Group Case Activities and Rubric
Analyze the case in parts, as shown in the following areas:
• Strategic Profile and Case Analysis Purpose: Identify the key facts of the case and show how they lead to a particular focus for your case analysis. List the key elements of the situation: people, places, activities, and contexts, and discuss the level of uncertainty associated with the information about the case.
• Situation Analysis – External: Review all seven of the general environmental categories (technological, demographic, economic, political/legal, sociocultural, global, and physical environment trends), looking for opportunities and threats that could impact the organization. Use Porter’s Five Forces model to analyze the company’s industry. Identify key competitors and analyze their strategies, core competencies, and competitive response.
• Situation Analysis – Internal: Review factors within the company that are critical to the strategy of the firm and classify them as strengths or weaknesses. Use a value chain analysis to determine which parts of the company’s operations add value, and which do not.
• SWOT Analysis: Compare strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the company, and show how they are related. What actions should the company take to maximize the strengths and opportunities, while minimizing the weaknesses and the threats?
• Strategy Formulation: Identify at least three or four business-level or corporate strategies that will help the company to develop a competitive advantage in the future. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each strategy, select the strategy that you feel is most likely to benefit the company, and explain the reason for your decision using facts from the case, outside research, and theoretical information.
• Strategic Alternative Implementation: Provide a complete and detailed analysis of the steps that must be taken to put the strategy into practice, including structural, leadership, control, incentive, and other changes. Alternatives and recommendations should flow from SWOT analysis and be explained in light of it.
• Process Issues: Make the presentation logically consistent. Be sure that all areas mentioned above are covered, and that different pieces of the presentation do not contain overlapping information. Review the presentation to be sure that it has a comprehensive analysis and clear links between environmental/internal factors and recommendations.
Grading Rubric:
Outstanding Performance Acceptable Performance Poor Performance
Strategic Profile and Case Analysis Purpose Case presentation identifies key facts relevant to case, and show how case facts lead to a particular focus for analysis. Case presentation identifies most, but not all key facts relevant to the case and ties facts to a particular focus for the analysis. Case presentation misses most significant key facts of case, or ties them to an incorrect focus for case analysis.
Situation Analysis – External Presentation explores trends in general environment to predict future environmental concerns. Porter’s Five Forces model used to analyze company’s industry, and key competitors are analyzed for strategy, core competencies, and competitive response. Two or three minor elements of external analysis are incorrect – team may not have covered all seven environmental factors, used Porter’s model correctly, or analyzed key competitors completely. External analysis is significantly incorrect – internal factors are identified as external, four or fewer areas of external environment covered, Porter’s Five Factor model used incorrectly, and key competitors either not identified or analysis is superficial.
Situation Analysis – Internal Presentation uses a value chain analysis to examine key internal factors that create strengths and weaknesses for the company. Factors analyzed are critical to strategy of firm, and are likely to include a financial analysis. Presentation identifies organization’s strengths and weaknesses clearly, but value chain analysis may be incomplete. One or two internal factors that significantly impact strategy of firm may be missing. Internal analysis is significantly incorrect – external factors are identified as internal, or key factors are not identified or examined. Factors are not clearly linked to firm’s strategy or incorrect strategic implications are drawn.
SWOT Analysis Presentation has excellent analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, showing how the company can take advantage of opportunities while avoiding or minimizing threats. Presentation contains good links between strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and company strategy. May have one or two issues in showing how factors relate to strategy, but overall analysis is solid. Presentation does a poor job of identifying company strategy based on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strategy doesn’t take into account key factors or show how to use strengths to moderate weaknesses.
Strategy Formulation Presentation contains three to four alternative strategies that are feasible and take advantage of opportunities and avoid threats. Strategies are clearly linked to SWOT analysis. An analysis of the alternatives tells why one of them is the best. Presentation contains at least three strategies that are linked to SWOT analysis. Information is given about why one of the strategies is better than other strategies, but logic, while reasonable, may not be entirely laid out. Presentation contains fewer than three alternative strategies. Strategies are not clearly linked to SWOT analysis, or are incorrect based on SWOT analysis (for example, marketing a product that is a competitive advantage for another company.)
Strategic Alternative Implementation Presentation explicitly outlines and explains what steps must be taken to implement chosen strategy, including structural changes, leadership changes, new controls, or incentives. Recommendations flow from SWOT analysis. Presentation covers key steps needed to implement chosen strategy, but may not cover all steps. Recommendation generally connected to SWOT – may not provide all specifics. Presentation does not include key implementation steps needed to put strategy into practice, and/or little or no rationale is given for suggested implementation practices.
Process Issues Presentation is logically consistent. Alternatives and recommendation flow from SWOT analysis. Presentation is thorough and clear, containing a comprehensive analysis and clean links between environmental factors and recommendations. Presentation contains generally clear and logical analyses. It is complete, although more information is needed to make it through. Recommendations are generally feasible, but more information would help show how they flow from SWOT. Presentation is not logically consistent. Little information is given that helps viewer know why recommendations are given, or recommendations don’t flow from other information. Presentation does not have clarity of purpose.
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Activities & Rubric for Group Cases
Analyze the case in sections, as depicted in the diagrams below:
• Strategic Profile and Case Study Purpose: Identify the case’s essential facts and demonstrate how they lead to a specific emphasis for your case study. List the situation’s essential elements: persons, places, actions, and settings, and discuss the level of uncertainty connected with the case’s information.
• External Situation Analysis: Examine all seven general environmental categories (technological, demographic, economic, political/legal, sociocultural, global, and physical environment trends) for opportunities and risks that may affect the company. Analyze the company’s industry using Porter’s Five Forces model. Identify key competitors and analyze their strategies, core competencies, and competitive response.
• Situation Analysis – Internal: Review factors
