Describe briefly the background information (strategic context) of the organisation (Estia). This information should be briefand relevant to the discussion of your assignment and thus may include ownership, history, size, business scope, major products/services, and major markets of the organization selected.

You are responsible to form a pair from the same tutorial class for this assignment.  Once you have paired, you must register your pairings on the Canvas in order to view your mark and assignment feedback. Instructions on how to do so will be published on the Canvas.  You must form your pair by Week 4.  It is your responsibility to inform your local lecturer if you are unable to pair with another student. A 10% penalty (3.5 marks)will be applied for those who have not registered their pairings on the Canvas or failed to inform the lecturer of their inability to pair by the end of Week 4.  Your lecturer will then allocate the pair member for you if you fail to form the pair by then.

The assessment will be discussed in the Modules 1 and 2. You are required to conduct strategic analyses for Estia Health Aged Care, an Australia’s publicly listed company (http://www.estiahealth.com.au/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.), for this assignment, focusing on its residential aged care business only. You are advised to conduct research such as Internet searching for industry and media reports, and browsing the website and annual reports of Estia (http://www.estiahealth.com.au/investor-centre/corporate-profile (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.) and other relevant organisations.

Write a 3000 word report, excluding references and appendix.  In this report, you are required to perform the following tasks:

1. Describe briefly the background information (strategic context) of the organisation (Estia). This information should be briefand relevant to the discussion of your assignment and thus may include ownership, history, size, business scope, major products/services, and major markets of the organization selected.
2. Conduct a macro-environment analysis (focusing on Australia only in this assignment) for the entire industry within which the organisation operates. You should use the analytical framework provided in the textbook. Foci will be placed on the understanding of the purpose of this analysis, the identification of key factors and their implications in terms of key opportunities and threats, and the discussion of their overall impact on the industry growth in the future. Draw your conclusion based on your macro-environment analysis.
3. Undertake an industry (competitive) analysis using Porter’s 5-forces model. You are required to pay attention to the purpose of this analysis, the inter-connectedness of different aspects of the competitive forces, the links between the competitive forces and macro-environment, and their overall impact on the industry and the organization selected in terms of main driving forces in the competitive environment.  Draw your conclusions based on your five-force analyses.
4. Identify those resources and competences of the organization that are likely to provide sustainable competitive advantage. Justify why these resources and competences can be regarded as strategic capabilities using the four criteria (VRIO) covered in the textbook.

References should be utilised within this Report to validate the information presented, and should be drawn from academic sources and organisational information such as the website and annual reports. The business press may be used to identify relevant issues.