The external environment, internal profile, and SWOT
Modular Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this module, the student will be able to satisfy the following outcomes:
- Case
o After completing an assessment of the organization's external environment and internal profile, synthesize the company's internal strengths and weaknesses and environmental opportunities and threats into a formal SWOT analysis, with overall impressions and recommendations.
- SLP
o Re-run a business simulation, using business theory to make decisions related to pricing, product, and R&D allocations.
- Discussion
o Identify key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, completing a SWOT, and drawing conclusions related to an organization's future opportunities.
Module Overview
According to Michael Porter, a preeminent scholar of strategy, a thorough analysis of the competitive environment allows strategic planners to identify opportunities and threats facing an organization. Then planners are able to consider various options for taking advantage of opportunities and guarding against threats. (Porter, 3-5) *
There are numerous tools available to help managers evaluate the external environment and uncover threats and opportunities. In this module, we will consider two different tools- Porter's Five Forces Model and the PEST analysis. Using tools such as these helps ensure that managers will consider all aspects of the environment and avoid perceptual blinders that may bias their thinking.
In Module 2, we will discuss how the external environment is assessed within the strategic management process.
SLP:
In Module 1, you turned in your report a few days early, and Sally Smothers was impressed. However, some strange time warp has taken you back in time to 2012, allowing you the opportunity to perform better than Joe Thomas.
* Source: Porter, M. (1980). Competitive strategy. New York: Free Press.
Module 2 - Background
The external environment, internal profile, and SWOT
Part 1: External Environment Analysis
SWOT is an acronym for: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The first two variables (strengths and weaknesses) relate to the internal organization, while the last two variables (opportunities and threats) relate to the organization's external environment.
The purpose of an external analysis is to scan the outside environment for factors that might open up new opportunities for the business-or that may present threats to the survival of the organization. Then company managers and executives can formulate plans to take advantage of the opportunities and respond to external threats. Optimally, the organization wishes to altogether eliminate (and if this is not possible, to ameliorate to the greatest extent possible) those threats that exist in the external environment.
There are endless numbers and kinds of external factors that can have an effect on a company's sustainability. Customers, competitors, and suppliers are all pretty obvious entities that can affect profitability. If we think a little more deeply, however, we can see that current as well as potential customers should be considered in an assessment of opportunities and threats (e.g., in terms of changing consumer tastes and preferences). Any such threats or opportunities will affect strategic choices that will (or that can) be made concerning products and services.
What about technology? Advances in technology can affect all three of our "obvious" external concerns (customers, competitors, and suppliers) with changes in product features, how products are made and sold, what services are offered and how they are delivered, supply chains, inventory controls, and so on. The failure to monitor the technological environment can spell obsolescence for a business in no time.
Ease of substitution is something we always think of when considering competitors. How easy would it be to switch from flying on one airline to flying on another, for example? But thinking more creatively about substitution, we can see that teleconferencing and video conferencing can eliminate the need for much business travel-thus acting as a substitute to airline tickets. Failure to think broadly enough will cause a planner to completely miss a major threat just over the horizon. For example, consider the immeasurable impact that Internet sites such as eBay and Amazon have had on the sales of "brick-and-mortar" operations. Or consider how online video availability has adversely affected companies that sell or rent DVDs, such as Blockbuster.
The sheer number of possible external influences creating opportunities and threats is mind-boggling. This is why most strategic planners use analytic models to structure their thinking and help avoid perceptual biases that might interfere with a clear and objective identification of opportunities and threats.
In this course, we will be using two different models that approach the external environment from two different perspectives:
1. Industry environment - Porter's Five Forces Model
2. Macro environment - PEST analysis
Industry Environment
Porter's Model of Five Forces is one of the most versatile frameworks for analyzing the industry (or operating) external environment. Employed by a variety of academics and business practitioners for more than three decades, the Five Forces Model has proved its usefulness in a variety of arenas. The Porter model helps the user get a handle on the competitive and market characteristics of a specific industry. The factors covered by the Five Forces Model are:
1. Threat of new entrants
2. Bargaining power of suppliers
3. Bargaining power of customers
4. Availability of substitutes
5. Degree of rivalry among competitors
Macro Environment
While the Porter analysis looks at the conditions in a specific industry, the PEST analysis looks at factors that affect the greater business environment. The sub-environments addressed by this model include:
1. Political (including regulatory)
2. Economic
3. Socio-cultural
4. Technical
Required Reading
For a general introduction to the Five Forces Model, the following video interview with Michael Porter is helpful for putting the external analysis into perspective:
Part 2: Internal Analysis
One of the criticisms of Porter's Five Forces Model (and external analyses in general) is that while Five Forces can certainly help in the identification of problems and difficulties that firms are likely to encounter in a given industry, the model does not provide insight into what a particular company can do to manipulate those forces in its favor, thus gaining a competitive advantage.
In Part 2 of this module, we will focus on an analysis of the internal environment, or the internal company. At the conclusion of this process, we will have what is sometimes referred to as a "company profile" or an "internal profile." Two useful frameworks that will help us to focus on the essential factors for analysis of the internal environment are Porter's Value Chain and the Resource Based View framework (RBV).
