STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT case study

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

Assignment: Individual Case Study Analysis
Due: Thursday September 24, 2020
Length: 10-15 pages depending upon content, typeface and spacing

Assignment overview:

Each case presents a situation in a business at a specific point in time. The assignment requires you to read the case and use what you have learned about strategic management over the course of the semester to analyze it and make justified recommendations to the company for the time it is portrayed in the case. It is your opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of SM concepts and your ability to apply the principles and theories to a real situation. You must work with the information that is provided in the case. Any supplemental information you use, eg., from the web, must be for the time period in which the case was written and not from the present.

The information sources you will need for this assignment are your brain, your textbook and the case. (The company’s website, in most cases, will NOT provide information about your company during the time in which the case was written and will therefore be of very limited use in your analysis.)

Outline of the Paper:
1. Vision and Mission: State and critique the company’s vision and mission. What are the good and bad features of both? If no vision or mission is provided, you must create them from the information in the case. (1 page)
2. Strategic Goals: What are the company’s strategic goals for the time in which the case is written? These should be listed and numbered in order of importance. (1/2 page)
3. Strategies: What strategies is the company currently using to achieve its goals? (The strategies should be labeled according to Porter’s scheme). Are they working? Why or why not? (1-2 pages)
4. External Environment Assessment: What is the environment in which your company operates? Is it local, regional or international? (1-2 pages)

The General Environment:
a. What are the economic forces in this environment that could impact the company?
b. What are the social and demographic forces that could impact it?
c. What are the political, legal and governmental (regulatory) forces that might impact it?
d. What are the environmental factors in the company’s environment?
e. What are the technological forces that could impact the business?

The Specific Environment
a. Who are the company’s customers? Where are the company’s customers? What are their demographics and buying behaviors?
b. Who are the company’s suppliers? Why were these suppliers chosen by the company?
c. Does the company have access to the professional expertise and labor it requires to reach its objectives?
d. What about the competitive environment? (Use Porter’s five Forces Model to analyze the company’s competitive position.)
5. SWOT (1-2 pages)

External Opportunities: What are the company’s external opportunities:
1) What are the opportunities presented by the general and specific external environments?

External Threats:
1) What are the threats presented by the general and specific external environments?

Internal Organizational Weaknesses:
1. Are there ways that the culture makes it difficult or impossible for the company to reach its goals?
2. What are the company’s disadvantages compared to its competitors? Does it have access to enough resources (people, expertise, raw materials, money, distribution channels, etc.) to be able to reach its goals?
3. Are there weaknesses in the company’s ability to operate smoothly and efficiently?

6. Financial Analysis: Carefully analyze whatever financial information is offered using the appropriate ratios. Summarize what you discover with a narrative that tells what the numbers say about the financial health of the company. (1-2 pages)

5. Data Analysis: You now have a lot of information about your company.
1. What is your overall analysis of your company’s competitive position? (p. 132)
2. How can it use opportunities and strengths to overcome threats and weaknesses?

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR CASE ANALYSIS. IT REQUIRES THAT YOU THINK CRITICALLY ABOUT THE INFORMATION YOU HAVE GATHERED AND PROVIDE AN INTELLIGENT AND DATA-SUPPORTED INTERPRETATION. (2-3 pages)

6. Recommendations: Using the Analysis in #5, what are the specific long-term objectives you recommend for your company and what competitive strategies (according to Porter) do you recommend it use to reach them. How much will these strategies cost? (estimate) Compare your recommendations with what the company is actually doing in the case and explain why your objectives and strategies are better (or why what it is doing is sound). (2-3 pages)