SCHOOL LINK

https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/lms/dropbox/user/folder_submit_files.d2l?
db=1429762&grpid=0&isprv=0&bp=0&ou=713038

USERNAME: cbrewer21@student.umgc.edu

Password: Finishstrong!@34

Purpose:  

This project is the last of four projects. You will generate a pool of alternative
strategies, evaluate these alternative strategies, and select the best strategy using
the tools and concepts learned throughout the course.  You will develop
implementation plans, evaluative plans to control the implementation process, and
plan for post-evaluation measures. 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.  

Skill Building: 

In this project, you build many different skills, including research, critical thinking,
writing, and developing analytical skills related to various financial analysis tools and
strategy tools used in business. In addition, you will select optimal strategies, design
how to implement them, and evaluate the implementation process of the optimal
strategies.

Outcomes Met With This Project:

 Examine the impact of ethical decision making, social responsibility,

stakeholder analysis, and corporate governance on organizations and society;
 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;
 Evaluate the outcomes of identified strategies to determine their success and
impact on short-term and long-term objectives. 
Instructions: 

Step 1  Course Material and Research

You must research information about the focal company and the 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 performed 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 focal 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. To ensure success, as stated above, you are expected to
use the course materials and research on the focal company's global industry and the
focal company. The opinion does not earn credit, nor does it use 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 2  Research 

In completing the report, you will use the chapters in the eBook as a guide and
perform research on the same company as in Projects 1 and 2. Answer the required
elements below in narrative form following the steps. 

Note: Your report is based on the research results performed 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
document, video or source material. A zero will be earned for not doing your
own analysis.

Library Resources (Company Required)   

 All the information needed for your assigned company must be obtained from
one of the library's suggested online company research databases. To use
these resources, go to the main navigation bar in the classroom, select
Academic Support and then select Library. Next, select Databases by Title (A -
Z). Since your primary online company research database is Statista, select S
from the alphabet list, and scroll down to select Statista Online.
 Dun and Bradstreet's Hoovers Database, among others, is another excellent
source for company research, competitor, and industry information.
 You can find relevant and significant additional information required for
company project research by using https://libguides.umgc.edu/business-
research

Additional Library Resources

 Research for Company Financial Ratios: Financial Research.

 Research for Industry Financial Ratios: CSI Market.  
 Use "OneSearch" to find scholarly articles by clicking Library under Academic
Support on the classroom main menu bar and checkmark "Scholarly Journals
Only" prior to starting a search.  

Library Support Personal Assistance  

 Extensive library resources and services are available online, 24 hours a day,
seven days a week at https://www.umgc.edu/library/index.cfm  to support you in
your studies. In addition, the UMGC Library provides research assistance in
creating search strategies, selecting relevant databases, and evaluating and
citing resources in various formats via its "Ask a Librarian" service
at https://www.umgc.edu/library/libask/index.cfm .

Step 3  Specific Company for All Four Projects 

For this project, your instructor has specifically assigned each student to write an
independent report on one focal company. The assigned company must be used for
all four projects in this course. You cannot write reports on any other company
different from the company specifically assigned by your instructor. Students who fail
to use the specifically assigned companies from the list or use an unapproved
company will receive a zero for the project. 

The company that your instructor has assigned to you will be used for this project.

Step 4  Preparation for the Project

Before you begin writing the report, you will read the following requirements that will
help you meet the writing and APA requirements.  

 You will be analyzing the selected company. When doing analysis, you are not
merely making statements that may be cited. Instead, you will be supporting
the statements made. “Support” is the process of explaining, discussing, and
analyzing “why” and “how,” which is a higher-level critical analytical skill that is
required for this class. Support is needed to do well on this project.

  Read the grading rubric for the project. Then, use the grading rubric while
writing the report to ensure all requirements are met, leading to the highest
possible grade.

Step 5   How to Set Up the Project 

 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 10-12 pages. The final project may not be more
than 12 pages, excluding the title page and reference page. Those items
identified in the implementation and action plans should appear under the
appropriate heading in the paper. Do not use an Appendix. 
 Create a title page with the title, your name, date, the course number, and the
instructor's name.
 Create Topic Headings that  correspond  to exact sections of the project
requirements. 

