Group Presentation Guidelines
(15 minute time limit)
Below is a suggested outline for yourpresentation. The purpose of this guideline is to provide you with a potential laundry list of issues you might wish to address. The suggestions here are more to prompt your thinking than to provide you with a set of hard and fast instructions for your presentation. The important thing to remember is that no two companies are alike. A format that works for the Gap might not be totally appropriate for a company like McDonald's.
Remember, you are to select a company of your own choosing. Please check with me before you begin you research in earnest to get my “okay” for your chosen company.
The outline below is a general guideline for your presentation. You might have to deviate from it based upon your firm and the information you are able to uncover during your research. In all cases, your major task will not be trying to find information, but trying to decide what information is most important. Your grade, in part, will be based on your ability to identify and present the most relevant material. Hit the high points. Hit the most interesting and informative information, and remember that you job is to both inform and entertain. But in all circumstances, you must remain professional.
Introduction
Set the stage by briefly discussing the relevant characteristics of the company, its industry, its major strategies, its pattern of successes or failures, and something interesting that will draw the attention of the audience. Be sure to highlight the firm's primary problems.
Analysis of the Firm’s Environment
A.Define the products and/or services provided by your firm. In which industries does your firm primarily compete? What segments exist in these industries?
B.Describe what is going on in the broad environment that is now influencing or is likely to influence your company or its industry in the future. Discuss both the trends and the implications for the firm.
C.What is the nature of competition in the industry? Porter’s 5 Forces will help you answer this question. You do not have to touch on all of the factors for each force. You need only cover those that are important. Don’t forget to summarize. Be sure to provide a conclusion of what Porter's tells us about this industry. Is this an attractive industry? Why or why not?
Internal and Competitive Analysis of the Firm
D.Briefly describe the important internal resources of the company, which might include excellent leaders, important brand names or trade marks, excellent locations, a good reputation, superior relationships with stakeholders, size, economies of scale, efficiency, highly skilled employees, or many other factors. Which of these resources/capabilities is a source of sustainable competitive advantage? Also, identify areas where the firm has weakness and possesses deficient resource/capabilities. Where is the firm adding or not adding value? Where in its value chain is it superior/inferior to its rivals? You may want to think about these in terms of the building blocks of competitive advantage.
E. Conduct a brief financial analysis of the firm and its performance. Select a few key performance indicators that you believe best reflect the firm's current situation. You might have to benchmark the firm's performance against its rivals to identify the most critical ratios/indicators. Explain the implications of these indicators. Just don’t present them. Explain why these indicators are critical to your analysis. What might be the strategic explanation for these performance differences?
F. Identify the firm's major rivals, and how your firm is positioned relative to those rivals in terms of strategy and performance.
G.What are the key success factors in the firm's primary industries/segments? How well is the firm positioned relative to those factors and relative to rivals?
Strategic Direction
Your organization has a strategic direction, whether it is written down or not and whether it is a good direction or not. If your company has a formal mission/vision statement, it may contain clues with regard to strategic direction. However, remember that mission statements are often written primarily for public consumption and not for direction. You should identify what you perceive is the firm's primary generic strategy (low cost, differentiation, or focus).
Now evaluate this strategic direction based on the information contained in your prior analysis. Is this an appropriate direction? Does it fit what is going on in the external environment? Is it likely to continue to be successful? Does it fit with the strengths and weaknesses of the organization? Is the business definition appropriate or should the company focus on fewer areas or expand to other areas? What problem areas have you identified that the firm needs to face? Here, you should identify a short list of the most pressing strategic concerns you feel the firm must address.
Remember, this is just a suggested framework. You will emphasize/deemphasize different components based upon your research. For example, presentations of firms that compete in a very turbulent broad or competitive/industry environment will require greater emphasis on the environmental portions of this guideline. Firms that compete in more a placid and stable environment will require more emphasis on internal analysis issues. Industry segmentation might be a huge strategic issue for some firms, but irrelevant for others.
When you complete your analysis, you will then be required to provide some sort of recommendation. Your recommendation should be specific and actionable. You should include a discussion of potential costs and benefits, expected outcomes, and give some idea about the feasibility of your alternative(s).