A board of directors (BOD) is a group of individuals who are elected to represent shareholders in an organization. They mandate policies, provide oversight and make decisions on major company issues.

Group Project : Canadian Company Strategic Analysis Report Each group is required to find a Canadian business and develop a company strategic analysis report based on the concepts and theories discussed in class. Your group’s analysis should provide an overview and background information on the organization and articulate, with reference to your readings and proof derived from research, a critical analysis of the organization’s strategy. A typical Company Strategi c Analysis Report should include (but not be restricted to) the following sections: 1. Cover page: title, class, group members 2. Executive Summary: provides a one to two -page summary of the entire report including your findings/recommendations 3. Introduction: introduce the reader to what you will be doing in the report 4. Organization (Canadian company): relevant background and overview of the company that you have chosen 5. Product, Service or Offering: provide a description of the business model 6. Competitive Environ ment : provide an overview and analysis of the competitive environment within which local company operates - include your perspectives on any trends which might impact the organization - what other issues might be significant – trends, megatrends, political situation – see text for key dimensions that need to be covered off - are you seeing any other issues and challenges from outside of the industry sector that might be important? 7. Competitive Analysis: who are the main competitors? Identify any similarities and/or differences between the competitors and any points of differentiation – provide a competitive analysis (choose a minimum of two competitors for a critical analysis) 8. Organizational Assessment: develop or adopt a framework for assessing your organiza tion – what is your group’s overall assessment of this strategy? Is it effective? Not effective? emerging? What are the local company’s short -term prospects versus long -term prospects given its current strategy and why? 9. Recommendations: given the assessmen t above, do you have any recommendations to make regarding the local company’s current strategy? Why? 10. Conclusion: in this section, provide a summary of all the sections above and state your overall conclusions. 11. Appendices: include only additional informati on that is required to support your analysis directly otherwise delete this section 12. References: this report should demonstrate that you have read the material in class as well as researched the industry and the topic. List only those references that you ha ve referred to and cited in your report. Hint : You will need any of the five force analysis, (ia)3, PESTEL, ethical analysis, etc. tools to discuss, analyze and evaluate the company’s macro environment , micro environment and non -market environment. Use the Report Submission guidelines presented above. Your document should be professionally written and laid out as per the expectations set out in class and below. Criteria for getting a GOOD mark: 1. Well written and considered – demonstrates critical thinking and analysis 2. Uses strong and rigorous references - integrates these well into the document 3. Minimal use of bullet points – need to frame out your analysis and answers to the question using a coherent and logical argument an d/or narrative 4. Use of figures and tables where appropriate – all figures and tables should be labelled and should relate to the discussion 5. Citations – cites key sources when used in the analysis 6. Proper document formatting – as per instructions Criteria for getting a POOR mark: 1. Poorly written work – work that is poorly written or which has used a translation program 2. Cutting, pasting and citing – if your work is predominantly characterized by non -original thought and is too descriptive, your paper will re ceive a failing grade 3. Plagiarism – if you plagiarize anyone’s work or fail to cite your sources, you will be awarded a 0 grade for the paper 4. Poor document formatting – if your document is not formatted properly, you will receive a poor grade 5. Over -reliance on poor sources – using poor references or an over -reliance on one reference will result in a poor grade 6. Uses figures and tables that are not appropriate – figures and tables used as filler and do not relate to the analysis Submission Guidel ines All reports must be submitted by the deadline announced in class or published in the syllabus. Style Guidelines  Page count o No page limit o Required: Executive Summary, Appendices and References  Citations – APA citation style Proper Document submissi on All reports should be proof read and spell checked and cover, headers and footers should be laid out as follows:  Cover Page – Assignment title, course name, group # , date  Header – course name and title of the work  Footer – Group # , date, and page number  Headings – use automated heading styles Digital File submission All digital files must be submitted on turnitin and labelled as per examples that follow:  Group #, BUSI 601 , Company Strategic Analysis.doc Marking Rubric Mark % Breadth of Knowledge Critical Analysis Coherent Argument Contextual Relevance Language Proficiency Documentation 90 - 100 Displays special initiative, includes surprising or overwhelming information. Exhibits special, distinctive, or powerful insight into the material and its significance. Exhibits such characteristics as:

independence, cogency, nuance, subtlety, sophistication, powerful grasp of methodology. Keeps an unusually clear and confident focus and shows a fine grasp of issues and of their nuances. Exhibits excellence and sophistication across the constituent elements of language proficiency. Displays exceptionally full and appropriate documentation. 70 - 89 Displays original thinking and advanced knowledge of material. Displays strong understanding of the material and insight into its significance. Argues in advanced and coherent way with advanced development and understanding of material. Displays an advanced understanding of relevance of a range of material to the argument. Exhibits a n advanced level of competence across the constituent elements of language proficiency. Displays an advanced grasp of documentation. 60-69 Provides substantial information, displays a solid knowledge of mainstream material. Has a clear understanding of the material and its significance. Argues in an assured and orderly way, with clear development. Shows some understanding of methodology. Displays a secure understanding of relevance of the material to the chosen method of argument. Exhibits a high level of competence across the constituent elements but may contain a significant number of errors, while not seriously impairing communication. Displays a thorough grasp of appropriate principles of documentation. 50-59 Provides a reasonable quantity of accurate information. Has a competent (if dependent or incomplete) understanding of the material and its significance. Presents the general outline of an appropriate argument. Displays a sound general understanding of relevance though sometimes wavering an d unreflective. Demonstrates a general competence across the constituent elements but may contain wide range errors that have a significant impact on communication. Displays a general grasp of appropriate principles of documentation. 40-49 Provides a limited quantity of information with some accuracy. Has some limited understanding of the material and its significance. Presents some elements of an appropriate argument. Displays some limited understanding of relevance. Achieves limited communication due to numerous and varied errors. Displays limited care and competence in documentation. 0-39 Is incompetent in quantity or accuracy. Has no real understanding of what the material means. Presents practically no appropriate argument. Displays an inadequate understanding of relevance. Unable to achieve communication due to wide ranging errors. Displays an inadequate grasp of appropriate principles of documentation.