In this assignment,
integrate all the pieces of work you have drafted and formally turn it into the
capstone strategy audit.
In previous assignments,
you performed multiple, specified analyses of your company (or any company of
your choosing). Those individual analyses provide the needed research to
successfully complete the following LASA.
Part I: Strategy Audit
Report
Using the tools and
framework learned in class and throughout the program, prepare a 15-page
strategy audit of your company with a companion presentation. The strategy
audit is a comprehensive analysis of the company’s business strategy and
operating performance, and culminates in a series of recommendations for
improving your company’s performance based on the findings and conclusions of
your analysis.
A strategy audit
involves assessing the actual direction of a business and comparing that course
to the direction required to succeed in a changing environment. A company’s
actual direction is the sum of what it does and does not do, how well the
organization is internally aligned to support the strategy, and how viable the
strategy is when compared to the external market, competitors, and financial
realities. These two categories, the internal assessment and the external or
environmental assessment, make up the major elements of a strategy audit.
In your strategy audit:
·
Provide a high-level
analysis of the company’s business strategy and operating performance. Be sure
to complete the following:
o
Analysis of the company
value proposition, market position, and competitive advantage
o
External environmental
scan/five forces analysis
o
Internal environmental
scan/organizational assessment
o
SWOT Analysis
o
Balanced
scorecard/strategy scorecard
·
Recommend specific
tactics for improving your company’s strategic alignment and operating
performance.
o
Recommendations can
include but are not limited to tactics in marketing, branding, alliances,
mergers/acquisitions, integration, product development, diversification or
divestiture and globalization (if you recommend your company go global, you
must include a supply chain analysis and an analysis of your firm’s global
capabilities).
o
Explain how the
recommendations will help the company achieve its strategy and vision.
You are to write this
report as though you are a consultant to your company, and are addressing the
executive officers of this company. You will collect and analyze a large amount
of data in producing your report, but your final product will be condensed and
focus on presenting your analysis findings and conclusions.
Your report should
consist of the following sections in the given order.
1.
Executive
summary (1 page): A
concise and insightful summary of the significant findings of your analysis and
the recommendations you have for your executive team.
2.
Strategic
issues and recommendations (5
pages): Identify 5–7 most important strategic issues facing your business unit.
Strategic issues arise from a mismatch between internal capabilities and
external trends such that important opportunities are not being pursued or
significant external threats are not being addressed under the current
strategy.
The strategic issues list should integrate your
SWOT analysis, your Five Forces analysis, and the organizational assessment and
external environmental scan completed earlier during the course. These detailed
analyses are the foundation for your final set of findings and recommendations
presented to the executive team.
In developing your recommendations for
addressing each strategic issue, consider misalignments that might be apparent
in different operating areas:
i.
Product
portfolio: Are there changes to
the target market segment, value proposition, or positioning of the product or
service line needed?
ii.
Structure: Are the organizational roles and
responsibilities, decision-making authority, skill requirements, and work
assignments properly configured and aligned to support the strategy?
iii.
Organizational
culture or behavior: Does the
organizational culture inspire behaviors that support the strategy? Are the
mission, vision, and values clearly articulated and aligned with the strategy?
What new behaviors are needed?
iv.
Value
chain activities: Does the organization
value chain fully align with the strategy? Are their activities that should be
added, eliminated, or modified significantly?
v.
Performance
measures: Do the organization’s
performance measures focus on the key drivers of strategic success? Is there a
strategy scorecard that ties the main elements of the strategy to specific
operating capabilities, including goals and key performance indicators (KPIs)
that give an indication of incremental or predictive progress toward reaching
strategic goals?
Your recommendations should fall into these
general categories, but should be specific in terms of scope and expected
impact.
These sections have been completed earlier in
the course, and should appear as appendices:
3.
SWOT analysis (2
pages—completed in Module 4): SWOT matrix illustrating strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
4.
Balanced strategy
scorecard (4 pages—completed in Module 4): Develop a Balanced
Scorecard for your business unit that reflects the key drivers for your
business strategy.
5.
Organizational
assessment (3 pages—completed in Module 3)
6.
External environmental
scan and five-forces analysis (3 pages—completed in Module 2)
7.
Market position analysis
(3 pages—completed in Module 1)
Use information from
your previous assignments to support your conclusions and recommendations and
conduct additional research when needed. Make sure you properly reference and
cite so that the location of information is clear.
Submit your 15-page
report in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the
following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M5_A2.doc.
Part II: Companion
Presentation
Finalize the companion with
a 10-slide Power Point Presentation that summarizes the audit and
recommendations in a compelling manner that persuades senior management to
explore and possibly implement your recommendations. The elements of the
presentation should include the following:
·
Title
·
Agenda
·
Summary of audit
·
Recommendations
·
Key measurements
·
Risks and benefits
·
Call to action
·
Next steps
