Assignment: Strategy Formation and Implementation
The assignment should take the form of an industry whitepaper and include footnotes or endnotes and a list of references. I have posted some examples of excellent final papers from a previous semester for reference on Blackboard. I also have posted some example industry white papers. You should use these industry papers as format examples as they do not relate to the content of the assignment. Also, please be sure to include references in your paper even if the example white papers do not have them.
Paper Content and Approach:
Please make sure your proposal and paper adhere to the following key points:
• Choose one company as the focus of the paper.
o Do not choose a company we studied in class as a case.
o Do not choose a company used as an example in a group presentation.
o Please include a brief explanation why you chose this company and industry.
• Clearly identify ONE specific strategy problem and THREE distinct and reasonable potential strategic solutions for dealing with that problem.
o Please be sure the problem you pick is a strategy problem, not a marketing, operations, or financial problem.
o Please read the reference material and readings on Blackboard about formulating strategic questions.
• The paper should provide a brief analysis of the industry in which the company is working similar to those we have completed in class and that you did for your midterm papers. For example, it should include a brief history of the industry, competitors, forces analysis, sources of profitability, future directions, etc.
• The bulk of the paper should include an analysis of the company, or a particular division or group in the company, its markets, product and/or service offerings, business model, etc. similar to those we have developed in class.
• Following the outline of the course, your considerations should include detailed strategic analysis, strategy development, and implementation considerations.
• The core of the paper should analyze the key strategic and economic tradeoffs among the various options you have identified AND make a strong case for one of those options as a solution
o This is similar to the structure of many of our class discussions.
o Be sure to include potential limitations of your recommendation.
o Be sure recommendations are realistic, especially from a financial standpoint.
• Please do not feel compelled to apply as many course frameworks as possible.
Aim for depth not breadth.
• Please be sure to include a proper bibliography acknowledging your references and all sources. Use footnotes or endnotes as appropriate where you refer to specific data or quotes.
o Sources should be established, reputable, and credible business-related publications (e.g., New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg, Business Week, Economist, Forbes, Fortune, etc.). They can also be specific to an industry as long as they are credible in that industry (e.g., TechCrunch).
o Sources may include books and personal interviews as appropriate.
Format:
The final paper should be 5-8 pages, single-spaced, with 12-point font and 1-inch margin, and up to 5 pages of supporting data/exhibits (either within the paper or at the end). Overall though, aim for brevity and conciseness in your writing. The paper should include a short (half a page at most) executive summary on the first page.
• Please be sure to include your name, date, and course information on the paper and in the filename.
• Please use page numbers.
• The paper should adhere to professional standards of English business writing.
Attachment:- Proposal.rar