Ashworth College
MB601E
Discussion Question 1-1
Discussion Question 1 (50 points)
Discuss ten (10) strategies and their advantages
in connection with the corporation's goals and objectives as listed on page 17
of your text. (50 points) (A 2-page response is required.)
MB601E
Discussion Question 1-2
DISCUSSION
QUESTION 1-2
MB601
Strategic Management
Lesson
1: Strategic Management and Governance
Discussion Question 2 (50 points)
Describe at least six (6)
recommendations that you would make to improve the effectiveness of today's
boards of directors. Explain your rationale for the recommendations by
discussing how your recommendations would improve the performance of the boards
and the companies they oversee. Then give your opinion as to which of these
would be the most important recommendation and justify your
opinion. (50 points) (A 2-page response is required.)
MB601E
Activity 2 Scanning the Environments
ACTIVITY
2
MB601
Strategic Management
Lesson 2: Scanning the Environments
Activity 2: Porter's Industry Analysis (100
points)
For this activity, you must analyze General
Electric (GE) using Porter's approach to industry analysis. Obtain annual
reports and financial reports from public sources as well as trade, business,
and journal articles for information. Your Activity responses should be both
grammatically and mechanically correct, and formatted in the same fashion as
the Activity itself. If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part
A, etc. In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your
response and document in a bibliography using APA style. (100 points) (A 4-page
response is required.)
Part
A Describe GE, what the company
stands for (its slogan), what makes it unique, the direction of its market, its
products, and the ways in which the company's products and strategy are
integrated. Include a bibliography of at least six (6) trade or journal sources
that you use for your description and the analysis which follows.
Part
B Discuss Porter's approach to
industry analysis in relationship to GE using all six (6) forces.
Part
C Provide one (1) suggestion for
each of the following as it relates to the future of GE: what to watch closely
(threats and weaknesses), what to assess for change (opportunities), and what
to maintain and build upon (strengths). Then make one (1) recommendation for
GE's next strategic move.
MB601E
Activity 3 Internal Analysis and Strategy Formulation
ACTIVITY
3
MB601
Strategic Management
Lesson 3: Internal Analysis and Strategy Formulation
Activity 3: Coca-Cola Analysis (100 points)
Your assignment is to analyze the Coca-Cola
Corporation and its economic performance over the last five (5) years. You
should begin with the last available reference year. Your Activity responses
should be both grammatically and mechanically correct, and formatted in the
same fashion as the Activity itself. If there is a Part A, your response should
identify a Part A, etc. In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources
used in your response and document in a bibliography using APA style. (100 points)
(A 4-page response and a table are required.)
Part
A Your paper should begin with a
description of Coca Cola. Describe the company's main competitors. Assess the
company's performance over the past five years and document Coke's profit and
market share position.
Part
B Identify which resources, core
competencies, and distinctive competencies have allowed Coke to reach its level
of success. Be sure to consider different measures of performance in your
analysis and to compare (benchmark) the results you highlight with those of
Coke's competitors.
Part
C Using a VRIO framework, build
a table that addresses the value, rarity, limitability, and organization for
each of the items you have identified above. Be very explicit in your explanations.
Part
D Last, analyze whether the
items discussed are likely to continue to yield a competitive advantage for
Coke. Why or why not?
MB601E
Activity 4 Strategy Implementation and Control
ACTIVITY
4
MB601
Strategic Management
Lesson 4: Strategy Implementation and Control
Activity 4: Differentiation vs. Cost
Leadership
Your Activity responses should be both
grammatically and mechanically correct, and formatted in the same fashion as
the Activity itself. If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part
A, etc. In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your
response and document in a bibliography using APA style. (100 points) (A 4-page
response is required.)
Part
A Identify two (2) companies,
each pursuing a fundamentally different strategy: one diversification, the
other, cost leadership. The two firms need not be in the same industry, but
they need to be public and based in the U.S.
