Case 7: Coach Inc. in 2012: Its Strategy in the ‘Accessible’ Luxury Goods Market (C-73 through C-83).

Mgmt 499: Cases in Strategic Management
Individual Case Assignment –

Case 7: Coach Inc. in 2012: Its Strategy in the ‘Accessible’ Luxury Goods Market (C-73 through C-83).

This assignment is an individual assignment, worth 15 out of the 100 points for the semester. Present your analysis
from the point of view of a consultant hired to advise the Chairman of the Board. Thus, your audience is familiar with
all the facts of the case; do not waste time restating case data. Your objective is to analyze, interpret, draw conclusions,
make recommendations and projections that are unique and must be explained and justified.
The following guidelines should help you in writing this case study


The time period is the one covered by the case as reported in the textbook. No outside research is allowed. if
you quote something, put it in quotes, and list the page number after the quote.



Make use of concepts and theories from the text and class discussions. You need not cite the text directly nor
should you explain/develop the concepts or theories. Please assume that I have knowledge and understanding
of management theories. Simply make the logical connections between the concept or theory and the case
issue to which it applies.



The case must be typed, 11 or 12-pt. font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins. It will probably be six to ten
pages in length (excluding appendices), but it can be shorter or longer if you wish. No cover page is needed.
Use section headers in your report – the section header for each section is italicized in the list below.



Your report should be well organized, succinct, and well written. The report should read as a unified piece of
work and flow smoothly. Number pages consecutively from beginning of document to the end.



PROOFREAD! In addition to content, grammar, spelling, and style are important! I will take off points for not
following these guidelines and for submitting sloppy reports.



See my note about plagiarism at the end of this document.

Note about appendices: I have listed the five appendices you must include. Remember to be as complete as you can
in your appendices, so that when you discuss a few of the items in your text, you can be confident that they are the key
items to mention. I suggest you create the appendices first, even though they appear last in your report. They are
intended to give you data to justify your conclusions in the text of the report. I will give you general feedback on two
of your appendices (your choice of which two) if submitted to the DropBox for this purpose by April 16. I will return
comments by April 19, so that you can make updates before submitting your full paper on April 26.

For each item below, I use the following rubric in my scoring:
Weak (.5-.6):

Acceptable (.7 - .8)

Strong (.9 – 1):

Major topic is present, but
major items are omitted,
presented without justification,
or inaccurately described.

Every sub-topic is present,

Every sub-topic is covered thoroughly
yet concisely.

Course concepts used accurately,
Justification of conclusions
obviously based on data, analysis

Conclusions are specific, with details and
examples used to illustrate the concepts.

Each of the following items is worth one or two points for a total of 15 for the analysis:


The following are the requirements for the text portion of the report:
Introduction. (1 point) Introduce the case in one or two paragraphs describing the market(s) that Coach competes
in, a summary of the key attributes of their products, and a general description of how well they are performing.
Keep this brief, since your report is to the Chairman of the Board of Directors, and they know the details.
External Analysis. (1 point) Describe the most important opportunities and threats from the Macro-Environment
analysis. Also, What competitive forces seem to have the greatest effect on industry attractiveness (from your Five
forces analysis). Is the pace of rivalry quickening and becoming more intense? Why or why not?
Internal Analysis. (1 point) Describe strengths and/or issues you found in the Financial Analysis. Describe the
most critical strengths and weaknesses you found in your value chain analysis (No more than 4 of each, you can
use core competencies if you did not find any distinctive competencies). Are any of them sustainable?
State and justify which Business Level Strategy (1 point) that is used by Coach. Use the capabilities and activities
in the value chain analysis as evidence for your conclusion by describing the ways those competencies and
resources increase value (in the eyes of the customer) or how they help reduce costs.
Issue Statement. (1 point) Identify an issue that needs to be resolved. Provide details and evidence based on
specific factors based on the weaknesses, opportunities, and threats identified above. (An example would be “Need
to cut costs”.) Identify multiple general approaches for solving the problem. (An example would be “Reduce
overhead costs” or “reduce manufacturing costs”.)
Possible Solutions. (2 points) Propose two possible specific solutions that are related to and address the problem
and at least one of approaches listed above. Evaluate each solution thoroughly with well-reasoned logic,
considering the feasibility and the impact of the solution. When considering the impact, be sure to include risks
and benefits to at least one external stakeholder, and one internal stakeholder. (An example of one solution would
be “reduce layers of management”, which is related to the first approach, “reduce overhead costs.” An example of
another solution would be “implement JIT inventory control,” which is related to “reduce manufacturing costs.”)
Recommended Solution (1 point) Select one of your proposed solutions and describe an action plan to accomplish
the recommendation: State a measurable goal – what results would need to be reviewed to determine if additional
changes were needed, and include at least 5 steps they need to take to accomplish the recommendation.
Proper Format: (1point) Provide a Title Sheet with your name, include a table of contents and page numbers for
the report. Deductions will be taken for typos, word usage, grammar, or incomplete sentences where it is deemed
necessary.
Appendices:
Macro Environment Analysis (1 point, use the template in the DropBox)
Five Forces Analysis (1 point, use the template in the DropBox)
Financial Analysis (1 point, Include the ratios and/or values listed in the template in the Dropbox):
Value Chain Analysis (1 point, use the template in the DropBox)
SWOT Analysis (2 points, Use the template in the DropBox)

Deductions will be taken for typos, word usage, grammar, or incomplete sentences.


Plagiarism:
I take plagiarism very seriously and routinely use plagiarism software as a precaution for major assignments where
many people are writing about similar topics or with respect to course materials that may be available online. As
stated in the student handbook, "In simple terms, plagiarism is using another person's words or ideas and presenting
them as your own, without acknowledging the original source. This is a serious academic offense. Academic sanctions
can include receiving a failing grade for an assignment or an entire course." In this class, you risk failing (getting a 0)
on the paper, but not failing the course (unless a 0 on the paper makes you fail).
I submit all papers to turnitin.com and then view each originality report to see if there is any obvious copying of
materials or minimal changing of words from someone else's work. Remember to put quotes around anything that is
directly copied from the case (and put the page number in parentheses after the quote). No external data gathering is
required or allowed.