Learning Activity 1

Using the same company you selected for Week 3 Learning Activity, it is now time to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that you uncovered, and determine what strategy is best suited, based on the outcome of the IFE and EFE.

Discuss which generic business-level strategy is best suited to keep your company competitive in full alignment with the generic strategy for the same focal company (you selected and analyzed in Week 3).

Requirement 1:

Reiterate the same focal company and identify the generic strategy for that focal company

Requirement 2:

Discuss the generic strategy in the context of focal company. [Note that your chosen generic strategy must be among one of the generic strategies that are discussed in Chapter 5]

Requirement 3:

Support the rationale for your explanation.

Requirement 4:

Use the appropriate APA formatted scholarly reference sources and corresponding in-text citations in all your postings.

Learning Activity 2

Below is a pool of three strategy-formulation analytic tools:

• Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix

• IE Matrix

• SPACE Matrix

Based on the information that you have gathered from your Week 3 Learning Activities, please select one matrix from the above-mentioned pool and complete your selected analytic tool on that same company.

Requirement 1:

Reiterate the same focal company that you used in W3 DQs and W4 DQ1, and identify the analytic tool for your analysis

Requirement 2:

Discuss the reasons why you chose that analytic tool.

Requirement 3:

Complete your actual computations and/or analysis with the chosen tool.

Learners need to show their required steps such as in (a) doing the actual computations, (b) determining the position of the point (that is, the coordinates) in the matrix, (c) drawing the intersection or line on the matrix, or deciding "which products go into which quadrant" within the graphic representation. In other words, the analysis must include both the detailed inputs and outputs of the selected analytic tool.

Requirement 4:

Once you have completed the analytic tool, (a) discuss the outcome(s) of your analysis in terms of what strategic direction the selected company should take, (b) then devise one corporate strategy, and (c) explain "why" of this corporate strategyin details to support the generic strategy.

Please note sequential levels of strategies

Generic strategy → Corporate-level strategy

Requirement 5:

• Support the rationale for your explanation throughout the analysis.

• Use the appropriate APA formatted scholarly reference source and corresponding in-text citations in all your postings.

Readings

Strategic Management:

• Chapter 5: Managing Business Level Strategies

• Chapter 6: Supporting the Business Level Strategy: Competitive and Cooperative Moves

Blue Ocean Strategy and Red Ocean Traps

Making Sense of Digital Disruption

Strategic-Formulation Analytical Framework

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix

BCG Matrix

The IE Matrix

How to Prepare the Internal External Matrix

Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM)

QSPM Slideshare

The Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) Applied to a Computer Store (download the full text PDF - you do not need to register)
Porter's (1980) Generic Strategies as Determinants of Strategic Group Membership and Organizational Performance