using the scenario below, discuss and identify some of the key questions associated with DWC's performance to develop a (SWOT) analysis where Debbie and her team should focus.  Are there any applicable areas that relate to recognized trends or major events that could be documented in the environmental scan?

   

Debbie Clare was thrilled. She had landed the ideal intern- ship with Dynamic World (DWC), a Fortune 1000 con- sumer electronics retailer. Tom Tucker, director of order fulfillment at DWC, had just invited Debbie to lead a 5-intern task force. The task force would perform an envi- ronmental scan to be used as input in DWC's 1-, 5-, and 10-year strategic SC road maps. As a first-year SC major in Michigan State's MBA program, Debbie's excitement was matched only by an intense feeling of trepidation. Tom had assured her that the team consisted of outstanding stu- dents from Arizona State, Ohio State, Tennessee, MIT, and Wharton. Yet, introspectively, Debbie wondered whether she had the skills to deliver the expected results. This was the real world; the results of her work would make a difference this wasn't just another classroom assignment. Debbie perceived DWC to be an early adopter of leading-edge SC practices. DWC trusted its employees to share ideas and drive change. DWC was the company Debbie wanted to work for after she finished her MBA. She knew that the internship was a 3-month job interview. From her previous interviews with Tom, Debbie knew that the past 5 years had been fraught with challenges in the retail sector, but that DWC had navigated them better than any- one else. As a result, DWC had added almost 150 stores per year over the past 3 years, had increased same-store sales by 8 percent, and had developed a national reputation for having a broad assortment of brand-name products consis- tently available at the low prices consumers expected. During their phone conversation, Tom had shared with Debbie his concern that more than a little luck had helped DWC achieve its market-leading status. Tom assured her that he didn't want future success to depend on good fortune. Tom concluded the call saying, "The best way to predict the future is to create it. We want to make our own luck by being prepared when opportunity knocks, and we believe that great environmental scanning