25 Sep MGT527: Instructions for Written Case Analysis

Case analysis should be submitted as an individual word document and attached to an Blackboard course message.  The document should contain your name on the first page.  Pages should be numbered.  It should be double-spaced with a font size of 11 or 12.  It should be logically organized, and the length should be in the neighborhood of 10-12 pages.

The analysis should be your effort only.  This is not a group effort.  Neither should you utilize any other previous case analysis for the assigned company, from whatever source derived, is prohibited and would be viewed as plagiarism.  On the other hand, any information you find about the company, its competitors, or the industry on the web or in the library is permissible.  You do not have to reference/cite/footnote your sources.

A case analysis is just that, it is not a restatement of facts, or a summary of the history of the company or its products or services.  You are to assume that I am the President of the company, and that I have asked you in as a consultant.  You can assume that I know management/finance/marketing concepts therefore you don’t need to explain them.  I want your thoughts, opinions, and recommendations on the case assigned.  

The following headings should be used in your paper:

Vision and Mission Statement:

Internal Assessment:

External Assessment:

Possible Options:

Recommendations:

Update:

Additionally, you can use any subheadings you feel appropriate.

Under each of the above headings, you should discuss/evaluate such things as the following.  Evaluate the company’s Vision and Mission Statement.  Do they have one?  Is it clear?  Is it correct?  Does it meet the criteria of the text?  Could it be improved?  If so, how?  If the company does not have a vision/mission statement, propose an appropriate one.  This should take no more than 1-2 paragraphs.

Under the Internal Assessment section you should start with a size up of the company’s financial performance and current situation.  Are there any especially good or bad ratios, trends?  Pay particular attention to the financial growth, profitability, and leverage trends.  What are the 2-3 year trends, we are not really interested in quarterly results.  How has the company’s stock performed in the last couple of years – are the stockholders happy or not?  Identify the company’s strengths and weaknesses.  Discuss some of the more important ones.  You may want to evaluate the company’s market position as compared to the competition; also the company’s marketing strategy (price, promotion, product, place).

Under the External Assessment section identify the company’s major competitors and how they stack up and compare.  How profitable is the industry?  How intense is the competition?  What are some of the key industry trends?  Are these trends positive or negative for the company?  Identify and discuss some of the more important opportunities and threats that exist for the company and the industry.

In the Possible Options section identify possible strategies going forward.  Are there any mutually exclusive strategies?  Remember, these would be possibilities, not necessarily what you ultimately recommend.  Weigh the pros and cons of each.

In the Recommendations part you should identify several things that the company needs to do going forward.  Just as important is why you think these would be appropriate.  Identify the major, the minor, the immediate, and the long-term strategies.  This maybe the most important area but also the most difficult.  What do you think will happen as a result of implementing these recommendations?

Provide a brief read on what the company has done since the case has appeared in the text.  (Update section).  What has worked, what hasn’t, why, etc.  

 Additional Instructions: 

Part of your grade will be determined by your following the above instructions.

In that each case/company/industry is different, each case has different important factors that should have been addressed in your analysis.  I check for those as I read case analysis.  

You can find company and industry data, news, and access to annual statements on such web sites as Yahoo Finance and/or the company’s home web site.  The most recent company annual statement would be a prime starting point for your analysis.  

There is no need to copy and paste tables/figures/charts from existing sources as filler for your analysis.  You very well, however, may want to discuss what is of importance that you gathered from them.

Keep in mind that Chapter’s 1-12 are there to help prepare you for the task of analyzing past, present, and future strategies.  The what, how, when, why, where strategy questions are contained in those 12 chapters; as well as having already taken the prerequisites for this capstone course.

  You will have to spend several hours preparing a case analysis.  It would not be wise to wait until the last day or two to put it together.  There will be a 10% penalty for a late submission.  Excessively late cases may not be accepted at all.