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Assessment 1 Instructions: Strategic Process and Analysis Please follow example and the instruction,

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Assessment 1 Instructions: Strategic Process and Analysis Please follow example and the instruction,

Follow the distinguished scoring guide

Complete a VRIO or Value Chain analysis, a PESTLE analysis, and a Five Forces model for an organization. (The Organization should be Facebook). Prepare a 3-6-page executive report that analyzes the internal and external environments of the organization and recommends a course of action based on the analysis.

 

Introduction

AFI, VRIO, and value chain are just three concepts you need to understand as a business strategist. This assessment focuses on these important facets of business analysis.

 

Introduction

For this assessment, you will analyze the internal and external factors that shape and influence an organization’s strategy. Your work on this assessment will demonstrate your understanding of industry forces and how an organization can leverage its strengths to its advantage. This portfolio work project asks you to analyze the strategic process using the AFI framework. This analysis will clearly demonstrate your ability to think critically and strategically, and to use evidence to support your thinking.

 

Scenario

The vice president of strategy has asked you to prepare an objective analysis of the internal and external environments of the organization. She is hoping that your insight can be used to plan for the future direction of the company.

 

Your Role

You are a strategic analyst for the company you have selected to use in this course. The company has recently started the strategic planning process and needs to analyze the current internal and external environments.

 

Requirements

To complete this assessment, be sure you understand the AFI framework as presented in your text. Conduct your own research to find recent articles on the value of strategic planning and the role of leadership in the strategic planning process. (Note that the Strategic Management Process Map on pages 30 and 31 of the course text will be very helpful in completing this assessment.)

 

For this assessment, you will need to complete a VRIO or Value Chain analysis, a PESTLE analysis based on research of the organization (not conjecture or opinion), and a Five Forces model (pay attention to the relationships of elements from both PESTLE and Five Forces). These must be included as appendices in the document you submit. You should also research the industry your company is in, as well as the company’s website for information and supporting evidence. Once you have this research completed, prepare an executive briefing report that will be distributed to senior executive leadership. In your report, address the following:

 

Analyze the key components of the AFI strategic planning framework. Assess the value of using a strategic planning framework for long-term success and sustained competitive advantage.

Analyze the internal environment of the organization.

What are the key findings from your VRIO or Value Chain analysis?

How well does the organization leverage its strengths to execute the business strategy?

How effective is the organizational structure and management system design?

Analyze the external environment of the organization.

What are the key findings from your PESTLE analysis?

What are the key findings from your Five Forces analysis?

How can the organization respond to these forces to better position itself?

Explain the role of leadership in the strategic planning process. Be sure to address the ethical responsibilities of leaders in the strategic planning process.

Recommend a course of action for leadership based on your analysis.

Deliverable Format

The strategic process and analysis is a professional document and should therefore follow the corresponding MBA Academic and Professional Document Guidelines, found under Writing in the MBA Program Resources, which you can find in the Tools and Resources for this course. Pay attention to the sections on APA formatting and citing references.

 

In addition to the analysis, include:

 

Title page.

Table of contents.

Executive summary.

References page with APA formatted references from at least five sources.

Appendices: VRIO or Value Chain analysis, PESTLE analysis, and Five Forces analysis.

Target length of 3-6 content pages in addition to Title page, Table of Contents, Reference pages, and Appendices” including your VRIO/Value Chain, PESTLE, and Five Forces analyses.

Written for an audience of executive leaders.

Evaluation

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies through corresponding scoring guide criteria:

 

Competency 1: Assess the importance of strategic management for supporting long term success and sustained competitive advantage.

Analyze the key components of the AFI strategic planning framework, assessing the value of using a strategic planning framework for sustained competitive advantage.

Explain the role of leadership in the strategic planning process.

Competency 2: Apply strategic thinking approaches to resolve business-related challenges.

Recommend a course of action based on an internal and external environmental analysis.

Competency 3: Analyze the internal and external environments of an organization in order to formulate and implement successful strategies.

Analyze the internal environment of an organization.

Analyze the external environment of an organization.

Competency 5: Communicate business needs, opportunities, and strategies with multiple stakeholders.

Address assessment purpose in a well-organized text, incorporating appropriate evidence and tone in grammatically sound sentences.

Apply the standard writing conventions for the discipline, including structure, voice, person, and tone.

 

 

Resources: What Is Strategy?

The following resources are provided to help you develop a better understanding of strategy:

MindToolsVideos. (2014). What is strategy? The three levels of business strategy [Video] | Transcript. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhfFoINNEKI

Kryscynski, D. (2015). What is strategy? [Video] | Transcript. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD7WSLeQtVw

Rothaermel, F. (2021). Strategic management (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Available in the courseroom via the VitalSource Bookshelf link.

Chapter 1, “What is Strategy?”

Chapter 2, “Strategic Leadership.”

Hamel, G., & Prahalad, C. K. (2005). Strategic intent. Harvard Business Review, 83(7/8), 148–161.

