Fundamentals of Business Strategy: Analytical Tools

Use a variety of analytical tools to monitor and improve business strategy.

In this assessment, you will address one Course Outcome by conducting a business case study analysis in the form of a narrated PowerPoint presentation. Download the template. 

You will find the following resource to be a helpful guide in your analysis of your chosen case study: Guide to Case Analysis. This assessment will require intensive interpretation skills. Be sure to read this Case Analysis Guide to prepare. Use the following criteria to evaluate the external (Part 1) and internal (Part 2) environment of your chosen company: 

Scenario:

Choose an award-winning company from the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program website to study. You will evaluate the “Award Application Summary” as a business case. You are the director of strategy and business intelligence for your chosen company. You are conducting an evaluation of your chosen company for an upcoming annual report. Your goal is to demonstrate skill and expertise in strategic analysis of the strategic position of your company. You will be submitting this report to the other C-level executives for consideration. Use the following criteria to make strategic decisions for your chosen award-winning organization. 

Assessment Part 1 Requirements:

• Provide background information about your chosen company, including the company name, industry sector in which the company operates, products, and target market. Elaborate and use research. 
• Introduce the concept of strategic analysis based on Figure 3.1 (read pages 49–50 in your textbook). 
• Explain how the strategic analysis tools found in Chapter 3 of your textbook can help your chosen organization build a future-oriented strategy. 
• Explain the macro-environment, how to analyze the macro-environment, and its importance to strategy development. Use theories, principles, and concepts from various research resources to substantiate your thoughts, opinions, and ideas (read pages 50–53 in your textbook). 
• Conduct a PESTEL analysis and identify three strategically relevant factors per PESTEL component that may impact the long-term direction of your chosen company, including its strategic vision and mission, objectives, and business model (pages 50–53 in your textbook). 
• After the PESTEL analysis table, explain what strategically relevant factors are most likely to have a higher impact and which are likely to have a lower impact on your chosen company’s situation and business strategy (page 50 in your textbook).
• Explain the five forces framework and its value in diagnosing the competitive conditions in a company’s industry (pages 53 and 68–69 in your textbook). 
• Conduct an analysis using the five forces framework to diagnose the competitive conditions in your chosen company’s industry.
  • Analyze the rivalry among competing sellers of your chosen company (pages 53–56 in your textbook).
  • Analyze the competitive pressures associated with the threat of new entrants (pages 57–62 in your textbook).
  • Analyze the factors affecting competition from substitute products (pages 62–64 in your textbook).
  • Analyze the factors affecting the bargaining power of suppliers (pages 64–66 in your textbook).
  • Analyze the factors affecting the power of buyers (pages 66–68 in your textbook).
• Explain the significance of the SOAR framework for competitor analysis as a strategic analysis tool in your chosen company’s industry (pages 77–79 in your textbook). 

Assessment Part 2 Requirements:

• Explain how the tools for analyzing the internal environment of an organization found in Chapter 4 of your textbook can help your chosen organization to develop a competitive edge over rivals (page 87 in your textbook). Use theories, principles, and concepts from various additional research resources to substantiate your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. 
• Explain the components of a single-business company’s strategy (pages 88–89 in your textbook). 
• Identify three key financial ratios. Explain why they are strategically important and how your chosen company can use them to analyze its current situation for strategic planning purposes (pages 89–91 in your textbook). 
• Explain the value of conducting a SWOT analysis to a company (pages 91–92 in your textbook).
• Conduct a SWOT analysis on your chosen company. Determine the company’s strengths and weaknesses in relation to the market opportunities and threats (pages 91–95 in your textbook). 
• Explain how the results of a SWOT analysis can be turned into strategic actions (page 95 in your textbook).
• Explain how value chain activities impact a company’s cost structure and customer value proposition (pages 102–112 in your textbook). 
• Explain how your chosen company’s resources and capabilities give it a competitive edge over rivals (pages 96–112 in your textbook). 
• Explain what strategic issues and problems merit front-burner managerial attention for your chosen company (page 115 in your textbook). 
• Analyze the results of your strategic analyses and explain your chosen company’s competitive situation and how this information can assist managers in making critical decisions about their next strategic moves.
• Each slide should have oral narration and notes. Your slides should be professionally designed.
• Use a minimum of three peer-reviewed, academic research resources (including your textbook) to substantiate your critical thinking and to provide viable reasoning for your perspectives.
• Write and speak in third person and apply proper APA style citation and reference format.

Minimum Submission Requirements

• Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.
• Respond to the questions in a thorough manner, providing specific examples of concepts, topics, definitions, and other elements asked for in the questions. Your presentation should be highly organized, logical, and focused.
• Your presentation must be written in Standard English and demonstrate exceptional content, organization, style, and grammar and mechanics.
• Your presentation should provide a clearly established and sustained viewpoint and purpose.
• Your writing should be well ordered, logical, and unified, as well as original and insightful.
• A separate slide at the end of your research presentation should contain a list of references in APA format. Use your textbook, the Library, and the Internet for research.
• Be sure to include references for all sources and to cite them using in-text citations where appropriate. Your sources and content should follow current APA citation style. Review the writing resources for APA formatting and citation found in Academic Tools. Additional writing resources can be found within the Academic Success Center.
• Your submission should:
  • be in the template provided;
  • include a title slide;
  • include narration; and
  • be free of spelling or punctuation errors.

Book: Thompson, A. (2019). Crafting & Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage: Concepts and Cases (22nd Edition). McGraw-Hill Higher Education (US). https://purdueuniversityglobal.vitalsource.com/books/9781260157369

• Chapter 3: “Evaluating a Company’s External Environment”
• Chapter 4: “Evaluating a Company’s Resources, Capabilities, and Competitiveness”