In a 7- to 10-page paper, integrate your external and internal company analysis, completing a formal company SWOT.

MGT 599 Strategic Management

Module 2 – Case

THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT, INTERNAL PROFILE, AND SWOT

Assignment Overview

Remember that the Case in this course is an ongoing exercise, meaning that we will be taking an intensive look at one company over the course of our four modules. This session, we will be conducting a strategic analysis of Pepsico.

The outcome of this Case is to use a completed external and internal analysis of Pepsico in the completion of a SWOT.

Case Assignment

In a 7- to 10-page paper, integrate your external and internal company analysis, completing a formal company SWOT.

Keys to the Assignment

• Step 1: Perform research, and complete an industry analysis using each of the Five Forces in Porter’s model. Support your analysis with current financial, operational, and marketing data.

• Step 2: Complete your external analysis using each of the four elements in the PEST analysis. When considering economic data, use the most current data you can find.

• Step 3: Write up the results of your external analysis, and be sure to label the impact of each of the Five Forces as high, moderate, or low. Taken together, the Five Forces analysis and the PEST analysis should lead to conclusions about the overall opportunities and threats facing Pepsico as revealed by your research. All data and factual information that you report in your Five Forces and PEST analysis must be properly cited using APA style.

• Step 4: Conduct a critical and thorough internal analysis of Pepsico, assessing as many of the company’s key internal strengths and weaknesses as you can. Consider the operations, customer service, finance, human resources management, and marketing functions. See the following website, as it will help you decide which strengths and weaknesses you might wish to evaluate: http://www.businessballs.com/swotanalysisfreetemplate.htm

• Step 5: Discuss the results of your internal analysis, including your conclusions concerning the strengths and weaknesses facing Pepsico.

• Step 6: Synthesize your internal analysis with your external environmental analysis, formulating a complete SWOT analysis. Provide a SWOT diagram (include as an Appendix – not as part of the written analysis) in which you show – in each of the four quadrants – the most important 3-4 company strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Each of these should be discussed thoroughly within your written analysis.

• Based on your SWOT, give very specific and informed recommendations as to what the company should do. Give your overall analysis—does the company have more strengths than weaknesses? More weaknesses than strengths? Whatever you decide, you need to recommend (with strong, convincing support) what you believe should be the company’s strategy — in response to your collective assessment of the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. You must demonstrate evidence of critical thinking – do not simply restate facts you have learned about the company. Interpret the data and factual information you have found instead.

• Step 7: Consider the Case as a formal business report that you are developing for the Board of Directors and CEO as Pepsico’s external consultant. This is a professional document. Follow the format below:

• Executive summary: This is a synopsis of the main points, conclusions and recommendations made in the longer report. If you would like a refresher on writing an executive summary, check this website: http://www.csun.edu/~vcecn006/summary.html

• Introduction: State the main purpose of the paper (thesis statement), what you hope to accomplish, and how you will go about doing it.

• Main Body: The “meat” of the paper. Emphasize analysis, not just description. Delineate separate topics or sections with section headings.

• Conclusion: Summarize your paper in the light of your thesis statement.

Assignment Expectations

Your paper will be evaluated using the grading rubric.

Tips and Suggestions

Note the following tips and suggestions:

• Business school case-study assignments are meant to offer practice opportunities for future businesspeople who are earning their MBA degrees. Consider yourself a consultant hired by the company to make these critical assessments. There are no right or wrong answers to the Case questions – however, your position must be well-defended.

• Study the theoretical concepts provided in the Background materials section of the module, and identify main strategy concepts.

• Conduct additional research on the organization using IBISWorld in the TUI Library. IBISWorld is accessible through the Library Access search located at the TLC Home Page. Under the Library Access search box, click on “Additional Library Sources.” IBISWorld is included in the list. For navigation help, click here: IBISWorld Navigation Tips.

• Include a cover page and reference page, in addition to the 7-10 pages of analysis described above.

• Include section headings in all papers.

• Cite and reference all sources, including those that you paraphrase. This means include citations and quotation marks for direct quotes, and citations for information you have “borrowed” or paraphrased from other sources.

• Follow Guidelines for Well-Written Papers.

• Submit your analysis by the end of this module.

MGT 599 Strategic Management

Module 2 – SLP

THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT, INTERNAL PROFILE, AND SWOT

Simulation

Wonder Company Simulation

Simulation

The Module 2 SLP requires that you continue with the scenario and simulation you began in the Module 1 SLP.

SCENARIO CONTINUATION

SLP2 – It is January 15, 2017. You have finished analyzing the performance of the Wonder Company, and you have submitted the report requested by your CEO, Sally Smothers. You are ready to move forward to 2017, but then…..

….as you turn on the TV, you notice something very strange. You recognize that the date is January 1, 2013, and that you get to make the decisions for the Wonder Company for the 4-year period beginning with 2013. Your challenge is to do better than Joe Thomas.

At the beginning of each year (2013-2016), you will determine your pricing, your R&D allocations, and whether or not to discontinue any products. You are required to make your decisions for each year, and to report your results to see what happened. You must keep track of your decisions, making specific notes supporting each of your decisions.

Run the Wonder Co. simulation through the end of 2016. When you are finished, the date will be December 31, 2016. What is your total Score? Did you do better than Joe Thomas?

You organize your notes about your decisions, your analysis, and your reasoning into a well-written report.

Session Long Project

Run the Wonder Company simulation with your strategy, making decisions year by year for prices and R&D allocations. Write a 6- to 7-page paper, not including cover and reference pages, in which you discuss the decisions and the results for each year. Discuss why you did better (or worse) than Joe Thomas.

KEYS TO THE ASSIGNMENT

The key aspects of this assignment that should be covered and taken into account in preparing your paper include:

• As you run the simulation, keep track of your decisions and the results – both financial and marketing. Copy and paste the results into Excel or into a Word document. You will also want to record the information that you get from the Advisor. Make a note of your Final Total Score.

• Include your Final Total Score, some tables, and/or graphs showing key results. Using sound logic, be sure to clearly explain the differences from Joe.

• Remember that the key here is quality of analysis.

• Time Line Summary:

SLP1

• 2016: You are hired on December 31, 2016.

• Turned in first report to the CEO on January 15, 2017.

SLP2

• You again find yourself in a Time Warp that takes you back to January 1, 2013.

• You revise the decisions made by Joe for 2013 – 2016. You make new decisions each year.

• December 31, 2016 – You have gone through all four years, and you write your second report to summarize how you did.

SLP Assignment Expectations

Your paper will be evaluated using the grading rubric.

TIPS AND SUGGESTIONS

Please note the following tips and suggestions:

• Include a cover page and reference page, in addition to the 6-7 pages of analysis described above:

o Use section headings as appropriate. Use graphs, charts, or figures strategically – but do not use these as “space fillers.” Include large graphs, etc., as an Appendix instead.

o Cite and reference all sources that you use in your work, including those that you paraphrase. This means include citations and quotation marks for direct quotes, and citations for that information which you have “borrowed” or paraphrased from other sources.

o Follow the Guidelines for well-written papers.