BUS 499 ASSIGNMENT 1 TO 4

BUS 499 ALL ASSIGNMENT 1 TO 4

NOTE: PLEASE USE AS A GUIDE OR REWRITE TO MAKE IT YOURS

COMPANY USED: Chevron

Assignment 1: Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness
Choose one (1) public corporation in an industry with which you are familiar. Research the company on its own Website, the public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR database (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml), in the online databases, and any other sources you can find. The annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these questions.
Write a four to six (4-6) page paper in which you:
1.    Assess how globalization and technology changes have impacted the corporation you researched.
2.    Apply the industrial organization model and the resource-based model to determine how your corporation could earn above-average returns.
3.    Assess how the vision statement and mission statement of the corporation influence its overall success. 
4.    Evaluate how each category of stakeholder impacts the overall success of this corporation. 
5.    Use at least three (3) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic resources.

Assignment 2: External and Internal Environments

In this assignment, you are to use the same corporation you selected and focused on for Assignment 1.
Using the corporation you chose from Assignment 1, examine the industry in which the entity operates. Use any or all of the following resources to conduct research on the company:
•    Company website
•    Public filings from the Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR database (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml)
•    Library online databases
•    Other miscellaneous sources. Note: the company’s annual report will often provide insights that other resources may not include.
Write a four to six (4-6) page paper in which you:
1.    Give your opinion on the corporation's greatest strengths and most significant weaknesses. Choose either a strategy OR tactic the corporation should select to take maximum advantage of its strengths, and the strategy OR tactic the corporation should select to fix its most significant weakness. Justify your choices.
2.    Determine the company’s tangible and intangible resources, core capabilities, and core competencies.
3.    Choose the two (2) segments of the general environment that would rank highest in their influence on the corporation you chose. Assess how these segments affect the corporation you chose and the industry in which it operates.
4.    Choose two (2) forces of competition that you estimate are the most significant for the corporation you chose. Evaluate how well the company has addressed these) forces in the recent past, going back no further than five (5) fiscal years.
5.    With the same two (2) forces in mind, predict what the company might do to improve its ability to address these forces in the near future.
6.    Identify what you consider to be the greatest external threat to this corporation. Discuss how the corporation should address this threat. Justify your explanation.
7.    Identify what you consider to be the greatest opportunity presented to the corporation, and discuss how the corporation should take advantage of this opportunity. Justify your explanation
8.    Use at least four (4) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Assignment 3: Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies

In this assignment, you are to use the same corporation you selected and focused on for Assignment 1 and 2.
Research the company on its own website, the public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR database (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml), in the University's online databases, and any other sources you can find. The annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these questions.
Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:
1.    Analyze the business-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the business-level strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm and whether or not you judge this to be a good choice. Justify your opinion.
2.    Analyze the corporate-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the corporate-level strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm and whether or not you judge this to be a good choice. Justify your opinion.
3.    Analyze the competitive environment to determine the corporation's most significant competitor.  Compare their strategies at each level and evaluate which company you think is most likely to be successful in the long term. Justify your choice.
4.    Determine whether your choice from Question 3 would differ in slow-cycle and fast-cycle markets.
5.    Use at least three (3) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic resources.

Assignment 4: Capstone
In this assignment, you are to use the same corporation you selected and focused on for Assignments 1, 2, and 3. .
Consider the corporation you have selected to use in your first three assignments. Identify one of the firm’s major competitors that you would consider working for.
Research the corporation on its own Website, the public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR database (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml), in the University's online databases, and any other sources you can find. The annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these questions.
You will do a 15 minutes presentation to the Board of Directors of the corporation. Develop an eight to twelve slide PowerPoint presentation with speaker notes or record a video based upon Assignments 1 through 4. You may choose to compare your chosen corporation to a major competitor with whom you would like to work. You will make recommendations to the Board of Directors based upon your analysis and decision on why the corporation remains or is not a good fit for you.
Determine the impact of the company’s mission, vision, and primary stakeholders on its overall success as a competitive employer in the industry.
Develop a Power Point presentation with 8 -12 slides with speaker notes answering the questions below:
1.    Create a SWOT analysis for the company to determine its major strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
2.    Based on the SWOT analysis, outline a strategy for the company to capitalize on its strengths and opportunities, and minimize its weaknesses and threats.
3.    Discuss the various levels and types of strategies the firm may use to maximize its competitiveness and profitability.
4.    Outline a communications plan the company could use to make the strategies you recommend above known to all stakeholders.
5.    Develop an executive level Power Point presentation with 8 -12 slides with speaker notes and appropriate graphics or professional video.
6.    Assess efforts by this corporation to be a responsible (ethical) corporate citizen and determine the impact these efforts (or lack thereof) have on the company’s bottom line. Provide specific examples to support your response.
7.    Use at least three (3) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic resources.

NOTE: PLEASE USE AS A GUIDE OR REWRITE TO MAKE IT YOURS