Strategic Decision on the Merger Between Microsoft and LinkedIn

All the requirements are in the document. In addition: 1. When applying Porter's Five Forces, it is important to analyse with the different industry players and the nuances of why and how they gain power.
2. the need to consider issues related to the ethical dimension of the company.

Assessment Task  
Assessment: 2000-word researched and referenced individual analytical case study

This assessment is worth 70% of your final mark.
Your task in this assignment is to compose an analytical case study about a specific strategic decision made by a particular organisation.

Your specific objectives are to:

1. Describe the decision.

2. Explain why the organisation made it. 

3. Evaluate the ethics of the decision and suggest what the organisation could have done differently.
Duration: N/A Word Count: 2000 words

Task specific guidance: 
To achieve the assignment objectives, you must:- Conduct careful research into organisation’s activities and the internal and external environmental factors that may have shaped its decision.- Apply the theoretical perspectives we discussed in class to develop a critical understanding of your organisation’s decision and reflect on its ethical implications.- Provide references to all your sources. 
Selecting the organisation and the strategic decisionAs you are expected to provide a detailed analysis of an organisation’s strategic decision-making process, you should select an organisation with sufficient information about its activities available to the public. The most natural choice is a large multinational or a major domestic organisation. The organisation does not have to be a commercial one. You can also select a public sector or a civil society organisation such as a government agency, educational institution, or an NGO. You must also focus your report on a specific strategic decision made by this organisation. This should be a decision made at a specific point in time. Examples of possible decisions include but are not limited to: - A decision to launch a particular product/service line. - A decision to move into a particular new market. - A decision to form a strategic alliance with another organisation. - A decision to sell off part of operations. - A decision to initiate a specific sustainability programme. - A decision to allow/supress labour union activity. - A decision that involved unethical activity (e.g. ignoring product safety defects, disregarding the wellbeing of specific stakeholders, etc.).The decision you write about has to be specific. For example, writing about ‘Volkswagen deciding to cheat on emissions tests’ is appropriately specific. Writing about ‘Volkswagen’s Corporate Social Responsibility policy’ is not as it is too general. 
Elements to be addressedThe following table outlines the elements you are required to include in your case study. 
An Introduction - Briefly explain what your selected organisation does (e.g. nature of activities, location, ownership structure). - Briefly describe the decision you will analyse. What did your organisation decide to do? Did the decision ultimately benefit the organisation?- Outline the structure of your case study.An explanation of why your selected organisation made its decision Every student will structure this session differently. Below are some suggestions of what you can write about. You are not expected to write about ALL these things. Instead, make a judicious selection of arguments that will allow you to develop a concise but effective explanation. 
- Explore the decision-making process: who were the key people involved, when did it happen, where, was it a planned and deliberate move or was it emergent/reactive?- If you are writing about a commercial context: did the decision involve defensive or offensive strategy?- Identify key specific factors and/or social actors in internal and/or external environment of the organisation influenced or forced the decision. - Reflect on the power structures and relations within which the decision was made. These could include broad ideological constructs, internal and external institutional and value systems, resources and/or influential stakeholders. This may be particularly important for the discussion in the next section. 
A reflection on the ethics of the decision and discussion of alternative courses of action. Base your discussion here on the results of your analysis from the previous section and your learning in such areas as stakeholder theory, innovation, business models, inter-organisational collaboration, alternative organisational forms, and ideological underpinnings of organisational practice. 
- Was the decision ethical? E.g. how did it affect organisational stakeholders? What kind of values did it promote in the society? How did it impact the natural environment? You can consider both short-term and long-term implications. - If you were a manager making this decision, would you make a different one? Could using a different decision-making process help you make a more ethical decision? 
Conclusion Clearly summarise your key findings and recommendations from the previous two sections.
Case study structure and formattingThe case study has to have an identifiable introduction and conclusion sections. The case study has to be written in a narrative form. You should tell the story of why an organisation made a particular decision. Writing narratives/stories is a complex skill, so be prepared to go through several drafts of your work before you make a final submission. Ensure that your writing is clear and logical. Your ideas should be interlinked, with points and arguments arranged in a logical order. You may consider splitting your case study into sections. You are also encouraged to use figures, tables and graphs to illustrate your arguments. Remember basic rules of good writing, such as: - Each paragraph should contain just one specific idea or point. - Sentences should not be too long. - Check your grammar, style, spelling and punctuation. - All tables and illustrations should be clearly formatted. - Your work should have a clean and professional appearance. 
