PART ONE: Build a strategic business plan beginning with defining the vision and mission statements.
Step 1: Your job is to identify five criteria that you believe are crucial to devising good mission statements.
Step 2: Identify five criteria you think are critical to good vision statements.
Step 3:
- List the five criteria you have chosen for mission and vision (5 each). This can be a bulleted list.
- Justify your choices. Explain why you think these particular criteria are important.
- Compare what the two lists have in common and in what ways they differ.
PART TWO: Develop the component of our strategic toolkit that relates to 5-Forces and PEST Analysis.
Step 1: The first step in an external analysis is to determine the industry to which your target business is classified. Usually this is done through North American Industry Classification System, or NAICS code. Find a website or library reference that would enable you to determine the NAICS code of any business.
Step 2: Research web and library sources that would give you the kinds of data you would need to conduct a Porter 5-Forces analysis. We are not looking for sites that describe the 5-Forces, but for sites that would have data that you will be able to use to analyze the degree of competition in an industry, or the ease of substitution, for instance. Typically, they are government sources providing statistical data, industry or trade magazines or journals, general business publications, finance websites, websites for trade associations, etc.
Step 3: This is a two step process: First, determine what kinds of information you would need to evaluate each of Porter's forces (see the background materials), and then find a source that will give you that information. Find a minimum of 2 different sources for each of Porter's Forces. Then research web and library sources that would give you data to support a PEST analysis. Find at least 2 different sources for each PEST variable.
Step 4: List your resources from steps 1-3 above. For each source, provide a title and a URL, if applicable. Write a short paragraph explaining what information is available, how it would be useful in an external analysis, and critiquing the source (for example, what are the limitations of the source? Is one better than the other? Why?)
PART THREE: Discuss the process and utility of conducting an internal analysis as a means of critically assessing a company's strengths and weaknesses. Two different tools of methods were discussed: The Value Chain Analysis and the Resource Based View.
Step 1: RBV is based on the concept of the creation of economic rent though the company's distinctive capabilities. Thus, the first step is to find a way to value a firm's economic rent or Economic Value Added (EVA). A firm's EVA is the amount of capital it generates above and beyond the cost of doing business. Find out how EVA is measured and how you can determine a company's economic rent. According to RBV, a firm's competitive advantage is driven by its ability to manage its unique capabilities and resources to achieve above average returns.
Step 2: Resources are the inputs into a production process. They can be capital, equipment, patents, skill sets of individual employees and/or managers, financial resources, etc. Resources can be tangible or intangible. Individually, they may not necessarily lead to a competitive advantage - it is how they are used and the synergies they create that make them strategically valuable. Research web and library sources that will give you data on a company's unique resources. Find a minimum of 2 different sources for data and information related to each of the following 6 resources, noting that some sources may give you information on more than one factor:
Tangible Resources
1. Physical Resources
2. Financial Resources
3. Human Resources
Intangible Resources
1. Technical Resources
2. Intellectual Resources
3. Goodwill
Step 3: Distinctive capabilities are those competencies possessed by a firm that cannot be copied or can be replicated only with great difficulty or resources. Research web and library sources that will give you data on a company's unique resources. Find a minimum of 2 different sources for data and information related to the following:
1) Architecture,
2) Reputation, and
3) Innovation.
Step 4: List your resources from steps 1-3 above. For each source, provide a brief paragraph explaining what information is available, how it would be useful in an internal analysis, and critiquing the source (for example, what are the limitations of the source? Is one better than the other? Why?)
PART FOUR: Strategy Implementation
Step 1: Define the organizational structure best suited for the target company.
Step 2: Define the systems the organization should use to operate. Budgets, and performance evaluation.
Step 3: Define the organizational culture of the target organization.