Posted: March 17th, 2017

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?

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.comand 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)