Need a GROUP CASE ANALYSIS: PART 1: The first part of the group project is intended to give students practice in compiling relevant information about organizations and their industries toward solving key issues. PART 2: The second part of this project compels students to brainstorm and formulate strategic options using relevant data in order to solve critical issues which greatly impact a company's strategic and financial success. The following is a list of suggested industries for analysis: 1. manufacturers (e.g., paint, paper, recreational equipment, etc.) 2. nursing home chains (national) 3. trucking industry 4. book store chains 5. national home builders 6. food distributors 7. hotels or other hospitality organizations (e.g., clubs) 8. newspapers 9. wine makers Industries may be chosen by only one group on a first come - first served basis. Please post your industry/company choice on the Discussion Board thread labeled "Groups" and let me know by email which industry you choose. I will consider other industries if you have a burning desire to analyze some other industry that is not listed above. Again, you must get approval. Minimum requirements for your selected industry: 1. The industry must consist of a relatively high number of competitors, and a significant number of rather large single-business companies. 2. The industries must have companies that are publicly owned. 3. Among the publicly owned companies, you must be able to identify a primary company within the industry, as well as a similar competitor(s) within the industry. 4. You must be able to find or calculate industry averages for a period of five years for a minimum of two ratios within each of the five ratio categories. 5. You must select an industry for which adequate research information is available. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you examine the research literature to be sure of these requirements before you invest significant time in getting the project going. Your professor strongly suggests that, as you select your industry and do the necessary research, you also select a primary comparison company within that industry. If you do this, you will have most of the industry analysis already completed for your second group case. EACH SECTION MUST BE LABELED WITH THE GROUP MEMBERS NAME WHO DID THE WORK!! If you do not state who performed the work for a section, the points for that section will be discounted. There is no way to distinguish effort, so the group is guaranteed to share the grade associated with that section.

2 16. References - list references alphabetically and number ([1], [2]). Cite reference throughout the report by numbering each [1], [2], etc. MGMT4842Strategic Management Group Project - Written Portion Parts 1 and 2 PART 1: 1. Title Page 2. Table of Contents _________(5 Points)______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Executive Summary - This can only be completed after PART 2 is complete. This component should be inserted behind the table of contents. It involves a 1-page summary of the major findings of the report provided in PART 2. The executive summary is NOT supposed to be a summary of everything presented in the report. _______ (5 Points)______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Mission and Vision - Include (or write) a mission and vision statement for your company. According to Chapter 2 are the statements (if) provided by the company adequate and appropriate? Why/why not? Cutting and pasting is ok, but be sure to quote and cite! _______ (5 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Objectives - List and discuss separately strategic objectives and financial objectives. Must have at least 5 objectives of each type. Discuss how each objective relates to and works to fulfill the company strategy overall. For both types of corporate objectives, refer to the definition in your text for each. The statements you provide should be as described in your text. Remember to delineate each one separately. Financial Objectives (5 points) a. b. .... x. (at least 5 are required) Strategic Objectives (5 points) a. b. .... x. (at least 5 are required) _______ (10 Points)______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Driving Forces (macro) - List and discuss each separately. You must address all driving forces, and how each may affect the industry, as a whole as well as the company of interest...(see text as a checklist type reference). _______ (10 Points)_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Industry Key Success Factors (KSFs) (competitive environment) -- List and discuss each separately. You must address all KSFs for your industry, keeping in mind that there may be more than one KSF for each category described in your text book ...(see text as a checklist type reference). _______ (10 Points)_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

