Description
Utilize a set of useful analytical skills, tools, and techniques for analyzing a company strategically;Integrate ideas, concepts, and theories from previously taken functional courses including, accounting, finance, market, business, and human resource management;Analyze and synthesize strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) to generate, prioritize, and implement alternative strategies to revise a current plan or write a new plan and present a strategic plan.
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THE COMPANY IS ConocoPhillips (SEE REFERENCES ON LAST PAGE)
Purpose
This project is the third of four projects. Students will perform an internal environmental
analysis using the tools and concepts learned in the course to date. You will also draw from
previous business courses to understand how organizations develop and manage strategies to
establish, safeguard, and sustain their position in a competitive market.
Students also can review an organization’s objectives and goals and the key functional areas
within the organization. Performing an internal environment analysis helps assess a firm’s
internal resources and capabilities. It plays a critical role in formulating strategy by
identifying a firm’s strengths to capitalize on to effectively overcome weaknesses.
Outcomes Met With This Project
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Utilize a set of useful analytical skills, tools, and techniques for analyzing a company
strategically;
Integrate ideas, concepts, and theories from previously taken functional courses
including, accounting, finance, market, business, and human resource management;
Analyze and synthesize strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) to
generate, prioritize, and implement alternative strategies to revise a current plan or
write a new plan and present a strategic plan.
Instructions
Step 1 Specific Company for All Four Projects
The company that your instructor has assigned to you for Project 1 is the company you will
use for this project. The assigned company must be used for this project and in subsequent
projects in the course. Students must complete the project using the assigned company.
Deviating from the assigned company will result in a zero for the project.
After reading the course material, you will complete the steps below.
Step 2 Course Materials and Research
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You must research information about the specific company and the internal
environment for this project. You are accountable for using the course materials to
support the ideas, reasoning, and conclusions made. Course material’s use goes beyond
defining terms and explains the ‘why and how’ of a situation. Using one or two in -text
citations from the course materials and then relying on Internet source material will
not earn many points on the assignment. A variety of source material is expected, and
what is presented must be relevant and applicable to the topic being discussed. Avoid
merely making statements but close the loop of the discussion by explaining
how something happens or why something happens, which focuses on importance and
impact. In closing the loop, you will demonstrate the ability to think clearly and
rationally, showing an understanding of the logical connections between the ideas
presented from the research, the course material, and the question(s) being asked.
Note: Your report is based on the research results and not on any prepared documentation.
What this means is that you will research and draw your own conclusions that are supported
by the research and the course material rather than the use of any source material that puts
together any of the tools or techniques whether from the Internet, for-pay websites, or any
pre-prepared document, video or source material. A zero will be earned for not doing your
own analysis.
Success: The analysis is based on research and not opinion. You are not making
recommendations, and you will not attempt to position the specific company in a better or
worse light than other companies within the industry merely because you are completing an
analysis on this particular company. The analysis must be based on factual information. Any
conclusions drawn have to be based on factual information rather than leaps of faith. As stated
above, you are expected to use the course materials and research on the specific company’s
global industry and the specific company to ensure success. The opinion does not earn credit,
nor does the use of external sources when course materials can be used. It is necessary to
provide explanations (the why and how) rather than making statements. Avoid stringing one
citation after another, as doing so does not show detailed explanations.
Step 3 How to Set Up the Report
The document has to be written in Word or RTF. No other format is acceptable. No pdf files
will be graded. Use 12-point font for a double-spaced report. The final product is expected to
be 10 – 12 pages. The final project may not be more than 12 pages in length, including all
tables and matrices, but excluding the title page and reference page. Do no use an Appendix.
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Those items identified in the technical analysis should appear under the appropriate
heading in the paper. It is important to format the tables/matrices to fit the report and
present the analysis clearly and concisely.
Create a title page with the title, your name, date, the course number, the instructor’s
name.
Create Topic Headings that correspond to exact sections of the project
requirements.
Step 4 Strategic Role of Corporate Strengths/Weaknesses in the Internal Strategy
Analysis
There are three levels of strategy: corporate-level strategy, business-level strategy, and
functional-level strategy. Corporate-level strategies are related to businesses or markets the
specific company successfully can compete within. Corporate-level strategies affect the entire
organization and are formulated by top management using middle and lower management
input. Decision-making about corporate-level strategies is considered complex, affects the
entire company, and relates to an organization’s resource capabilities. Corporate level
strategies align with an organization’s mission statement and ideally are designed around
goals and objectives.
Perform an analysis on:
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Corporate-level strategies.
Create a partial SWOT table, perform an SW analysis, and discuss the strategic
inferences/implications. Discuss what strategies would allow the company to capitalize
on its major strengths and what strategies would allow the company to improve upon
its major weaknesses.
Create an IFE matrix and analysis. Make sure to explain how the matrix was
developed and discuss the strategic inferences and implications.
Develop a Grand Strategy Matrix. Explain how the matrix was developed and discuss
the strategic inferences/implications at a corporate level and business-unit level.
Step 5 Strategic Role of Internal Resources/Departments/Processes
Perform an analysis on:
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Business-level strategies
o Evaluate the company’s product line, target market.
o Identify and explain business-level strategies.
Functional-level strategies
o Assess the company’s organizational structure, the organizational culture,
marketing production, operations, finance and accounting, and R&D that can be
accomplished by viewing the company’s website, interviews, and surveys.
o Explain how these strategies align with the company’s vision and mission
statements.
Step 6 Strategic Financial Analysis for the Last Reported Fiscal Year
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Use the company’s income statement and balance sheet to calculate four (4)
key financial ratios. One key ratio must come from each of the four key categories:
leverage, liquidity, profitability, and efficiency. The four (4) specific ratios selection
must come from the following categories.
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Leverage Ratios (Long term debt ratio, Total debt ratio, Debt-to-equity ratio,
Times interest earned ratio, and Cash coverage ratio)
Liquidity Ratios (Net working capital to total assets ratio, current ratio, quick
ratio, and cash ratio)
Efficiency Ratios (Asset turnover ratio, average collection period, inventory
turnover ratio, and Days sales outstanding)
Profitability Ratios (Net Profit Margin, Return on Assets, and Return on
Equity)
The selection of the ratios has to be relevant to the specific company, so it is important
to choose wisely.
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Quote industry financial average ratios correlate to the four (4) financial ratios selected
for the specific company. Explain the importance of the four (4) averages to compare
why averages are important to use. You may find the industry averages by going to the
library. If you cannot find it on your own, reach out to the librarian as these resources
are readily available.
Note: If copied directly from the Internet, a zero will be assigned. When placing any table or
figure in a table, it must be explained in detail.
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Create a conclusion. The Conclusion is intended to emphasize the purpose/significance
of the analysis, emphasize the significance/consequence of findings, and indicate the
wider applications derived from the main points of the project’s requirements. Finally,
you will conclude the findings of the external environment analysis.
References:
Course Material:
Theme: Executing Strategy Through Organizational Design
Strategic Management
Mastering Strategic Management: CHAPTER 9 ONLY
https://www.opentextbooks.org.hk/ditatopic/17315
Getting Organized Redesigned Right
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/ourinsights/getting-organizational-redesign-right
Its not the CEO it’s the leadership strategy that matters!:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/its-ceo-leadership-strategy-matters-nicolas-schoenlaub
Value Based Management Analyzing Organizational Culture:
https://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_schein_three_levels_culture.html
Chapter 1 Strategy and Corporate Culture:
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