Assignment:
Harley-Davidson: External and Internal Analysis
This assignment has you complete two parts of a strategic business plan. To see how those parts fit into a full business plan, look at the strategic business plan outline.
Part I - Analysis of the External Environment
As part of the Strategic Business Plan, you have been asked to:
- Identify and analyze the major driving forces for change in the external environment of the motorcycle industry.
- Analyze the dynamics of competition using Porter's Five Forces Model of Competition. Correctly assess the dynamics of competition.
- Provide at least three statistics about the size of the motorcycle industry such as revenue, growth rate, number of units sold by manufacturer/country, etc.
- Summarize the strategic issues firms in this industry face and identify their biggest threats.
This section should be titled "The Analysis of H-D's External Environment."
Part II - Internal Environment Analysis
Financial
Gather the financial information necessary to do a complete ratio analysis and the Balance Score Card (BSC) key metrics information.
If you were going to create a BSC, what would be the key metrics you would measure in each of the four BSC areas:
- Financial
- Customer
- Internal Business Process
- Learning and Growth
- Perform a ratio analysis using H-D's five-year financial performance. Interpret the meaning of the ratios and financial performance.
- This section should be titled "The Analysis of H-D's Current Strategy: Two Views." Be sure to include the ratio analysis. You may also include other graphics to support your narrative.
- Competitors
- Based on your analysis, you must decide which two competitors present the biggest competitive threat to H-D.
- Perform a financial ratio analysis for the competitors after looking at trends in financial performance over five years, and compare the trends to industry averages.
- Be sure you have a clear ranking of the industries' competitors.
- This section should be titled "Competitor Analysis." Be sure to include the financial ratio analysis. You may also include other graphics to support your narrative.