C714-BUSINESS STRATEGY-Task Two Tip Sheet

C714-BUSINESS STRATEGY-Task Two Tip Sheet

Competency 3063.1.1: Strategic Planning – The graduate analyzes the key components of strategic planning within industry as well as internal and external environments.
Competency 3063.1.2: Strategy Formulation – The graduate applies strategic thinking to formulate a strategic plan.

Scenario:
EZ-Pleeze management has tasked you with completing a SWOT analysis to identify internal and external factors that need to be considered in developing a competitive strategy for the company. The SWOT analysis will be utilized to support and justify the overall strategic recommendations that you will later include in a presentation for the company’s senior executives.

You will complete this task in two parts: The first part is a single page SWOT analysis template for EZ-Pleeze, created using the “SWOT Analysis Template,” (found by accessing TaskStream or Evaluation Management Application (EMA is for students who activated the course on or after 8/28/18) through the Assessments tab and selecting Task 2, then scrolling down past the Task directions). The second part of this task is a 5-8 page essay that addresses the importance, function, content, and final relevance of a SWOT analysis, along with a description of each element in your single page SWOT template.

Requirements:

Your submission must be your original work. We suggest no more than a combined total of 30% of the submission and no more than a 10% match to any one individual source can be directly quoted or closely paraphrased from sources, even if cited correctly.  Your percentage may be a bit higher. It is essential that you have a References page on which you cite the Case Study and the course textbook.  Use the Turnitin Originality Report available in Taskstream or the internal score report with Evaluation Management Application (for students who activated the course on or after 8/28/18) as a guide for this measure of originality.

The rubric provides detailed criteria for evaluating your submission. It is expected that you use the rubric to direct the creation of your submission, and to compare your work to the rubric before you submit to ensure you have covered all the elements. A prompt may be evaluated by more than one rubric aspect. The rubric aspect titles may contain hyperlinks to relevant portions of the course.
A.  In this section, you specifically complete and submit the SWOT analysis template for the EZ-Pleeze company (referencing the “EZ-Pleeze Case Study”). You do this by creating the “SWOT Analysis Template” (found by accessing TaskStream or the Evaluation Management Application (for students who activated the course on or after 8/28/18) through the Assessments tab and selecting Task 2, then scrolling down past the Task directions).
Important NOTE: Remember that strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization and threats and opportunities are found in the external environment.
Reminder: The SWOT template is available as a download in TaskStream found by accessing TaskStream or EMA through the Assessments tab and selecting Task 2 through the Assessments tab and selecting Task 2, then scrolling down past the Task directions
Note: The completed SWOT analysis may be uploaded as its own attachment, separate from the essay, or may be added to your essay as part of a single document.
B.   Section B of Task Two is an essay (suggested length of 5–8 pages double spaced) that contains a few (2-3 minimum) sentences (demonstrating mastery over the topic) for each element.  Expand upon and interpret the data from the completed SWOT analysis by doing the following:
1.  In the opening paragraph, discuss the importance of a SWOT analysis in the strategic planning process. Describe how a SWOT is conducted and explain the benefits of conducting a SWOT.  Review Chapter 2 & 3.  The SWOT analysis helps examine the internal and external environment.
2.  Discuss internal strengths for EZ-Pleeze.
3.  Discuss internal weaknesses for EZ-Pleeze.
4.  Discuss external opportunities for EZ-Pleeze.
5.  Discuss external threats for EZ-Pleeze.
6.  Describe three recommendations for strategic action at EZ-Pleeze (based on the completed SWOT analysis) and justify your recommendations.  Justifying your recommendations simply means explaining why you are making the recommendation or describing the benefit that comes to the company from the recommendation.
Course Instructor note: There are three potential ways that students can create strategic recommendations from the SWOT analysis.  First, match the strengths the firm has to the potential opportunities in the environment that the firm may be well-matched to pursue.  Apply significant resources to the pursuit of those opportunities.  Second, match the threats in the environment to the firm’s weaknesses and apply resources designed to mitigate those weaknesses in order to avoid the impact of those threats.  Third, sometimes the opportunities in the environment are so significant that the firm should pursue those even if they are not well-matched to the firm’s current strengths.  One of more of these techniques is appropriate for developing recommendations for strategic action based on the SWOT analysis.
C.  Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
Note: For definitions of terms commonly used in the rubric, see the Rubric Terms web link included in the Evaluation Procedures section.

Note: When using sources to support ideas and elements in an assessment, the submission MUST include APA formatted in-text citations with a corresponding reference list for any direct quotes or paraphrasing. It is not necessary to list sources that were consulted if they have not been quoted or paraphrased in the text of the assessment. For tips on using APA style, please refer to the APA Handout web link included in the APA Guidelines section.