Current Business Strategies Report
In order to bring current examples of strategic issues and problems into the class, each student will present a current business strategies report. The report should be drawn from material in the business press and must deal with a topic within the last 12 months. The article(s) should highlight the strategic issues facing a particular firm or industry and should be directly related to specific topics of this course.
Your oral report should include the following points:
1. A very brief review of the key facts of the story.
2. Identification and explanation of the key course concepts, tools, topics that this report relates to.
3. Your analysis/evaluation of the effectiveness of this firm’s strategy and actions with respect to the relevant topic.
You will turn in a typed, one-page (max) summary of your report. Be sure to attach the URL of the article and any other materials from which the report is derived. You should be prepared to present, not read, a 2-3 minute
summary of your report if called upon to do so in class.
Intel’s decision to oust its CEO is an example of a current event news article on which you can build your report.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/technology/20chip.html)
In this example, you can analyze the specific competitive pressures and managerial challenges at Intel. We learn about the external environment of a firm in Session 1. You can use the tools (General Environment analysis, Five Forces analysis) to perform an industry analysis for Intel (or more specifically the microprocessor industry). What are the industry forces, that makes the decision a good /bad idea? What are the factors of the general environment (e.g. political, sociocultural, economic …) that drive this decision?
As a strategy consultant you will weigh the pros and cons of the decision, decide on which tool to use, and explain why this decision is important.
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