Organisational Scenario:

Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand is an international and domestic airline group which provides air passenger and cargo transport
services within New Zealand, as well as to and from Australia, the South West Pacific, Asia, North America and the
United Kingdom.
Air New Zealand also encompasses business units providing engineering and ground handling services. Subsidiaries
extend to booking systems and travel wholesaling.
Air New Zealand Limited (NZX: AIR, ASX: AIZ) is the national airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline
operates scheduled passenger flights to 22 domestic and 29 international destinations in 16 countries around the
Pacific rim and the United Kingdom. The airline has been a member of the Star Alliance since 1999.
Air New Zealand currently operates an international long-haul fleet consisting of Boeing 777 family, Boeing 787-9
Dreamliner, and Boeing 767-300 aircraft. Airbus A320 aircraft operate on routes to Australia and the Pacific Islands, and
on domestic routes. Air New Zealand's regional subsidiaries, Air Nelson, Eagle Airways, and Mount Cook Airline, operate
additional domestic services using turboprop aircraft. Air New Zealand was awarded Airline of the Year in 2010 and
2012 by the Air Transport World Global Airline Awards.
http://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/about-air-new-zealand

Assignment Requirements:
As an engineering management consultant you are required to advise the company on their strategic plans.
This includes an analysis of the influence which the external environment plays on the formulation of Air New
Zealands organisations strategy. You should consider the current situation of the company regarding their
employment, services that they provide, competitors, and their prices. And how this could be improved to
achieve better success.
You will be required to use the tools of strategic management to analyse and evaluate the strategic position
of Air New Zealands organisation and propose and evaluate its strategic options to meet its objectives and
make suitable recommendations.
You will be required write an individual strategic report (approximately 2500 words) to the senior
management of Air New Zealand highlighting the benefits and risks associated in the current set-up and
make suitable recommendations to champion the benefits and mitigate the outcomes of the risks identified.

Q1 Strategic Analysis:
The aim is to achieve an understanding of the key strategic issues, both externally and internally, that are
likely to influence the performance of the company into the future. You are required to carry out extensive
research to update the information provided, in order for a full strategic overview to be formed.

Q2 Strategic Options and Strategy Selection:

Develop a range of strategic options, their evaluation and the selection of the ones to be implemented.
Various models and tools that are part of strategic management theory may help you in your analysis. The
emphasis here is very much on widening the strategic perspectives and creating a cross-disciplinary
approach. Additionally, there is a key issue that has received research attention in management journals,
students are encouraged to introduce this into the debate presented in their projects.

Understanding is only achieved by interpretation of the analysis undertaken, and it is up to you as an

engineering management consultant to present a well justified and logical argument for the strategic plan
presented.
Justification should be made by referring to the relevant literature, or additional research. It is the quality of
the argument presented that will determine the final mark. Hence it is the data / interpretation of the data
that is important and not the volume of tools of analysis used.

Data Sources
Under no circumstances should you approach the case study company for any reason.

Additional Information
Here are some additional resources to use as a starting point only.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1603/S00790/air-new-zealand-launches-inspiring-voices-speakerseries.htm
http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/78159919/air-new-zealands-sticky-tape-solution-on-planeengine-shocks-nelson-woman
http://www.airnzenvironmenttrust.org.nz/
http://www.airnewzealandgasturbines.co.nz/

Appropriate Secondary Data Sources

It is suggested that secondary data sources are extensively utilised e.g. electronic library sources / hard copy
data / articles in academic journals / business press such as the Financial Times and the Economist class
notes should not be referenced and the popular press not be used. Wikipedia references are not considered
to be of the required standard and hence should not be included.

Final Reports
As in all decision making in business, generally there are no right and wrong solutions. Good strategic
decisions are generally recognised as those where there has been generation of several alternative
strategies, consideration of the likely outcome from adopting each alternative, and a convincing justification
for why the chosen strategy is likely to be more effective than the other alternatives.
The range of strategic issues that are to be addressed in the strategic plans presented, and the relative
emphasis that is given to each is part of the decision making process, should be decided by you, this in itself
part of the assignment. The content of your individual engineering management report will differ from other
candidates, there is definitely not one right answer.

Submission requirements

Students shall work individually.

The assignment is to be submitted in report format and as such should have a formal structure and
layout. It should be presented as a professional electronic document.

The total submission should not exceed 2,500 words.

This word limit is plus or minus 10% ( this is a typical academic standard) and
excludes contents page, reference list and any appendices
Exceeding the word limit by more than 10% will lead to the deduction of
marks

Assessment criteria
You are advised to consider the assessment criteria and ensure that these areas are covered in your report.
Assessment grading will be according to the following criteria:
Criteria
Marks
Remarks
a) External
Environment Analysis

20%

Analysis of both the General/Distant Environment and the Immediate/ Proximate

Environment, utilising appropriate strategic analytical tools
Strategic tools: PESTLE (10 marks), Porters 5 Forces (10 marks)

b) Internal Audit

20%

Analysis of both tangible and intangible assets, especially as regards the

skills/competencies available to the company, and to show an understanding of the
financial situation and core competences and competitive advantage.
Strategic tool: Value chain (20 marks)

c) Summary of analysis

10%

c) Strategic Choice and

Justification

30%

d) Presentation of report

10%

e) Additional reading,
to show deep
knowledge and
understanding, with
referencing and
supporting published

10%

Summary of key issues and justification of internal and external analysis.

