ConAgra Foods Incorporated Case Study

Please answer the following five questions regarding the attached Project Paper. The primary goal isto interpret the project paper and not information external to the paper. Though it is permitted to use outside resources they should only be supplementary.

1)      Use the three scenarios generated by Shell (Shell Global Scenarios to 2025. Royal Dutch/Shell Group 2005), “Low Trust Globalization”, “Open Doors”, and “Flags”. Review the Projects paper author’s assessment of ConAgra’s performance under these three scenarios. Given the information, provide “your own” perspective of the company’s performance under the three scenarios and compare and contrast with the author’s. If the author’s assessment is incomplete or missing only provide your own. Minimum 4 paragraphs (minimum one paragraph for each scenario).

2)      Discuss a long-term scenario on global growth that centers on a transition in economic leadership to Asia from the North Atlantic (the presentation is attached). Provide an assessment of ConAgra’s experience and potential situation under that scenario. Provide several recommendations as to what senior management should be doing in this new world. Minimum 2 paragraphs.

3)      Critique the author’s assessment of the company’s strategic position particularly as it relates to Michael Porters 5 competitive forces. Where is the author right and where could he be wrong? Minimum 5 paragraphs (minimum one paragraph for each force).

4)      Macroeconomic sensitivity of Conagra: Provide a critique of the author’s assessment of the company’s sensitivities to macroeconomic volatility going forward and its past experiences. Provide a list of at least three macroeconomic factors which you believe the company is sensitive too in addition to the ones listed by the papers authors. Minimum of 3 paragraphs.

5)      Hedging and whether companies should be committed to them or not: Assess the strength of the authors arguments regarding whether the company should or should not be hedging and to what financial/economic variables are they most exposed too where hedging makes sense. Critique the authors if you believe they are wrong in their assessment. Minimum of 2 paragraphs.