SHIT the case is due, where do I start??? PANIC time!
Here is where I think you can start:
Brief overview of the company (approx. one paragraph)
What is/are the strategic challenge? What is/are the key issues of the case? * There shouldn’t be any more than 3 or 4. If there is, you should narrow it down because you won’t be able to address all of them in the limited space. * In your other classes you may have had to identify ONE problem but remember this is strategy, we look at all of the components of a business. There may be one problem in Marketing and another problem with Operations and one can’t be more important than the other. Analyze the Macro Environment/ External Environment * Growth? * Don’t forget to define your industry * What are the industry drivers of change? * What are the key success factors? * Which analysis is important? (Don’t do all of these analyses! Pick which one(s) are important and which ones you have enough information to do!) * STEEPLED * 5 Forces Model of Competition * Strategic Group Map
Internal Analysis * Resources VRIO, are there pieces missing? If so might not be a sustainable advantage. * Activity Analysis – Value Chain * Financials – think about which ones are important! * Tell me in words what the numbers say, then tell me what it means. Just like what we did for the Blue Nile case. * Trends here are important to discuss! * Which analysis is important? * SWOT * Now there has been some confusion on this end as other courses have taken a different approach specifically to the O and the T portion. Yes, the O and T are primarily EXTERNAL to the firm, but sometimes things over lap, e.g., increasing currently small market share. My view is that your analysis has to be from the perspective of the firm and it can’t be completely separated from the environment, although I see the purpose of defining it so strictly is to make it easier for you guys to group things especially in earlier courses. You will find that things get messy the more education you get. That being said, if it is easier for you to stick with a strict external definition, then you can. * Competitive Strength Assessment * Competitive strategy (this is chapter 5 stuff, straight forward, I will cover this next week with the Costco case).
Other things you need: * Assessment of the Business model * Value proposition * Differentiation * Vision? * Strategic fit tests
Finally, most important: * What does this all mean? *