The company Chairman, who needs to report back to the VCs, has now asked you to evaluate past performance and make recommendations for future decisions and actions.
The Chairman wants an evaluation of your strategic and operational decisions: why you made those decisions, what went right and why, and what went wrong and why. The Chairman also wants strategic and operational suggestions for moving forwards.
In addition, the Chairman is interested in more detail in three specific areas: the international aspects of the business, the marketing strategy and tactics, and the management style and structure.
Consequently, the Chairman is asking you to add to your general analysis a specific discussion on one of those areas as indicated below:
The Chairman specifically asks you to address the following:
1. What was the rationale for the pace of international expansion and for the particular sales offices (and web channels) that were opened?
2. What was the rationale for opening a factory in the chosen location?
3. What were the strengths and weaknesses of the strategies chosen for both manufacturing and sales locations?
4. To what extent if any were your expansion and location decisions based on the actions of competitors?
5. What should have been done differently?
6. What strategy ought the company to take moving forward - with respect to the location of manufacturing location and sales offices / web channels?
In general terms, the Chairman wants you to analyze the: internationalization strategy that was adopted, to explain how that strategy was converted to an operational plan and then implemented, to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of both strategy and tactics, to consider the financial constraints, and to provide an internationalization strategy and plan for moving forward.