Coverage should include:
Executive Overview – gives general overview of case including key issues or problems
and recommendations.
Analysis – briefly describes the overarching framework for the case and its background.
No additional information should be used other than that provided in the case text.
Problem Statement – more focus on statement of problem or central issue within case.
More than one issue may be relevant so limit write-up to the three most interesting or
troublesome issues. Name and explain these explicitly.
Options – give several options for the focal organization concerning these problems or
issues.
Recommendation – name one explicit action that will help or fix that which is named in
the problem statement.
Implementation and Control – briefly explain how the recommendation may be carried out
and how it can be controlled, altered or adjusted if necessary.
Analytical Tools
There are a number of analytical tools to help you organize, analyze, and display your
information in a convenient and easy to interpret form. Some of these techniques allow you to
quantify the decisions by making judgments about the situation. You should select those tools
which best fit the particular case situation. Following are some of the tools that are available:
1) Performance Analysis – You should make comparisons of key financial and market data
at both the corporate and business unit level with major competitors and/or industry
averages. Compare key expenses to sales, such as percent R&D of sales, percent sales and
administrative expense of sales, percent of accounts receivable of sales, and sales per
employee or sales per store.
2) BCG Portfolio Mapping / Product Mission Matrix – Developing a matrix that compares
variables between companies, such as product lines or financial results, is an easy way to
illustrate differences. A simple two-by-two matrix sometimes illustrates the relationships
between variables. This can also be expanded into a larger matrix, sometimes referred to as
portfolio mapping, such as those developed by the Boston Consulting Group. You can be
creative with the mapping technique and use it for a variety of comparisons, such as a
business compared with competitors, a SBU or product line compared with others within the
same company, or SBU’s compared to industry. You can modify the BCG techniques to fit
your particular needs. Be sure to carefully label and identify the components used in
mapping.
3) Key Success Factors / Strength Assessment – Identifying key success factors for the
company and its competitors is another useful analytical tool. By utilizing a rating and
weighing technique, you can quantify qualitative evaluations. The first step is to identify the
key success factors, and then apply a weighing to each of those that totals one hundred
percent. The weighing represents the importance of each factor relative to the others. Next,
using a scale of one to five, with five being very strong and one being very weak, rate the
company on each of the success factors. Also rate its key competitors. This shows rather
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quickly the comparison on each factor, and when multiplied by the weighing and added
together, can provide one number that represents the total key success factor comparison with
each major competitor. This technique can also be used as a starting point in developing a
map such as strategic groups map.
4) SWOT Analysis – A SWOT analysis is designed to identify the strengths and
weaknesses of the company (internal factors) and the opportunities and threats for the
company (external factors). A SWOT analysis is often a good starting point, but you need to
draw conclusions as a result of the analysis. For example, is the company in a strong
competitive position? What can it do to turn weaknesses into strengths and threats into
opportunities? Can it continue to pursue its current strategy in a profitable manner, or will the
strategy need revision?
5) Competitive Strategy Models (Porter) – A useful point to begin the analysis of strategy
is to use Porter’s Competitive Strategy Model. Porter believes that to be successful, a company
must select one of three generic models of competitive strategy. These are Low Cost Producer,
Differentiation, and Focus or Niche. This can be followed by developing Porter’s Five Forces
Model. The Five Forces Model displays the major sources of competition. These five forces of
competition include direct competitors, substitute products, customers, suppliers, and new
entrants into the marketplace. Successful use of the Porter Model Analysis includes
identifying the sources of competition, the strength and likelihood of that competition
existing, and strategic recommendations for the action a company should take to develop
barriers to the various forms of competition.
6) Best Case/Worst Case/Expected Case Scenarios – In developing business plans it is
useful to develop future financial scenarios based on a best case/worst case/expected case
basis.
7) Break-Even Analysis – In preparing a business plan or evaluating a project, it is helpful
to develop a break-even analysis, in essence that point where cost equals sales with no profit
or no loss. Two basic ways of calculating break-even point are the amount of sales that would
be necessary to break even or the number of units that must be sold to break even. A very
important aspect of this calculation is the classification of cost between fixed and variable as it
applies to the period of time under consideration. For example, if you are using a two-year
planning horizon and you have a two-year lease on your property, that would be considered
fixed for this purpose. If you have a store that is open a set number of hours per day, the
minimum is one employee available during the hours the store is open. This could be
considered fixed, while the addition of other employees could be considered variable.
8) Common-Sized Financial Statements – The comparison of balance sheet and income
statements over time and across companies will be facilitated by using common-sized
statements. Convert every category from dollar terms to percentages. For the income
statement divide each item by total sales. For the balance sheet divide each balance sheet item
by total assets.
9) Valuation of a Business – There are a number of factors that go into determining the
value and appropriate price for a business. The degree to which the buyer wants to buy and
the seller wants to sell, the various terms and conditions associated with the sale, and the
actual negotiation capabilities are all factors in arriving at the final price. However, there are
two methods that help quantify the decision and provide a basis for negotiation.
(a) The price earnings ratio is the amount investors are willing to pay per dollar of reported
profit. It is determined by dividing the selling price per share by the earnings per share and
comparing the P/E ratio with comparable firms or the industry average. For example, if the
Last Completed Projects
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