Use the following template using the headings to separate elements. Do not use
bullets in your paper as the required format is in narrative format with indented
paragraphs and no extra space between paragraphs.

Introduction

(The Introduction paragraph is the first paragraph of the paper and will describe to
the reader the intent of the paper, explaining the main points covered in the paper. 
This intent should be understood before reading the remainder of the paper so the
reader knows exactly what is being covered in the paper. Therefore, write the
introduction last to ensure all of the main points are covered.)

Alternative Strategy Generation

To generate a pool of strategies, you will look at the organization’s business-level

strategy, corporate-level strategy, and global strategy. Then, using the information
and data collected from your research and the analytical outcomes from (a) external
factor analysis in your Project 1 and (b) internal factor analysis in Project 2, you will
generate a pool of strategies.
  Generate a minimum of three possible alternative strategies for the company.
 Identify and discuss cultural and organizational factors that should be
considered in analyzing and choosing among the alternative strategies.

Strategy Prioritization 

 Prioritize strategies and explain using the course material to support the

reasoning – Use the tools learned in the course.

Strategy Selection 

Your strategy selection will be based on the use of the Quantitative Strategic
Planning Matrix (QSPM). The QSPM produces a composite analysis. A composite
analysis is one in which you will bring in a combination of relevant factors from the
various analyses (EFE Matrix, IFE matrix, CPM matrix, SWOT, Grand Strategy
Matrix, and QSPM). The QSPM is a tool that helps determine the relative
attractiveness of feasible alternative strategies based on the external and internal key
success factors.

 Develop a Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) analysis.   

 Discuss the value of a QSPM analysis for strategy selection. Be specific. 

Strategy Implementation

 Recommend procedures for strategy implementation.

 Discuss who, what and how to implement the selected strategy or strategies at
the corporate level, business-unit level, and functional level.

Strategy Evaluation

Use frameworks and tools discussed throughout the course. Support the reasoning
and conclusions made.

 Discuss procedures for strategy review and evaluation

 Discuss the appropriate evaluative measures (including who, what, when, and
how at the corporate level, business-unit level, and functional level)
 Discuss a corrective action plan (including who, what, when, and how) at the
corporate, business unit, and functional levels.

Conclusion

 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

Step 6  Review the Paper 

Read the paper to ensure all required elements are present.

The following are specific requirements that you will follow. Use the checklist to mark
off that you have followed each specific requirement.  

Checklist Specific Project Requirements

  Proofread your paper.

  Read and use the grading rubric while completing the paper to ensure all
requirements are met to lead to the highest possible grade. 

  Third-person writing is required. Third-person means that there are no words such
as “I, me, my, we, or us” (first-person writing), nor is there use of “you or your”
(second-person writing). If uncertain how to write in the third person, view this
link: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/first-second-and-third-
person. 

  Contractions are not used in business writing, so do not use them.  

  Paraphrase and do not use direct quotations. Paraphrase means you do not use
more than four consecutive words from a source document. Removing quotation
marks and citing is inappropriate.  Instead, put a passage from a source document
into your own words and attribute the passage to the source document. There
should be no passages with quotation marks.  Using more than four consecutive
words from a source document would require direct quotation marks. Changing
words from a passage does not exclude the passage from having quotation
marks. If more than four consecutive words are used from source documents, this
material will not be included in the grade.  

  You are expected to use the research and weekly course materials to develop the
analysis and support the reasoning. Therefore, there should be a robust use of the
course material. The material used from a source document must be cited and
referenced.  A reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated
in-text citation and vice versa. Changing words from a passage does not exclude
the passage from having quotation marks.   

  Use in-text citations and provide a reference list that contains the reference
associated with each in-text citation.
  You may not use books in completing this problem set unless it is part of the
course material. Also, do not use a dictionary, Wikipedia, Investopedia, Fern Fort
University, or any other for-free website.

  Provide the page or paragraph number in every in-text citation. Since the eBook
does not have page numbers, you must include the chapter title, section heading,
and paragraph number.

For citations using a video, you must provide the minutes and second of the cited
material.

Step 7:  Submit the Report in the Assignment Folder 

Submitting the project to the Assignment Folder is considered the student's final
product and therefore ready for grading by the instructor. It is incumbent upon the
student to verify the project is the correct submission. No exceptions will be
considered by the instructor.