performance
and potential for future performance?
4/04/2017
11
BCG matrix
• The Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
matrix is a strategic management tool
created by Bruce D. Henderson to help
organisations analyse their business
units and product lines
• Business units or products are ranked
on a scatter graph on the basis of their
relative market shares and growth rates

37. 4/04/2017
12
Cash cows
• Cash cows are business units that have
high market share in slow growth
industries
• They generate cash and are to be
“milked” with as little further investment
as possible since such investment
would be wasted in an industry with low
growth
4/04/2017
13
Dogs
• Dogs are business units that have low
market share in slow growth industries
• They generate little or no cash and
should be sold off as they depress an
organisation’s return on assets ratio,
used by many investors to judge how
well an organisation is being managed

38. 4/04/2017
14
Question marks
• Question marks are business units that
have low market share in high growth
industries
• Question marks have the potential to
gain market share and become stars
and eventually cash cows when market
growth slows; or if they fail to gain
market share they will become dogs
when market growth slows
4/04/2017
15
Stars
• Stars are business units that have high
market share in high growth industries
• Stars require high funding to fight
competitors and maintain their growth
rates
• If they are market leaders when market
growth slows, they become cash cows,

39. otherwise they become dogs due to
their low relative market share
4/04/2017
16
BCG matrix
?
Relative Market Share
M
a
rk
e
t
G
ro
w
th
R
a
te
4/04/2017

40. 17
Group One
In your group, prepare a BCG matrix plotting the
subsidiaries of The Coca Cola Company
Group Two
In your group, prepare a BCG matrix plotting the
subsidiaries of the Colgate Palmolive Company
Group Three
In your group, prepare a BCG matrix plotting the
subsidiaries of Mondelez International
Group Four
In your group, prepare a BCG matrix plotting the
subsidiaries of General Electric
Group One Group Two
Group Three Group Four
4/04/2017
18
• Do you agree with American
businessman Jack Welch when he
says:

41. Small Group Discussion
If you don’t have a competitive advantage,
don’t compete.
4/04/2017
19
Small Group Challenge
Boston, US 1973
Jack Welch, Head of Strategic Planning for General Electric,
has a
problem. He has performed an analysis of General Electric’s
business portfolio using the BCG matrix but is unsatisfied with
his
findings.
In groups, discuss whether you agree with Jack that the BCG
matrix is unsatisfactory. What are some of its shortcomings?
4/04/2017
20
Competitive advantage
• Competitive advantage is a condition or
circumstance that places an

42. organisation in a favourable or superior
position relative to its competitors
• It may come by providing the same
products and services at a lower price
or by providing better products and
services than the competitors
4/04/2017
21
• Jack Welch also said:
Learning and acting
The only sustainable competitive advantage
is to learn faster than your competition and
to be able to act on what you have learned.
4/04/2017
22
The GE-McKinsey matrix
• The GE-McKinsey matrix provides a
more detailed analysis of where
organisations should invest their cash

43. • It is a nine box matrix that enables an
organisation with diversified business
portfolios to examine a business unit’s
projection of its future prospects in an
industry
4/04/2017
23
Growth businesses
• Businesses with medium to high
competitive strength in moderately to
highly attractive industries are identified
as growth businesses
• Growth businesses are recognised for
increased investment and growth
potential
4/04/2017
24
Selective businesses
• Businesses with medium competitive
strength in moderately attractive
industries are identified as selective
businesses

44. • Selective businesses may be worthy of
investment but they are second in
priority to growth businesses
4/04/2017
25
Harvest businesses
• Businesses with medium to low
competitive strength in moderately
attractive and unattractive industries are
identified as harvest businesses
• Harvest businesses are recognised for
decreased investment; to be sold or
liquidated
4/04/2017
26
Market size and market share
• Each business is represented on the
matrix by a pie chart
• The size of the pie represents the size
of the market
• The size of the shaded area of the pie

45. represents the size of the business’
market share
4/04/2017
27
Competitive strength of business unit
High Med Low
In
d
u
s
tr
y
a
tt
ra
c
ti
v
e
n
e
s

46. s
High
Med
Low
Growth
Harvest
Selective Harvest
HarvestSelective
SelectiveGrowth
Growth
4/04/2017
28
• What does Filipino businessman
Henry Sy mean when he says:
Small Group Discussion
My basic strategy is to stick to my core
business, and to my area of expertise.
My businesses are all related – retail,

47. shopping centres, banking, real estate
and tourism development. Together they
create synergy.
4/04/2017
29
Small Group Challenge
Amsterdam, Holland 1789
Johan Rudolph Deiman, chemist and personal physician to King
Louis Napoleon of Holland, has a problem. Together with
fellow
chemist Paets van Troostwyck, Johan has figured out how to
decompose water by means of friction electrics.
The pair of chemists have invented an electrostatic machine that
passes an electric current through water successfully separating
the
chemical compound into its basic elements, oxygen and
hydrogen
gas. But when Johan studies the behaviour of these separate
elements he finds nothing that would help explain the behaviour
of
water, the complex compound they were derived from.
In groups, suggest a possible concept to Johan that would help
him explain this strange phenomenon.

