SITUATION ANALYSIS Project guidelines You are required to select a company from an industry that you are most

familiar with or you have a legitimate interest to study it more deeply. Then, follow the instructions bellow. I. Introduction A general overview of the company and its industry. Mission, Vision. Strategic objectives. A description of firms products, their characterstics that differentiates the firms offer against its competitors. An overall market description. II. Situation analysis II.1 External environment analysis (minimum 5 pages) II.1.1 Macro-environment analysis: political, economical, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors. Conclusions of what opportunities and threats the chosen firm might face. II.1.2 Industry Life Cycle analysis: trends of sales, prices, costs, demand growth rate, technologies, buying behaviour, entry and exit barriers, industry structure, competition. Conclusions on industry life cycle stage, its attractiveness, its key success factors, and eventually other opportunities and threats identified. II.1.3 Competitive situation analysis: competitive forces analysis potential new entrants, bargaining power of suppliers and buyers, threat of substitutes, rivalry; Strategic Group Map. Competitors Evaluation Matrix (minimum 2 competitors). Conclusions: other opportunities and threats identified. II.1.4 Summary of the external analysis table or list of all opportunities and threats identified, and key success factors. II.2 Internal environment analysis (minimum 3 pages): o human resources (skills and abilities); organizational structure and its fit with the current strategies; general management capabilities and competencies o financial resources and situation o fixed assets and technology used, location (near raw materials, markets served, etc.) o other tangible and intangible assets (patents, copyrights, brand name and image, etc) o products (lines of products) and/or services offered and their characteristics; position of the companys product/brand on the market analyze the competencies of the company corporate, manufacturing, R&D, information management, product design, marketing, location, relationships with suppliers and buyers, know-how and expertise, value chain analysis, management, etc. analyze the resources of the company

Conclusions: strengths and weaknesses identified; distinctive competencies and resources; potential competitive advantage (bonus for testing the potential competitive advantage using VRIS method). II.3 III III. SWOT Matrix External Factors Evaluation Matrix and its outcomes. General conclusion of the analysis Important Projects Requirements: The project must be submitted in printed format on the last class scheduled. Projects submitted after this deadline will be graded out of half points allocated for this assignment. References are compulsory at the end of paper, and sources of data specified where they are used in text. Projects submitted without appropriate references will be significantly downgraded.