Where to Play: Playing Field, Competition & Your Organization Due Week 4, Sunday, midnight of your time zone (Weight: 25%) Introduction Find out ever

JWI 540: Strategy

Assignment 1

© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University. This document is subject to change based on the needs of the class.

JWI 540 – Assignment 1 (1214) Page 1 of 5

Assignment 1: Where to Play: Playing Field, Competition & Your Organization

Due Week 4, Sunday, midnight of your time zone (Weight: 25%)

Introduction

“Find out everything that you can about the playing field. You should know what your competitors’ salespeople eat for breakfast.”

– Jack Welch –

As the Chief Strategy Officer of your company, you have been commissioned to recommend a game-winning

move that will allow your company to achieve strong revenue and profit growth and to create a sustainable

competitive advantage. Although your game-winning move will not be presented to the CEO until Week 10, you

have been asked to provide written executive briefs on your progress in Weeks 4 and 8.

You want to impress the CEO and your colleagues with your insights and recommendations! You know that the

best way to do this is to follow Jack’s logical 5-slide approach to strategy. Since there will be two interim

updates, you have decided to focus your Week 4 executive brief on the Playing Field, the Competition, and Your

Organization. You will focus your Week 8 executive brief on What’s Around the Corner? and your Game-

Winning Move. You will then synthesize your findings and recommendation into five PowerPoint slides for your

presentation in Week 10. At the culmination of this three-part strategy assignment, you will have a clearly

articulated and persuasive game plan to win!

Instructions for Assignment 1

Using the Assignment 1 Template, address the following:

1. Introduction and Playing Field Description: Provide an opening paragraph that explains the purpose

of your brief, then detail the specific target segment of the market where you are choosing to compete.

You should ensure the target segment is sufficiently large to achieve your company’s sales and profit

growth objectives, but sufficiently focused so that your company can intimately understand market

characteristics and compete effectively. The template provided for this assignment guides you on how

to organize relevant information, including:

a. Your company

b. The industry for your organization of choice

c. The market size of this industry

d. Specific description of the segment of this industry in which you will compete (the Playing Field)

e. Brief explanation of why you selected this segment.

JWI 540: Strategy

Assignment 1

© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University. This document is subject to change based on the needs of the class.

JWI 540 – Assignment 1 (1214) Page 2 of 5

2. Competitive Analysis: In this section you will identify the two most formidable competitors in your

playing field and address the following for each:

a. How big is each competitor in this target segment?

b. What is their most significant strength and their most significant weakness?

c. Briefly explain how this strength and this weakness impact their ability to compete effectively.

d. Does their recent performance indicate they are generally winning or losing in this playing field?

Support your conclusions with data.

e. Has anyone (including new market entrants) introduced any game-changing new

products/technology/capabilities? Have they developed (or lost) a key competitive advantage?

3. Organizational Assessment; In this section you will “turn the mirror around” and look inward to assess

the capabilities and competencies of your chosen organization. Briefly address the following:

a. How big are we in this target segment?

b. What is our most significant strength and our most significant weakness?

c. Briefly explain how this strength and this weakness impact our ability to compete effectively.

d. Do our recent results indicate we are generally winning or losing in this playing field? Support

your conclusions with data.

e. Have we introduced game-changing new products/technology/capabilities? Have we developed

(or lost) a key competitive advantage?

4. Key Conclusions: Provide a succinct conclusion that captures your critical insights about the target

segment and the relative competitive balance of the three companies you analyzed.

5. References: Include in-text citations for all data, assertions, and facts, and a corresponding reference

list. Appendices are allowable if additional supplemental information is needed for the brief.

Formatting and Submission Requirements

• Use the Assignment 1 Template to complete this assignment. Ensure you address each element of the

template.

• The submitted template should be 2 to 3 pages (not including the cover page or appendixes/references

page).

• Typed, single-spaced, professional font (size 10 – 12) with one-inch margins on all sides.

• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, your name, professor’s name, and the course

title and date.

• Use and reference at least 3 external sources to support your brief. Include a references page at the

end documenting sources and citations.

• You may use additional headings within the template to identify subtopics if this will improve the clarity of

your template.

• You are welcome to include charts, tables, and graphs in-text or in an appendix.

• Develop and support your research with facts and in-text citations, appendixes, and references.

JWI 540: Strategy

Assignment 1

© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University. This document is subject to change based on the needs of the class.

JWI 540 – Assignment 1 (1214) Page 3 of 5

RUBRIC: Assignment 1

Criteria Unsatisfactory Low Pass Pass High Pass Honors

1. Complete the Playing Field section of the template to identify and explain the size of, and rationale for, the target segment where you will compete Weight: 20%

The Playing Field portion of the template is missing or is unsatisfactorily populated; contains inaccurate or incomplete information in two or more sections.

Rationale for playing field selection does not provide satisfactory explanation to support the position.

The Playing Field portion of the template meets minimal requirements but is missing key in segmentation of the market.

or

lacks a complete definition of the playing field

or

includes only basic information on market size and segmentation

Fails to explain conformance to the company’s current competencies and operations.

Rationale does not provide satisfactory explanation to support the position.

The Playing Field portion of the template is satisfactorily populated with no more than one incomplete component.

Recommended Playing Field definition demonstrates basic ability to segment the market.

Recommendation of Playing Field selection is appropriately sized and conforms to the company’s current competencies and operations.

Rationale is logical and is clear but may be lack conciseness or persuasiveness.

The Playing Field portion of the template is completely populated.

Recommended Playing Field definition demonstrates a strong understanding of the segmentation of the market.

