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The group project asks you to evaluate competitive advantage of a firm by analyzing an

industry and how the company competes in that industry. The objective of the group project

is to help you prepare for your career upon graduation and job interviews. It can be an

industry you want to learn more about and/or a company you want to work for. The more

you put into the process, the more rewarding the experience will be for you. Form a group

of 3-4 students and decide what industry and company you want to study for the group

project. I advise you to get started on this assignment as early as you can. Email me your

industry/company choice as soon as possible. This is to ensure no other group will duplicate

the same effort for our collective learning.

The primary goal of this project is to evaluate competitive advantages of the firm of your

choice. The deliverable takes the form of answering the following questions, by applying the

frameworks/tools learned from this course.

1. Conduct a PESTEL analysis to identify external forces affecting the industry your

company is based.

2. Apply the five forces model to the industry in which your company is based. What does

this model tell you about the nature of competition in the industry?

3. Analyze your company’s resources, capabilities, and competencies. Do any of them

provide the basis for a competitive advantage? Why or why not?

4. Describe your company’s business model. What are its strategic implications?

5. Apply a SWOT analysis. What strategic imperatives do you arrive at?

6. What strategies has your company used to manage entry and manage rivalry in the

industry. Identify them by different types of strategy, i.e. business/corporate/global

strategies.

7. Conclude by evaluating whether your company has a competitive advantage or

disadvantage in its primary industry. Why or why not?

The final paper should not exceed 30 pages except appendices and references. In addition,

you will develop a Final PowerPoint Presentation that will address the key points of both

industry-level and firm-level analyses. This presentation will be done at the level of which it

would be presented to key people in the decision-making process. Groups will present their

analysis by producing a video presentation.

Penalty points will be assigned to the project for late submissions. Inadequate or poorly

prepared submissions will be considered a failure of submission. Remember, while the

project is strategy analysis, it is still a formal document that should demonstrate your

seriousness. All groups are required to run a draft by the CBPA Writing Center.

Note: A lack of professionalism in terms of quality of the manuscript may result in

disqualification of the submission.

Students will receive evaluations by their team members on their performance. It is

accomplished by completing a Group Project Peer Evaluation Form provided by the

instructor. Students should provide:

• Evaluations for team members on performance

Tips for Write-Up:

Your primary deliverable for the project is a professional-quality strategy analysis reports.

The content of your report should contain the elements presented in this ‘assignment’.

Personalization and customization of your report is generally applicable.

Tables should be formatted as follows: Arrange the data so that columns of like material read

down, not across. The headings should be sufficiently clear so that the meaning of the data is

understandable without reference to the text. Tables should have titles and sufficient detail in

a legend immediately following the title to be understandable without reference to the text.

Each column in a table must have a heading, abbreviations, and when necessary, should be

defined in the legend or footnote.

Note that a straight Excel file or screen capture is not an acceptable format. Excel files

should be converted to a Word document. Images or graphics must be included as figures

in an acceptable format.