Assignment: Company Strategy Analysis Project
Individual Company Strategy Analysis and Recommendations
You are to individually produce a written, maximum of 6 pages, analytical report accompanied by an appendix that applies the material/analytical tools in the Gamble, Peteraf & Thompson text and associated lectures/PowerPoints from this class. Note: The Appendix does NOT count towards the 6 page written maximum) Specifically, your report should assess the state of your firm's:
1) Vision, strategy and business model
2) External environment and strength of industry competitive forces
3) Internal environment
4) Competitive strategy
5) Key issues facing the Company
6) Recommendations for increasing and/or sustaining their Competitive Advantage in the short, medium and long terms
Part I: Company Strategy Analysis Section (4 pages):
A. Issues
1) What conclusions/insights emerge from your analysis? Refer to the 3 Tests of a Winning Strategy from chapter 1: How well does the strategy fit the company's situation? Is the strategy helping the company achieve a sustainable competitive advantage? Is the strategy producing good performance? What insights emerge from your external analysis? What insights emerge from your internal analyses?
2) What are the Key Issues Management Should Worry About?
ANALYSES TO CONDUCT AND INTEGRAGE YOUR ISSUES
B. Company Overview & Strategy
1) Overview of Company Vision, Products, Market Size/Potential: What is the product or service? Who buys the product or service? How big is the market for the company's core product? Illustration example: Show the size of the market over time (i.e. growth/contraction).
2) Company Strategy & Business Model: What is the company's intended competitive strategy? What is its business model (customer value proposition and profit formula)?
3) Company History, Financial & Stock Performance: Review and assess key milestones in the company's history. Are there any major events and/or critical inflection points? Briefly comment on the company's financial performance using key indicators (e.g., stock and other key financial indicators). Illustration examples: Create a timeline, generate a graph in excel to plot key financial indicators over time and import the chart into PPT, etc.
C. External Environment
1) Macro Environment: Identify the 2 to 3 Macro Environment factors that impact the industry and the firm the most.
2) Competitive (five) Forces: Present the five forces from strong to weak. Illustration example: Consider editing/adapting the PESTEL circular image or the Five Forces Model
3) Driving Forces: Identify the key driving forces for change and their impact on competitive intensity and industry profitability. Illustration example: Display driving forces and/or integrate them into your Macro Environment or Competitive Forces image.
4) Analysis of Rivals: Who is strongly positioned and who is not? Illustration example: Develop a strategic group map which displays the market positions of rivals.
5) Key Success Factors: List the key factors of competitive success in the industry.
D. Internal Environment and Strategy
1) Evaluation of company's strategy: Assess how well the company's strategy is working including whether or not it's recording gains in financial strength and standing and whether its competitive strength and market standing are improving. Illustration examples: Create charts that show key financial indicators and market standing, such as market share relative to main competitors.
2) Value Chain: What are the key elements of your company's value chain and how do they affect your company's cost structure and customer value proposition?
3) Resources & Capabilities: Identify competitively important resources and capabilities and assess whether the company has prospects for a sustainable competitive advantage. Does the firm have any dynamic capabilities? How well are these matched to the firm's intended competitive advantage?
4) Competitive Strength Assessment: Assess your company relative to its main competitors (at least one but two is even better). Does your firm have a net competitive advantage or disadvantage relative to competitors? Illustration example: Using the KSFs you identified in your external analyses.
Part II: Company Recommendation Section (2 Pages)
In no more than 2 pages, single spaced, 12 point font, you are to build from your analysis to briefly summarize the main conclusions and key issues and then explain what your firm must do to build a better competitive (winning) strategy(ies) in the short-, medium- and long-term. Develop your recommendations about possible revisions (or not) to your firm's competitive strategy and other strategic actions it should consider to complement its competitive approach and maximize the power of its overall strategy (e.g., offensive moves, defensive moves, changes to scope of operations, horizontal, integration, vertical integration, outsourcing, alliances, etc.)
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
(1) The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
(2) The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
(3) Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.