Part 1: Introduction: Under the first heading of Introduction, write an introduction/ overview of a company listed on the stock exchange (check to be sure they have annual reports available online). Describe the company and their product(s)/service(s), a brief history, their vision and mission (if they do not have formal statements describe what you feel they might be) the industry they are in, their size (sales, income, number of employees), and your perception of their competitive advantage(s). State what the companys goal may be ($xx sale for the coming year, for instance, or a certain percentage of profit). Under the next heading, Problem Statement: After doing background reading on the company, write a Problem Statement consisting of a single sentence describing a problem at the organization (it can be related to marketing, operations, finances, personnel). State the problem in a sentence: The problem at xxx is xxxx. Provide a short background about the problem. Submit these two sections (1.5-2 pages) of your project in a single MS Word
Part 2: Under the heading Strategic Analysis, describe and justify the use of three (or more) strategic tools that you could (and probably will) apply to help solve or improve the problem you have selected and why you feel each of those tools is appropriate. At least one of the three tools must consider financial data with at least one formula or ratio applied to the data. Additionally, describe at least two tools that you considered but will not use and why. This is a total of 5 (or more) tools that you will have reviewed in this short 1-1.5-page assignment.
Part 3: Under a main heading Alternatives, develop a list of options. Feel free to include those that maybe far-fetched without judging them. Note: Do nothing is often an alternative, but will not be the chosen alternative in next weeks Recommendations section (after all, if they should “do nothing,” then there really is not a problem!). There should be multiple alternatives/options for actions to solve the problem (3-8 is typical). Evaluate the alternatives by considering if the company can afford it; whether it will evoke a response from competitors; how employees/customers/ stakeholders are likely to view the change; and how the alternative fits with organizational culture, vision, mission, and goals. (2-4 pages)
