PLEASE DO NOT WRITE THE QUESTIONS, THEN ANSWER – IT IS NOT AN ANSWER AND QUESTION PAPER. Based on the questions that are asked, you will have well developed sentences/paragraphs (not bullet points) to address those areas that are applicable to your case. Please use the headings and sub-headings as identified in Sections 1.A (Pages 32-39)  

A. Corporate Structure

1. How is the corporation structured at present?

a. Is the decision-making authority centralized around one group or decentralized

to many units?

b. Is the corporation organized on the basis of functions, projects, geography, or

some combination of these?

2. Is the structure clearly understood by everyone in the corporation?

3. Is the present structure consistent with current corporate objectives, strategies,

policies, and programs, as well as with the firm’s international operations?

4. In what ways does this structure compare with those of similar corporations?

B. Corporate Culture

1. Is there a well-defined or emerging culture composed of shared beliefs, expectations,

and values?

2. Is the culture consistent with the current objectives, strategies, policies, and

programs?

3. What is the culture’s position on environmental sustainability?

4. What is the culture’s position on other important issues facing the corporation

(that is, on productivity, quality of performance, adaptability to changing conditions,

and internationalization)?

5. Is the culture compatible with the employees’ diversity of backgrounds?

6. Does the company take into consideration the values of the culture of each nation

in which the firm operates?

C. Corporate Resources

1. Marketing

a. What are the corporation’s current marketing objectives, strategies, policies,

and programs?

i. Are they clearly stated or merely implied from performance and/or

budgets?

ii. Are they consistent with the corporation’s mission, objectives, strategies,

and policies, and with internal and external environments?

b. How well is the corporation performing in terms of analysis of market position

and marketing mix (that is, product, price, place, and promotion) in both

domestic and international markets? How dependent is the corporation on a

few customers? How big is its market? Where is it gaining or losing market

share? What percentage of sales comes from developed versus developing

regions? Where are current products in the product life cycle?

i. What trends emerge from this analysis?

ii. What impact have these trends had on past performance and how might

these trends affect future performance?

iii. Does this analysis support the corporation’s past and pending strategic

decisions?

iv. Does marketing provide the company with a competitive advantage?

c. How well does the corporation’s marketing performance compare with that

of similar corporations?

d. Are marketing managers using accepted marketing concepts and techniques

to evaluate and improve product performance? (Consider product life cycle,

market segmentation, market research, and product portfolios.)

e. Does marketing adjust to the conditions in each country in which it operates?

f. Does marketing consider environmental sustainability when making decisions?

g. What is the role of the marketing manager in the strategic management process?

2. Finance

a. What are the corporation’s current financial objectives, strategies, policies,

and programs?

i. Are they clearly stated or merely implied from performance and/or budgets?

ii. Are they consistent with the corporation’s mission, objectives, strategies,

and policies, and with internal and external environments?

b. How well is the corporation performing in terms of financial analysis? (Consider

ratio analysis, common size statements, and capitalization structure.)

How balanced, in terms of cash flow, is the company’s portfolio of products

and businesses? What are investor expectations in terms of share price?

i. What trends emerge from this analysis?

ii. Are there any significant differences when statements are calculated in

constant versus reported dollars?

iii. What impact have these trends had on past performance and how might

these trends affect future performance?

iv. Does this analysis support the corporation’s past and pending strategic

decisions?

v. Does finance provide the company with a competitive advantage?

c. How well does the corporation’s financial performance compare with that of

similar corporations?

d. Are financial managers using accepted financial concepts and techniques to

evaluate and improve current corporate and divisional performance? (Consider

financial leverage, capital budgeting, ratio analysis, and managing foreign

currencies.)

e. How does finance adjust to the conditions in each country in which the company

operates?

f. How does finance cope with global financial issues?

g. What is the role of the financial manager in the strategic management process?

Research and Development (R&D)

a. What are the corporation’s current R&D objectives, strategies, policies, and

programs?

i. Are they clearly stated or merely implied from performance or budgets?

ii. Are they consistent with the corporation’s mission, objectives, strategies,

and policies, and with internal and external environments?

iii. What is the role of technology in corporate performance?

iv. Is the mix of basic, applied, and engineering research appropriate given

the corporate mission and strategies?

v. Does R&D provide the company with a competitive advantage?

b. What return is the corporation receiving from its investment in R&D?

c. Is the corporation competent in technology transfer? Does it use concurrent

engineering and cross-functional work teams in product and process design?

d. What role does technological discontinuity play in the company’s products?

e. How well does the corporation’s investment in R&D compare with the investments

of similar corporations? How much R&D is being outsourced? Is the

corporation using value-chain alliances appropriately for innovation and competitive

advantage?

f. Does R&D adjust to the conditions in each country in which the company

operates?

g. Does R&D consider environmental sustainability in product development

and packaging?

h. What is the role of the R&D manager in the strategic management process?