BBA/MBA

BUSINESS PROJECT:
REQUIREMENTS
 FINAL REPORT: REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING CRITERIA

- 12000 words or >40 pages (not including exhibits, tables and graphs)

OUTLINE OF STRATEGIC PLAN

0. Executive Summary
- Key issues identified.
- Theoretical framework/models/methodology employed.
- Major findings from analyses
- Key recommendations identified.

1. Introduction
- A brief description of the organization’s history, product/service offerings,
performance, and current status, etc.
- What are the most critical strategic and organizational issues that may affect
the organization’s short-term and long-term performance? Why do you think
these are the most critical issues? Choose only one from any specified area.
- What is your approach to resolving these issues?

2. External Analysis: Environment, Industry, and Extended-Five Forces

- What elements in the macro-environment will significantly affect the
organization’s performance? Discuss the impact of economic, social, cultural,
demographic, technological, legal and global factors when applicable. Has the
organization been dealing with these factors effectively?
- What are the evolutionary patterns of the industry or sector in which the
organization under examination is located? What are the trends in the
industry? Has the organization been responding to these trends effectively?
- What are the organization’s competitors? What are they doing? How do they
affect the organization’s performance? How has the organization been
 responding to competitors’ strategic moves? Are these responses sufficient
and effective?
- What are the organization’s customers, suppliers, substitutes, complementors,
and potential competitors (new entrants)? How do they affect the
organization’s performance? Has the organization been dealing with these
forces effectively? (Only talk about one that you have chosen to investigate for
your project)

3. Internal Analysis: Resources, Capabilities, and Core Competencies

- What resources (e.g., financial, physical, technological, human, and
reputational resources) does the organization own? Among these resources,
how many of them are valuable, unique and difficult to imitate by competitors?
Do you think the organization has a sufficient and strong resource base relative
to its competitors? What resources need to be acquired or upgraded to
ensure the organization’s competitive advantage?
- What are the organization’s capabilities (e.g., marketing skills, supply chain
management, R&D, manufacturing capabilities)? Among these organizational
capabilities, how many of them can be considered core competencies; namely,
they are unique, valuable, and difficult to imitate by competitors? Do you think
the organization has sufficient core competencies to ensure its competitive
advantage?

4. Strategic Goals and Recommendations

- Based on your external and internal analyses (Kursunluoglu Yarimoglu, 2015;
Yuan & Gao, 2019) what should be the organization’s strategic goals? These
goals should be broken down into financial, market share and other sub-goals
that are measurable. What are the timelines for these goals?
- Based on your external analysis, how should the organization capture
opportunities and neutralize threats in the macro-environment? How should
the organization capitalize on industry-level trends?
- How should the organization position or reposition itself relative to its
competitors along key strategic dimensions (e.g., price, features, customer
service)? What generic strategy do your recommend to the organization (low-
cost leadership, differentiation, or focus)?
- What should the organization do to improve its position and therefore
increase its bargaining power over its customers, suppliers, substitutes, and
potential competitors (new entrants)? What should the organization do to
capitalize on complementary products/services?
- Do you recommend the organization to diversify into other areas within or
outside the current industry? Present your reasons.
- Do you recommend the organization to vertically integrate other stages of the
industry value chain? Present your reasons.
 - Do you recommend the organization to explore opportunities in international
markets? Present your reasons.
- For every strategic recommendation you have made, is it the most productive
way to leverage the organization’s core competencies? Does the organization
have sufficient resources and capabilities to implement it? If not, what
resources and/or capabilities need to be developed or upgraded within a
reasonable timeframe?
- If the organization needs to develop new resources and/or capabilities, what
mode (in-house development, strategic alliances, or mergers/acquisitions) do
you recommend? Present your reasons.
- To successfully implement the strategic recommendations you have made,
what functional-level (e.g., marketing, R&D, logistics) and cross-functional
issues should the organization pay special attention to?

5. Appendix
- Include any graphs, tables, figures and/or other types of evidence that may
strengthen your analyses and recommendations.