After conducting an analysis of an organization's internal environment, you will be in a position to complete the last two elements of the SWOT analysis: identification of the strengths and weaknesses of a company.
Internal Analysis Components
Before we introduce the analytical models we will be using in this module, some background information will be helpful. A company has (A) primary activities and (B) support activities.
A company's primary activities are:
- Research and Development (R&D)
- Production (manufacturing)
- Marketing and Sales
- Customer Service
A company's support activities include:
- Materials Management
- Human Resources
- Information Systems
- Infrastructure
A. Primary Activities
- Research and Development (R&D) includes development and design of products and production processes. Many manufacturing companies have separate R&D departments. For highly innovative companies (such as 3M), this may be one of the most important departments in the organization. Some service companies may include R&D activities as a part of marketing or customer service functions. For instance, banks introduce new products to attract customers.
- Production is in charge of creating goods or services. Some companies manufacture products. Banks make loans. Retail companies sell products. These are instances of production.
- Marketing and Sales plays several roles. It advertises and positions the brand, identifies marketing needs, and sets pricing.
- Customer Service provides after-sale service.
B. Support Activities
- Materials Management manages the logistics of moving materials from procurement of inputs to production and then moving outputs through distribution to customers. Inventory management is part of the Materials Management support activity.
- Human Resources is focused on employing the necessary skills mix to carry out the organization's mission, and to motivate, train, and compensate the workforce.
- Information Systems refers to computer support in processing functions and supporting company operations, as well as Internet.
- Infrastructure refers to organizational structure, controls, and culture. The infrastructure must be capable of supporting the primary activities of the organization and must also be compatible with its strategy.
Case
Assignment Overview
Remember that the Case in this course is an ongoing exercise, meaning that we will be taking an intensive look at one company over the course of our four modules. This session, we will be conducting a strategic analysis of the Coca-Cola Company.
The outcome of this Case is use a completed external and internal analysis of the Coca-Cola Company, in the completion of a SWOT.
Case Assignment
In a 7- to 10-page paper, integrated your external and internal company analysis, completing a formal company SWOT.
Keys to the Assignment
- Step 1: Perform research, and complete an industry analysis using each of the Five Forces in Porter's model. Support your analysis with current financial, operational, and marketing data.
- Step 2: Complete your external analysis using each of the four elements in the PEST analysis. When considering economic data, use the most current data you can find.
- Step 3: Write up the results of your external analysis, and be sure to label the impact of each of the Five Forces as high, moderate, or low. Taken together, the Five Forces analysis and the PEST analysis should lead to conclusions about the overall opportunities and threats facing the Coca-Cola Company as revealed by your research. All data and factual information that you report in your Five Forces and PEST analysis must be properly cited using APA style.
- Step 4: Conduct a critical and thorough internal analysis of the Coca-Cola Company, assessing as many of the company's key internal strengths and weaknesses as you can.
- Consider the operations, customer service, finance, human resources management, and marketing functions. See the following website, as it will help you decide which strengths and weaknesses you might wish to evaluate
- Step 5: Discuss the results of your internal analysis, including your conclusions concerning the strengths and weaknesses facing the Coca-Cola Company.
- Step 6: Synthesize your internal analysis with your external environmental analysis, formulating a complete SWOT analysis.Provide a SWOT diagram (include as an Appendix - not as part of the written analysis!) in which you show - in each of the four quadrants - the most important 3-4 company strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Each of these should be discussed thoroughly within your written analysis.
- Based on your SWOT, give very specific and informed recommendations as to what the company should do. Give your overall analysis-does the company have more strengths than weaknesses? More weaknesses than strengths? Whatever you decide, you need to recommend (with strong, convincing support) what you believe should be the company's strategy - in response to your collective assessment of the organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. You must demonstrate evidence of critical thinking - don't simply restate facts you've learned about the company! Interpret the data and factual information you've found instead!
- Step 7: Consider the Case as a formal business report that you are developing for the Board of Directors and CEO as the Coca-Cola Company's consultant. This is a professionaldocument. Follow the format below:
o Executive summary: This is a synopsis of the main points, conclusions and recommendations made in the longer report. If you would like a refresher on writing an executive summary
o Introduction: State the main purpose of the paper (thesis statement), what you hope to accomplish, and how you will go about doing it.
o Main Body: The "meat" of the paper. Emphasize analysis, not just description. Delineate separate topics or sections with section headings.
o Conclusion: Summarize your paper in the light of your thesis statement.
Assignment Expectations
Your paper will be evaluated using the grading rubric.
Tips and Suggestions
Note the following tips and suggestions:
- Business school case-study assignments are meant to offer practice opportunities for future businesspeople who are earning their MBA degrees. Consider yourself a consultant hired by the company to make these critical assessments. There are no right or wrong answers to the Case questions - however, your position must be well-defended.
- Study the theoretical concepts provided in the Background materials section of the module, and identify main strategy concepts.
- Include a cover page and reference page, in addition to the 7-10 pages of analysis described above.
- Include section headings in all papers.
- Cite and reference all sources, including those that you paraphrase. This means include citations and quotation marks for direct quotes, and citations for information you have "borrowed" or paraphrased from other sources.
Attachment:- Case Instructions.zip