1. Is the U.S. consumer electronics retail industry highly profitable for an average company in the industry? Why?

2. What are the major changes/trends in the macro environment that will influence this industry in the coming years? Please explain specifically how these changes/trends will bring opportunities or threats.

3. Does Best Buy Co. have competitive advantages in the industry? If yes, are they cost advantages, differentiation advantages, or both? How has Best Buy Co. created the advantages? Are their advantages sustainable and why?

4. What are Best Buy Co.'s key disadvantages? Are these disadvantages easy to reverse and why?

5. Based on your answers to the above questions, what would you recommend Best Buy Co. to do in the U.S. consumer electronics retail industry: continue to focus on bricks and mortar stores; adjust direction to focus on online retail; or do both as equal focuses? In answering this question, please explain both upsides and downsides of each approach and validate why the choice you recommend would be the best for the company.

6. Corresponding to your recommended choice in question 5 (i.e., bricks and mortar stores, online, or both), please use Hambrick' strategy diamond to specify a comprehensive strategic and implementation plan that the company should follow in the next 5 years, so that they understand the overarching direction your recommended choice in Question 5 leads to, and the modification they must make in different parts of their operation in order to successfully execute this direction and achieve their optimal profit maximization goal. If needed, you can complement the strategy diamond with one or two other charts (e.g., value chain chart, segmentation chart, or any Gantt chart) to help show the key steps needed andtime required.