• LO1:  Identify the importance and effect of business objectives, functions and structures.
• LO2:  Analyse for a given situation the external factors which may impact upon the performance of a business involving self-awareness and initiative.
• LO3:  Analyse a business s purpose, in terms of its stated mission, objectives and critical success.
• LO4:  Develop a Business Plan to achieve business strategic objectives, recommend an appropriate organisational structure and explain the process of effective change management requiring teamwork, organisation planning and communication.

Introduction:

A popular quote by Seneca Roman defining the value of motivation is that “if a man does not know what port he is steering for, no wind is favourable”. This is applicable to organisations in the current globalised and highly competitive environment. Despite offering the best-in-class products and services, having well-defined targets, well-structured management, there is a dire need for organisations to develop a corporate strategy. Corporate strategy is essential for organisations without which they would be unable to plan for long-term existence and achieve their goals which are the major components of any strategic initiatives. With the incorporation of a formalised corporate strategy organisations are able to focus on different resources which would be utilised collaboratively to achieve the same objective. It offers them better visibility over the objectives, acts as a driver to perform better under adverse conditions and provides a benchmark to measure success. This report analyses the given case study of Southern, which operates train services into London from different part of the UK. A brief organisational background is followed by the description of strategy statements. Next sections discuss the PESTEL and Porter's Five Forces Analysis of the UK rail industry and its impact on Southern's strategy. Finally, the key points are summarised in the conclusion section.

2. Organisational Background

Southern is a train operator servicing London from South Coast covering East and West Sussex, Surrey and parts of Kent and Hampshire. It is one of the brands of Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) owned by Govia. Govia is a joint venture between two transport companies, the Go-Ahead Group which holds 65% and Keolis holding 35%. Govia’s strengths are its experience in administering complex and challenging rail operations and managing change initiatives successfully. It is reported to have introduced more new train fleets in the UK than any other operator. Govia currently runs three major rail franchises: GTR (Govia Thameslink Railway), Southeastern and London Midland. Govia is the UK's busiest rail operator, currently providing c.35% of all passenger journeys. Govia currently runs three major rail franchises: GTR (Govia Thameslink Railway), Southeastern and London Midland. The Go-Ahead Group began to operate Southern since 2001, and in 2015 this was integrated into the GTR franchise. It is reported that Go-Ahead has a turnover of £3.21billion and employs around 26,000 people. Govia employs over 12,000 people with 25% of journeys utilising its rail services.

(Some parts of the solution has been blurred due to privacy protection policy)