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Instructions for mid-term assignment due end of week 4: SWOT
SWOT Analysis
Here’s the scenario: You are put in charge of a large corporation and need to figure out where the company needs to go. You must develop the company’s strategy using SWOT analysis and present your plan (this report) to the board of directors. You may write an analysis on any company. If you are having trouble thinking of companies, here are a few choices that might be interesting:
- Walmart – one of the largest, most successful companies in the world, but they are struggling internally with labor issues. They face serious competitive pressure from Amazon.com.
- Hostess – a company in obvious decline, so where can they go from here? You could write this from the perspective of another company looking to acquire Hostess.
- Nike – at the top of their game, but is there room for growth? Corporations are focused on growing the business so that shareholders earn a return. So, while Nike has mastered the art of branding, the U.S. market may be saturated for their product. Can they grow their product in other countries?
- Apple – huge quarterly profits but their market share for smart phones and tablets are being eroded by Android (and potentially Microsoft?). Recently, they tried to develop a mapping application and found out that moving beyond their core competency can be difficult.
Please email me the name of your company selection by the end of Week #4. When the assignment is due, please post it to the assignment drop box.
You should find and reference a few (at least 3-4) news articles to give background on the company’s current situation. Please follow these guidelines when writing your paper:
- Submit in Microsoft Word .doc/.docx file format
- Include a cover sheet with your name, your paper title, the date, and the paper’s word count
- Use APA style – Times New Roman, 12 pt font, 1-inch margins on all sides (top, bottom, left, and right), first line of each paragraph indented one-half inch, citations and references
- 4-5 pages of text (~1,000-1,500 words)
- Cite all sources in the body of the document when outside information is used. List all references in APA style.
Your paper is a report to the board of directors written in third person. It’s a good idea to start with a short introduction, then give some background on the company, then you write SWOT analysis, and finally provide a concluding section that summarizes the paper/report.
Grading rubric
Overall Quality of Topic Content – 60 of 60 points
Written Skills- Vocabulary and Usage – 10 of 10 points
Spelling and Grammar – 5 of 10 points
Citing and Referencing per APA Format – 10 of 10 points
Conformance to APA Style – 10 of 10 points
Please submit your SWOT analysis by Sunday night of Week #4. Please contact the facilitator with any questions.
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