saudi aramco went official nearly one year ago public B u s i n e s s F i n a n c e

TMA Topic overview: Strategic Analysis for an Organization

-Strategy tools are vital for business and competitive analysis. These tools vary in terms of the level of analysis as some are found to be more suitable for analyzing the internal environment while others are more practical for the external environment analysis. How useful these strategic tools and models in helping decision-makers at organizations to make a better decision is a noteworthy question for investigation.

-This TMA is meant to assess the student’s ability in understanding, and application of the course materials and ideas from external sources, as well as to student’s reflection and critical thinking. It is also intended to test the student’s ability to argue relevantly and to justify a point of view besides, constructing, defending and evaluating an argument, using relevant evidence and giving reasons for conclusions.

INSTRUCTIONS

This TMA must be done with strict compliance to the guidelines and instructions stated, otherwise there will be penalties in form of marks deduction as per the university’s policy. Submitted work copied from or written jointly with others is not acceptable.Submitting work that has been done by someone else and persistent borrowing of other people’s work without citation are obvious instances of plagiarism and are regarded as cheating. If a case of plagiarism is proven, this is a serious offence and the disciplinary procedures will be followed, as described under the Examination Policy of the AOU. Cases of plagiarism will receive a mark of “Zero” on the assignment. Please refer to AOU plagiarism policy.

1. TMA must be written in ESSAY (discussion) format, bullet points and numbering not allowed

2. Word count should be exact with 10% (More/less) tolerance.

3. You must acknowledge all sources of information using Harvard Style Referencing (In-text referencing plus list of references at the end). Minimum of 3 references are required. MUST include E-library and course materials. Wikipedia is not recommended as a reference.

5.Copy and paste-plagiarized work will be detected by TURNITIN and heavily penalized.

6. Strictly use the PT3 form accompanying this TMA.

7. You should present a well-structured and organized piece of work that is of your own.

N.B-1: Grades deduction will be implemented if you did not comply with the following criteria:

• Proper referencing (Harvard style referencing) – Deductions could be up to 5 grades.
• Presentation (including Pt#3 form)- Deductions could be up to 5 grades.
• Adherence to specified word count – Deductions could be up to 5 grades.
• Use of the E-library/External resources – Deductions could be up to 5 grades.

N.B-2: TMA is meant to respond to recommendations given by EE to encourage and develop greater critical analytical skills especially at level 6, by encouraging students to read more widely and encouraging students to reflect on the application of the course theories and concepts

TMA Topic

• Analyzing an organization

• You should use publicly available information to begin your analysis: the organization’s Web site is often the best starting point. Remember, however, that you are using the Web site as a source of data for the analysis; do not simply copy material off the Web site. Your assignment is an analysis, not a data-dump.
• You may need to contact at least one member of the organization (either a current member or one who has recently left it). It can be very useful to make an initial contact with your informant early in the research process, to ensure that the person is indeed willing to talk with you. You will find the informant most useful, however, after you have done the preliminary work with the publicly available materials.
• The purpose of the assignment is to develop your ability to use the conceptual frameworks and tools from the course. Also, to create a complete and a persuasive critical analysis answering, and in an essay format the following TMA four questions.

Aramco

Following years of discussions about a part of oil giant, Saudi Aramco went official nearly one year ago public, the company is up for trade and investors want in. On its second day at market, the company’s valuation went up to $2 trillion – as predicted by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. The state owned, oil company was valued by critics at around $1.7 trillion prior to the company going public, but Saudi Aramco did indeed exceed expectations by over $300 billion USD.

The COVID-19 pandemic situation affected the demand for the oil market. The recent demand for oil weakened from COVID-19. All major oil companies have taken a hit following the outburst of the pandemic. In fact, the mandatory world-wide lockdowns of many economies to contain the coronavirus limited travel within and between continents, weakened international trade and slumped down production in nearly all industrial economies and shake the balance between supply and demand of products. These repercussions reduced oil consumption which sent prices tumbling to levels not seen in nearly two decades. However, if the COVID-19 crisis accelerates, Aramco management of the oil market should shift from defending prices to battling for market share. In this scenario, since Aramco is already the world’s largest single exporter of crude oil could provide some competitive advantage.

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You should answer the following four questions:

Q1. Critically discuss the key factors and forces in the general and industry environments that affect the demand for crude oil and consequently Aramco. (30 marks-700 words).

Q2. Based on your findings in question 1, discuss how the pandemic COVID-19 affected Aramco demand for crude oil and its byproducts. From your own perspective, what should Aramco do to keep its position as the world’s largest exporter of crude oil if this situation prevailed? (20 marks-300 words)

Q3. Discuss whether Aramco world-wide market position is supported by its value chain and other key internal resources. Identify problems you think they are facing in respect to current COVID-19 pandemic situation.(30 marks- 700 words)

Q4. Discuss how COVID-19 pandemic affected the Business–Level-strategy of Aramco petrochemical division. Suggest ways by which this division may sustain its competitive position in future. (20 marks- 300 words)

-End of Questions-