Monday

Question 1

Evaluate Robobryce’s Risk Register

Three pros, four cons

Answer 1

Pros
* Comprehensive stakeholders (employee’s, customers and suppliers)
* Comprehensive risks (operational and strategic)
* Maintains profitability by focusing on areas that threaten long term profitability

Cons
* Lacks any mapping / scoring / prioritisation (urgency vs importance)
* Lack of H&S for customers or employees
* Poor mitigation / lack of detail (ie. what will we do if risk occurs)
* Not enough risks on there (5 for a company that has revenue exceeding $14b)

Question 2

PESTEL Analysis Question

Answer 2

• Define PESTEL - a tool to assess external environmental factors
• Try to analyse the factors and have one pro and one con for each letter
• How do customers’ PESTEL behaviours affect our own image / reputation / finances
• Political - Regulation, GDPR, labour laws, government incentives
• Economic - global economic outlook, interest rates, currency fluctuations
• Social - consumer trust, ethics, environment

Question 3

Scenario Planning Question

Answer 3

Define scenario planning - a management tool to evaluate alternative scenarios of the future and plan strategies for those. Not for specific projects but for the wider environment and possibilities.

To assess potential responses to new business proposals, scenario planning will allow us to:
* Evaluate attractiveness of projects - customer projects are identified as being big commitments (risk register)
* Encourage adaptability - by preparing for multiple futures. We also know our demand is cyclical (risk register)
* Advising customers - by evaluating the future we are better placed to advise our customers on their needs. (Customers do change project specifications - pre-seen)
* Identify factors that could affect demand for our products
* Supplement other strategic models - could combine with PESTEL, SWOT etc. with one driving the other

Question 4

Strategic Analytical tools

Answer 4

Forecasting
* A prediction of future events and their quantification for planning purposes
* Trend analysis
* Time series analysis
* Regression analysis
* Econometrics

Foresight
* Foresight differs from forecasting in that it does not attempt to predict the future. Instead, it aims to identify a range of possible outcomes, based on an understanding and analysis of current trends.
* Organisations need to improve the 5 C’s characteristics in order to shape their futures
1. Communication - with one another
2. Concentration - on long-term outcomes
3. Coordination - enabling different groups to harmonise on R&D activites
4. Consensus - agreeing future research priorities
5. Commitment - to R&D advances

Scenario Planning - five steps
1. Define the scope
2. Identify drivers for change
3. Construct initial scenarios
4. Identify the implications
5. Develop strategies

Question 5

Dividend Policies

Answer 5

• Zero dividends
• Residual theory
• Fixed pay-out rate
• Constant growth