The case assignment will be based on Case #13 in your textbooks (Thompson, Strickland, Gamble, Peteraf (23e) - Crafting and Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage Concepts and Cases, McGraw Hill - ISBN: 9781265028244) - Twitter, Inc. in 2018: Too Little Too Late?. Please do not use any information outside of the case to answer the question. I have provided a guide on how to answer the case questions. For this case you will be answer the question below, integrating all of the tools you have learned through out the course to date. Please limit the total submission to no more than 10 pages, double spaced.

1. What does a PESTEL analysis suggest for the macro-environmental impact on the social media industry? Which of the macro-environmental factors appear to have the greatest potential impact on Twitter? Why?

2. Identify the driving forces in the social media industry? What appears to be the impact of these driving forces on the industry?

3. Prepare a SWOT analysis for Twitter. What does the SWOT suggest for Twitters future?

4. Using the data in Case Exhibits 1 & 2, what is your assessment of Twitters financial position? Based on your analysis, what financial performance can reasonably be expected in the near-term future for Twitter? Support your answer.

5. From the data provided in the case (Exhibits 1, 2, 6 & 7), how does Twitters performance stack up with Facebook and Snap? Is there a clear winner based on your analysis?

Please limit the total submission to no more than 10 pages, double spaced.

A few videos to help with the case (do not use any content outside of these videos and the case):

Twitter Inc. in 2018: Too Little Too Late?	Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey: Timeline Changes Reflect Event-Focused Strategy | CNBC	Play NowLinks to an external site.	02:5	YT 2018
13 Twitter Inc. in 2018: Too Little Too Late?	Trump: Twitter Allows Me to Get My Message	Play NowLinks to an external site.	05:44	YT 2017
13 Twitter Inc. in 2018: Too Little Too Late?	Out CEO Jack Dorsey: Twitter Absolutely Does Not Censor Users | TODAY	Play NowLinks to an external site.	05:33	YT 2016