Strategic Tool: SWOT (10 marks)
Identify 2 distinct strategic options for the organization (20 marks).
Recommend one of the two options, fully Justify your choice (10 marks).
N.B.: Your justification should be based upon, and reflect your responses to tasks A,
B and C.
Choose one of the alternative strategic options examined and present reasoned
argument to justify your choice of strategic option for the organization. Put forward
and argue the case for the strategic option you recommend, which will involve
identifying strategic advantages and countering potential weaknesses and
Presentation means clearly and neatly presented material with good use of English,
layout, clear and logical structure (introduction, main body and conclusion), visual
presentation, and clarity of expression. Clear professional report format is needed.
Any written work should read well and be concise as well as logical. Spelling
should be accurate and the overall appearance, including any graphical material,
should be of good quality to a professional standard.
Additional background and supplementary reading should be undertaken and
incorporated into the work. The report should contain references to relevant
published material which underpins the work. Correct use of the AUT APA
referencing system when citing literature sources is rewarded. In text referencing
throughout the report is essential to achieve full marks.

Grade Boundaries:
A + = 90%, A = 85%, A- = 80%, B+ = 75%, B = 70%, B- = 65%, C+ = 60%, C = 55%, C- = 50%, D < 50%

Grade

Standard and Academic Rigour of work submitted

Criteria (a)

Criteria (b)

Criteria (c)

Presentation of
material (Criteria
e)

Criteria (d)

(10 marks)
(20 marks) (20 marks)
(10 marks) (30 marks)
Material is presented in a
A+, A, A- Work is of an excellent standard and has academic
professional manner,
rigour. Work will be distinctive. There will be an
following an excellent
extensive use and application of key principles. There
clear and logical structure
will be a very high degree of comprehensive
to permit understanding
examination of key issues, reflecting the intricacy of the
of the strategic analysis,
strategic management process and the creativity to see
options and choice.
imaginative solutions.
Presentation of material
B+,B, B- Generally of a good standard, confidently and clearly
could be improved as it is
written, displaying an understanding of the issues in the
strategic management process. The work demonstrates an not to a high professional
understanding of the task, sound judgement and a grasp standard. Structure of the
of investment decision making and choices. Arguments are work demonstrated.
sensible and realistic, however there is room for
improvement.
C+, C, C- The work is graded at an above average standard.
The material is not
Generally demonstrates familiarity with the strategic
presented to a high
management process. Arguments are sensible and
standard. Unclear structure.
realistic but could benefit from improved clarity, fewer
Limited logic in contents
ambiguities and enhanced structure. Despite such
provided.
positive attributes, however, there will be room for
improvement on the above issues including the
sharpness of focus on the remit, and explanation of
ideas. The report does not communicate a convincing
argument to support strategy decision and choices, and
Work is presented to a
D
Work is of a basic quality with substantial weaknesses.
poor standard. Little
A weak answer which shows basic understanding but
evidence of content
constitutes no danger to contract administration
structure considered or
practice. The work is graded at a below average
no logical structure
standard. Generally the report indicates a poor grasp of
provided.
the subject matter. There is substantial improvement
required to the demonstration of the strategic
management process. Incoherent in most parts with
little evidence of logic or deductive reasoning.

Additional reading demonstrated

to show deep knowledge and
understanding and use of correct
references
(Criteria f)
Clear evidence(10
thatmarks)
background and
supplementary reading has been
undertaken and incorporated.
Contains references to relevant
published material which underpins
the work. Contains comprehensive in
text referencing AUT APA style.
There is minimum evidence of
background and supplementary
reading being completed.
Contains some references but they
are not specifically related to the
work submitted, or in text
referencing is not comprehensive,
or errors
exist in
referenceand
list.
Little
evidence
ofthe
background
supplementary reading being
completed. Reference material is
limited and is not specifically
detailed to relate it to the topic
and/or the reason for inclusion is not
explicit. Or in text referencing is
generally lacking, or a number of
errors exist in the reference list.
Very little of no evidence of
background or supplementary
reading being completed. Superficial
and descriptive text is provided with
limited analysis and referencing.
Limited reference list overall and very
limited or no in text referencing at all

ASSIGNMENT COVERSHEET FOR INDIVIDUAL WORK

Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies
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in for assessment is your own work. If you are uncertain about any of these matters then please discuss them with
your lecturer.
Plagiarism and Dishonesty are methods of cheating for the purposes of General Academic Regulations (GAR)
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Author: Academic Office, Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies

1 of 1 Subject: Individual Assignment Cover sheet

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Version 2.0

Issue Date: 01/01/2009

Last Updated: 20/07/2009