You should use the questions listed in each section of Part A of the template to formulate your responses. However, your responses must be in paragraph format, not bullet points or Q & A format. This will assist you when you pull together your final Project Summary in Module 14. 

 

Assignment Notes: There are three parts to this segment - Part A-1 Internal Environment, Part A-2 External Environment, and Part A-3 SWOT Analysis. Be sure to answer all of the questions provided in the template for each of these three parts. 

 

Part A-1: Internal Environment - Remember that the internal environment includes any strengths or weaknesses inside the company or organization. Research the Mission Statement, corporate culture, and what you have done in the past with your target markets, products, pricing, promotions, and supply chain. etc. Then provide examples of resources (including management expertise) that your company has that made them unique. How has your company added value through its offerings in the past? Be sure to use the questions in the template as a guide to help you research the Internal Environment.

 

Part A-2: External Environment - Continue with a review of the external environment: Look at various examples outside your focus company to find opportunities and threats. Describe the nature of the overall domestic vs. global market (either in terms of their locations or sales). Describe their competitors and describe their marketing strategies (who are their target markets, what products do they offer, what pricing strategies do they use, what types of promotion do they use, what is their supply chain? Then provide one example of each of the key trends that affect your focus company in terms of the economic environment, changing technology, regulatory environment (this could be a law, lawsuit, recall), and social/cultural environment. Be sure to use the questions in the template as a guide to help you research the External Environment.

 

Part A-3: SWOT Analysis - Situational Analysis with a SWOT analysis of your focus company. 

What are the key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your company? Include at least two strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your focus company in your SWOT analysis. Remember that Strengths and Weaknesses come from internal sources and Opportunities and Threats come from external sources. When you list these examples, provide a short paragraph of how they relate to your focus company, not a bulleted list.

 

For example, don't just list competition as a Threat - briefly describe who are the competitors of your company and why do you consider them a threat. If you list employees as a strength, give a brief reason why you feel that way. You can use bullet points to respond to this SWOT analysis; but next to each bullet point, provide an explanation or description of each.