MGMT661 Strategic Management

 Executive Summary (include problem, issues, recommended alternative, risk assessment, and contingency plan). Max 2 pages 10/15 Not an ES but really an introduction. See the content here that needs to be included so executives will read the report. It is also less than half a page…Look left. Background (main points and not more than 1 page) 4/5 Generally a good background given the material to choose from in the case. Business Drivers (key points that drive the business) 5/10 (Move to Appendix) A discussion but I saw no business drivers mentioned. This was a wasted section and is not relevant given the content. It is more background and should be placed there. I am being generous here. If you had listed and discussed business drivers, what are the implications and how does this impact strategy, alternatives, recommendations and contingency plan? SWOT Analysis (use a table, include trends) 7/10 Generally OK. No trends were identified or they were missed but it was a pretty good analysis overall. Refer to the left for this… PESTLE Analysis 7.5/10 Generally meets the level required. Good points on the environmental section. What about the “implications of this information” after each major section? I am not seeing this level of analysis as discussed in class (each class). Porter’s Five Forces 7/10 Ok but you did not identify the implications of this. The levels (low, medium or high) mean something and you did not identify those either. What are the implications and how does it inform strategy, or the problem, or the alternatives, recommendations and contingency plan(s)? Competitive Analysis (table, perceptual map, key ratios analysis) 7/10 Nice charts and diagrams but no real analysis. What are the implications of this information? This is missing here as well. BCG Matrix OK but no discussion on what this means and how it informs strategy, alternatives, recommendations or contingency plans? 7/10 (Move to Appendix) Ansoff’s Strategic Opportunity Matrix OK but no discussion on what this means and how it informs strategy, alternatives, recommendations or contingency plans? 7/10 (Move to Appendix) Core Competencies 7.5/10 (Move to Appendix) Good but missing any discussion. So, what are the implications and how does this impact strategy, alternatives, recommendations and contingency plan? Close the loop and show understanding and integration. That is what I am after at this level. Problem Statement (ensure it is accurate, concise, and very clear). 3-4 sentences maximum 11/15 Some of this was pretty good. Another sentence really focusing on the problem would add value. Keep practicing this but pretty good for the first one. Key Issues (Top 5 in order of importance) 7.5/10 Ok but no “issues of priority”. You did NOT list them in order of priority as stated here and in class each week. I am going to keep reducing marks until this is done properly as I stated in class… Identification of Alternatives (List in order of priority) 6/10 The same comments here as well. Look left, where I saw clearly “in order of priority”. You are not paying attention. Also, the alternatives list is not present is fairly weak and not developed. Several should be listed, some could be combined to make them stronger, make them more impactful and then prioritized and shorten and refine the list. You need to work on properly listing available strategic alternatives and then properly evaluating them. This is a very weak section of the analysis… Evaluation of Alternatives 11/15 Not bad but this is not really an evaluation. What are the timelines, costs, and why or how is one better than the others and how are you going to decide to recommend? I see none of this information here so not sure how you are evaluating. Implementation (ensure you choose one that you identified-the best one) 6/10 Same comments here as well. You make a good point but this is not implementation. It needs work to meet the standards. Recommendations / Conclusions (summarize the main points of the case-only the most important) 11.5/15 I think I saw 3-4 good recommendations (research is pretty basic and should always be done). There are no concluding thoughts and thus this is pretty weak for a case such as this but I gave a pretty good mark since the recommendations were OK. Needs work for both recommendations and overall conclusions though. Evaluation and Risks of Recommended Strategy (how confident are you that it will work given the risks) 6.5/10 OK so now what? There are a few comments but no evaluation. What are the risks, and how high are they? What is the probability they might happen. How does this relate to the contingency plan(s)? What are the implications of this? Contingency Plan (within one or two years, if things go wrong you need a backup plan that could work. Describe briefly what that is and how it might be implemented, including risks) 5.5/10 I don’t see any plan. What is this alternative? I did not see it in the list because there was no list and no development. It definitely needs work. Also, no discussion, no details, no idea of the timelines or risks. Some of the points are probably actually recommendations that should have been considered too.