Assignment 1: Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness
Due Week 2 and worth 300 points
Choose one (1) public corporation in an
industry with which you are familiar. Research the company on its own Website,
the public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR database (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml), in the
University’s online databases, and any other sources you can find. The annual
report will often provide insights that can help address some of these
questions.
Write a four to six
(4-6) page paper in which you:
1. Assess how globalization and technology changes
have impacted the corporation you researched.
2. Apply the industrial organization model and the
resource-based model to determine how your corporation could earn above-average
returns.
3. Assess how the vision statement and mission
statement of the corporation influence its overall success.
4. Evaluate how each category of stakeholder impacts
the overall success of this corporation.
5. Use at least two (2) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality
as academic resources.
Your assignment
must follow these formatting requirements:
·
Be typed, double spaced, using Times
New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and
references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor
for any additional instructions.
·
Include a cover page containing the
title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course
title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in
the required assignment page length.
The specific course
learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
·
Determine ways in which the vision,
mission, and stakeholders of a firm impact that firm’s overall success.
·
Use technology and information
resources to research issues in business administration.
·
Write clearly and concisely about
business administration using proper writing mechanics.
Week 4
Assignment 2 Submission
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Assignment
2:External and Internal Environments
Due Week 4 and worth 350 points
Choose an
industry you have not yet written about in this course, and one publicly traded
corporation within that industry. Research the company on its own Website, the
public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR database (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml), in
the University’s online databases, and any other sources you can find. The
annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these
questions.
Write an
eight to ten (8-10) page paper in which you:
- Choose the two (2) segments
of the general environment that would rank highest in their influence on
the corporation you chose. Assess how these segments affect the
corporation you chose and the industry in which it operates. - Considering the five (5)
forces of competition, choose the two (2) that you estimate are the most
significant for the corporation you chose. Evaluate how well the company
has addressed these two (2) forces in the recent past. - With the same two (2) forces
in mind, predict what the company might do to improve its ability to
address these forces in the near future. - Assess the external threats
affecting this corporation and the opportunities available to the
corporation. Give your opinions on how the corporation should deal with
the most serious threat and the greatest opportunity. Justify your answer. - Give your opinion on the
corporation’s greatest strengths and most significant weaknesses. Choose
the strategy or tactic the corporation should select to take maximum
advantage of its strengths, and the strategy or tactic the corporation
should select to fix its most significant weakness. Justify your choices. - Determine the company’s
resources, capabilities, and core competencies. - Analyze the company’s value
chain to determine where they can create value using the resources,
capabilities, and core competencies discussed above. - Use at least three (3)
quality references.Note:Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality
as academic resources.
Your
assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
- Be typed, double spaced,
using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides;
references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your
professor for any additional instructions. - Include a cover page
containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the
professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the
reference page are not included in the required page length.
The
specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
- Identify how the six
segments of the general environment affect an industry and its firms. - Identify the five forces of
competition. - Analyze the external
environment for opportunities and threats that impact the firm. - Analyze the internal
environment of a company for strengths and weaknesses that impact the
firm’s competitiveness. - Use technology and
information resources to research issues in business administration. - Write clearly and concisely
about business administration using proper writing mechanics.
Assignment
3: Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies
Due Week 6 and worth 300 points
Choose an
industry you have not yet written about in this course, and one publicly traded
corporation within that industry. Research the company on its own Website, the
public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR database (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml), in
the University’s online databases, and any other sources you can find. The
annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these
questions.
Write a
six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:
- Analyze the business-level
strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the business-level
strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm
and whether or not you judge this to be a good choice. Justify your
opinion. - Analyze the corporate-level
strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the corporate-level
strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm
and whether or not you judge this to be a good choice. Justify your
opinion. - Analyze the competitive
environment to determine the corporation’s most significant competitor. Compare
their strategies at each level and evaluate which company you think is
most likely to be successful in the long term. Justify your choice. - Determine whether your
choice from Question 3 would differ in slow-cycle and fast-cycle markets. - Use at least three (3)
quality references.Note:Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality
as academic resources.
