Unit 7 Using Analytic Tools for Strategic Decision-Making This assignment spans Units 6 and Unit 7

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Unit 7

Using Analytic Tools for Strategic Decision-Making

This assignment spans Units 6 and Unit 7. Please do not procrastinate. Be sure to start this assignment in Unit 6. This assignment is due by the end of Unit 7. Procrastination can be detrimental to your success in this class. This assignment will require intensive interpretation skills. Be sure to use the grading rubric as a checklist.

The following Course Outcomes are assessed in this assignment:

MT460-4: Develop a strategic framework to increase the competitive advantage of a business.

PC-2.2: Formulate innovative solutions for identified initiatives.

To start this assignment, choose an organization from the list provided by your instructor.

• Visit the MERGENT library database to conduct research on your chosen organization. Become very familiar with this library database. You will need it.
  • Analyze the details, latest annual report, latest news, review competitor information, etc. about your chosen organization.
  • You may also want to visit the websites for your chosen organization and its competitors for more information and observation.

Scenario:

You are the director of strategy and business intelligence for your chosen organization. You are developing a strategic plan for your chosen organization for an upcoming meeting with the C-level executives of your organization. They loved your idea for an innovative new product and would like you to develop a strategic plan for further consideration. Use the following criteria to develop the strategic plan for your innovative new product idea.

Assignment Requirements: In this assignment, you will develop a strategic plan for your chosen organization. Address each of the following inquiries in your deliverable:

Product Offering Analysis

1. Articulate the current state of your chosen organization and its competitive environment.
   1. In a business letter, articulate the strategic position of your chosen organization within the industry in which it operates.
   2. Provide a detailed overview of the product mix of your chosen organization.
   3. Analyze the product mix of your chosen organization against its rivals.

Organizational Competencies

1. Use the SOAR analysis framework to identify opportunities and set results-oriented aspirations based on the strengths of your chosen organization.
   1. Analyze your chosen organization to identify a minimum of three strengths that may result in competitive advantages.
   2. Based on your chosen organizations competitive advantages, determine a minimum of three business expansion opportunities.
   3. Develop a minimum of three aspirational product ideas that may result from organizational expansion opportunities.
   4. Explain any expected results from the successful implementation of each aspirational product idea that you propose.

Innovative New Product Idea

1. Formulate an innovative new product idea to develop competitive advantages for your chosen organization.
   1. Introduce the innovative new product idea that you developed in the Unit 5 Assignment for your chosen organization.
   2. Explain the problem or opportunity your innovative new product idea is intended to solve.
   3. Explain how your product is intended to meet customer expectations.
   4. Explain the strategic direction of your innovative new product.
   5. Develop and tell a story about your new product idea.
      1. Explain how the branding and new product idea will impact and/or interact with existing branding and product lines or items offered within the product mix of organization.

Vision, Mission, & Values

1. Formulate a vision, mission, and values statement for your innovative new product idea that increases the competitive advantage of your chosen organization.
   1. Formulate a vision statement for your innovative new idea.
      1. Explain how your vision statement increases the competitive advantage of your chosen organization.
   2. Explain how the mission statement for your chosen organization will support the vision for your innovative new product idea that increases the competitive advantage of your chosen organization.
      1. Revise the mission statement of your chosen organization if necessary.
   3. Explain how the values statement of an organization supports the vision for a new idea that increases the competitive advantage of an organization.
      1. Explain how the values statement of the organization supports the mission statement of the organization.
      2. Revise the values statement of your chosen organization if necessary.

Strategic Approach

1. Choose an appropriate strategic approach to support the vision for an innovative new product idea that increases the competitive advantage of your chosen organization.
   1. Analyze various strategic approaches that can lead to the development of competitive advantages for an organization.
   2. Choose one generic strategy to use in the launch of your innovative new product idea that will result in competitive advantages for your chosen organization.
   3. Explain how employing your chosen strategic approach can lead to the development of competitive advantages for your chosen organization.
   4. Explain whether implementing a strategic approach as a first mover, a fast follower, or a late mover is most advantageous for your organization.

Strategic Goals, Objectives, & Initiatives

1. Design one strategic goal and three strategic objectives that drive the implementation of a strategy for a new idea that increases the competitive advantage of an organization.
   1. Identify critical success factors to ensure the success of organizational objectives.
   2. Develop an objective that adheres to corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability standards while balancing these duties with economic responsibilities to shareholders.
   3. Develop innovative projects to drive the implementation of a strategy for a new idea that increases the competitive advantage of an organization.

Strategic Alternatives & Contingencies

1. Identify strategic alternatives that may increase efficiency, and contingency plans to mitigate risks.
   1. Decide if an organization should consider outsourcing, mergers, or acquisitions to increase its competitive advantage.
   2. Develop a contingency plan to counter or mitigate risks and threats to a strategic plan using the assumption-based planning technique.

Conclusive Remarks

1. Produce a concise and persuasive pitch to convince the C-level executives of your chosen organization to fund the development of your innovative new product idea.

APA Style

• Correctly apply APA style to in-text citations.
• Correctly apply APA style to references.

Writing Conventions

• Use a minimum of three peer-reviewed, academic research resources (including MindTools and Library materials) to substantiate your critical thinking and to provide viable reasoning for your perspectives.
• Use headings to segment the topics in your writing in order to create a flow of ideas for your reader.
• Use diagrams, images, and charts to give context to your writing.
• Use reasoning skills to support your statements, thoughts, opinions, and ideas.
• Write in third person to develop your business report.

You should make thorough use of the MindTools platform and the Library to complete this deliverable. You are capable of doing professional research and making strategic decisions at this level of your degree program. Take the initiative to be the problem solver and strategic decision-maker.