Part
B Explain why each firm has
opted for its chosen strategy. Specifically, you should highlight the exogenous
and endogenous factors that might have contributed to their choice. For
example, is cost leadership the only feasible strategy in the industry in which
the firm operates? If so, why? What makes diversification a poor choice? Or, if
diversification is feasible and some of the firm's competitors pursue
diversification, what valuable, rare, inimitable resources do those companies
hold that would allow them to successfully implement diversification instead of
cost leadership?
Part
C Given the company's level of
success, should it continue to pursue its current primary strategy or look to
change? State whether the fundamental strategies of the companies you have
chosen have changed in the recent past. If they have, explain the drivers of
the change. (For instance, has there been a change in leadership or in consumer
taste?)
Part
D Discuss the impact on
performance of each company's chosen strategy. Have these companies been
successful relative to their competitors? Why or why not? If so, how? Please be
sure to clearly identify the direct link between the company's strategy and the
economic outcome it yielded.
MB601E
Discussion Question 5-1
DISCUSSION
QUESTION 5-1
MB601
Strategic Management
Lesson 5: Other Strategic Issues
Discussion Question 1 (50 points)
Briefly answer each of the following
questions. (50 points) (A 2-page response is required.)
a. What is the relationship between the case
analysis and the financial analysis?
b. What is the value of the financial statement
to the case analysis?
c. How are financial statements calculated?
MB601E
Discussion Question 5-2 Other Strategic Issues
DISCUSSION
QUESTION 5-2
MB601
Strategic Management
Lesson 5: Other Strategic Issues
Discussion Question 2 (50 points)
Assess and elaborate on the following elements
of a strategic audit. (50 points)
(A 2-page response is required.)
a. The advantages of a strategic audit
b. The need that is filled by a strategic audit
c. The advantage of a continuous strategic audit
d. The source of the effectiveness of a strategic
audit
e. What a strategic audit provides
MB601E
Discussion Question 6-1 Putting It All Together
DISCUSSION
QUESTION 6-1
MB601
Strategic Management
Lesson 6: Putting It All Together
Discussion Question 1 (50 points)
Select a publicly traded
corporation. Review your corporation's annual report and name
three (3) specific changes that your corporation reported that
you believe would be important to investigate for an industry
analysis. Then provide a rationale for each of your choices; in
particular, you should look at changes in top management, the board of directors,
strategy, financial reporting methods, distribution of earnings and/or
allocation of monies, etc. (50 points) (A 2-page response
is required.)
MB601E
Discussion Question 6-2
DISCUSSION
QUESTION 6-2
MB601
Strategic Management
Lesson 6: Putting It All Together
Discussion Question 2 (50 points)
Using the corporation you selected in Lesson 6
Discussion Question 1 and the financial analysis information in your text for
reference, discuss the relevance of the prime interest rate, gross domestic
product, and gross national product to your corporation and its industry. (50
points) (A 2-page response is required.)
MB601
Stand-Alone Project: Industry Analysis -Starbucks
STAND-ALONE PROJECT
MB601
Strategic Management
Stand-Alone Project: Industry Analysis (200 points)
Each
assignment in this course focuses on a different portion of an industry
analysis. The activities and discussion questions serve as an introduction to
the process of critically evaluating a corporation, one of its direct
competitors, and the industry as a whole which constitute a thorough and
complete industry analysis. Your MB609 Capstone Project will be a complete
industry analysis including a publicly traded company, its industry, and two of
its competitors. (Be sure that you keep your textbook from this
course as well as all of the projects you write.)
This
Industry Analysis project (MB601) is an introductory project to prepare you for
the Capstone Project (MB609). At this time you will only analyze a
publicly traded company and its industry (none of its competitors will be
analyzed). To begin this project, select a publicly traded
corporation to study. In other words, you should be able to purchase stock in
the corporation you select. The corporation must be large enough for
the business and trade press to have written about it, but not so large that
the amount of available information is overwhelming making your ability to
suggest innovative recommendations for the corporation's survival and
success. Consequently, make sure that you do not choose one in which
any and all potential strategies and recommendations have been discussed at
length in the press. A table of contents and a bibliography listing
only those works that you cited in your analysis are required. Your
Stand-Alone Project responses should be both grammatically and mechanically
correct, and formatted in the same fashion as the project itself. If
there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc. In
addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your response and
document in a bibliography using APA style. (200
points) (A 10-page response is required for the combination of Parts
A through H.)
