Assignment -
Case study titled TIm Hortons.
Mr. Marc Caira, President and CEO of Tim Hortons Inc., and his executive team are aware of your skills in strategic analysis. They are asking you to help them assess the situation and to recommend a competitive strategy for the company for the next five years. Please prepare a report for them giving your assessment of the operational situation and your recommendations, considering both strategy formulation and implementation issues.
In addition please follow the "Checklist of Case Analysis Report" for specific sections and exhibits to include in your case analysis report. Within the case, possible issues, questions, opinions, and courses of action may have been provided. You may choose to use them or not based on your own judgment. Creative analysis and unique initiatives, however, are highly valued.
Checklist of Case Analysis Report
Note: These guidelines are intended to help you get the structure right on the case report; meeting them does not guarantee a quality work. Try to apply textbook concepts when conducting analysis. Except the section of Consulting Letter, all other advices on section length (e.g. about half page) are for friendly guidelines only, not intended to be requirements in exams. The instructions on basic structure (such as major sections and the number of paragraphs), however, are mandatory. Please also make sure you read and follow the exam instructions that will be available on UM Learn once the exam case is handed out.
Note: Limit the text to 7 pages (12 font, double-spaced, 1" (2.54cm) margin on all sides) or slightly over. Word count should be between 1900 to 2200.
Key Issues (preferably 3-6 issues; about half page)
- Obvious and pressing issues, hidden problems, and long terms challenges facing the company. These issues set a direction in terms of where your strategic alternatives should focus. Please describe them (and number them) in order of importance.
External Assessment (3-4 paragraphs, about 1 page). Three opportunities/threats in total, not three each.
Note: Don't mention the name of the company when discussing the opportunities/threats; focus on the strategic group of which the focal company is a member. Do NOT give recommendations as to what firms can do or should do with respect to these opportunities and threats.
- Description of the strategic group (similar strategy, direct competitors)
- Opp/threat #1: topic sentence that clearly specifies the opp/threat for the strategic group; evidence for the opp/threat
- Opp/threat #2: ditto
- Opp/threat #3: ditto
Internal Assessment (three paragraphs, about 1 page). Three strengths/weaknesses in total, not three each.
- Str/weakness #1: topic sentence, evidence, and V,R,I evaluation of the strength (separate sentence for V.R.I). If it is a weakness, discuss whether it can be transformed into a strength in the future.
- Str/weakness #2: ditto
- Str/weakness #3: ditto
Financial Diagnosis (about half page) - Exhibit 1 for this section
- Use this section to interpret the ratios in the Exhibit 3. Use various comparisons and financial ratios to diagnose the company's financial situation and its capacity to carry on future investments.
Current Strategy (about half page)
Note: focus on what the company is currently doing; do not discuss what it can or should do in the future.
- Business strategy (topic sentence defining the strategy such as differentiation, followed by detailed explanations)
- Functional strategy (summarize major functional practices); also discuss global strategy, corporate strategy, etc, whenever applicable
Implementable Strategic Alternatives (a total of TWO alternatives; about 1-1.5 page)
Note: 1) Strategic alternatives, often developed based on existing/potential strengths/weaknesses and available environmental opportunities/threats, should deal with key issues (including the pressure for growth). 2) Alternatives should represent major moves in the way the company competes on the market (i.e., strategic actions, not operational changes, incremental improvement, and functional strategies). They often involve significant investments or divestments that carry long term impact on the company's competitiveness. 3) Two alternatives need to be significantly distinctive; they often take the company in quite different directions. 4) Both strategies should go beyond a general goal (e.g., international expansion) and discuss what the company needs to do exactly. 5) Both alternatives should be plausible and appealing, supported with solid reasoning and strong arguments. Note that using status quo or current strategy as an alternative demonstrates weak creativity. Selling off the company is not an option of strategy in the exam.
- Alternative #1: topic sentence specifying the strategy, followed by the explanations of what it is exactly and why it is considered a good strategy, with respect to the analysis in previous sections
- Alternative #2: ditto
Criteria and Evaluation of Alternatives by Criteria (about 1 page) - Exhibit 2-3 for this section
- First paragraph: list 3 criteria and justify them one by one (that is, why these, not others?)
- Then, two paragraphs, each evaluating one strategic alternative using ALL criteria
- Or, in a different structure, 3 paragraphs corresponding to the three criteria, each paragraph using one criterion to evaluate BOTH alternatives
Note: whichever structure you choose, both alternatives need to be evaluated with all criteria in this section.
Recommendation and its Implementation (2-3 paragraphs) - Exhibit 4 for this section
- Recommend one strategy based on the evaluations in the previous section
- Discuss major issues/challenges regarding the implementation of the strategy
- Discuss the limitations of the recommended strategy with respect to the identified key issues and other potential issues that might emerge when the strategy is implemented. Offer suggestions on possible solutions if you can.
Exhibits (append all exhibits to the end of the paper in the following order)
- Exhibit 1: A table that presents financial ratios of multiple categories, such as profitability, leverage, liquidity, etc., as well as any useful comparisons such as sales increase/decrease.
- Exhibit 2-3: Two Exhibits of NPV analysis, one for evaluating each strategic alternative; put key assumptions, with brief justifications, either at the bottom of the tables or on a separate page.
- Exhibit 4: Include an Action Plan with a clear time frame of implementation on your recommended strategy; half page.
Assignment Files -
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6z9vhonc2j6biqr/Assignment%20Files.rar?dl=0