Business Policy and Strategy milestone 3

Milestone Activity

This Milestone encompasses Course Learning Outcomes (CLO) 8, 9, and 10. 

Part 1: IE Analysis

This milestone assessment is used as an alternative to SWOT analysis. It can be informed by the internal and external analyses from previous lessons, such as VRIO, PESTEL, and Porter's Five Forces. It demonstrates CLO 8 and is used to create a draft section that can be used for the Final Assessment Project.

What do I want you to do? 

Internal Factor Analysis

1. Create a table to analyze your selected company. In the first column, list 10 key performance indicators or critical success factors that are important in your company's industry today.

2. In the second column, determine a weight of each of the factors in the first column in terms of how significant they are for success in the company's industry, totaling 100%.

3. In the third column, determine how well your company is achieving these factors by rating it 1-4, where one means major weakness; two means minor weakness; three means minor strength; and four means major strength.

4. Create a fourth column multiplying the weight and the rating.

5. Total the sum of the fourth column in a new row below it.

External Factor Analysis

1. Create another table. In the first column, list 10 opportunities and threats found in your company's industry today. (Look for influences in your PESTEL and Porter's Analyses.)

2. In the second column, determine a weight of each of the factors in the first column in terms of how significant they are for success in the company's industry, totaling 100%.

3. In the third column, determine how well your company has responded to these factors in recent years by rating it 1-4, where one means poor response; two means a slightly below average response; three means a slightly above average response; and four means superior response.

4. Create a fourth column multiplying the weight and the rating.

5. Total the sum of the fourth column in a new row below it.

IE Matrix

1. Create a grid with internal factor strength on the x-axis and external factor adaptability on the y-axis. Include markings on the axes from 0-4.

2. Add horizontal and vertical lines to the respective axes to create a 3x3 grid at the 1.33 and 2.66 marks.

3. Plot the fourth column total from the internal factor analysis on the x-axis.

4. Plot the fourth column total from the external factor analysis on the y-axis.

5. Draw the intersection of these two points, and label the intersecting point as the current position of our company.

6. Identify the recommended strategy for your company via its position in the 3x3 matrix as follows:

Why do I want you to do it? 

This tool provides an alternative to SWOT. It is also used to draft a component of the Final Assessment Project

How do I want you to do it? 

1. What format(s) should the assessment be in?

   1. Include a table for the internal factor analysis, a second table for the external factor analysis, and a grid for the IE matrix.

2. What tools or resources might be needed/useful?

   1. Your previous PESTEL, Porter's Five Forces, and SWOT analyses.

   2. Here is a link with a similar methodology, with links to internal and external methods within it. Maxi-Pedia. (2023). Internal-external (IE) matrix. http://www.maxi-pedia.com/internal+external+ie+matrix

   3. Citations for resources listed in links within the instructions:

      • Twin, A. (2022, August 17). Key performance indicator (KPI): Meaning, types, examples. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/k/kpi.asp

      • Piyu. (2019, September 18). Difference between CSF and KPI. Difference Between.com. https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-csf-and-kpi/

What to include in your submission

Your assignment submission should include:

1. Internal Analysis

2. External Analysis

3. IE Matrix

Part 2: Grand Strategy Analysis

This milestone activity demonstrates CLO9 and is used to create a draft component within the Final Assessment Project. It can be used to support a SWOT analysis.

What do I want you to do? 

In this analysis, you must make a judgment of the company's competitive position and the growth rate within its market.

1. Reflect on the internal factors used in the IE Analysis, VRIO, relation to other company's in the Porter's Five Forces Analysis to consider whether your company is in a strong competitive position. Rate your company's competitiveness on a scale of -5 (lowest) to +5 (highest).

2. Reflect on the external market of your company's industry to determine whether it is growing quickly or growing slowly. For instance, are industry revenues and profits growing as a whole; are many new entrants joining; are companies expanding to new locations regularly? Rate your company's industry's growth on a scale of -5 (lowest) to +5 (highest).

3. Recommend a strategy according to the following quadrants, centered at the origin (0,0):

Why do I want you to do it? 

This simple tool can be used to make quick strategic recommendations. Hopefully, you can see that this analysis' simplicity is convenient but a significant weakness. Taking into account only a few factors is very little basis for recommending a strategy, particularly to a multi-million-dollar company or one where lives are on the line. It is intended that this practice can help to develop your critical lens surrounding business tools.

How do I want you to do it? 

1. What format(s) should the assessment be in?

   1. Use a 2x2 matrix to plot your judgments and the company's resulting position.

2. What tools or resources might be needed/useful?

   1. Lucidity. (2023). Introduction to the grand strategy matrix. https://getlucidity.com/strategy-resources/introduction-to-the-grand-strategy-matrix/

   2. Smyth, D. (2021, May 25). How to develop a grand strategy matrix. Houston Small Business Chronicle. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/develop-grand-strategy-matrix-37514.html

What to include in your submission

Your assignment submission should include:

1. Grand Strategy Matrix Plot

Part 3: Structure & Strategy Reflection

This milestone activity demonstrates CLO 10 and is a component of the Final Assessment Project. It is a reflection on organizational structure and its relationship to strategy.

What do I want you to do? 

Review the Basic Building Blocks of Organizational Structure (Kennedy et al., 2020) and explain which of them is the greatest strength of your selected company and which is the weakest factor as a miniature case study. For the weakest factor, explain a significant change that could help to better implement strategies. Consider these options:

• Division of Labor: Could instituting a division of labor help to reduce employees’ workload and improve their focus? Alternatively, could removing an existing division of labor help to broaden “workplace silos” and streamline productivity?

• Organizational Chart: Could switching from a more centralized or hierarchical structure to a decentralized or network structure improve strategic performance? Consider whether your company ought to reorganize and four structure types: functional, divisional, matrix, boundaryless.

• Informal Linkages: How could a mentorship program improve employee performance and climbing the proverbial managerial ladder at your company? (Consider also impacts on diversity.)

• Vertical Linkages: If you had to introduce a new supervisor to one specific facet of the company, where would that be, and how would it improve strategic performance?

• Horizontal Linkages: If you had to introduce a new committee or task force for one specific facet or project of the company, what would that be, and how would it improve strategic performance?

• Unity of Command: Should your company adopt a design demonstrating unity of command in which each person reports to only one direct supervisor, or can you think of specific facets of your company that ought to have multiple perspectives of oversight? Why?

To express what is going wrong with your company that is motivating the structural change you are suggesting, consider these identifiers:

Symptoms of an Ineffective Organizational Structure (David, 2010)

• Too many levels of management

• Too many meetings attended by too many people

• Too much attention being directed toward solving interdepartmental conflicts

• Too large a span of control

• Too many unachieved objectives

• Declining corporate or business performance

• Losing ground to rival firms

• Revenue and/or earnings divided by number of employees and/or number of managers is low compared to rival firms

David, F. R. (2010). Strategic management: Concepts and cases (13th ed.). FT Prentice Hall.

For your case, support your discussion with at least one credible news source story related to the issue and at least one scholarly article.

Why do I want you to do it? 

Strategic managers do not always get the opportunity to make structural changes to an organization, but when these cases arise, they are so momentous due to the nature of significance that structure brings to decisionmaking, behavior, and culture.

How do I want you to do it? 

1. What format(s) should the assessment be in? A short, prose essay no more than three pages. Properly cite references in APA 7 format.

2. What tools or resources might be needed/useful? David and Kennedy et al. textbooks

What to include in your submission

Your assignment submission should include:

1. Reflection essay