As pari of a strategic review for a recording company, Exquisite Analogue, Jay has been asked to undertake a resource audit As a result of him…

A resource audit is an internal analysis of an organization's assets and capabilities, which are classified as either tangible or intangible. The two recording studios (A) are tangible, physical assets. The back catalogue of 20,000 recordings (B) is a significant intangible asset, representing the company's intellectual property. The 'Customers Choice Award' (C) is also an intangible asset that enhances the company's brand and reputation. All three are internal resources that contribute to the company's strategic capability and should therefore be included in the resource audit.

D. An offer to purchase the company is an external event, best analyzed as an 'Opportunity' or 'Threat' within a SWOT analysis, not an internal resource.

E. Imminent tax changes are an external environmental factor, which would be identified and analyzed using a PESTLE (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental) analysis.

1. Paul, D., Cadle, J., & Yeates, D. (2020). Business Analysis (4th ed.). BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. Chapter 3, Section 3.4.2, "The resource audit," details the process of identifying and categorizing an organization's internal resources into tangible (e.g., physical assets like buildings) and intangible (e.g., intellectual property, brand, reputation) categories.

2. Johnson, G., Whittington, R., Scholes, K., Angwin, D., & Regnér, P. (2017). Exploring Strategy (11th ed.). Pearson. Chapter 4, "The internal environment," distinguishes the analysis of internal resources and capabilities (the resource-based view) from the analysis of the external environment (covered by frameworks like PESTEL). This supports the exclusion of options D and E from a resource audit.