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Assignment 2: LASA 2—Capstone Strategic Audit
In this assignment students integrate all the pieces of work they have drafted and formally turn it into the capstone strategic audit.
In previous assignments, you performed multiple, specified analyses of your company (or any company of your choosing). Those individual analyses provide the needed research to successfully complete the following LASA:
Directions: Using the tools and framework learned in class and throughout the program, prepare a 15-page strategy audit of your company with a companion presentation. The strategy audit is a comprehensive analysis of the company’s business strategy and operating performance, and culminates in a series of recommendations for improving your company’s performance based on the findings and conclusions of your analysis.
A strategy audit involves assessing the actual direction of a business and comparing that course to the direction required to succeed in a changing environment. A company’s actual direction is the sum of what it does and does not do, how well the organization is internally aligned to support the strategy, and how viable the strategy is when compared to the external market, competitors, and financial realities. These two categories, the internal assessment and the external or environmental assessment, make up the major elements of a strategy audit.
In your strategy audit:
- Provide a high-level analysis of the company’s business strategy and operating performance. Be sure to complete the following:
Analysis of the company value proposition, market position, and competitive advantageExternal environmental scan/five forces analysisInternal environmental scan/organizational assessmentSWOT AnalysisBalanced scorecard/strategy scorecard
- Recommend specific tactics for improving your company’s strategic alignment and operating performance.
- Recommendations
can include but are not limited to tactics in marketing, branding, alliances, mergers/acquisitions, integration, product development, diversification or divestiture and globalization (if you recommend your company go global, you must include a supply chain analysis and an analysis of your firm’s global capabilities).Explain how the recommendations will help the company achieve its strategy and vision.
You are to write this report as though you are a consultant to your company, and are addressing the executive officers of this company. You will collect and analyze a large amount of data in producing your report, but your final product will be condensed and focus on presenting your analysis findings and conclusions.
Your report should consist of the following sections in the given order.
- Executive Summary (1 page): A concise and insightful summary of the significant findings of your analysis and the recommendations you have for your executive team.
- Strategic Issues and Recommendations (5 pages): Identify 5–7 most important strategic issues facing your business unit. Strategic issues arise from a mismatch between internal capabilities and external trends such that important opportunities are not being pursued or significant external threats are not being addressed under the current strategy.
The strategic issues list should integrate your SWOT analysis, your Five Forces analysis, and the organizational assessment and external environmental scan completed earlier during the course. These detailed analyses are the foundation for your final set of findings and recommendations presented to the executive team.
In developing your recommendations for addressing each strategic issue, consider misalignments that might be apparent in different operating areas:
- Product Portfolio: Are there changes to the target market segment, value proposition, or positioning of the product or service line needed?Structure: Are the organizational roles and responsibilities, decision-making authority, skill requirements, and work assignments properly configured and aligned to support the strategy?Organizational Culture or Behavior: Does the organizational culture inspire behaviors that support the strategy? Are the mission, vision, and values clearly articulated and aligned with the strategy? What new behaviors are needed?Value Chain Activities: Does the organization value chain fully align with the strategy? Are their activities that should be added, eliminated, or modified significantly?Performance Measures: Do the organization’s performance measures focus on the key drivers of strategic success? Is there a strategy scorecard that ties the main elements of the strategy to specific operating capabilities, including goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) that give an indication of incremental or predictive progress toward reaching strategic goals?
Your recommendations should fall into these general categories, but be specific in terms of scope and expected impact.
These sections are completed earlier in the course, and should appear as appendices:
- SWOT Analysis (2 pages—completed in Module 6): SWOT matrix illustrating strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
- Balanced Scorecard / Strategy Scorecard (4 pages—completed in Module 6): Develop a Balanced Scorecard for your business unit that reflects the key drivers for your business strategy.
- Organizational Assessment (3 pages—completed in Module 5)
- External Environmental Scan and Five Forces Analysis (3 pages—completed in Module 3)
- Market Position Analysis (3 pages—completed in Module 2)
Write your report in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M7_A2 .
Finalize the companion PowerPoint presentation that summarizes the audit and recommendations in a compelling manner that persuades senior management to explore and possibly implement your recommendations. The elements of the presentation should include the following:
- Title
- Agenda
- Summary of audit
- Key measurements
- Risks and benefits
- Call to action
- Next steps
Recommendations
Develop a 10-slide presentation in PowerPoint format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M7_A2.ppt.
