Assignment Overview

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

• Critically evaluate information from core business functions and the value chain to enhance knowledge of organizational strategic position and direction.
  • Analyze strategic issues.
• Create a comprehensive organizational strategy assessment.
  • Recommend approaches for strategic issues with significant organizational impact.
  • Recommend approaches for strategic issues with significant impact to competitive advantage.
  • Recommend strategies and approaches to mitigate ethical dilemmas in strategy.
• Communicate in a manner that is professional and consistent with expectations for members of the business professions.

Assignment Description and Instructions

First, synthesize the strategic issues articulated in the Strategic Fit of the Firm Assessment from Unit 3 and Strategic Fit With the Industry Environment Assessment from Unit 4. You will compare and contrast strategic issues and assign a nominal ranking of potential impact of the issue on the organization. Defend your synthesis by referring to specific information in the previous analysis reports.

Next, formulate strategic recommendations to address those issues you determine from your synthesis to be critical to the strategic fit between the firm and its industry environment. Recommendations will be explicitly cast using the Strategic Frame Assessment from Unit 1. Specifically, business strategy and competitive advantage recommendations will identify costs, differentiation, and hybrid type. Corporate strategy recommendations will identify diversification, vertical integration, and globalization. A recommendation to address ethical dilemmas will refer to the source of instability—economic, social, political, and technological—that is leading to societal pressure for change to enhance social legitimacy. Assumptions relative to the strategic elements of the firm will serve as a measurement of strategic progress.

Keep in mind the following points:

• Synthesize concerns and opportunities, and articulate them as strategic issues. What are the critical issues? Why are these particular issues critical?
• Evaluate the strategic issues including the degree to which they may impact the strategic position, direction, decisions, and activities of the organization.
• Propose strategies and recommend approaches to mitigate strategic issues that represent ethical dilemmas.
• Propose strategies and recommend approaches for strategic issues that have significant impact on the strategic direction of the firm, or sustained competitive advantage of the organization.

Ensure your report includes an executive summary that references the VP’s expectations communicated in the project kick-off meeting. 

• Submit your report in a business format, adhering to the submission requirements below.

Submission Requirements

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• Business formatting: 
  • Length: 4–5 double-spaced, typed pages.
  • Font: Times New Roman 12 point.
• APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to APA (6th ed.) style and formatting. Minimum of three resources required.

Refer to the Comprehensive Strategy Assessment Scoring Guide to ensure that you meet the grading criteria for this assignment.

ASSIGNMENT INTRODUCTION

Unit 6

We’ve reached the end of our journey. This is where we tie it all together, analyze the results, and make recommendations.

Recall that a Comprehensive Strategic Assessment is a professional report to the organizational stakeholders that communicates findings from the analysis of the organization’s strategy and its strategic alignment… and is therefore a critical evaluation of the organizations’ strategic issues.

The assessment will synthesize findings from the strategic analysis of the firm and industry environment, including the salient points about the issues. Further, you will compare and contrast strategic issues and assign a nominal ranking of potential impact of the issue on the organization. This will allow you to identify issues you judge to be critical, and formulate the rationale for your judgment.

You will then assess the critical issues, including formulating strategy and implementation recommendations.

Recommendations will consider the strategic elements of the firm, and the alignment of resources to establish, maintain, or further the firm’s competitive advantage.

Recommendations will also take into account the unique condition of your project firm from the perspective the key factors that influence the way strategy is realized and the practicality of implementation of the recommendations.

Executive Summary – A summary of your findings, recommendations, and benefits. Tell me how the report meets the expectations I have laid out. Many people wait to complete this until after they have completed their main report – however, as I am sure you are aware, it is always delivered to me in front of the Strategic Assessment.

The Organizational Strategic Assessment –the main report–should include:

The Organizational Strategy – Summarize the business and corporate strategy of the organization, and any modifications to your preliminary understanding of the strategy. Briefly explain how the strategy grounded your analysis of the strategic fit of the firm and industry environment. Refer to the Strategic Frame report as necessary to support your findings and conclusions.

The Firm – Explain how you compared and contrasted the strategic elements of the firm with the firms strategy. Discuss the competitive advantage of the firm and the unique operational ‘fingerprint’ of the structure, management systems, and capabilities that account for the firm’s sustained competitive advantage. Articulate strategic issues, and identify the critical issues you will address in the recommendations. Refer to The Strategic Fit of the Firm report to support your findings and conclusions.

The Industry Environment – Identify the industry and market segment (s) in which the firm participates, and the criteria you used to partition the market. Present your findings and conclusions about the industry’s profit potential and sources of competitive advantage. Synthesize the macro environment threats and opportunities facing the industry and the effect they have on suppliers, competition, and customers. Then present the salient findings from the industry forces analysis, including influences on the industry that originate from the macro environment. Articulate strategic issues, and identify the critical issues you will address in the recommendations. Refer to The Strategic Fit of the Industry Environment report to support your findings and conclusions.

Strategic Issues and Recommendations – organize and present critical issues and recommendations according to the strategic element of the firm or industry environment. An assessment of critical issues will include:

Identification of the issue, whether it is a concern or opportunity, and why it is critical.

Specifically, a critical issue has the potential to significantly impact:

• the organizations strategy and cost advantage
• the organizations strategy and differentiation advantage, or
• the ability for the organization to sustain its competitive advantage.

Defend your synthesis by referring to specific information from the previous analyses reports and the comparison and ranking of issues that you completed.

Recommendations will address the critical issues, and consider the three factors that influence the way strategy is realized – organizational structure, systems, and culture. Recommendations include:

• Changes to your project firm’s approach to competitive advantage.
• How firm resources can is be better aligned and leveraged to create capabilities that drive a sustainable competitive advantage.
• Realignment of organizational structure and management systems that facilitate your proposed realignment and leveraging of resources.

Cast the recommendations explicitly using the strategic frame of the firm.

Business strategy and competitive advantage recommendations will identify cost, differentiation, and hybrid type.

A corporate strategy recommendation will identify diversification, vertical integration, and globalization.

The recommendations should include key resource allocation assumptions and a strategic objective for the firm that will serve as a measurement of strategic progress.

Thank you for your hard work. I look forward to seeing the results!