Collins, J., & Leaderpowertools (2009). From good to great: What defines a level V leader? [Video] | Transcript. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-KyQ90XByY

Resources: AFI Framework

This resource will help you understand the AFI Framework:

Rothaermel, F. (2012). Why do we need the AFI framework? Analysis, formulation, implementation [Video]. | Transcript Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXOVGMVNZ7Y

 

Resources: Competitive Advantage

The following resources provide greater insight into competitive advantage:

Johnson, M. W., Christensen, C. M., & Kagermann, H. (2008). Reinventing your business model. Harvard Business Review, 86(12), 50–59.

Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (1992). The balanced scorecard – measures that drive performance. Harvard Business Review, 70(1), 71–79.

Rothaermel, F. (2021). Strategic management (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Available in the courseroom via the VitalSource Bookshelf link.

Chapter 5, “Competitive Advantage, Firm Performance, and Business Models.”

Amadeo, K. (2019). What is competitive advantage? Three strategies that work. Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-competitive-advantage-3-strategies-that-work-3305828

https://www.thebalancemoney.com/what-is-competitive-advantage-3-strategies-that-work-3305828

https://www.thebalancemoney.com/what-is-competitive-advantage-3-strategies-that-work-3305828

 

The following resources provide a thorough examination of PESTLE and Five Forces:

 

tutor2u. (2016). PESTLE analysis [Video]. | Transcript https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP2sDw5waEU

Harvard Business Review. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy [Video]. | Transcript https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYF2_FBCvXw&list=PLoGhzQgdhGJws7SPKJqIY8FnzGm-QCcLj&index=1

Rothaermel, F. (2021). Strategic management (5th ed.). McGraw-Hill. Available in the courseroom via the VitalSource Bookshelf link.

Chapter 3, “External Analysis.”

 

 

  •  The following resources explain VRIO and Value Chain models:
    • This article is considered to be the seminal work on VRIO.
  • Rothaermel, F. (2021). Strategic management (5th ed.). McGraw-Hill. Available in the courseroom via the VitalSource Bookshelf link.
    • Chapter 4, “Internal Analysis.”
    • The VRIO Framework, page 128.

Please paraphrase and cite properly.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary. 3

AFI Strategic Planning Framework. 4

Role of Leadership in the Strategic Planning Process 5

Internal Environment Analysis 6

External Environment Analysis 6

Recommended Course of Action. 7

References 8

Appendices 10

Appendix A: Facebook VRIO Analysis 10

Appendix B: Facebook PESTLE Analysis 12

Appendix C: Facebook Five Forces Analysis 14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Executive Summary

Facebook is one of the leading social media networks used by several people around the world. Technological advancements have helped Facebook to expand its market size and customer segments globally. While continuous technological advancements enable Facebook to constantly improve its features, repeated data breaches are attracting lawsuits that tend to damage the company’s reputation. The company needs a strategic plan that will enable it to achieve long-term success and competitive advantage. The AFI Strategic Planning Framework will help Facebook to formulate and implement strategies that consider factors within the company’s external and internal environments. Based on the internal and external analysis, it is recommended that Facebook develops and implements strategies that enhance customer retention, limit substitutes, and promote data safety.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Facebook Business Strategy

AFI Strategic Planning Framework

Organizations should develop clear strategies that will enable them to meet their goals, mission, and vision. Rothaermel (2021) defines strategy as an art and science that describe whether a company will succeed or fail. Effective strategic management entails the completion of important tasks to generate results and achieve a competitive advantage (Hamel & Prahalad, 2005). The AFI Strategic Planning Framework comprises three major components namely Analysis, Formulation, and Implementation which define the interdependent stages of strategic management in an organization. Applying these key components can help Facebook to achieve long-term success and sustained competitive advantage (Rothaermel, 2012). For instance, during the Analysis phase, Facebook leaders should understand the meaning of strategy, explain why it is important, describe the internal and external factors affecting the company’s performance, and identify sources of its competitive advantage. The leaders should then move to the Formulation phase where they develop the business-level, corporate-level, and global-level strategies for Facebook. Once these three levels of strategies have been formulated, Facebook leaders should proceed to strategy execution where they design an appropriate organizational structure, set control, and create policies that foster strong corporate governance and business ethics (Mahoney, 2018). Using the AFI Strategic Planning Framework will help Facebook to achieve long-term success and sustained competitive advantage in that it will enable the company to formulate and implement strategies that allow adequate utilization of its strengths to address its weaknesses, take advantage of existing opportunities, and mitigate potential threats. The AFI Strategic Planning Framework is shown in figure 1.

 

Figure 1. Rothaermel’s AFI Strategic Planning Framework

Role of Leadership in the Strategic Planning Process

The leadership of every organization plays an important role in the strategic planning process. For example, the leadership is charged with the responsibility of creating a vision and goals that offer the direction of focus when developing strategies (Rothaermel (2021). Using the strategic management stages identified in the AFI Strategy Framework, Facebook leadership plays a key role in ensuring that every phase is successfully executed. For example, the leadership sets the stage for strategic analysis. Additionally, it guides the development of business-level, corporate-level, and global-level strategies for the company (Jabbar & Alfartoosi, 2017). Most importantly, Facebook leadership ensures that relevant strategies are successfully implemented to help the company to realize long-term success and competitive advantage. The ethical responsibilities of leaders in the strategic planning process include adhering to relevant laws and involving stakeholders in the decision-making process.