Recommendation presents an appropriately sized segment and conforms to the company’s current competencies and operations. Rationale is clear, concise, logical, and persuasive.

The Playing Field portion of the template is completely populated.

Recommended Playing Field definition demonstrates exceptional understanding of the segmentation of the market

Recommendation presents an appropriately sized Playing Field that strongly conforms to the company’s current competencies and operations.

Rationale is extremely clear, concise, logical, and persuasive.

2. Complete the Competitor sections of the template to demonstrate your knowledge of each competitor and their position in the Playing Field.

Weight: 30%

The Competitor section of the template is missing or is unsatisfactorily populated.

Contains irrelevant of unclear content.

At least 6 of the 10 Competitor fields are satisfactorily populated. The size of one or more of the Competitors is missing and/or partially described or does not include a recognized measure of organizational size.

Strengths and weaknesses, recent performance, or major developments are missing or do not demonstrate an understanding of how these elements affect their ability to compete.

At least 8 of the 10 Competitor fields are satisfactorily populated. The size of each Competitor is satisfactorily described and uses a recognized measure of organizational size. Strengths and weaknesses, recent performance, and major developments for each competitor is present but may lack insights regarding how these elements affect their ability to compete.

All 10 Competitor fields of the template are satisfactorily populated

Size of each Competitor is well described with at least one relevant measure of organizational size.

Strengths, weaknesses, recent performance, and major developments for each selected Competitor provide good insights into how these elements affect their ability to effectively compete.

All 10 Competitor fields of the template are completely populated.

Size of each Competitor is exceptionally well described and may include more than one relevant measure of organizational size that can be compared against the organization and both Competitors included in the briefing.

Demonstrates exceptional insight into the relative strengths, weaknesses, performance, and major developments of selected Competitors and how these elements affect their ability to compete.

JWI 540: Strategy

Assignment 1

© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University. This document is subject to change based on the needs of the class.

JWI 540 – Assignment 1 (1214) Page 4 of 5

Criteria Unsatisfactory Low Pass Pass High Pass Honors

3. Complete the Our Organization section of the template. Demonstrate knowledge of the company and its competitiveness in the Playing Field.

Weight: 20%

This section of the template is missing or is unsatisfactorily populated. Contains irrelevant or unclear content.

At least 3 of the 5 fields are satisfactorily populated. The size of the Organization is missing and/or partially described or does not include a recognized measure of organizational size.

Strengths and weaknesses, recent performance, or major developments are missing or do not demonstrate an understanding of how these elements affect the organization’s ability to compete.

At least 4 of the 5 fields are satisfactorily populated. Organizational size is satisfactorily described and uses a recognized measure of organizational size.

Strengths and weaknesses, recent performance, and major developments for the company is present but may lack insights regarding how these elements affect their ability to compete.

All fields of the template are satisfactorily populated.

Organizational size is well described with at least one relevant measure of organizational size.

Strengths, weaknesses, recent performance, and major developments of the company provide good insights into how these elements affect its ability to effectively compete.

.

All fields of the template are completely satisfactorily populated.

Organizational size is exceptionally well described and may include more than one relevant measure of organizational size that can be compared to the size of the competitors included in the briefing.

Demonstrates exceptional insight into the relative strengths, weaknesses, performance, and major developments of the company and how these elements affect its ability to compete.

4. Provide an effective and persuasive conclusion that is “fit for use” for a CEO.

Weight: 15%

The conclusion is missing or is an unsatisfactory distillation of the template that does not provide a sufficient level of strategic insights and conclusions.

The conclusion is a partial distillation of the template with some important and relevant strategic insights and conclusions.

The conclusion is a satisfactory distillation of the template with important and relevant strategic insights and conclusions. The assertions may lack some clarity or conciseness and/or may not be highly persuasive.

The conclusion is a very good distillation of the template with important and relevant strategic insights and conclusions and is presented succinctly and persuasively to the CEO. The conclusion does not include extraneous data that would not be relevant or important to the CEO.

The conclusion is an excellent distillation of the template with important and relevant strategic insights and conclusions and is presented succinctly and persuasively to the CEO. The conclusion does not include extraneous data that would not be relevant or important to the CEO.

JWI 540: Strategy

Assignment 1

© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University. This document is subject to change based on the needs of the class.

JWI 540 – Assignment 1 (1214) Page 5 of 5

Criteria Unsatisfactory Low Pass Pass High Pass Honors

5. Present information professionally within the three- page limit, and support recommend- ations, assertions, and facts with in-text citations, appendixes, and references.

Weight: 15%

Executive Brief lacks a professional appearance and/or contains multiple spelling or grammatical and mechanical usage errors.

Most recommendations, assertions, and facts are not supported with in-text citations, appendixes, and references.

Executive Brief is satisfactory in appearance.

Has a few grammatical and mechanical usage errors that make parts of the text difficult for the reader to understand.

Some recommendations, assertions, and facts are supported with in- text citations, appendixes, and references.

Executive Brief is well-written and generally professional in appearance.

May contain minor grammatical and mechanical usage errors, but these do not have a major impact on the flow or clarity.

Most recommendations, assertions, and facts are supported with in- text citations, appendixes, and references.

Executive Brief is succinct and well- written and within the three-page limit (excluding cover, references, and appendices) and professional in appearance. Grammatical and mechanical usage errors, if any, are minor and have no impact on the flow. Nearly all of recommendations, assertions, and facts are supported with in- text citations, appendixes, and references.

Executive Brief is succinct and well- written and within the three-page limit (excluding cover, references, and appendices) and very professional in appearance. There are no grammatical or mechanical usage errors. All recommendations, assertions, and facts are exemplarily supported with in-text citations, appendixes, and references.