Module 4 – Home

Strategic Choices

Required Reading

Refer to the required and optional reading on strategic choices, the theme of Module 4.

Assignment

• In a 5- to 7-page paper, respond to the following:

1) Which of the four generic (Porter) strategies does the Kraft Foods Group follow, and how do you know? 

2) Integrate the strategy you’ve identified above with the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats you identified in Modules 2 and 3. Doing so should give you some specific actions the company is taking relative to its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. These actions are referred to as “strategic choices.” Do the Kraft Foods Group’s strategic choices align with the firm’s generic strategy? If not, what are the points of disconnect? Think critically about this step, as no company achieves perfect alignment of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with its chosen strategy. It is your job to uncover the discrepancies and problems.

3) How can the Kraft Foods Group leverage its strengths and shore up its weaknesses by altering its strategic choices? How can the company take advantage of environmental opportunities and minimize environmental threats by altering its strategic choices?Be specific. 

4) Complete the paper by commenting on how your view of the Kraft Foods Group’s vision and mission has changed or has been reconfirmed by this process of strategic analysis. Would you make any suggestions to revise the company’s mission or vision statements, or any of its goals/objectives?

5) Consider the Case as a formal business report that you are developing for the Board of Directors and CEO as the Kraft Foods Group’s consultant. This is a professional document. Follow the format below: 

• Executive summary: This is a synopsis of the main points, conclusions, and recommendations made in the longer report. If you would like a refresher on writing an executive summary, check this website:http://www.highendfinance.com/CommercialLoans/Docs/07-4%20ES%20Guidelines.doc
• Introduction: State the main purpose of the paper (thesis statement), what you hope to accomplish, and how you will go about doing it.
• Main Body: The “meat” of the paper. Emphasize analysis, not just description. Delineate separate topics or sections with headings.
• Conclusion: Summarize your paper in light of your thesis statement.

Module 4 – SLP

Required Reading

If you are having trouble determining how to integrate the SWOT factors with different strategies, the following two readings may help.

1) The first article includes some examples of how RBV variables can be used to leverage a cost or differentiation strategy:

Competitive Advantage (2007). Retrieved on November 6, 2012, from: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/competitive-advantage/

2) The second reading demonstrates how a cost, differentiation, or focus strategy can help a company defend itself against Porter’s Five Forces:

Porter’s Generic Strategies. (2007). Retrieved on November 6, 2012, from: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/generic.shtml

Assignment

In this module, using the Kraft Foods Group, we will be integrating the results of our SWOT with our chosen strategy.

Keys to the Assignment

• Step 1: Create a 5×5 table with the four strategies listed across the top and the four SWOT variables at left as follows:

• Step 2: Using your work in Modules 2 and 3 as it relates to the Kraft Foods Group, select one element from any of the analytical models we studied that contributes to each of the four SWOT variables. For example, for Weaknesses, you may want to choose an element from Porter’s Value Chain (say, operations), while for Opportunities you may want to select something from the PEST analysis (say, sociocultural factors). Select one for Strengths and Threats as well.
• Step 3: Enter the elements you have chosen with the corresponding SWOT variable.  Below, “strong competitive rivalry” has been chosen for Threats. Note that other choices could have been high barriers to entry, high bargaining power of suppliers or customers, high substitutability (from Five Forces analysis), or a specific political, economic, social, or technological factor (from PEST). Complete this process for all four SWOT variables.

• Step 4:  This is potentially the most challenging part. Indicate the impact each strategy might have on each SWOT factor you have chosen by offering a business action that will address the SWOT. For example, follow the threat “strong competitive rivalry” across all four generic strategies. How would a low-cost strategy address an industry environment characterized by intense rivalry? What about a differentiation strategy? Focus?  Preemptive?  In other words, you are considering the same industry threat, but addressing it differently depending on the chosen strategy. See the example below:

Thus, the strategic action you choose to fill in a given blank should do two things: 1) offer a tactic for taking advantage of a strength or opportunity or for managing a threat or weakness, and 2) follow the basic thrust of the strategy in that column.

Assignment Expectations

Your paper will be evaluated on the following points:

• Precision – Does the paper address the question(s) or task(s)? 
• Breadth – Is the full breadth of the subject (i.e., the Keys to the Assignment) addressed?  
• Depth – Does the paper address the topic in sufficient depth and include the Background readings and other Background resources as references? 
• Critical thinking – Is the subject thought about critically, that is, accurately, logically, relevantly, and precisely?
• Clarity – Is the writing clear and are the concepts articulated properly? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of responding to the questions or are points conveyed through excessive use of quotations? 
• Organization – Is the paper well written? Are the grammar, spelling, and vocabulary appropriate for graduate-level work? Are headings included in all papers longer than two pages?
• Referencing (citations and references) – Does the paper include citations and quotation marks where appropriate? Are the references from the Background readings and assignment present and properly cited? Are all the references listed in the bibliography present and referred to via citation? 
• Application – Are the concepts of the module appropriately applied to the subject?