Internal Environment Analysis

A company’s internal environment comprises factors that are viewed as its strengths and weaknesses. The VRIO or Value Chain Analysis entails an evaluation of factors within the value chain that help a company to achieve a competitive advantage (Grunig & Kuhn, 2018). It helps evaluators to establish whether a company’s resources are valuable, rare, inimitable, and organized. The key findings from the VRIO analysis indicate that the five key resources that drive competitive advantage at Facebook include strong global presence, financial strength, technological innovation, complementary product range, and brand awareness (Mazzucchelli et al., 2021; Coelho et al., 2014). Additionally, it is evident from the analysis that Facebook adequately leverages its strengths to execute its business strategy. For example, Facebook highly invests in digital advertising as well as research and development. This helps in to expand its brand awareness and innovate technological features which serve as its greatest sources of competitive advantage (Coelho et al., 2014). Facebook also has an effective organizational structure and management system design both of which help it to balance its key resources.

External Environment Analysis

Strategic planning and management should consider factors that present opportunities and impose threats to an organization. These factors form the external environment. The key findings from the PESTLE analysis revealed that Facebook is widely used to spread fake political news (Dudovskiy, 2017). Additionally, the company incurs huge expenses and costs associated with expansions, advertising, and high exchange rates. The company’s core value has changed from a social connection platform to a business platform where businesses meet customers. While continuous technological advancements enable Facebook to constantly improve its features, repeated data breaches are attracting lawsuits that tend to damage the company’s reputation. It is also evident that the company should replace its coal power generation source with renewable energy to curb climate change (Dudovskiy, 2017). Porter’s Five Forces analysis on Facebook revealed that the company has a moderate competitive rivalry, the bargaining power of buyers is high, the bargaining power of suppliers is moderate, the threat of substitutes is high, and the threat of new entrants is low (Young, 2018). Facebook can respond to these forces to better position itself by relying on the strengths that help it to achieve a competitive advantage.

Recommended Course of Action

The insights generated from internal and external analysis should be used to plan for the future direction of Facebook. The recommended course of action for the company’s leadership should focus on three main areas. First, in order to maintain Facebook’s core purpose of promoting social networking, the company’s leadership should develop and implement strategies that enhance customer satisfaction. This will enhance customer retention and support the achievement of competitive advantage (Amadeo, 2019). Second, Facebook should make its advertising services more attractive than those of its competitors to limit competition and reduce the degree of threat caused by substitutes. Third, the company should tighten user policies to control people’s behaviors on its platform, especially those policies that promote data safety and limit data breaches (Young, 2018). These recommendations will help Facebook to improve resources identified in the VRIO analysis while at the same time being able to control factors in its external environment thereby achieving long-term success and competitive advantage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Amadeo, K. (2019). What is competitive advantage? Three strategies that work. https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-competitive-advantage-3-strategies-that-work-3305828

Coelho, J., Nobre, H., & Becker, K. (2014). The impact of Facebook presence on brand image. International Journal of Technology Marketing, 9(3):320 – 332. doi:10.1504/IJTMKT.2014.063859.

Dudovskiy, J. (2017). Facebook PESTEL analysis: Two-way relationships between external factors and social media giant. https://research-methodology.net/facebook-pestel-analysis-two-way-relationships-between-external-factors-and-social-media-giant/

Grunig, R. & Kuhn, R. (2018). The strategy planning process. Springer.

Hamel, G., & Prahalad, C. K. (2005). Strategic intent. Harvard Business Review, 83(7/8), 148–161.

Jabbar, A. A. & Alfartoosi, A. (2017). The role of leadership in strategic management. International Journal of Research, 5(99-106), 71-81. doi:10.5281/zenodo.583890

Mahoney, J. (2018). What is strategy. https://josephmahoney.web.illinois.edu/BA449_Fall_2018/BA449Chap001_Fall%202018.pdf

Mazzucchelli, A., Chierici, R., Di Gregorio, A., & Chiacchierini, C. (2021). Is Facebook an effective tool to access foreign markets? Evidence from international export performance of fashion firms. Journal of Management & Governance, 25, 1107–1144. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10997-021-09572-y

Rothaermel, F. (2012). Why do we need the AFI framework? Analysis, formulation, implementation [Video]. | Transcript. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXOVGMVNZ7Y

Rothaermel, F. (2021). Strategic management (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Available in the courseroom via the VitalSource Bookshelf link.

Young, J. (2018). Facebook Inc. Five Forces Analysis (Porter’s Model) & recommendations. https://panmore.com/facebook-inc-five-forces-analysis-recommendations-porters-model