Your assignment is to research and analyze the strategies of two or three competing organizations and to assess their relative strategic prospects over the next five years. It is best to select the industry (or market) in which your organization competes, or one that serves as an important supplier or purchaser for your organization. That said, you may choose another industry if you think it is necessary or preferable (for example, if your organization expects strict confidentiality, or if the structure of your industry does not suit the assignment). Ideally, it will be an industry with which you have some familiarity, and that has relevance to your work. In using the words "industry" or "market" we do not preclude choosing organizations from the non-profit or state sectors, as long they face some kind of competition (e.g., for resources) and can be analyzed using the tools of the course.

Having analyzed the relative strategic prospects of two or three organizations, you should then focus on the strategic implications for just one of these organizations (this need not be your own organization), and recommend appropriate strategic actions for that organization. You may also want to offer some guidance on the implementation of your proposals.

The techniques you employ may include any of the tools, concepts or models from the Strategy module, using your best judgement to choose the appropriate methods. You are welcome to bring in ideas from outside the course but you should not neglect the materials in Strategy. You should choose those models and techniques that you believe add the most value: keep your analysis sharp and insightful, and avoid providing a laundry list of possible models. Use diagrams, numerical analysis, and any other data that support your conclusion.

The assignment should be no more than 3000 words long. The word limit includes tables, figures and diagrams and excludes appendices, footnotes, and references.