48. 4/04/2017
30
• American systems theorist and inventor
Buckminster Fuller said:
Synergy
The word synergy comes from the Greek sin-
ergo, meaning, to work together. It describes a
mutually supportive atmosphere of trust, where
each individual element works towards its own
goals, and where the goals may be quite varied;
nevertheless because all the elements of a
synergetic system support one another, they
also support the whole.
4/04/2017
31
Business portfolio synergy
• One issue with these matrices is that by
focusing on the most profitable

49. businesses, organisations drive out
synergies for sharing resources
• What happens for instance if a dog and
a cash cow share key productive
resources or technologies?
• Killing the dog can butcher the
economies of the cash cow
4/04/2017
32
Synergistic portfolio analysis
• A synergistic portfolio analysis charts
the benefits businesses receive by
virtue of being in a portfolio versus out
of it (“incoming benefit”)
• It also examines the net impact
businesses have on the rest of the
portfolio (“outgoing benefit”)
4/04/2017
33
Fits and misfits
• Businesses that have high incoming

50. and high outgoing benefit are two sided
synergistic and “fit” well in the portfolio
• Businesses that have low incoming and
low outgoing benefit are not synergistic
and are “misfits”: they do not fit well in
the portfolio
4/04/2017
34
+
-
O
u
tg
o
in
g
:
B
e
n
e
fi
t
to

51. p
o
rt
fo
lio
Incoming:
Benefits from belonging
to portfolio
+-
Fits
Misfits
4/04/2017
35
Givers and takers
• Some businesses that have low
incoming but high outgoing benefit are
“givers”
• Some businesses that have high
incoming but low outgoing benefit are
“takers”
• Givers and takers sit above the
“threshold of acceptance” and are worth

52. continued investment
4/04/2017
36
+
-
O
u
tg
o
in
g
:
B
e
n
e
fi
t
to
p
o
rt
fo

53. lio
Incoming:
Benefits from belonging
to portfolio
+-
Fits
Misfits
Takers
Givers
4/04/2017
37
Altruists and parasites
• Other businesses that have low
incoming but high outgoing benefit are
“altruists”
• Other businesses that have high
incoming but low outgoing benefit are
“parasites”
• Altruists and parasites sit below the
“threshold of acceptance” and should
be slated for minimal investment or sold

54. 4/04/2017
38
+
-
O
u
tg
o
in
g
:
B
e
n
e
fi
t
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55. Benefits from belonging
to portfolio
+-
Fits
Misfits
Parasites
Takers
Altruists
Givers
Page 1 Kaplan Business School
Assessment Outline
Assessment 1 Information
Subject Code: MBA501
Subject Name: Dynamic Strategy and Disruptive Innovation
Assessment Title: Business Portfolio and Dynamic Capability
Slide Presentation
Assessment Type: Presentation - 25 slides

56. Weighting: 30 %
Total Marks: 30
Submission: Turnitin
Due Date: Week 10
Your Task
You are required to review an organisation case study including
statistical information on
business unit performance and current market conditions. The
case study to be shared
among students in week 7.
Assessment Description
The case study will also include information regarding the
organisation’s current
capacity to respond effectively to change.
You must then prepare a Business Portfolio and Dynamic
Capability Slide Presentation
using the following headings:
A. Business Portfolio Analysis

57. Plot each business unit on a BCG matrix, GE-McKinsey matrix,
and Synergy matrix.
B. Business Portfolio Recommendations
Provide recommendations to the organisation for the strategic
management of each
business unit with explanations for each recommendation.
C. Dynamic Capability Analysis
Prepare an assessment of the organisation’s dynamic capability
including its capacity to:
1. Identify and assess opportunities
2. Mobilise resources
3. Transform and reconfigure strategic assets
D. Dynamic Capability Recommendations
Provide recommendations to the organisation for enhancing
overall dynamic capability
with explanations for each recommendation.
Page 2 Kaplan Business School
Assessment Outline

58. Assessment Instructions
o Should not go beyond 25 slides.
o Slide/s should be allocated for references – these slides will
not be considered in the
slide count (25).
o Incorporate journal articles, prescribed text, other books, etc.
into the analysis.
o You are not expected to research the different industries
mentioned in the case
study. The focus should be on researching, analysing, and
applying portfolio
management and dynamic capability related theories, concepts,
and scholarly views.
o Concepts relevant for this assignment will be in workshops 7
and 8.
o Need to use the notes pane to explain the points/ analysis
indicated in the slides. The
write up in the notes pane should not exceed 150 words per
slide. Use the notes
pane only when it is necessary.

