in Brief: Analyze Krogers internal and external environments and assess their competitive advantage Background: Whether you know them as Kroger, Dillons, City Market, King Soopers, Bakers, Fred Meyer, Ralphs, Smiths, Marianos, Foods Co., Pay Less Super Markets, Gerges, Harris Teeters, QFCs, Food4Less, JayC Food Stores, Owens, Roundys, Ruler Foods, Frys Food Stores, or Pick n Save1, youve almost certainly interacted with Kroger at some point. There has been considerable dynamism in the grocery industry over the last 10 years, and Kroger has tried a multi-pronged approach to dealing with the changes, experiencing mixed success. Over the course of three weeks, were going to examine the environmental factors affecting Kroger and evaluate its strategic responses to industry opportunities and threats. Instructions: Analyze Krogers external environment using a PESTEL and Porters Five Forces analysis and Krogers internal environment by assessing its resources, core competencies, and value chain. Summarize the most important conclusions from these analyses into a SWOT analysis. Prompts: Based on your analyses, what are the most important opportunities, threats, strengths, and weaknesses experienced by Kroger? Which elements of the internal and external environments are driving these? In what ways does Kroger have a competitive advantage and in what ways does it not? What is driving Krogers competitive advantages (this will likely relate back to your SWOT analysis)? Which, if any, are currently sustainable? Please note: (1) Im not asking for your whole analysis, just what you deem the most important conclusions, (2) when instructions ask for opportunities (plural), I expect that youll describe at least two, and (3) whether stated explicitly or not, I expect you to explain your reasoning and support your positions with sources as appropriate