Module 5 – Home

Strategy Implementation

Assignment

In Module 5, we will conclude the case study process by researching the Kraft Foods Group’s strategic controls and their fit with the company’s chosen strategy.

Keys to the Assignment

• Step One: Review your Case papers from Modules 1-4 so that you are familiar with the mission, vision, SWOT, strategy, and strategic choices you have identified over the course of the class.
• Step Two: Research the structure, systems, people, and culture at the Kraft Foods Group. Use the responses you provided in the SLP as a guideline. You will not be able to get answers to every single question, but you will need to answer at least one or two for each component.
• Step Three: Describe the Kraft Foods Group’s organizational design, key strategic control systems, primary human resources concerns, and cultural factors, and the effect that these have had on the implementation of the Kraft Foods Group’s strategy.
• Step Four: In a 5- to 7-page paper, critically evaluate the fit—or the lack of fit—between the company’s mission, strategy, and organizational components crucial to implementation. Do these components complement the strategy? Why or why not?
• Step Five: What changes would you—as the CEO—make to better assure the success of the company’s strategy? 
• Step Six: Consider the Case as a formal business report that you are developing for the Board of Directors and CEO as the Kraft Foods Group’s consultant. This is a professional document. Follow the format below: 
  • Executive summary: This is a synopsis of the main points, conclusions and recommendations made in the longer report. If you would like a refresher on writing an executive summary, check this website:http://www.highendfinance.com/CommercialLoans/Docs/07-4%20ES%20Guidelines.doc
  • Introduction: State the main purpose of the paper (thesis statement), what you hope to accomplish, and how you will go about doing it.
  • Main Body: The “meat” of the paper. Emphasize analysis, not just description. Delineate separate topics or sections with headings.
  • Conclusion: Summarize your paper in the light of your thesis statement.

Assignment Expectations

Module 5 – SLP

Assignment

In this module, we will be completing our strategic toolkit by researching sources of information about these components as they relate specifically to the Kraft Foods Group.

Your assignment is to find information about the following organizational components discussed in this module as they relate specifically to the Kraft Foods Group. Do your best not to speculate but to find factual information concerning the topical areas below. The following list of questions may help you focus your search (source: Obtaining information about organizational components critical to implementation [adapted from Aaker, D.A. (2001) Developing Business Strategies. Wiley]):

 Structure

1. What is the organization’s structure? How decentralized or centralized is it?
2. What are the lines of authority and communication?
3. What are the roles of teams, committees, and task forces?

Systems

1. How are budgets set?
2. How is planning done?
3. What measures are used to evaluate performance?

People

1. What are the skills, experience, and knowledge of the firm’s employees?
2. What is their depth and quality?
3. What are their attitudes about the company and their jobs?

Culture

1. What are the company’s values and are they widely shared and accepted by employees?
2. What are the key norms of behavior?
3. What are some significant symbols?
4. What is the dominant management style?
5. How is conflict resolved?

Keys to the Assignment

• Step One:  Review the questions above and do some research to see where you could find answers to them. You may not be able to answer all of the questions, but try to find at least one source per component that addresses most of its characteristics.
• Step Two: Create a 3- to 4-page list of sources and indicate what information each one provides for each component. Evaluate each source in terms of its objectivity, reliability, and truthfulness.

Assignment Expectations

Your paper will be evaluated on the following points:

• Precision – Does the paper address the question(s) or task(s)? 
• Breadth – Is the full breadth of the subject (i.e., the Keys to the Assignment) addressed?  
• Depth – Does the paper address the topic in sufficient depth and include the Background reading and other Background resources as references? 
• Critical thinking – Is the subject thought about critically, that is, accurately, logically, relevantly, and precisely?
• Clarity – Is the writing clear and are the concepts articulated properly? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of responding to the questions or are points conveyed through excessive use of quotations? 
• Organization – Is the paper well written? Are the grammar, spelling, and vocabulary appropriate for graduate-level work? Are headings included in all papers longer than two pages?
• Referencing (citations and references) – Does the paper include citations and quotation marks where appropriate? Are the references from the Background reading and assignment present and properly cited? Are all the references listed in the bibliography present and referred to via citation? 
• Application – Are the concepts of the module appropriately applied to the subject?

   Tips and Suggestions

Module 6 – Reflective Essay

Integration and Reflection

Reflective Essay 

Prepare a Reflective Essay in which you address each of the following items:

1.  Describe how you improved your knowledge, skills, abilities, and yourself in this session through this course.

2.  Evaluate the work you did during the session for the class and explain ways you could have performed better.

3.  Identify topics you did not understand or successfully implement, and suggest how to improve the course material on those topics.

4.  Think of ways to measure the future effects of what you have learned in this course or your future progress/improvement.

5.  State whether you achieved the course outcomes (listed on the Module 6 Home page and course Syllabus page).

This Reflective Essay is a required course component (although it is not part of your final grade). Upload the essay upon completion.