JWI 540: Strategy Strategy Development Project Guidelines

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JWI 540 – Strategy Development Project Guidelines (1186) Page 1 of 1

Strategy Development Project

Our focus in this course is not limited to an academic study of how others have developed winning strategies. It is on helping you acquire the knowledge, skills and tools needed to develop your own winning strategies – the kind of moves that can help your organization establish a wide moat and fend off competition for years to come. To help achieve this, you will have an opportunity to complete a Strategy Development Project. The project is organized around Jack’s 5-Slide Strategy Model and is submitted in three separate assignments as outlined below and on the assignment detail pages that follow.

Selecting the Company for your Project

In order to support your learning experience and make this course as meaningful as possible to your career, you are free to select any organization you like as the focus for your project. However, there is some data required and thus we strongly recommend that you adhere to the following guidelines to help you succeed in the project:

• Select a publicly traded company. You will have the benefit of access to annual financial reports andshareholder letters. Since most publically traded companies have competitors that are also public, youwill have access to that data as well. Further, you will be able to find a number of 3rd – party articles andanalyses from banks, news media and investment advisors. Ideally, the company you work for ispublicly traded and thus eligible for your project. If not, consider analyzing a publicly traded competitor,a key customer, a supplier, a company you might like to work for, or a company you’d like to betterunderstand.

• If your company has diverse business units, select a specific product category/segment/business unit.Large businesses (like General Motors, GE or Procter & Gamble) have dozens of different products andbusinesses. Attempting to develop a winning move for a large and complex entity will likely result in ananalysis and recommendation that is superficial. After all, what specific strategic choice would youmake at GE that would be game-winning for each of Aviation, Healthcare, Power, Renewable Energy,etc.? Analyzing a company like Apple is equally challenging as the Playing Field and competitors inMusic (Spotify, Pandora, etc.) are very different from iPhone (Samsung, Google, etc). Instead, focus onone product line or business that is of particular interest to you and you will have a much moremanageable and rewarding experience.

• NOTE: While the project requirements do not prohibit you from selecting a non-public organization, youare strongly encouraged to avoid this due to difficulties in obtaining the data needed to complete theassignments. If you do select a private organization for your project, you are responsible for ensuringthat you can obtain all data necessary.