Assignment 1: SWOT Analysis
After reading the unit lesson, research a company of your choosing to create a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis. Please note the importance of picking a company with enough information and sources to support your analysis. Selecting a publicly held company is recommended. Your chosen company will be used throughout the assignments in this course. These assignments allow for a truly comprehensive business analysis, similar to what you would conduct when working for a major company.
Your analysis should identify the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Use Microsoft Word and create four sections for your paper using the SWOT categories as your headings. Additional headers, such as an introduction, company background, and conclusion, are acceptable. Add a title page and references page. You may also use the provided template to complete the assignment. Click here for a copy of the template.
Each SWOT category should have approximately 200-300 words describing the issues and the company's strategic philosophy that fall within that area. The total length should be at least three pages. The opportunities and threats should each have at least ten items identified.
Remember as you develop a SWOT that strengths and weaknesses are internal and controllable factors that affect only the individual firm (e.g., finances, marketing, management and leadership, research and development, corporate culture, human resources). Opportunities and threats, on the other hand, are external and uncontrollable factors that affect all industry firms (e.g., politics, economics, societal and cultural trends, technology, laws and regulations, and the natural environment, such as climate).
The response should include a reference list. Double-space, using Times New Roman 12 pnt font, one-inch margins, and APA style of writing and citations.
Assignment 2
In Unit VII, you will submit a case study assignment based on the company you chose for the SWOT analysis in Unit II. Please be sure to review the Unit VII requirements and work on this case study throughout the term rather than waiting until Unit VII to commence.
In this unit, you will complete a project topic in which you present your company and give a brief introduction to the company. Present some basic information about the size of the company, its history, and how it is organized. In addition, present some information about the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of the company. Does the company follow Friedman's or Carroll's view of social responsibility?
Your project topic should be at least one page in length, double-spaced, and in 12 pt. Times New Roman font. To complete this assignment, a minimum of two reputable sources must be used, cited, and referenced. Use APA style guidelines.
Assignment 3: EFAS Table
Using the information gathered from your SWOT analysis conducted in Unit II, create an external factor analysis (EFAS) table for the company you researched. Use Microsoft Word, or a similar program, to create your table. It should have five columns. The first column heading should be titled External Factors, the second column should be titled Weight, the third column should be titled Rating, the fourth column should be titled Weighted Score, and the fifth column should be titled Comments. You may also use the provided template by clicking here.
See an example EFAS table.
1. In the External Factors column, list at least six opportunities you saw in the company you researched. Underneath the opportunities, list at least six threats you saw in the company you researched.
2. In the Weight column, assign an importance factor to each of these issues. It is important to note that whenever working with weighted averages, the weight column should always total 1.0, or 100%, regardless of how many factors are included in the EFAS analysis. It is up to the analyst to decide how much weight each individual external factor is assigned based on the probable impact on a particular company's current strategic position. The higher the weight, the more important the factor to the current and future success of the company. An important factor may have a weight of 0.5 (50%), while a less important factor may have a weight of .05 (5%). When all is finished, however, all factor weights should total 1.0, or 100%. You may not be privy to the exact information for this company, so in some cases you will need to use your best judgment. (You will justify your weighting in column five.)
3. In the Rating column, assign a rating factor from 5.0-1.0 (5.0 is outstanding; 1.0 is poor). These ratings are based on the company's response to that particular factor. It is your judgment call on how the company is currently dealing with each specific factor. Once again, you may need to make an estimate in this area if you are not privy to all of the information. (You will justify your weighting in column five.)
4. In the Weighted Score column, multiply the weight from column 2 by the rating in column 3 to get the factor's weighted score.
5. In the Comments column, explain why a particular factor was selected and how its weight and rating were estimated.
6. At the bottom of column 4, add the weighted scores for the external factors. Is the company doing better or worse than others in the same industry? Complete this answer underneath your table.
Assignment 4
For this essay, you will conduct research on corporate strategies and the affect they have on the decision process. Use the same company you chose in Unit II. As you explore the decision process, consider how corporate strategies influence these decisions. In your essay, address the following questions:
1. What is a functional strategy?
2. What are stability strategies in business? What are the pros and cons of these strategies?
3. What are competitive and cooperative strategies?
4. What are the tradeoffs (pros and cons) between an internal and an external growth strategy?
5. Which approach is best as an international strategy? Why? What about retrenchment?
Your essay should be two to three pages in length, double-spaced, and in 12 pt. Times New Roman font. The title and reference pages do not count towards the minimum page length. To complete this assignment, a minimum of two reputable sources must be used, cited, and referenced. At least one reference must come from the CSU Online Library. Use APA style guidelines.
Assignment 5
For this essay, use the same company you previously used, and analyze how the company has implemented a corporate strategy or a future policy rollout. Consider strategy development, and the implementation phase. In your essay, address the following questions.
- What are the stages of a corporation's life cycle? How can a corporation's life cycle be extended? What stage is your company in?
- What is strategy implementation? What questions must strategy makers consider to begin the implementation process?
- It is important to assess the strategy-culture compatibility when implementing a new strategy.
Do you think that culture follows strategy, or does strategy follow culture? In your response, use your company to illustrate your points. Justify your answer.
- What is Six Sigma? Why would a company want to implement it?
Your essay should be two to three pages in length, double-spaced, and in 12 pt. Times New Roman font. The title and reference pages do not count towards the minimum page length. To complete this assignment, a minimum of two reputable sources must be used, cited, and referenced. At least one reference must come from the CSU Online Library. Use APA style guidelines.
Assignment 6
In this unit, you will complete the case study of the company that you chose in Unit II and have been researching throughout the course. Respond to the four writing prompts below. Your responses must include information from academic and scholarly research, including at least two resources from the CSU Online Library and at least two other online sources.
1. Create a case study summary of the company you have chosen, including a general overview of the company, its external environment, and a list of its current strategies and objectives.
2. If the company continues with its present strategies and objectives, where will it be in five years?
3. If you were the CEO of the company, what strategies would you recommend, and why?
4. Describe the competitive strategies used by the company's main competitors. Which of these strategies are the most effective? How can your company combat these strategies? Support your answers.
Assignment 7
Review the processes of invention and innovation. Then, select a new product that you have been introduced to in the past 12 months. You are encouraged to research this new product using outside sources. You can use the same company you have been researching, or pick a new one.
You are to create a PowerPoint presentation about future inventions this new product could help to inspire and what innovations could be developed to enhance and improve this product. Analyze how these two areas could impact the company. Your PowerPoint presentation should include the following elements:
- Slide 1: Title page
- Slide 2: Description of the new product
- Slide 3: Description of the importance of R&D to include lead users and market research
- Slide 4: Discussion of appropriate structure and culture within the company necessary to support innovative ideas and products
- Slide 5: Exploration of future inventions inspired by the product or analysis of future innovations of this product (Was this a successful invention leading to innovation?)
- Slide 6: Prediction of product demand in five years
- Slide 7: List of sources using APA guidelines
Ensure that every slide has a title at the top explaining what the slide covers. To complete this assignment, a minimum of two reputable sources must be used, cited, and referenced. Add citations in proper APA format, use applicable pictures or graphics, use a slide template, and avoid wordy slides by focusing on bullet points. Remember, this is an academic presentation.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.