ack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter Inc., breathed a slight Reddit and Quora. Many of these competitors weres Francis, Katy Perry, and Turkish President Recep to 0.8 percent in 2018 (compared to dropped Erdogan. However, despite the number of users and 18.4 percent and Instagrames (compared to Facebook's financial gains until the foud failed to provide any Although Twitter had 3.0 percent). this profit had come as a resth quarter of 2017, and too little and too late? growing the busincss. Reusearch of cutting coste, not wcre faced with two Twitter's CEO and its Board sales and marketing expenses and development, and could they do to daunting questions: 1) whet 25 percent, respectively, and the been cut by 24 and mic growth, do assure Twitter's survival with its ano revenue for fiscal 2017 was down ovany's annual net profitability, marginal revenue increases, unreliable from 2016. Twitter discovered over three percent take-over candida) was the company an attractive 2017 that it had been miscalculating monthly user numbers since the fourth quarter of 2014, and con- HISTORY OF TWITTER sequently was forced to lower the previously reported Founded in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noan Glass, deficit of over $2.6 billion, officer, whose leadership llad been vital in Twitter status updates up to 40 characters long. Jack Dorsey, a for 2013 through 2017 are presented in Exhibit 1. The 2006: "just setting up my twttr"-Jack(@jack) 21 March, company's consolidated balance sheets for 2016 . The 2006. By the first of January 2018, Twitter had more 2017 are presented in Exhibit 2. it faced serious competition from industry; however, The history of Twitter began with an entrepreneur as Facebook, WhatsApp, from companies such named Noah Glass who started a company named Odeo LinkedIn, and Pinterest, pils shapChat, Instagram, in 2005. Odeo hadd a product that would turn a phone .aal 1 Consolidated Statement of Operations: Fiscal Yaars 2013-2017 message into an MP3 hosted on the Internet. One of As Odeo grew, more employees were hired including Odeo's early investors was a former Google employee, a Web designer, Jack Dorsey, and Christopher "Biz" Evan Williams, who got very involved with the company. Stone, a friend of Odeo's new CEO, Evan Williams. EXHIBIT 2 Twitter Inc.'s Consolidated Balance Sheets, 2016-2017 (in thousands, except par value) CASE 13 Twitter Inc. in 2018: Too Little Too Late? Williarns decided that Odeo's future was not in Twitter was quite simple: tweets were limited to polcasting, and directed the company's employees to 140 characters until late 2017 when the limit was de elop ideas for a new direction. Jack Dorsey, who raised to 280. The character constraint made it easy a doen doing cleanup work on Odeo, proposed a for users to create, distribute, and discover content poduct that was based on people's present status, that was consistent across the Twitter platform as well of what they were doing at a given time. In February as optimized for mobile devices. Consequently, the 2006 , Glass, Dorsey, and a German contract devel- large volume of Tweets drove high velocity informaoper proposed Dorsey's idea to others in Odeo, and tion exchange. Twitter's aim was to become an indisover time, a group of employees gravitated to Twitter pensable daily companion to live human experiences. while others focused on Odeo. At one point, the The company did not have restrictions on whom entire Twitter service was run from Glass' laptop. a user could follow, which greatly enhanced the Noah Glass presented the Twitter idea to breadth and depth of available content and allowed odeo's Board in summer of 2006; the Board was not users to find the content they cared about most. Also, enthused. Williams proposed to repurchase the Odeo users could be followed by hundreds of thousands, or stock held by investors to prevent them from taking millions of other users without requiring a reciprocal a loss, and they agreed. Five years later, the assets relationship, enhancing the ability of users to reach of Odeo that the original investors sold for about a broad audience. Twitter's public platform allowed $5 million were worth $5 billion. both the company and others to extend the reach of After Williams repurchased Odeo, he changed Twitter content: media outlets distributed Tweets to the name to Obvious Corp. and fired Odeo's founder complement their content by making it more timely, and the biggest supporter of Twitter, Noah Glass. relevant, and comprehensive. Tweets had appeared Christopher "Biz" Stone left Twitter in 2011 and pur- on over one million third-party websites, and in the sued an entrepreneurial venture with Obvious Corp. second quarter of 2013 there were approximately for six years. In mid-2017, he returned to Twitter full 30 billion online impressions of Tweets. time. As of the second quarter, 2018, only three of the original Twitter founders remained active in the THE TWITTER BRAND IMAGE company: Biz Stone, Jack Dorsey as the company's CEO, and Evan Williams who was on the Board. Twitter had a powerful brand image. Its mascot bird Twitter provided an almost-immediate access was not chosen because birds make tweeting sounds, channel to global celebrities. The majority of the top but rather because "whether soaring high above the 10 most-followed Twitter accounts were entertainers earth to take in a broad view, or flocking with other who used the service to communicate with their fans, birds to achieve a common purpose, a bird in flight spread news, or build a public image. The near-instant is the ultimate representation of freedom, hope and gratification from direct updates from celebrities such limitless possibility." 1 as Rihanna, Jimmy Fallon, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Twitter was initially named "Jitter" and "Twitch," Swift and the feeling of inclusion in a specific group because that is what a phone would do when it of fans was a major reason for social media users received a tweet. However, neither name evoked the to use Twitter. The accounts of high-interest people image that the founders wanted. Noah Glass got a such as entertainers, politicians, or others at risk of dictionary and went to "Twitch," then to subseimpersonation were verified by Twitter to authenti- quent words starting with "Tw" he found the word cate their identity. A badge of verification was placed "Twitter," which in the Oxford English dictionary on confirmed accounts to indicate legitimacy. Major means a short inconsequential burst of information, sporting events and industry award shows such as the and chirps from birds. Dorsey and Glass thought that Super Bowl or Academy Asterest described exactly what they were doing, so online action or Academy Awards generated significant "they decided on that name. The name was already to participation. The online discussion enabled users owned, but not being used, and the company was posted behinde in the success of celebrities who often able to buy it very cheaply. posted behind-the-scenes photo tweets or commen- In 2012, the old Twitter bird was redesigned, taries. On-set or in-concert tweets were other meth- slightly resized, changed from red to blue, and named ods utilized by celebrities to enhance their appeal, Larry the Bird (named after NBA star Larry Bird). and fan interaction. The lower case " t " icon and the text "twitter" were removed; the company name was no longer on the followers, others have far more. As of millions of oune 2018 , logo. The blue bird alone communicated the Twitter Katy Perry had over 108,000,000 followers, Justing \begin{array}{l} According to a Twitter survey conducted to help The miraculous plane crash on New York's \\ understand the company's brand legacy, 90 percent of Hudson River in 2009 was broken on Twitter, and on \\ \hline\end{array} Twitter users worldwide recognized the Twitter brand. May 1, 2011, an IT consultant in Pakistan unknow. Twitter's 2018 ad campaign "What's happening" used ingly live-tweeted the U.S. Navy Seal raid that killee only the Twitter logo and hashtag symbol. The Twitter Osama Bin Laden over nine hours before the raid wes brand was called "minimalization at its finest" 33 an on the news. Prince William announced his engage advertising campaign that did not have one word, but ment to Catherine Middleton in 2010 on Twitter, yet delivered a powerful message from the brand. President Obama used Twitter to declare victory in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, with a Tweet thy Twitter's Global High Profile was viewed about 25 million times on the Twitter Twitter had become very well-known because of sev- broadcast media. eral high-profile users and high profile use. Several of the world's leaders had millions of followers, TWITTER SERVICES, as shown in Exhibit 3. From May 2017 to June 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump's follow count PRODUCTS, AND REVENUE increased to 53.1 million. President Trump regularly used Twitter to break news, praise his friends, campaign for supporters, and feud with his enemies; Twitter's primary service was the Twitter global consequently Twitter was in the daily news almost platform for real-time public selfexpression ard constantly in 2017. conversation, which allowed people to create, consume, discover, and distribute content. Some of the EXHIBIT 3 World Leaders with the most trusted media outlets in the world, such y Most Twitter Followers as CNN, Bloomberg, the Associated Press, and BBC of May 2017 used Twitter to distribute content. Periscope uas 1 mobile app launched by Twitter in 2015 that enabled people to broadcast and watch live video with others. Periscope broadcasts could be viewed through Twitter and mobile or desktop web browsers. Twitter Inc. generated advertising and dial licensing revenue as shown in Exhibit 4 by proiling mobile advertising exchange services through the Twitter MoPub exchange, and offering data products and data licenses that allowed their data partner to search and analyze historical and real-time data on the Twitter platform, which consisted of public twets and their content. Also, Twitter's data partners uss ally purchased licenses to access all or a portion of the company's data for a fixed period. The comparfi operated a mobile ad exchange and received serice fees from transactions completed on the excharg? The Twitter mobile ad exchange allowed buyers and sellers to purchase and sell advertising inventory, add Source: Statista, 2018. it matched buyers and sellers. (e(BT4 Twitter Inc. Advertising and Data Licensing Revenue, 2015-2016 (in thousands) \$yt compared 10