Part A: 80% of the assignment grade
Perform an analysis of Best Buy Co. Inc. Your analysis will draw on the Form 10K (as of February 2013). Your analysis can include information prior to February 2013 but should not draw on any information that you might come across that is post-February 2013. Bear in mind that as a strategic manager you do not have the benefit of foresight and hence your analysis must be confined to the period defined in the Form 10K as of February 2013 for this assignment.
Address the following in your analysis:
- Read the Best Buy Case and identify and analyze the company's strategies. Your answer must identify clearly the firm's strategies and show your awareness of strategic management theory as it is being applied by the company.
- Prepare a Porter analysis of the industry in which Best Buy operates. The assessment of the Porter forces must be explained fully with reference to the evidence presented in the case. As stressed in the module, the Porter analysis is of the industry/sector in which the firm operates; focus your attention on the industry as a whole and be mindful of the segment in which Best Buy operates. The assessment must be complete and show your awareness of the all the factors shaping the industry.
- Prepare a SWOT analysis of the company, revealing your awareness and understanding of the firm's competencies, capabilities, and resources and relate the same to the opportunities and threats confronting the firm. Using the SWOT as your guide, provide insight in the strategies that Best Buy selected. Is the firm's strategic direction consistent with what you have determined from the SWOT?
- Prepare a macro-environment analysis for the industry in which Best Buy operates. Explain fully if and how the company is being affected by macro forces and determine if these forces are reflected in the firm's strategies.
- Based on your awareness of the firm as revealed in questions 1-4, provide an assessment of the firm's overall strategic options and alternatives.