First,
collect the following documents and information.
1. The
corporation's annual report
2. At
least 15 business or trade articles concerning the current status of your
corporation and predictions of its future success
3. Information
on your corporation's CEO and Board of Directors
4. Information
about the industry in general, including major players, consumers,
trends, etc.
Next,
thoroughly read the information and documents you collected on your company
and
its industry. As you read, make notes on the topics listed below,
synthesize the information, and analyze the current state of the corporation
and its industry. This synthesis and analysis process is essential
to build your conceptual skills which are to be further developed as you
proceed through the MBA Program. It is the goal of an MBA program to
build your conceptual skills which are required for management positions which
oversee a variety of departments, specialists, and projects.
Following
the outline below, write your analysis of your corporation and its
industry.
Part
A CEO Profile and Assessment of
Effectiveness
1. Profile
your CEO's qualifications (experience, education, etc.) as well as why this
person was selected and the circumstances that created the CEO vacancy.
2. Students
should relate the CEO's qualifications as it applies to the type of strategy
the company has elected to follow and the type of CEO that typically is
successful in achieving that strategy.
3. Discuss
the impact that the CEO has made on the organization thus far and why.
Part B Board of
Directors Profile and Analysis: This section includes a wealth of
information regarding the role that the Board of Directors plays in your
organization.
1. You
should discuss the manner in which the Board of Directors is nominated and
selected, the way in which the Board is organized and why, and the way in which
the Board utilizes or matches the trends in corporate governance that are
listed in the text.
2. You
should also evaluate and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Board of
Director's composition with respect to their affiliation (who they really work
for and that company's relationship to your corporation), diversity, experience
in the industry and the company, insiders/outsiders, etc.
3. Also,
evaluate the changes in members to the Board in the last five
years. If there have been changes, do those changes (new board
members with different attributes and affiliations) suggest a change in your
corporation's strategy, target markets, etc.? Are these changes in
any way indicative of a new strategic move?
Part C Industry
Assessment
1. Evaluate
your corporation's competitive position within its industry using Porter's
model: threat of new entrants, suppliers, buyers, rivalry,
substitutes, and other stakeholders.
2. You
should include a discussion of the other factors considered crucial to the
industry's survival. Suggestions include industry dynamics, industry
structure, life cycle, strategic groups, and other elements as necessary.
Part D Direct and
Indirect Competition: Using the information provided in your text
related to competitive intensity and the types of competitor information
available, identify the competition with respect to your
corporation. Identify the nature of their competitive relationship –
similarity in products, strategy, etc. At least two (2) competitors
for each category should be discussed.
Part E Internal
Strengths and Weaknesses: Evaluate your corporation using the VRIO
provided in your textbook.
Part F External
Opportunities and Threats: Evaluate your corporation's competitive
environment for opportunities and threats using the TOWS matrix.
Part G Overall
Competitive Position: Briefly evaluate the state of your
corporation's competitive position within its industry.
Part
H Recommendations
1. Make
two (2) recommendations for increasing your corporation's shareholder wealth in
the future. This includes ensuring long term survival as well as
meeting and exceeding your shareholders expectations for the generation of
their wealth in the short term and the long term.
2. Your
two (2) recommendations should be well supported by information contained in
your written analysis, and your supporting information should be specifically
identified in this section to justify your recommendations.
3. Your
two (2) recommendations should be accompanied by your expectations for your
corporation and its industry if your recommendations were
adopted. Your expectations should include the impact to the industry
structure, the likely response of competitors, and both positive and negative
consequences should be identified.
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