Assignment:
YOUR Corporation is a high tech manufacturer, distributor and seller of "Vapourware".
Vapourware, as we all know, is the hi-tech solution to most of the world's problems: instant worldwide communications at the fraction of the cost of cell phones and Internet, 3D interactive TV, virtual meetings and conferences at the press of a button, robotic surgery in the remotest of locations. The list is endless and imaginative. You should know, it's your, get that, YOUR company!
Anyway, YOUR Corporation is in trouble. Your sister in-law (you should have known) jumped ship and started "MY Corporation", (She's VERY self-centred). Not only did she steal your ideas, concepts and blatantly infringed your patents, she lured some of the best brains in YOUR Corporation over to MY Corporation.
So, it seems we have a situation here.
What I want you to do is create a mini case study, "YOUR Corporation, a Study in Treachery!"
Tell me all about the hi-tech vapourware industry, the products, the market the players etc. What are the KSF (Key Success Factors) in this business? Tell me about YOUR Corporation, its development, the key people (yeah, include the evil sister in-law) its sales, some financial information, all the stuff you find in a case study.
Tell me about "The Event," that led to the wicked sister in-law to start her own company and (this is important) where it left YOUR Corporation and what is the situation you are in. Media reports (from National Enquirer, Star, etc) of the ensuing scandal are good to include. Exactly, what situation are you in? What are your options? What is your plan? What do you have to do to execute your plan? I'm looking for some detail here, timelines, actions etc. How will all this affect YOUR Corporation's strategy? The industry?
Obviously, this is an exercise in you being creative. At the same time I want you to create a case study to learn how to write them. Why? Because often the best way to deal with a complex situation is to sit back, be objective and write down what is happening, who the key people are, how do they impact the business (managerial preferences...or not) Overview the industry (environment), determine the strategy (if any) and looking at the organizational resources within the company. The trick is objectivity in your writing.
Stuff happens and at YOUR Corporation, it sure did. Create the situation and develop options and a way out of it. If you don't like the software industry, choose another one.