Your Managing Director, of a large UK TRAIN OPERATING COMPANY is going to participate in a scenario planning exercise with her direct reports the aim of which is to challenge the management team's assumptions about the future. To prepare her for the workshop she has asked you to compile a report on the current business environment to include the following:

1. A comprehensive review of the external environment with detailed analysis and discussion on the FOUR (4) KEY ISSUES affecting the industry in which your firm operates. Consideration must be given to the degree of uncertainty, complexity and turbulence in the external environment.
2. A description and explanation of the sources of competitive advantage of the 4 market leading firms within the industry, providing appropriate justification.
3. An assessment of the degree of competitive intensity within the industry with an explanation as to the causes of this competitive intensity. Financial data is required to support your answer.
4. An assessment of the implications of your total analysis and discussion on the future of the industry. You must state a time period and explain in detail the potential impacts on firm behavior, sources of competitive advantage and the structure of the industry.
You will need to define the boundaries of the industry as part of the introduction to the report.

Additional Requirement

This question is based on the Marketing and it deals with UK Train operating companies. The external environment of train operating companies in the UK along with the competitive advantage and intensity have also been assessed. In the UK, there is a lot of competition among train operating companies with the advent of privatization in 1990s. After privatization, there has been a lot of competition in the industry being motivated by customer loyalty, higher profits, higher savings, etc.

Word limit 3080