Assignment: External and Internal Environments

Choose an industry you have not yet written about in this course, and one publicly traded corporation within that industry. Research the company on its own Website, the public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR database (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml), in the University's online databases, and any other sources you can find. The annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these questions.

Write an eight to ten (8-10) page paper in which you:

1. Choose the two (2) 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.

2. Considering the five (5) forces of competition, choose the two (2) that you estimate are the most significant for the corporation you chose. Evaluate how well the company has addressed these two (2) forces in the recent past.

3. With the same two (2) forces in mind, predict what the company might do to improve its ability to address these forces in the near future.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. Determine the company's resources, capabilities, and core competencies.

7. Analyze the company's value chain to determine where they can create value using the resources, capabilities, and core competencies discussed above.