Use information from your previous assignments to support your conclusions and recommendations and conduct additional research when needed. Make sure you properly reference and cite so that the location of information is clear.
LASA 2—Capstone Strategic Audit
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Unsatisfactory 70 – 77% (C- to C) |
Emerging 78 – 82% (C+ to B-) |
Proficient 83 – 89% (B to B+) |
Exemplary 90 – 100 % (A- to A) |
Score To calculate score: (% / 100) x max pts. e.g. (80% / 100) x 12 = 9.6 |
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Summarize the significant findings of your analyses. A concise and insightful summary of the significant findings of your analysis findings and the recommendations you have for your executive team. (Course Objective [CO] 1, 3) |
Executive summary is unclear or incomplete throughout. The overview only addresses some of the findings from the analyses, or the findings discussed are inaccurate. |
Executive summary is somewhat unclear or is slightly incomplete. It provides a broad overview of the findings from the analyses. |
Executive summary is clear, complete, and provides an accurate overview of the most significant findings from all the analyses. |
Executive summary is clear, thorough, and concise. It provides an insightful overview of all significant, both apparent and subtle, findings from all the analyses. |
/ 52 pts |
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Identify the most important Strategic Issues facing your business unit. CO 1,3 |
Too many apparent Strategic Issues are missing, or issues identified are inappropriate to the business or too vague. Examples, evidence, and information gathered in previous assignments are present, but they do not clearly support issues identified and/or they are inappropriate in relation to Strategic Issues. |
Most of the apparent Strategic Issues are identified, but some are missing. Many are specific, but some are slightly vague. Examples, evidence, and information gathered in previous assignments are used, but how they support issues identified and/or their explanation must be inferred. |
The most apparent Strategic Issues are identified. They are specific and detailed in a brief explanation. Specific examples, evidence, and information gathered in previous assignments are appropriately used to support issues identified and/or their explanation. |
The most important, but apparent and subtle, Strategic Issues are identified. They are insightful, focused, and detailed in a brief explanation. Specific examples, evidence, and information gathered in both the previous assignments and in external research are used to illustrate or support issues identified and/or their explanation. |
/ 60 pts |
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Represent all misalignments found in the following categories: Product portfolio, Structure, Organizational culture/behavior, Value chain actions, Performance measures CO 1,4 |
Identifies a few strategic misalignments appropriately, but many are either missing or inaccurate. It describes elements of the organization that do not align with the strategy, but some are inaccurate or severely incomplete. Too many misalignments are missing relevant facts or findings from the research; its impact on organizational performance is stated but inaccurate or unreasonable. Collectively, the misalignments address many of the following categories, but they do not represent an appropriate or complete review: product portfolio, structure, organization culture/behavior, value chain actions, and performance measures. Examples, evidence, and information gathered in previous assignments are present, but they do not clearly support misalignment diagnosis and analysis and/or they are inappropriate. |
Identifies most strategic misalignments appropriately and describes elements of the organization that do not align with the strategy, but more specificity is needed. Most misalignments are diagnosed using relevant facts and findings from the research, and its impact on organizational performance is stated, but is unclear or incomplete. Collectively, the misalignments represent a broad review of the following categories, but more specificity is needed in a few: product portfolio, structure, organization culture/behavior, value chain actions, and performance measures. Examples, evidence, and information gathered in previous assignments are used, but how they support misalignment diagnosis and analysis must be inferred. |
Identifies strategic misalignments and describes elements of the organization that do not align with the strategy. Each misalignment is diagnosed using relevant facts and findings from the research and previous assignments, and its impact on organizational performance is clearly stated. Collectively, the misalignments represent a complete review of the following categories: product portfolio, structure, organization culture/behavior, value chain actions, and performance measures. Specific examples, evidence, and information gathered in previous assignments are appropriately used to support misalignment diagnosis and analysis. |
Identifies strategic misalignments describes elements of the organization that do not align with the strategy. Each misalignment is diagnosed using relevant facts and findings from previous assignments or external research, and its impact on organizational performance is clearly stated. Collectively, the misalignments represent a critical review of the following categories: product portfolio, structure, organization culture/behavior, value chain actions, and performance measures. Analysis demonstrates strong systems thinking that sees organizational performance as the result of group behavior that is shaped by the work setting and the elements that create it. Specific examples, evidence, and information gathered in the previous assignments, the course material, and in external research are used to support misalignment diagnosis and analysis. |
