BUS 497A – CAPSTONE FALL 2018: Current Situation
I. Current Situation
A. Brief firm history. What industries and industry segments is your firm involved in, and what will be the focus of the paper? Provide a statement of the current position or situation of your firm within the industry (i.e., how goes it). How diversified is this firm? Related or unrelated (you may discuss this wherever you think most appropriate)?
B. Strategic Posture. 1. What is the current mission? Did you have to deduce it, or was it stated. Is there a clear point B (an objective that we can quantify)? You should be concerned with both the quality of the mission statement, and its appropriateness for the competitive environment. 2. What is the current (Porter’s generic) strategy? (business-level strategy only) Is this strategy consistent with the mission, appropriate for the environmental context, being followed by management?
II. External Environment (Opportunities and Threats.) Consider all the dimensions in the broader society that influence an industry and the firms within it: Demographic Economic Political/legal Sociocultural Technological Global Physical Which present, current, or future threats or opportunities are important to your firm? Which of the five forces (Porter’s) in the immediate environment are currently affecting the level of competitive intensity within the industry? Which present current or future threats or opportunities important to your firm?
III. Internal Environment (Strengths and Weaknesses) Resources, Capabilities and Core Competencies. The only way to know if your firm is doing well is through comparison. Therefore, almost all of the elements that follow require the analysis of your firm and then a comparison to a better performing firm, or to industry standards. A. Management. The objective of the management function is to ensure the long-term survival of the firm within its competitive environment. Begin with your assessment of how management has addressed this objective. 1. Board of Directors. The objective of the board is to provide oversight of the firm. Based on your observations is this board appropriate for the competitive environment of this organization? a. What is the board size and composition (averages for all firms is 74% external, with 14 members total). b. What are their skills? Do you have the four functional areas covered? ((The four functional areas of an operation are: Marketing and Sales, Supply Chain Management (production, manufacturing, distribution, etc.), Finance and Accounting, and Human Resources)) c. Do they own a significant percentage of stock? He