3 8. Competitive Analysis: Begin this section by providing the SIC/NAICS code information for your industry as well as the industry definition. Then, discuss the 5 Forces within your company's industry, and how these forces impact your company. For all forces, indicate: whether this competitive force is strong or weak, list and discuss how each force impacts the competitive environment of the company, analyze the competitive pressure presented by each force, and how the company is positioned in relation to each force. A. New Entrants: (Also, address: barriers to entry, learning curve effects, other considerations including macro forces) B. Substitutes: (Also, name all possible substitutes. Be sure to consider the 3 characteristics that make a product a substitute.) C. Rivalry within the Industry: (Consider market size and growth rate, #/size/strengths of rivals, list competitive behaviors of rivals) D. Suppliers: (are there company/supplier collaboration/contracts, consider availability and/or differentiation of supplies, size of companies (your company and rivals) buying the supplies, size of suppliers, etc.) E. Customers/buyers: (are there company/ customers collaboration/contracts, differentiation of available products, size of customer). Please note, customers in this section means those who buy the product provided by the company being analyzed. _________(25 Points)______________________________________________________________________________________________________ SWOT 9. Internal Analysis - List, by order of rank, a minimum of 5 Strengths and 5 Weaknesses. Considering the industry competitive environment, rank each according to how beneficial the strengths are (or how problematic the weaknesses are) for your company, and why. 10. External Analysis - List, by order of rank, a minimum of 5 Opportunities and 5 Threats. Rank each according to how beneficial the opportunities are (or problematic the threats are) for your company, and why. _________(20 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 11. Competitive strategy - choose from the 5 generic competitive strategies provided in Chapter 5 your text. List reasons why the strategic category you chose best fits your company. ________(5 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 12. Financial Analyses - You are to provide a 5-year trend analysis for each of a minimum of 5 ratios which are appropriate to the effective understanding of your company's financial state. Provide 5 tables and line graphs with a discussion of each table. NOTE: Mergent Online (a project resource available on the Joyner resource cite) will assist you in calculating the ratios for this assignment. Format for each ratio: You must use this format. Each ratio should be all on one page. RATIO NAME Year 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Company Competitor Industry Graph the information in a line graph. Paragraph #1: You are to provide a general explanation of the chosen ratio immediately following the above table for each ratio. Paragraph #2: Interpret the specific information presented in the graph to address the similarities or differences in the trends of company, competitor, and industry. Also, indicate outliers, and why these extremes may exist. _________(30 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 2: NOTE: For sections 13-15, present EACH issue together with its associated alternatives and recommendations. Please do NOT group all issues together, then all alternatives, and all recommendations. The section descriptions are simply listed this way below to make instructions clear. 13. Analysis of Major Issues - based on the analysis of data and identification of industry issues: a. List and discuss the major strategic issues the company faces in the next 1-5 years. You must have at least 5 major strategic issues that are of primary importance to the company b. Thoroughly explain why these issues are most important for the company to address at this time. Include references to SWOT, industry KSF and driving forces information or whatever is relevant to justify the importance of this issue to the company's success. Do not forget international concerns. c. Cite at least two news articles which discuss the issue. ________(20 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 14. Presentation and Analysis of Alternatives -- Alternatives should not be "To do or not to do". That is NOT the question! "Alternatives" mean the various ways by which an issue may be resolved. You must have at least 2 alternatives for each issue. Identify and evaluate (by discussing the pros and cons) the alternatives to solving each issue. o Pros and cons may include the references to SWOT, industry KSF and driving forces information or whatever is relevant to justify the value of an alternative in solving the issue to be addressed. Do not forget international concerns. _______ (30 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________4 12. Financial Analyses - You are to provide a 5-year trend analysis for each of a minimum of 5 ratios which are appropriate to the effective understanding of your company's financial state. Provide 5 tables and line graphs with a discussion of each table. NOTE: Mergent Online (a project resource available on the Joyner resource cite) will assist you in calculating the ratios for this assignment. Format for each ratio: You must use this format. Each ratio should be all on one page. RATIO NAME Year 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Company Competitor Industry Graph the information in a line graph. Paragraph #1: You are to provide a general explanation of the chosen ratio immediately following the above table for each ratio. Paragraph #2: Interpret the specific information presented in the graph to address the similarities or differences in the trends of company, competitor, and industry. Also, indicate outliers, and why these extremes may exist. _________(30 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART 2: NOTE: For sections 13-15, present EACH issue together with its associated alternatives and recommendations. Please do NOT group all issues together, then all alternatives, and all recommendations. The section descriptions are simply listed this way below to make instructions clear. 13. Analysis of Major Issues - based on the analysis of data and identification of industry issues: a. List and discuss the major strategic issues the company faces in the next 1-5 years. You must have at least 5 major strategic issues that are of primary importance to the company b. Thoroughly explain why these issues are most important for the company to address at this time. Include references to SWOT, industry KSF and driving forces information or whatever is relevant to justify the importance of this issue to the company's success. Do not forget international concerns. c. Cite at least two news articles which discuss the issue. ________(20 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 14. Presentation and Analysis of Alternatives -- Alternatives should not be "To do or not to do". That is NOT the question! "Alternatives" mean the various ways by which an issue may be resolved. You must have at least 2 alternatives for each issue. Identify and evaluate (by discussing the pros and cons) the alternatives to solving each issue. o Pros and cons may include the references to SWOT, industry KSF and driving forces information or whatever is relevant to justify the value of an alternative in solving the issue to be addressed. Do not forget international concerns. _______ (30 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

5 15. Recommendations - Choose from the aforementioned alternative for each issue to provide the most reasonable and appropriate recommendation to resolve each issue. Discuss each issue's recommendation and why one alternative was chosen over the other. Provide support about how each recommendation will correct or address the issue better than the others. Discuss the implementation considerations (i.e., the costs and other issues) to obtain full credit for this part. Remember, for strategy to be effective it must be executed well. Also, specify if the company needs to change its generic or master strategies. _______ (30 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ DO NOT FORGET --- Editing, spelling, grammar, formatting (titles and subtitles) - (3 points will be deducted per error) if you have made an error on previous papers in this class, the noted error should not be present in this paper. This would be a reason for multiples in point reductions. =============================================================================== =============================================================================== GRADING: Any/All of the following points may be considered in grading the written report. The report was compiled in a readable manner. Major points may be deducted if this is not so!!! This means paragraph lengths of no more than 10-15 lines. Indentation is necessary. Labeling is EXTREMELY important!!! o Section titles o Subject subtitles o Italicized paragraph subtitles (if appropriate) Proper editing. Please see Hints for Effective Writing on Blackboard and/or consult with an editor from the campus writing labs. Information presented in report was on topic. Writer demonstrated a grasp of the information. Sufficient research was performed. Recognized all important factors in strategic planning and implementation. Identified major strategic issues facing the company Clearly stated the recommendations in sufficient detail including analysis of alternatives, pros and cons of each, and sufficient reasoning to elect one alternative as the best to resolve an issue. Maintained proper balance among identification, analysis and evaluation, and recommendation. The writer proofread the report and removed grammatical, spelling and typographical errors. (See the Editing Rules document about common errors in business writing, posted on Blackboard.) The writer credited the work of others in the body of the report and in a bibliography (There should be at least 15 to 20 references!)