Required researchYour case study must be based on thorough theoretical and empirical research. 
Use of theory: - Every argument you make in your case study must be grounded in one of the theoretical perspectives we discussed in class. You do not need to use all the perspectives we covered. Instead, you should select perspectives most helpful in the context of your case study. - Your use of theory should be creative, demonstrate wider academic reading and show understanding of how different perspectives are linked. - Please note that limiting your theory choice to the most basic strategy models such as PESTLE, SWOT and Porter’s models you will only gain you a basic pass mark (40% - 45%) at best. 
Organisation/decision research: - Your case study should also be based on thorough and detailed empirical research of the activities of your organisation. - Your final case study may not present all of the research that you conducted. You only need use evidence most relevant to supporting your arguments. For instance, you may conduct extensive research into the external environmental factors and find that only one or two of them played an important role. In this case, you should only write about these relevant factors and exclude other less relevant information. - Your sources of information about the organisation and its environment can include the following:- Organisation’s website and press releases, annual reports, CSR/sustainability reports, organisational structure charts, mission statements, etc. available on it. - Reputable newspapers and magazines.- Business history journals such as Business History, Business History Review and Enterprise and Society. - Books written about the organisation. - Government and international organisation websites – e.g. OECD, UNCTAD (The World Investment Report in particular), WTO, WHO, relevant NGO websites, etc. - Your sources must be trustworthy and reputable (avoid tabloids, ‘yellow press’, consulting company websites and papers written by other students). - It is not appropriate to use Wikipedia as a source at your level of study. If you find yourself reading Wikipedia articles, please go to the reference list and the end and explore the original sources instead. 
Word countThe maximum word count for this assignment is 2000 words. You are allowed to be 10% under or over the world count. Tables, figures, the list of references and appendices are not included in the word count. Be judicious with the use of tables and appendices. They should not be used to circumvent the word count. This means that tables should not be overly long or detailed, and appendices should only be used to provide brief supplementary information. Any information central to your argument should be put in the main body of your case study and not in the appendices. Do not exceed the word count by more than 10%! A mark penalty of 5% will be applied to submissions that exceed the word count. 
How to obtain help with your assignmentIf you have questions about your assignment or have difficulty completing it, please post it on the assessment discussion board on the module Brightspace site. If you send your question by e-mail to any of the module staff, it will be answered on the discussion board. Only questions of confidential and personal nature will be answered through e-mail. Module staff will answer your questions within 48 working hours (staff will not be available during evenings after 5 pm and weekends). Please note that tutorial leaders and the module leader will not be able to read case study drafts prior to their submission. However, you can obtain help with your assignment by doing one or more of the following: - Post the organisational decision you are planning to analyse on the Brightspace discussion board. This will allow the module tutors to advise you on whether this decision is appropriate for the assignment. - Post specific questions about your coursework on the Brightspace discussion board. - Attend the coursework consultation sessions that will be timetabled in your tutorial hours towards the end of the semester. - Study all the materials posted in the Assessment section on Brightspace carefully. Please do not leave it too late to ask for help if you run into difficulties. 
General study guidance:  • Cite all information used in your work. Try to ensure that all sources in your reference list are cited in the text of your work, and all sources cited in the text of your work appear in your reference list. 
• Reference and cite your work in accordance with the APA 7th system – the University’s chosen referencing style.  For specific advice, you can talk to your Business librarians or go to the library help desk, or you can access library guidance via the following link:o APA 7th referencing
• The University has regulations relating to academic misconduct, including plagiarism. The Learning Innovation and Development Centre can advise and help you with how to avoid ‘poor scholarship’ and potential academic misconduct. 
• It is possible to arrange 1:1 consultation with a LIDC tutor once you have planned or written a section of your work, so that they can advise you on areas to develop. 
• Do not exceed the word limit.