Your
assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
- Be typed, double spaced,
using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides;
references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your
professor for any additional instructions. - Include a cover page
containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the
professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the
reference page are not included in the required page length.
Assignment
4: Merger, Acquisition, and International Strategies
Due Week 8 and worth 300 points
Choose
two (2) public corporations in an industry with which you are familiar – one
(1) that has acquired another company and operates internationally and one (1)
that does not have a history of mergers and acquisitions and operates solely
within the U.S. Research each company on its own Website, the public filings on
the Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR database (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml), in
the University’s online databases, and any other sources you can find. The
annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these
questions.
Write a
six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:
- For the corporation that has
acquired another company, merged with another company, or been acquired by
another company, evaluate the strategy that led to the merger or acquisition
to determine whether or not this merger or acquisition was a wise choice.
Justify your opinion. - For the corporation that has
not been involved in any mergers or acquisitions, identify one (1) company
that would be a profitable candidate for the corporation to acquire or
merge with and explain why this company would be a profitable target. - For the corporation that
operates internationally, briefly evaluate its international
business-level strategy and international corporate-level strategy and
make recommendations for improvement. - For the corporation that
does not operate internationally, propose one business-level strategy and
one corporate-level strategy that you would suggest the corporation
consider. Justify your proposals. - Use at least three (3) quality
references.Note:Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as
academic resources.
Your
assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
- Be typed, double spaced,
using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides;
references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your
professor for any additional instructions. - Include a cover page
containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the
professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the
reference page are not included in the required page length.
The
specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
- Identify various levels and
types of strategy in a firm. - Use technology and
information resources to research issues in business administration. - Write clearly and concisely
about business administration using proper writing mechanics.
Assignment 5: Capstone
Due Week 10 and worth 400 points
Select a publicly traded corporation for which you would like to work or are
currently working.
Research the corporation on its own Website, the public filings on the
Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR database (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml), in
the University’s online databases, and any other sources you can find. The
annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these
questions.
Write an eight to ten (8-10) page paper in which you:
- Determine
the impact of the company’s mission, vision, and primary stakeholders on
its overall success. - Analyze
the five (5) forces of competition to determine how they impact the
company. - Create
a SWOT analysis for the company to determine its major strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. - Based
on the SWOT analysis, outline a strategy for the company to capitalize on
its strengths and opportunities, and minimize its weaknesses and threats. - Discuss
the various levels and types of strategies the firm may use to maximize
its competitiveness and profitability. - Outline
a communications plan the company could use to make the strategies you
recommend above known to all stakeholders. - Select
two (2) corporate governance mechanisms used by this corporation and
evaluate how effective they are at controlling managerial actions. - Evaluate
the effectiveness of leadership within this corporation and make at least
one (1) recommendation for improvement. - Assess
efforts by this corporation to be a responsible (ethical) corporate
citizen and determine the impact these efforts (or lack thereof) have on
the company’s bottom line. Provide specific examples to support your
response. - Use at
least five (5) quality references.Note:Wikipedia
and other Websites do not quality as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
- Be
typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch
margins on all sides; references must follow APA or school-specific
format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions. - Include
a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name,
the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and
the reference page are not included in the required page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
- Determine
ways in which the vision, mission, and stakeholders of a firm impact that
firm’s overall success. - Identify
how the six segments of the general environment affect an industry and its
firms. - Identify
the five forces of competition. - Analyze
the external environment for opportunities and threats that impact the
firm. - Analyze
the internal environment of a company for strengths and weaknesses that
impact the firm’s competitiveness. - Identify
various levels and types of strategy in a firm. - Predict
ways in which corporate governance will affect strategic decisions. - Assess
the relationship between strategy and organizational structure. - Use
technology and information resources to research issues in business
administration. - Write
clearly and concisely about business administration using proper writing
mechanics.