 

 

unit 9

Using Analytic Tools for Strategic Decision-Making

This assignment spans Units 8 and 9. Please do not procrastinate. Be sure to start this assignment in Unit 8. This assignment is due by the end of Unit 9. Procrastination can be detrimental to your success in this class. This assignment will require intensive interpretation skills. Be sure to use the grading rubric as a checklist.

The following Course Outcome is assessed in this assignment:

MT460-5: Design a plan to implement a business strategy throughout an organization.

To start this assignment, choose an organization from the list provided by your instructor.

• Visit the MERGENT library database to conduct research on your chosen organization. Become very familiar with this library database. You will need it.
  • Analyze the details, latest annual report, latest news, review competitor information, etc. about your chosen organization.
  • You may also want to visit the websites for your chosen organization and its competitors for more information and observation.

Scenario:

You submitted a strategic plan for an innovative new product idea to the C-level executives of your organization. Congratulations! It was approved, and you have been promoted to the chief strategy officer position in your chosen organization. The C-level executive committee was very impressed with your strategic plan. Now it is time to implement your strategy. Develop a strategy implementation plan to share with your management team that will be responsible for executing the strategy for your innovative new product idea in your chosen market. Use the following criteria to develop the strategy implementation plan for your innovative new product idea.

Assignment Requirements: In this assignment, you will address the Course Outcomes by developing a strategic implementation for your chosen organization. Address each of the following inquiries in your deliverable:

Implementation Strategy

1. Explain what must be done to successfully implement the strategy for your innovative new product idea in order to improve the competitive advantages of your chosen organization.
   1. Discuss how to manage the value chain of your organization in the implementation of your strategy.
   2. Explain the ideal organizational design of your organization to ensure the successful implementation of your strategy.

Strategy Team Structure

1. Organize a strategy-supportive management team structure to implement a strategy for a new idea that increases the competitive advantage of your organization.
   1. Choose the optimal organizational structure type for the team implementing your strategy.
   2. Determine and explain the structure (hierarchical or flat) and why it would produce the best results to implement your strategy.

Strategic Initiative Projects

1. Identify and prioritize projects into a balanced scorecard to implement a strategy for a new idea that increases the competitive advantage of an organization.
   1. Complete a balanced scorecard chart. Use it to identify and prioritize projects per category.
   2. Create a list of strategic initiatives and prioritize them as projects for your management team to implement.
   3. Develop a timeline depiction indicating project completion milestones.
   4. Identify one strategic initiative that is critical to the overall success of your strategy. End explain why it is the most important project to focus attention, efforts, and resources on.
   5. Complete the project scope form for your chosen strategic initiative to demonstrate project planning to your management team.

Resource Allocation

1. Develop a plan to allocate resources based on the priority of projects for a new idea that increases the competitive advantage of your organization.
   1. Explain the importance of resource allocation and resource management to the success of your strategy.
   2. Explain the process of carrying out a resource audit to your management team and include why it is important.
   3. Develop a resource management checklist for your chosen strategic initiative to demonstrate resource allocation to your management team.
   4. Explain the role of information systems and technological resources in the execution of your strategic initiative project.
   5. Based on the results of your resource planning, develop a budget proposal for your strategic initiative.
   6. Concisely explain your budget proposal.

Key Performance Indicators

1. Explain the purpose and importance of managing performance and provide details on how it is accomplished to ensure competitive advantage is achieved.
   1. Explain the purpose of key performance indicators and how they work.
   2. Complete the Deciding What to Measure form to identify key performance indicators (outputs, actions, and measurements).
      1. Design five key performance indicators to manage the implementation of your strategy.
   3. Concisely explain the key performance indicators and how they will collectively ensure competitive advantage is achieved.

Continuous Improvement Process

1. Develop a continuous improvement philosophy to ensure the implementation of your strategy increases the competitive advantages of your organization.
   1. Create and thoroughly explain the continuous improvement philosophy of your organization.
      1. Consider adopting an existing continuous improvement philosophy such as Kaizen, Six Sigma, EFQM, etc. Explain it thoroughly, specifically addressing who, what, why, when, where, and how the continuous improvement philosophy will be employed to ensure competitive advantages are achieved.
   2. Explain how problems and challenges will be analyzed and solved.
   3. Explain how to create the right environment for continuous improvement within your organization to ensure competitive advantages are achieved.

Culture & Performance

1. Explain how the culture of your organization will impact the implementation of the strategy for your innovative new product idea that increases its competitive advantage.
   1. Define the purpose of your organizational culture and how it contributes to the successful implementation of your strategy.
   2. Explain how each category of the cultural web in your organization will impact the successful implementation of your strategy.
   3. Explain how “cultural fit” and “cultural add” will be managed by your team.
      1. Explain how conflicts to the organizational culture will be handled.
   4. Design an incentive and reward plan to promote effective and efficient strategy implementation.

Conclusion Remarks

1. Develop closing remarks to your management team that encourage collaboration and inspire innovation and entrepreneurship in the effort of implementing your strategy for your innovative new product idea that increases the competitive advantage of your organization.

APA Style

• Correctly apply APA style to in-text citations.
• Correctly apply APA style to references.

Writing Conventions

• Use a minimum of three peer-reviewed, academic research resources (including MindTools and Library materials) to substantiate your critical thinking and to provide viable reasoning for your perspectives.
• Use headings to segment the topics in your writing in order to create a flow of ideas for your reader.
• Use diagrams, images, and charts to give context to your writing.
• Use reasoning skills to support your statements, thoughts, opinions, and ideas.
• Write in third person to develop your business report.

You should make thorough use of the MindTools platform and the Library to complete this deliverable. You are capable of doing professional research and making strategic decisions at this level of your degree program. Take the initiative to be the problem solver and strategic decision-maker.