Your essay should cover the following main parts:
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An external analysis of the firm
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An internal analysis of the firm
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The recommended strategy
1. The external analysis of the firm, which describes the industry context in which the
firm competes. A thorough external analysis will first address the general environment
under study. Second, it will look at the industry dynamics and competitive market (e.g.,
who are the firms selling to, what challenges do the firms face in profitably reaching their
customers). Next, the analysis should discuss the firm’s competitors—are they larger,
smaller, more profitable, more flexible? What overall advantage or disadvantage would
these competitors have in the marketplace? The 5-forces Porter’s model is a good tool to
organize your work when defining the competitive environment.
2. The internal analysis of the firm (and the partner or competitor) describes the strengths
and weaknesses the firm. What resources can a firm leverage against its competitors
and/or to tap new markets? What resources can a firm complement its partners? What
weaknesses might we see that will handicap the firm in the future? What are the key
strategies the firm is pursuing? Comment on the positive and negative aspects of those
strategies and provide support for your arguments. A good internal analysis will show the
difference between core competencies and their implications. While sometimes difficult
to use, whether a resource is valuable, rare, costly to imitate, and an organization can
organize and exploit the resource is another good analytical tool which can help you to
organize your thoughts and develop a supporting argument for why a resource or
capability yields a competitive advantage. Identify the economic moats and the business
model for that firm.
3. The recommended strategy. Having analyzed the firm, you should have an idea of what
strengths the firm should be leveraging, and you can look again at the external
environment to see what opportunities it should pursue. In many of the cases, the firm in
question is contemplating, or has implemented, several specific strategic actions. In this
situation, the project should also include an evaluation of these specific strategic actions
and recommendations should be made and justified. Ideally, you would give one to three
alternatives. Select one of these alternatives as the preferred recommendation. While all
three might be good, a firm may only be able to attack one at a time and will want to
know which one you think has the biggest return. Explain why you believe this is the
best option for the firm. The alternatives need to be specific action items. As an example,
instead of saying “form an alliance,” you could recommend “form an R&D alliance with
Q to leverage this firm’s superior product rollout capabilities against Q’s more advanced
technology.” It may take some effort, but this will show that you understand a) what
makes the firm strong or weak and b) how it can take advantage of those factors. You
could even recommend a firm liquidate—be specific and say how management should
sell it off. To do a good strategic analysis of a firm, you will need to compile additional
data. The university subscribes to many online journals, and much news is available from
library sources. Use theoretical concepts and frameworks you have learned to justify your
decisions. -
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double spaced, MLA style
bibliography, appropriately cited and proof-read. -
Your individually written report will be graded based on:
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**Interestingness, newness, and relevance of the topic. DON’T USE OLD ISSUES.**
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Application of theories and frameworks learned in class (content quality)
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Adherence to format of MLA style bibliography while using external resources
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Professionalism of the paper ( statistics supporting your case, ….)
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