Instructions:
1. Pick a company
2. Use at least five resources. Please list them in a bibliography. To answer the questions properly you will probably need more.
3. All charts and matrices are to be put in the body of the paper in the appropriate section.
4. Only a hard copy will be accepted on time, any late submissions will lower the case grade immediately.
I. Executive Summary - this summarizes the ENTIRE paper - the findings, not the process
II. Mission Statement
- Analyze the mission statement of the company - could it be improved? What stakeholders does it address?
III. External Audit
- Industry analysis (Five Forces Model)
- Opportunities and Threats (EFE Matrix)
- Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM) and in depth environmental analysis
- Discuss the implications of your findings on the company
IV. Internal Audit
- Financial analysis (Current ratio, Acid test ratio, Debt/equity ratio, ROI, Inventory turnover, A/R turnover, and any other ratio you feel important to discus - conduct a trend analysis and compare to industry averages and discuss implications of the ratios; no recommendations are to be put in this section, only the implications - USE Research Insight or Reuters.com)
- Strengths and Weaknesses (IFE Matrix)
- Discuss the implications of your findings on the company
V. Strategic Problems
- List in an outline/numeric form the three or four strategic problems for the company. Be concise and to the point. Do not confuse weaknesses with strategic problems.
VI. Strategic Analysis and Choice
- What strategy is the company currently pursuing - give evidence to support your answer
- Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the current strategy - do you agree with the actions - why or why not?
- If you don't agree what strategy would you pursue and why - again support your answer
VII. Implementation Steps
- How is the company implementing the strategy?
- Do you think they will be successful - why or why not? Again back up your thoughts with evidence.
- Where do you see this company in 3years, in 5 years?