External and Internal Environments

Overview

In this assignment, you are to use the same corporation you selected and focused on for the Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness assignment.

Using the corporation you chose from the Week 3 assignment (ATTATCHED FILE) 

Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness, examine the industry in which the entity operates. Use any or all of the following resources to conduct research on the company:

• Company website.
• Public filings from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Filings & Forms page.
• Strayer University’s online databases.
• The Lexis Advance database.
• Other miscellaneous sources. Note: the company’s annual report will often provide insights that other resources may not include.

Use the External and Internal Environments Template [DOC] to ensure that your assignment meets the requirements.

Requirements

Write a 4–6 page paper in which you do the following:

• Choose the two segments of the general environment that would rank highest in their influence on the corporation you chose.
  • Assess how these segments affect the corporation you chose and the industry in which it operates.
• Considering the five forces of competition, choose the two that you estimate are the most significant for the corporation you chose.
  • Evaluate how well the company has addressed these two forces in the recent past.
• With the same two forces in mind, predict what the company might do to improve its ability to address these forces in the near future.
• Assess the external threats affecting this corporation and the opportunities available to the corporation.
  • Give your opinions on how the corporation should deal with the most serious threat and the greatest opportunity. Justify your answer.
• Give your opinion on the corporation’s greatest strengths and most significant weaknesses.
  • Choose the strategy or tactic the corporation should select to take maximum advantage of its strengths, and the strategy or tactic the corporation should select to fix its most significant weakness. Justify your choices.
• Determine the company’s resources, capabilities, and core competencies.

PAPER #2

BUSINESS-LEVEL AND CORPORATE-LEVEL STRATEGIES

Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies

Overview

In this assignment, you are to use the same corporation you selected and focused on for the assignments, Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness and External and Internal Environments.

Research the company on its own website, the public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Filing & Forms page, the Strayer University’s online databases, the Lexis Advance database, and any other sources you can find. The annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these questions.

Use the Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies Template [DOCX] to ensure that your assignment meets the requirements.

Requirements

Write a 6–8 page paper in which you do the following:

• Analyze the business-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the business-level strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm and whether or not you judge this to be a good choice. Justify your opinion.
• Analyze the corporate-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the corporate-level strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm and whether or not you judge this to be a good choice. Justify your opinion.
• Analyze the competitive environment to determine the corporation’s most significant competitor. Compare their strategies at each level and evaluate which company you think is most likely to be successful in the long term. Justify your choice.
• Determine whether your choice from Question 3 in the Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies Template [DOCX] would differ in slow-cycle and fast-cycle markets.
• Use at least three quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other websites do not qualify as academic resources. 

This course requires the use of Strayer Writing Standards. For assistance and information, please refer to the Strayer Writing Standards link in the left-hand menu of your course. Check with your professor for any additional instructions. 

The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is as follows:

• Determine business-level and corporate-level strategies for a corporation’s long-term success comparable to the competitive environment.

POWERPOINT

CAPSTONE

Capstone

Overview

In this assignment, you are to use the same corporation you selected and focused on for assignments in Weeks 3, 6, and 8.

Research the company on its own website, the public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Filings & Forms page, the Strayer University’s online databases, the Lexis Advance database, and any other sources you can find. The annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these questions.

You will do a 15-minute presentation to the Board of Directors of the corporation. Use the Capstone Template [PPTX] to ensure that your assignment meets the requirements.

Requirements

Develop an 8–12 slide PowerPoint presentation with speaker notes based upon assignments in Weeks 3, 6, and 8, and the following: 

Develop an executive-level PowerPoint presentation with 8–12 slides with speaker notes and appropriate graphics.

Create a SWOT analysis for the company to determine its major strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Based on the SWOT analysis, outline a strategy for the company to capitalize on its strengths and opportunities, and minimize its weaknesses and threats.

Discuss the various levels and types of strategies the firm may use to maximize its competitiveness and profitability.

Outline a communications plan the company could use to make the strategies you recommend above known to all stakeholders. 

Assess efforts by this corporation to be a responsible (ethical) corporate citizen and determine the impact these efforts (or lack thereof) have on the company’s bottom line. Provide specific examples to support your response.

Go to the Strayer University Online Library and locate at least three quality references. Note: Wikipedia and similar websites do not qualify as academic resources.

References must be submitted on a Works Cited page using SWS format.

This course requires the use of Strayer Writing Standards. For assistance and information, please refer to the Strayer Writing Standards link in the left-hand menu of your course. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is as follows:

Develop a corporate presentation based on a SWOT analysis, strategies for maximizing competitiveness and profitability, a communications plan, and an assessment of efforts related to ethics.