Assignment 2: Harley-Davidson: External and Internal Analysis

Instructions for this assignment: Perform all of the elements listed below.

This assignment has you complete two parts of a strategic business plan. To see how those parts fit into a full business plan, click here for a strategic business plan outline.

Part I Analysis of the External Environment

As part of the Strategic Business Plan, you have been asked to:

Identify and analyze the major driving forces for change in the external environment of the motorcycle industry.

Analyze the dynamics of competition using Porter's Five Forces Model of Competition. Correctly assess the dynamics of competition.

Provide at least three statistics about the size of the motorcycle industry such as revenue, growth rate, number of units sold by manufacturer/country, etc.

Summarize the strategic issues firms in this industry face and identify their biggest threats.

This section should be titled "The Analysis of H-D's External Environment."

Part II Internal Environment Analysis

Financial

Gather the financial information necessary to do a complete ratio analysis and the Balance Score Card (BSC) key metrics information.

If you were going to create a BSC, what would be the key metrics you would measure in each of the four BSC areas:

Financial

Customer

Internal Business Process

Learning and Growth

Perform a ratio analysis using H-D's five-year financial performance. Interpret the meaning of the ratios and financial performance.

This section should be titled "The Analysis of H-D's Current Strategy: Two Views." Be sure to include the ratio analysis. You may also include other graphics to support your narrative.

Competitors

Based on your analysis, you must decide which two competitors present the biggest competitive threat to H-D.

Perform a financial ratio analysis for the competitors after looking at trends in financial performance over five years, and compare the trends to industry averages.

Be sure you have a clear ranking of the industries' competitors.

This section should be titled "Competitor Analysis." Be sure to include the financial ratio analysis. You may also include other graphics to support your narrative.