Scenario
With $250 million in excess capital at its disposal, your organization is positioned to make a significant business decision. The organization’s executive leadership team seeks your expertise in evaluating the potential merger or acquisition of a competitor, a step aimed at increasing market share and redefining the industry’s dynamics. It is your job to analyze the competitor to determine how this merger or acquisition can harness your organization’s complementary strengths, innovations, or market opportunities. You will use value chain management principles for this analysis. This strategic initiative presents a dual-edged sword: the chance to broaden the company’s horizons and the challenge of blending different corporate cultures and operational systems.
In your capacity as a manager, you are entrusted with this career-changing opportunity, which has the potential to result in a high-level promotion to a regional director role in your field. If your proposal is accepted, your insights and actions will be instrumental in smoothly integrating these organizations, addressing stakeholders’ concerns, ensuring business operations continuity, and leading the newly formed organization to leverage the synergy from this merger or acquisition. Your guidance in applying value chain management principles will be crucial for charting a new course toward an enhanced competitive advantage and solidifying industry leadership.
Enhancing Competitive Advantage Through Value Chain Dynamics
Using the scenario above in connection with your chosen organization and management role selections, you will deepen your investigation of how the value chain drives competitive advantage.
Assessment Requirements:
Step 1. Presentation Format
- Choose a design template from Microsoft PowerPoint.
- Your PowerPoint should contain a title and reference slide.
- APA 7th edition formatting of references is required.
- Each content related slide should contain explanatory notes.
- Use a professional design in your PowerPoint and apply best practices for Creating Effective PowerPoint Presentations (7ed) shared by the Writing Center.
Step 2. Company Selection
- Visit the Mergent database in the library. Choose a publicly traded company in an industry that interests you to study. The company should produce a minimum of $100 million dollars in revenue.
- Introduce your chosen company. Conduct research and provide a thorough overview of your chosen company. Include facts, figures, financial information, etc. Make a good first impression.
Step 3. Role Selection
- Choose one of the following management roles as a lens for your analysis:
- Supply Chain Manager
- Operations Manager
- Procurement Manager
- Product Manager
- Logistics Manager
- Customer Experience Manager
- Marketing Manager
- Provide a detailed overview of your chosen role. Conduct research and explain how your chosen role relates to the contemporary value chain. In presenting your analysis, be creative, present facts, figures, financial information, responsibilities, etc.
Step 4. Organization Value Chain Components
- Conduct extensive research on the value chain of your chosen organization.
- Explain key elements of the organization’s value chain.
- Conduct a SWOT analysis on the value chain of your chosen organization
(minimum five bullet points for each category).
Step 5: Competitor Value Chain Components
- Identify a key competitor of your chosen organization. This information can be found in the Mergent database or other research databases within the Library.
- Explain key elements of the competitor organization’s value chain.
- Conduct a SWOT analysis on the value chain of the competitor organization (minimum five bullet points for each category).
Step 6: Merging Value Chain Components
- Compare the value chains of the competitor company with those of your chosen organization.
- From the perspective of your chosen management role (e.g., product manager, supply chain manager, operations manager, etc.), analyze how this merger or acquisition could influence specific functions and processes within the value chain.
- Identify key stakeholders affected by the merger (employees, customers, suppliers, etc.) and map their relationship to changes in the value chain.
- Map out potential synergies and risks associated with integrating the two companies’ value chains, focusing on areas like leadership alignment, cultural integration, procurement strategies, and technology harmonization.
- Visualize how the merged value chain could leverage combined capabilities to create a competitive advantage in the market.
- Analyze opportunities such as enhanced technology and information management systems that could emerge from the merger.
Step 7: Strategic Integration and Comprehensive Analysis
- Analyze how each component of the value chain (from idea generation to customer delivery) is optimized to boost competitive advantage within your chosen organization versus the competitor organization.
- Examine the role of customer insights and feedback in shaping both your organization’s and the competitor’s value chain strategies, investigating how these insights contribute to customer value creation and competitive positioning.
- Investigate the optimization of product, service, information, and funds flow through integration and collaboration across the value chain, highlighting potential synergies and the impact on enhancing competitiveness.
Step 8: Strategic Application of Value Chain Enhancements
- From the perspective of your chosen management role, detail strategic initiatives that will help to integrate and optimize the newly combined value chain.
- Highlight key areas such as technology adoption, cross-functional team efficiencies, and strategic procurement as crucial leverage points.
- Discuss potential barriers to integration and propose viable solutions to ensure smooth operational transitions.
Step 9: Final Presentation and Strategic Recommendations
- Develop a slide detailing the strategic recommendations for the merger or acquisition, providing conclusive remarks on integration of the value chains of both organizations.
- Map out the expected impacts on competitive advantage, customer satisfaction, and long-term organizational sustainability.
- Summarize the long-term strategic vision for the newly formed entity, emphasizing the expected synergies and market potential.
Audience, Reasoning, and Research
- The presentation addresses the appropriate audience.
- Uses reasoning skills to support your statements, ideas, and decisions.
- Uses a minimum of three peer-reviewed academic research resources to substantiate your thoughts, opinions, and ideas.
Verbal Narration and Notes
- Speaks loudly enough to be heard; varying voice pitch and volume to ensure audience interest and attention.
- Pronounces words correctly and enunciates clearly.
- Each slide has professionally written notes substantiated with research.
APA Style
- Apply APA style to in-text citations with no errors.
- Apply APA style to references with no errors.
- Resources should be from reliable and/or scholarly sources.
Writing Conventions
- Writing should be focused, concise, and organized.
- Articulate at a college level.
- There should be few or no grammar or punctuation errors.
- Use non-offensive, inclusive, and respectful language.
This is your assignment. There is no minimum word or slide count. However, you will be assessed on your ability to demonstrate high levels of critical thinking, problem solving, decision-making, research, and analysis skills. Your analysis should be comprehensive, clearly articulated, and well-researched, demonstrating a sophisticated understanding of how value chain management practices are applied within the selected company. Ensure your presentation includes citations from various sources beyond the textbook, demonstrating extensive research and engagement with the topic.