STRATEGIC BUSINESS

ANALYSIS
Prime Johnson V. Feliciano, CPA
Strategic business analysis involves outcome
focused thinking, simultaneously
understanding business context, business
challenges, and the complexities of the
internal and external environment to frame the
scope of the transformation, articulate the
business need/outcome, and shape the
agenda for transformation.
ANALYZING STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT CASES
Why Analyze Strategic Management Cases?

If you don’t ask the right questions, then you’re never going to get
the right solution. I spent too much of my career feeling like I’d
done a really good job answering the wrong question. And that
was because I was letting other people give me the question.

-Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO

(a leading design consulting firm)
 It is often said that the key to finding good answers os to ask good
questions. Strategic managers and business leaders are required to
evaluate options, make choices, and find solutions to the challenges
they face every day. To do so, they must learn to ask the right
questions. The study of strategic management poses the same
challenge. The process of analyzing, decision making, and
implementing strategic actions raises many good questions:
• Why do some firms succeed, and others fail?
• Why are some company's higher performers than others?
• What information is needed in the strategic planning process?
• How do competing values and beliefs affect strategic decision
making?
• What skills and capabilities are needed to implement a strategy
effectively?
 One of the main reasons to analyze strategic management cases is
to develop an ability to evaluate business situations critically. In case
analysis, memorizing key terms and conceptual frameworks is not
enough. To analyze a case, it is important that you go beyond
textbook prescriptions and quick answers.

Three capabilities that can be learned by conducting case analysis

are especially useful to strategic managers- the ability to differentiate,
speculate, and integrate.
HOW TO CONDUCT A CASE ANALYSIS
The process of analyzing strategic management cases involves several
steps. Before beginning, there are two things to keep in mind that will
clarify your understanding of the process and make the results of the
process more meaningful.

First, unless you prepare for a case discussion, there is little you can
gain from the discussion and even less that you can offer. Effective
strategic managers don’t enter into problem solving situations
without doing some homework- investigating the situation, analyzing
and researching possible solutions, and sometimes gathering advice of
other.
HOW TO CONDUCT A CASE ANALYSIS
The second point is related to the first. To get the most out of a
case analysis, you must place yourself “inside” the case- that is, think
like an actual participant in the case situation.

• Strategic decision maker

• Board of Directors
• Outside Consultant
HOW TO CONDUCT A CASE ANALYSIS
BECOME FAMILIAR WITH THE MATERIAL
When you approach a strategic case, try the following technique to
enhance comprehension:
• Read quickly through the case one time to get an overall sense of the
material0
• Use the initial read-through to assess possible links to strategic
concepts.
• Read through the case again, in depth. Make written notes as you read.
• Evaluate how strategic concepts might inform key decisions or suggest
alternative solutions.
• After formulating an initial recommendation, thumb through the case
again quickly to help assess the consequences of the actions you
propose.
HOW TO CONDUCT A CASE ANALYSIS

IDENTIFY PROBLEMS
When conducting case analysis, one of your most important tasks
is to identify the problem. Another saying you may have heard is “A
good diagnosis is half the cure”. In other words, once you have
determined what the problem is, you are well on your way to
identifying a reasonable solution.
HOW TO CONDUCT A CASE ANALYSIS
CONDUCT STRATEGIC ANALYSIS
We have numerous analytical tools (e.g.five-forces analysis and
value-diversification analysis), contingency framework (e.g. when to
use related rather than unrelated diversification strategies), and other
techniques that can be used to evaluate strategic situations.
The first step is to determine which strategic issues are involved.
Once you identified the issues that apply to the case, conduct the
analysis. Financial analysis may be needed to assess the company’s
economic prospects.
Financial ratio analysis is one of the primary tools used to conduct
case analysis.
HOW TO CONDUCT A CASE ANALYSIS
HOW TO CONDUCT A CASE ANALYSIS
HOW TO CONDUCT A CASE ANALYSIS
PROPOSE ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS
It is important to remember that in strategic management case
analysis, there is rarely one right answer or one best way. Therefore, it
is helpful to consider several different solutions. Once a list of
alternatives is generated, ask:
• Can the Company afford it? How will it affect the bottom line?
• Is the solution likely to evoke a competitive response
• Will employee throughout the company accept the changes? What impact
will the solution have on morale?
• How will the decision affect other stakeholders? Will customers, suppliers,
and others buy into it?
• How does this solution fit with the company’s vision, mission, and objective?
• Will the culture or values of the company be changed by the solution? Is it a
positive change?
HOW TO CONDUCT A CASE ANALYSIS
MAKE RECOMENDATION
The basic aim of case analysis is to find solutions. Your analysis is
not complete until you have recommended a course of action.
Describe exactly what needs to be done. Explain why this course of
action will solve the problem.

Remember, an analysis is not an end in itself, it is useful only if it

leads to a solution.
HOW TO CONDUCT A CASE ANALYSIS
MAKE RECOMENDATION
The basic aim of case analysis is to find solutions. Your analysis is
not complete until you have recommended a course of action.
Describe exactly what needs to be done. Explain why this course of
action will solve the problem.

Remember, an analysis is not an end in itself, it is useful only if it

leads to a solution.
Preparing an oral case presentation