Organizations constantly face threats to their market share coming from the external environment, competitors, and loss of capabilities. Constant scanning of the environment and searching for opportunities to retain and increase market share becomes a must for leaders. This is why strategic management is of critical importance to an organization’s survival and growth. This assignment is designed as a proposal of strategic choice for an organization that will help you practice the three levels of strategy – assessment, choice, and outcomes.
Summary
For this assignment you need to propose a strategic move for your organization*. Your proposal should (1) start with a thorough analysis of the organization and its current strategy, and (2) build a case for a strategic choice. Your proposal should be written in the form of a paper that strictly follows the APA rules for writing and citations. You need to start with a cover page and include a reference list. You need to use a minimum of 8 different references to support your arguments and recommendations, of which minimum 4 references are academic. Please refer to the step-by-step directions for a full review of all requirements for this assignment and to the Grading Rubric for the performance criteria point allocation.
* If you are currently not employed, you can choose a previous employer or a Fortune 100 company that was not studied by a team in the course.
Step-by-Step Directions
★ Introduction (1 paragraph)
○ Describe briefly the purpose of the paper and your goals for it.
★ Organization Description (about 0.5 page)
○ Present the company you work for or the company you want to use for the paper.
○ Describe its industry, size, product/services offered, location, regional/global spread, number of employees, financial statements, and other key information you find relevant to your project.
★ Organizational Analysis (about 1.5 pages)
○ Assess the external environment using two tools from the Strategic Management Toolbox.
○ Assess internally the organization using two tools from the Strategic Management Toolbox.
○ Complete your analysis with a SWOT table.
★ Current Organizational Strategy (about 1 page)
○ Identify whether the organization pursues cost advantage or product differentiation.
○ Discuss the pros and cons of the current strategy.
○ Discuss the effectiveness of the current strategy.
★ Other Current Strategic Choices (about 0.5 page)
○ Identify what other strategic choices the organization is currently pursuing: diversification, integration, outsourcing, alliance, international expansion, etc.
○ Discuss the pros and cons of those strategic choice/choices.
○ Discuss the effectiveness of those strategic choice/choices.
★ Strategic Choice Proposal (about 1-1.5 page)
○ Based on the analyses you completed and on your assessment of the effectiveness of the current strategy, propose one strategic choice for the organization.
○ Define it and describe it thoroughly in the context of the organization (e.g. market, products, costs, stakeholders, customers, etc.).
○ Build an argument referring back to your analyses and assessments on why this choice is a good fit for the organization.
○ Discuss whether this strategic choice aims to sustain or gain competitive advantage, and explain how.
★ Strategic Choice Alignment (about 1-1.5 page)
○ Apply the 7S model to estimate which strategic organizational elements will be affected by the choice.
○ Describe what changes in the 7S should be adopted to ensure successful strategy implementation.
★ Value Creation (about 0.5 page)
○ Discuss how your proposed strategic choice will create economic value.
○ Discuss whether or not your proposed strategic choice will lead to social value creation in addition to economic value.
○ Describe how social value creation or lack thereof will affect the overall organizational results.
★ Conclusion (1 paragraph)
○ Conclude your paper with a summary of your major findings in support of your strategic choice.
