MBA5101 Full Course (September 2018)

MBA 5101 Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit I Assessment

Question 1

What are the responsibilities of top management and leaders in relation to corporate governance and strategic planning? What are the benefits of strategic management?

Your response must be at least 200 words in length.

Question 2

What are the roles and responsibilities of the board of directors? Please provide an example of a board of directors that did or did not meet its responsibilities to the company.

Your response must be at least 200 words in length.

Question 3

Explain the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and its impact on corporate governance. How has it changed the way leaders do business in the United States? Conclude with a discussion of the ways the strategic audit helps corporate governance.

Your response must be at least 300 words in length.

 

MBA 5101 Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit II Mini Project

SWOT Analysis

After reading the unit lesson, research a company of your choosing to create a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis. Please note the importance of picking a company with enough information and sources to support your analysis. Selecting a publicly held company is recommended. Your chosen company will be used throughout the assignments in this course. These assignments allow for a truly comprehensive business analysis, similar to what you would conduct when working for a major company.

Your analysis should identify the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Use Microsoft Word and create four sections for your paper using the SWOT categories as your headings. Additional headers, such as an introduction, company background, and conclusion, are acceptable. Add a title page and references page. You may also use the provided template to complete the assignment. Click here for a copy of the template.

Each SWOT category should have approximately 200-300 words describing the issues and the company’s strategic philosophy that fall within that area. The total length should be at least three pages. The opportunities and threats should each have at least ten items identified.

Remember as you develop a SWOT that strengths and weaknesses are internal and controllable factors that affect only the individual firm (e.g., finances, marketing, management and leadership, research and development, corporate culture, human resources). Opportunities and threats, on the other hand, are external and uncontrollable factors that affect all industry firms (e.g., politics, economics, societal and cultural trends, technology, laws and regulations, and the natural environment, such as climate).

Format your SWOT Analysis using APA Style. Use your own words, and include citations and references as needed to avoid plagiarism. The title and reference page do not count towards the minimum page requirement of three pages.

 

MBA 5101 Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit III Project Topic

In Unit VII, you will submit a case study assignment based on the company you chose for the SWOT analysis in Unit II. Please be sure to review the Unit VII requirements and work on this case study throughout the term rather than waiting until Unit VII to commence.

In this unit, you will complete a project topic in which you present your company and give a brief introduction to the company. Present some basic information about the size of the company, its history, and how it is organized. In addition, present some information about the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of the company. Does the company follow Friedman’s or Carroll’s view of social responsibility?

Your project topic should be at least one page in length, double-spaced, and in 12 pt. Times New Roman font. To complete this assignment, a minimum of two reputable sources must be used, cited, and referenced. Use APA style guidelines.

 

MBA 5101 Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit IV Mini Project

Instructions

EFAS Table

Using the information gathered from your SWOT analysis conducted in Unit II, create an external factor analysis (EFAS) table for the company you researched. Use Microsoft Word, or a similar program, to create your table. It should have five columns. The first column heading should be titled External Factors, the second column should be titled Weight, the third column should be titled Rating, the fourth column should be titled Weighted Score, and the fifth column should be titled Comments. You may also use the provided template by clicking here.

Click here to see an example EFAS table.

In the External Factors column, list at least six opportunities you saw in the company you researched. Underneath the opportunities, list at least six threats you saw in the company you researched.

In the Weight column, assign an importance factor to each of these issues. It is important to note that whenever working with weighted averages, the weight column should always total 1.0, or 100%, regardless of how many factors are included in the EFAS analysis. It is up to the analyst to decide how much weight each individual external factor is assigned based on the probable impact on a particular company’s current strategic position. The higher the weight, the more important the factor to the current and future success of the company. An important factor may have a weight of 0.5 (50%), while a less important factor may have a weight of .05 (5%). When all is finished, however, all factor weights should total 1.0, or 100%. You may not be privy to the exact information for this company, so in some cases you will need to use your best judgment. (You will justify your weighting in column five.)

In the Rating column, assign a rating factor from 5.0-1.0 (5.0 is outstanding; 1.0 is poor). These ratings are based on the company’s response to that particular factor. It is your judgment call on how the company is currently dealing with each specific factor. Once again, you may need to make an estimate in this area if you are not privy to all of the information. (You will justify your weighting in column five.)

In the Weighted Score column, multiply the weight from column 2 by the rating in column 3 to get the factor’s weighted score.

In the Comments column, explain why a particular factor was selected and how its weight and rating were estimated.

At the bottom of column 4, add the weighted scores for the external factors. Is the company doing better or worse than others in the same industry? Complete this answer underneath your table.

Format your assignment using APA Style. Use your own words, and include citations and references as needed to avoid plagiarism.

 

 

 

 

MBA 5101 Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit V Essay

Instructions

For this essay, you will conduct research on corporate strategies and the affect they have on the decision process. Use the same company you chose in Unit II. As you explore the decision process, consider how corporate strategies influence these decisions. In your essay, address the following questions:

What is a functional strategy?

What are stability strategies in business? What are the pros and cons of these strategies?

What are competitive and cooperative strategies?

What are the tradeoffs (pros and cons) between an internal and an external growth strategy? Which approach is best as an international strategy? Why? What about retrenchment?

