Assignment 1: Case Study - Environmental Analysis

Latest woes - sales dwindling, market share eroding, disruptive competitors - are featured heavily in the media today, and even in the Wall Street Journal. But is disaster really looming on the horizon for the low- cost giant? Or do the issues simply present an opportunity for big success?

Select any publicly traded business of your choice and assess the company's external environment using three or more media sources to identify factors that are impacting their business model.

Argue your position on whether these factors signal imminent doom or new growth opportunities and a possible credible strategy to ensure ongoing competitive advantage. You may use this same business in the upcoming
Assignments 2 and 3.

Imagine yourself as part of the Executive Team. Write a Business Brief for the organization's Board Members for an upcoming meeting.

1. Identify and concisely describe four external factorsimpacting.

• Is each a positive or negative?Explain.

• What are the "symptoms" of each factor? (What is likely happening as a result of a factor?)

• How does each factor correlate to Porter's Five Forces, Christensen's Disruptive Innovation and Kim's Blue Ocean models? Explain.

2. Rank the factors in order from least to greatest potential impact and briefly explain your rationale.

3.Argue your position - Persuasively assert what these factors imply for the future.

• Consider how the factors potentially influence the organization's capabilities, behavior, and strategic options.

4. Develop and support your recommendations, assertions, and facts with in-text citations, appendixes, and references.

Required format and organization for the Business Brief.

Business briefs are often used to convince and inform clearly and concisely in the business environment.

For this assignment, your business brief should state its purpose, create awareness, and provide a persuasive informed assertion based on research and conceptual understandings.

1. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, your name, professor's name, and the course title and date. (The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required page length.)

2. Single-spaced, professional font (Times New Roman or Ariel), 10-12font size

3. Headings, bolded, are used to identify main topics and subtopics

4. Paragraphs separated by a single space