Starting an External Environmental Analysis

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BMGT 495 – Project 1:  Starting an External Environmental Analysis (Week 2)

NOTE:  All  submitted work is to be your original work (only your work). You may  not use any work from another student, the Internet or an online  clearinghouse.  You are expected to understand the Academic Integrity  Policy, and know that it is your responsibility to learn about  instructor and general academic expectations with regard to proper  citation of sources as specified in the APA Publication Manual, 7th Ed.  (You are held accountable for in-text citations and an associated  reference list only).

Project 1 is due Tuesday by 11:59 p.m. eastern time of week 2 unless otherwise changed by the instructor.

Purpose: 

This  project is the first of four projects.  This project provides the first  steps in completing an external environmental analysis of your focal  company’s strategic management plan.   You will use tools and apply  concepts learned in this and previous business courses to demonstrate an  understanding of how organizations develop and manage strategies to  establish, safeguard and sustain their competitive positions in the 21st century’s (rapidly evolving/shifting/changing), uncertain hyper-competitive business environment.

Completing  a company overview and assessing the general environment is a key  aspect of performing an external environment analysis.  This project  provides you with the opportunity to evaluate the competitive position  of one of the organizations listed below and integrate that information  in the beginnings of an external environmental analysis.

The  company you will be analyzing operates within the global market.  You  will assess the company in terms of the global industry.  Industries  differ widely in their economic characteristics, competitive situation  and future profit potential.

In  this project, you are presenting a report document.  The expectation is  that the report provides the level of details to help the audience  grasp the main topics and to understand the General Environment.

Analysis  is the operative word.  In analyzing the external environment, you are  expected to thoroughly research and take that research and break it into  small parts to gain a better understanding of what is happening in the  external environment of the business.  In researching an industry, it is  important to understand that every company within an industry is  different so gathering information on one company does not mean that the  collected information is relevant to other companies within that  industry.  When researching, parsing the material is critical to an  accurate analysis.  Avoid presenting just any information as that may  lead to using irrelevant information.

You  will then write the report in your own words to share the external  analysis.  You are expected to present information and support the ideas  and reasoning using the course material and your research.  You will  not lift any information from source documents without properly citing  and referencing.  For the technical analysis aspect of the project, you  are required to create the technique on your own and may not use from  any source material that you happen to find.  No work from a  clearinghouse or similar website may be used or cited as a credible  source.

Outcomes Met With This Project:

• utilize a set of useful analytical skills, tools, and techniques for analyzing a company strategically;
• integrate  ideas, concepts, and theories from previously taken functional courses  including accounting, finance, market, business and human resource  management;

Instructions:

In  completing the report, you will use the chapters in the eBook and other  course material. Moreover, you will perform research on the company and  its industry before responding, in narrative form, to the information  provided in the steps (see below).

Step 1:  Specific Company for All Four Projects