Your essay should be two to three pages in length, double-spaced, and in 12 pt. Times New Roman font. The title and reference pages do not count towards the minimum page length. To complete this assignment, a minimum of two reputable sources must be used, cited, and referenced. At least one reference must come from the Online Library. Use APA style guidelines.

 

MBA 5101 Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit VI Essay

Instructions

For this essay, use the same company you previously used, and analyze how the company has implemented a corporate strategy or a future policy rollout. Consider strategy development, and the implementation phase. In your essay, address the following questions.

What are the stages of a corporation’s life cycle? How can a corporation’s life cycle be extended? What stage is your company in?

What is strategy implementation? What questions must strategy makers consider to begin the implementation process?

It is important to assess the strategy-culture compatibility when implementing a new strategy. Do you think that culture follows strategy, or does strategy follow culture? In your response, use your company to illustrate your points. Justify your answer.

What is Six Sigma? Why would a company want to implement it?

Your essay should be two to three pages in length, double-spaced, and in 12 pt. Times New Roman font. The title and reference pages do not count towards the minimum page length. To complete this assignment, a minimum of two reputable sources must be used, cited, and referenced. At least one reference must come from the Online Library. Use APA style guidelines.

 

 

MBA 5101 Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit VII Case Study

Instructions

In this unit, you will complete the case study of the company that you chose in Unit II and have been researching throughout the course. Respond to the four writing prompts below. Your responses must include information from academic and scholarly research, including at least two resources from the Online Library and at least two other online sources.

Create a case study summary of the company you have chosen, including a general overview of the company, its external environment, and a list of its current strategies and objectives.

If the company continues with its present strategies and objectives, where will it be in five years?

If you were the CEO of the company, what strategies would you recommend, and why?

Describe the competitive strategies used by the company’s main competitors. Which of these strategies are the most effective? How can your company combat these strategies? Support your answers.

If you paraphrase, quote, or use ideas from any source, you should cite your sources using APA guidelines. Your case study should be at least three pages in length, excluding a cover page and references page. Please contact your instructor if you have any questions, or contact the Success Center should you need more support.

 

MBA 5101 Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit VIII PowerPoint Presentation

Instructions

Review the processes of invention and innovation. Then, select a new product that you have been introduced to in the past 12 months. You are encouraged to research this new product using outside sources. You can use the same company you have been researching, or pick a new one.

You are to create a PowerPoint presentation about future inventions this new product could help to inspire and what innovations could be developed to enhance and improve this product. Analyze how these two areas could impact the company. Your PowerPoint presentation should include the following elements:

Slide 1: Title page

Slide 2: Description of the new product

Slide 3: Description of the importance of R&D to include lead users and market research

Slide 4: Discussion of appropriate structure and culture within the company necessary to support innovative ideas and products

Slide 5: Exploration of future inventions inspired by the product or analysis of future innovations of this product (Was this a successful invention leading to innovation?)

Slide 6: Prediction of product demand in five years

Slide 7: List of sources using APA guidelines

Please ensure that every slide has a title at the top explaining what the slide covers. To complete this assignment, a minimum of two reputable sources must be used, cited, and referenced. Add citations in proper APA format, use applicable pictures or graphics, use a slide template, and avoid wordy slides by focusing on bullet points. Remember, this is an academic presentation.

 

MBA 5101 Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit I Discussion

Part I: Introduce yourself to your classmates with your name, location, current employment, and future goals.

Part II: Do you think that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has been effective in eliminating corporate scandals? Why, or why not? If necessary, include companies as examples.

 

MBA 5101 Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit II Discussion

If you were assigned to a committee performing a SWOT analysis, which section of the analysis do you think would be the toughest to investigate? Why?

 

MBA 5101 Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit III Discussion

When it comes to corporate social responsibility (CSR), do you think companies should lean toward Friedman or Carroll’s ideology? Explain why you think your answer is better for the company and its stakeholders.

 

MBA 5101 Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit IV Discussion

Do you think that companies place enough emphasis on environmental scanning? Why, or why not? In your discussion, give an example of a company that does or does not place enough emphasis on environmental scanning.

 

MBA 5101 Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit V Discussion

In today’s economic environment, which of the five steps in the strategic planning process do you think is the most important? Give an example of an industry where this would be the most important step. Do you think that a different industry might place more emphasis on another step in the strategic planning process? Why?

 

MBA 5101 Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit VI Discussion

Of the three steps in the strategy implementation phase, which do you think is the most important? Why?

 

MBA 5101 Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit V Discussion

In today’s economic environment, which of the five steps in the strategic planning process do you think is the most important? Give an example of an industry where this would be the most important step. Do you think that a different industry might place more emphasis on another step in the strategic planning process? Why?

 

MBA 5101 Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit VI Discussion

Of the three steps in the strategy implementation phase, which do you think is the most important? Why?

 

MBA 5101Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit VII Discussion

If you were an entrepreneur looking to open a new company, what do you think would be the biggest benefit to researching case studies of other companies in the same industry? Why?

 

MBA 5101Strategic Management and Business Policy

Unit VIII Discussion

Discuss how you could apply the concepts learned in this course to your current or future career. Name at least one strategic management model discussed during this term that you would use, and explain why you selected this model. How might you incorporate information from this model to positively impact your career success?