Provide a high-level analysis of the company s business strategy and operating performance

Capstone Strategic Audit

In this assignment students integrate all the pieces of work they have drafted and formally turn it into the capstone strategic audit.

In previous assignments, you performed multiple, specified analyses of your company (or any company of your choosing). Those individual analyses provide the needed research to successfully complete the following LASA:

Directions:
Using the tools and framework learned in class and throughout the program, prepare a 15-page strategy audit of your company with a companion presentation. The strategy audit is a comprehensive analysis of the company s business strategy and operating performance, and culminates in a series of recommendations for improving your company s performance based on the findings and conclusions of your analysis.

A strategy audit involves assessing the actual direction of a business and comparing that course to the direction required to succeed in a changing environment. A company’s actual direction is the sum of what it does and does not do, how well the organization is internally aligned to support the strategy, and how viable the strategy is when compared to the external market, competitors, and financial realities. These two categories, the internal assessment and the external or environmental assessment, make up the major elements of a strategy audit.

In your strategy audit:

• Provide a high-level analysis of the company s business strategy and operating performance. Be sure to complete the following:
  • Analysis of the company value proposition, market position, and competitive advantage
  • External environmental scan/five forces analysis
  • Internal environmental scan/organizational assessment
  • SWOT Analysis
  • Balanced scorecard/strategy scorecard

• Recommend specific tactics for improving your company s strategic alignment and operating performance.
  • Recommendations can include but are not limited to tactics in marketing, branding, alliances, mergers/acquisitions, integration, product development, diversification or divestiture and globalization (if you recommend your company go global, you must include a supply chain analysis and an analysis of your firm s global capabilities).
  • Explain how the recommendations will help the company achieve its strategy and vision.

You are to write this report as though you are a consultant to your company, and are addressing the executive officers of this company. You will collect and analyze a large amount of data in producing your report, but your final product will be condensed and focus on presenting your analysis findings and conclusions.

Your report should consist of the following sections in the given order.

• Executive Summary (1 page): A concise and insightful summary of the significant findings of your analysis and the recommendations you have for your executive team.
• Strategic Issues and Recommendations (5 pages): Identify 5 7 most important strategic issues facing your business unit. Strategic issues arise from a mismatch between internal capabilities and external trends such that important opportunities are not being pursued or significant external threats are not being addressed under the current strategy.