Case Study Report
Outline and Grading Guide (150 points)
COMPANY NAME/WEBSITE/INDUSTRY
State the company name, website address and industry
BACKGROUND/HISTORY
Briefly describe the company in the case study. What is their primary business, who were the officers or key players described in the case study? If the case study company is currently in business, list the company’s current CEO, total sales and profit or loss for the last year where data is available. Identify key events or phases in the company’s history. Describe the performance of this company in the industry. Visit the company’s website and use http://finance.yahoo.com and or some other financial search engine to find this data. (25 points)
NOTE: Make sure to use APA citations throughout the paper. The textbook should be cited if it is the source of information. If you are not familiar with APA citation, check out the tutorial “APA Guidelines for Citing Sources” at the end of the course syllabus. There are videos to help you with the APA format and business research in the week 1 lecture.
SWOT ANALYSIS
Using the information in the case study, perform a SWOT analysis on this company. Remember Strengths and Weaknesses are internal to the company. Opportunities and threats lie outside of the company and are in the external environment. Summarize your key points in a SWOT matrix. (25 points)
ANALYSIS VIA PORTER’S FIVE FORCES MODEL
Analyze the competitive environment by listing the threat of new entrants, the bargaining power of buyers, the bargaining power of suppliers, the threat of substitute products and services, and the intensity of rivalry among competitors in the industry (Chapter 2). Summarize your key points in a Figure. (25 points)
STRATEGY USED
How does this company create and sustain a competitive advantage? What strategy was undertaken by this company? Were they successful? Can all companies use this strategy? How is the strategy affected by the life cycle in the industry? Remember to reference Porter’s generic strategies identified in Chapter 5 of the textbook. (20 points)
THE ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FACING THIS COMPANY
Can the company’s competitive advantage be sustained? How will that be accomplished? Where are they in the product life cycle? What is the company culture like? Do they need to change it? What problems is this company having and why? (20 points)
COURSE OF ACTION RECOMMENDED
If you were in a position to advise this company, what strategy would you recommend to sustain competitive advantage and achieve future growth? Be specific and list the steps the company should take for successful implementation of your course of action. (20 points)
OPINION
What do you think of this case study? Describe what you believe are the lessons learned from this case. (10 points)
REFERENCES
When you have completed the paper using the above sections, insert a page break and have a separate references page. The references should be listed in accordance with the APA guidelines as shown in the tutorial. (5 points)
FORMAT:
· Do not use a cover page.
· Font: Use Times New Roman, 12 point.
· Place your name in the upper left hand corner of the page.
· Each section of your paper should be headed by the bolded, capitalized item described above.
· Indent paragraphs.
· Insert page numbers bottom right.
· Limit the paper to no more than 4 double spaced pages.
· Use APA citations throughout the paper. If you are not familiar with APA citation, refer to tutorial, which is contained in the last section of our course syllabus.
· Include a separate “References” page at the end of the paper (This is not one of the 4 pages).
· Please prepare reference page as follows:
References
Dess, G., Lumpkin, G. & Eisner, A. (2012). Strategic Management (6e). Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
· Save your paper in the following format: Your last name your initials and the company discussed in the case study
EXAMPLE: If your name is Edward R Jones and you are writing a case study on Google, then the file name for your paper would be jonesergoogle.doc
· Place the paper in the drop box designated by the weekly assignment.
Note that the report is worth 150 points and points are allocated for each section as noted in the outline.