Week 2 Dis

1. Complete the  SWOT Matrix [DOCX]  to highlight the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the company (as approved by the instructor) you described in the Week 1 discussion. 

. Your selected company may be a startup company of your choosing or it may be based on the snack food company scenario provided to you.

· Include four items in each category.

· As you complete each quadrant of the SWOT Matrix, consider these questions: 

. Strengths.

. What are your selected company’s likely strengths?

. Is your product or service in a growing industry and does it lack an entrenched competitor?

. Are you in a niche market with great potential?

. What strengths do you and other team members bring to the company?

· Weaknesses.

. What are your chosen company’s likely weaknesses?

. How entrenched is the competition in your industry segment?

. Is your management team inexperienced?

. How challenging will it be to produce the product or offer the service and maintain quality?

· Opportunities.

. What are your company’s opportunities?

. Does your segment have more demand than supply?

. Have larger corporations stopped serving smaller or niche markets that you could enter?

. Is a new market emerging because of demographics, immigration, changing tastes, et cetera?

· Threats.

. What are your company’s threats?

. Does a clear market leader exist that will be hard and expensive to displace?

. Are downward-pricing pressures in the segment making profit margins slim?

. Are there few or no barriers to entry for new competitors?

Post at least one substantive comment to another student's post.

Notes

· Textbook Chapter 9, "Strategic Position & Risk Assessment," pages 143–162, provides additional detail about this topic.

· You will revise this week’s discussion post as part of your on the Week 3 assignment, Company Description and SWOT Matrix.

Important note:

Complete the SWOT table in Word and then copy and paste it in the discussion window.

DO NOT attach the Word document to the discussion window.