Primary Task Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write 600–800 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

You talk with Mike and Tiffany at lunch. “You’ve done some great research and brought up some good ideas to implement in the presentation,” you say. “There is one element that we are missing.”

“One of the most important aspects of the strategy: our competitors,” Tiffany states.

“I’ve already done some analysis, and there are many in the global market. It seems like there are several office furniture companies thriving, but not as many custom furniture manufacturers,” Mike elaborates.

“Well, we need to provide the board with some solid competitors. I’ll work on finding our top two,” you say. Complete the following:

· Who are your top 2 global competitors in the market?

· Provide a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis for each competitor.

· Why are they direct competitors?

· What is their competitive advantage?

· Could you form a cooperative strategy with any of the competitors?

· If so, how?

· If not, why?

· What strategies could you use to build a competitive market profile?

· What is balanced scorecard?

The materials found in the M.U.S.E. may help you with this assignment. In addition to your textbook material, here are a few resources that may help you learn more about the basics of the balanced scorecard:

· http://balancedscorecard.org/Resources/About-the-Balanced-Scorecard

· http://ap-institute.com/kpi-white-papers/what-is-a-modern-balanced-scorecard.aspx

Responses to Other Students: Respond to at least 2 of your fellow classmates with at least a 100-word reply about their Primary Task Response regarding items you found to be compelling and enlightening. To help you with your discussion, please consider the following questions