For this assessment you are required to conduct a capability (internal) analysis of your chosen organisation. A capability or internal analysis builds on an analysis of the resources and capability available to an organisation and an assessment of the relative value of these resources and capabilities. I am less prescriptive for this assessment item than I am for assessment item 2. Some suggestions (choose any one, or a combination of elements from these suggestions, or from Chapter 4 of the textbook): The Trafalgar paper (refer to the unit resources section) looks at an interesting historical example of how the physical, human and organizational resources of the British fleet assisted them in overcoming a numerically larger armada assembled against them. The authors note that even though the combined Spanish and French had superior physical resources, these were overcome by the superiority of the British human and organizational resources. The authors assess these resources using a variant of the VRIO (valuable, rare, inimitable, well organised) model, specifying those resources that led to the British fleet’s competitive advantage. This situation is often evident – smaller and more agile organisations often succeed where larger, more poorly led, organisations fail. Will Mitchell’s ‘Primer’ (available in the ‘Unit Resources’ tab) provides an excellent overview of relevant models that you could use to structure the first assessment item. Section D of this document is the relevant section. He uses the VRIN model, which is a variant of the VRIO model. The Trafalgar paper provides a great example of a creative adaptation of strategic management models to a not-for-profit example and context. Obviously Horatio Nelson’s objective at Trafalgar was not to make a profit, but rather to win a battle. However you will see how the authors have creatively adapted the RBV model to this context and objective.