59. o A sample slide template (structure and key slides) will be
shared with the case study.
o Study the attached assessment rubric carefully.
o Watch the assignment briefing webinar conducted by the
Subject Coordinator – refer
subject welcome message from the Coordinator for the date and
time.
Page 3 Kaplan Business School
Assessment Outline
Important Study Information
Academic Integrity Policy
KBS values academic integrity. All students must understand
the meaning and consequences
of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the
Academic Integrity and Conduct
Policy.
What is academic integrity and misconduct?

60. What are the penalties for academic misconduct?
What are the late penalties?
How can I appeal my grade?
Click here for answers to these questions:
http://www.kbs.edu.au/current-students/student-policies/.
Word Limits for Written Assessments
Submissions that exceed the word limit by more than 10% will
cease to be marked from the point
at which that limit is exceeded.
Study Assistance
Students may seek study assistance from their local Academic
Learning Advisor or refer to the
resources on the MyKBS Academic Success Centre page. Click
here for this information.
Page 4 Kaplan Business School
Assessment Outline
Assessment Marking Guide
Criteria Fail below 50% Pass 50% - 64% Credit 65%– 74%

61. Distinction 75%-84% High Distinction over 85%
Business Portfolio
analysis
(7)
Understanding of
concepts and
appropriate plotting
of companies
Weak understanding of
portfolio management
related concepts and
incorrect plotting of
companies
Basic understanding of
Portfolio management
concepts. Plotted the
companies correctly to some
extent but the analysis is
incomplete or lacks depth.
Demonstrated an adequate
understanding of portfolio concepts
and sufficient application. Plotted
the companies correctly and

62. justified the analysis with some
literature integration.
Good understanding of portfolio
management related concepts.
Correctly plotted the companies and
provided an extensive analysis by
justifying and integrating journal
articles, prescribed text, other books,
verified websites, etc.
Demonstrated a very good
understanding of Portfolio
management related concepts.
Comprehensive analysis with a
significant number of scholarly views
and literature integrated into the
analysis.
Business Portfolio
recommendations
(5)
Integration of
literature and

63. justification
Insufficient justification of
recommendations.
Basic recommendations and
insufficient justification. Some
evidence of research.
Sufficient indication of
recommendations. Provided
adequate justification and some
literature support.
Recommendations are in line with
the analysis.
Provided sound justification for the
recommendations. Integrated journal
articles, prescribed text, other books,
verified websites, etc. to some extent.
Comprehensive recommendations
are covering multiple aspects.
Provided very good justification.
Evidence of extensive research and
analysis: journals, prescribed text,
other books, verified websites, etc.
Dynamic Capability
analysis

64. (7)
Understanding and
integration of
Dynamic Capability
concepts/literature
into the analysis
Insufficient understanding of
dynamic capability related
concepts. No evidence of
research.
Basic understanding of
dynamic capability related
concepts but limited
application. Some evidence of
research but the analysis is
superficial.
Sufficient integration of dynamic
capability related concepts. Applied
the concepts to the case study
company adequately and
integrated literature into the
analysis.
Demonstrated a good understanding

65. of dynamic capability related
concepts. Integrated journal articles,
prescribed text, other books, verified
websites, etc. into the analysis and
applied the concepts well.
Demonstrated a very good
understanding of dynamic capability
related concepts. Presented
arguments based on journal articles,
prescribed text, other books, verified
websites, etc. Comprehensive
application of concepts.
Dynamic Capability
recommendations
(5)
Sound
recommendations
with justification
Recommendations are
missing or insufficient
justification.

66. Recommendations are very
general in nature. Insufficient
justification. Some evidence
of research.
Sufficient indication of the
recommendations. Provided
adequate justification and some
literature support.
Recommendations are in line with
the analysis.
Provided sound justification for the
recommendations. Integrated journal
articles, prescribed text, other books,
verified websites, etc. to some extent
in the justification.
Comprehensive recommendations
covering multiple aspects. Provided
very good justification. Evidence of
extensive research and analysis:
journals, prescribed text, other
books, verified websites, etc.
Structure
(6)

67. Adherence to KBS
referencing
guidelines and slide
construction skills;
amount of text,
logical use of
images, colour
schemes, fonts, use
of slide space, notes
pane, and
professional feel to
slides.
No structure to the
assessment. The Slides are
text-heavy, busy, and
audience unfriendly (colour
schemes, fonts, layout,
efficient use of slide space,
etc.). Non-adherence to
KBS referencing guidelines.
Followed KBS referencing
guidelines sufficiently. Slides
are reasonably professional;
somewhat text-heavy, busy

68. but audience-friendly. Utilised
the notes pane adequately.
Followed KBS referencing
conventions sufficiently. Slides are
good; sufficient amount of text,
used slide space efficiently, colour
schemes, fonts, etc. Utilised the
notes pane adequately.
Good slide construction skills. The
right amount of text supported by
notes in the notes pane. The slide
deck is audience-friendly. Followed
KBS referencing conventions well.
Audience friendly slide deck with
very good slide construction skills.
Utilised slide space effectively and
integrated images, fonts, colour
schemes, etc. in a professional
manner. Followed KBS referencing
guidelines well and used the notes
pane well.