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Provide recommendations for Strategic Issue and explain how it will resolve the issue. CO 2, 3 |
Recommendations for each Strategic Issue are present, but too many are unclear in their explanation. Many recommendations are inappropriate for either the issue or the business at hand. Explanation of how the recommendation will resolve the issue is present, but unreasonable or severely incomplete. Examples, evidence, and information gathered in previous assignments are present, but they do not clearly support recommendations and their effect and/or they are inappropriate. |
Recommendations for each Strategic Issue are present, but some are either too vague or not clearly explained. Most recommendations are appropriate for both the issue and the business at hand. Explanation of how the recommendation will resolve the issue is present and reasonable, but is unclear or somewhat incomplete. Examples, evidence, and information gathered in previous assignments are used, but how they support recommendations and their effect must be inferred. |
Recommendations for each Strategic Issue are specific, focused, and clearly explained. Each is appropriate for both the issue and the business at hand. Explanation of how the recommendation will resolve the issue is clear, complete, and reasonable. Specific examples, evidence, and information gathered in previous assignments are appropriately used to support recommendations and their effect. |
Recommendations for each Strategic Issue are specific, insightful, thoughtful, and clearly explained. Each is appropriate for both the issue and the business at hand. Explanation of how the recommendation will resolve the issue is clear, thoughtful, and reasonable. Specific examples, evidence, and information gathered in previous assignments, in external research, and material gathered in class, are used to illustrate or support recommendations and their effect. |
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Executive Summary and Recommendations Synthesis and Presentation: CO 1,2,3 |
Arguments and supporting facts are not clearly linked nor presented in a logical sequence. Arguments not supported by relevant data. Contradictions in argument and data appear. Most material is properly referenced and cited according to APA standards. Errors are infrequent, isolated, and minor. |
Arguments not fully supported by relevant data, or contain broad assumptions not supported by facts. Executive Summary exceeds prescribed page length. Arguments and supporting facts are not always clearly linked and presented in a logical sequence, leading to confusion. Most material is properly referenced and cited according to APA standards. Errors are infrequent, isolated, and minor. |
Arguments and supporting facts are presented logically and in a natural sequence. Summary presents and follows a consistent theme and style Writing style is concise, fact-based and eliminates clutter such as jargon, overly descriptive adjectives and dramatic phrases. All material is properly referenced and cited according to APA standards. |
Arguments and supporting facts are presented logically and in a natural sequence. Summary presents and follows a consistent theme and style Presentation includes simple tables, graphs, or other visuals that simplify complex or large amounts of information. All material is properly referenced and cited according to APA standards. |
/ 48 pts |
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Academic Writing |
Writing is unclear and disorganized and rereading to solidify understanding is frequently necessary. Although an attempt at ethical scholarship is attempted, it is sloppy or incomplete throughout. Spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors severely interfere with readers’ comprehension. |
Writing is somewhat clear and is somewhat organized, although rereading to solidify understanding is occasionally necessary. It demonstrates an attempt at ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources, but errors are occasional or minor. Writing has good spelling, grammar, and punctuation, but errors somewhat interfere with readers’ comprehension. |
Writing is clear, concise, and in an organized manner; demonstrates ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and displays accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation. |
Writing is clear, concise, and in an organized manner; demonstrates ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and displays accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation. |
/ 36 pts |
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PowerPoint Presentation |
PowerPoint presentation is unclear or incomplete throughout. Only addresses some of the findings and recommendations or those addressed are inaccurate. Does not include all of the required elements: Title, Agenda, Summary of Audit, Recommendations, Key Measurements, Risks and Benefits, Call to Action, Next Steps. |
PowerPoint presentation is somewhat unclear or is slightly incomplete. It provides a broad overview of the findings and recommendations. Includes most of the required elements: Title, Agenda, Summary of Audit, Recommendations, Key Measurements, Risks and Benefits, Call to Action, Next Steps. |
PowerPoint presentation is clear, complete, and provides an accurate summary of the audit and recommendations of the most significant findings from all the analyses. Includes all of the required elements: Title, Agenda, Summary of Audit, Recommendations, Key Measurements, Risks and Benefits, Call to Action, Next Steps. |
Power Point Presentation summarizes the audit and recommendations in a compelling manner that persuades senior management to explore and possibly implement recommendations. Includes all of the required elements: Title, Agenda, Summary of Audit, Recommendations, Key Measurements, Risks and Benefits, Call to Action, Next Steps. |
/44 pts |
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Total |
/ 360 pts |
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Solutions to Organizational Challenges: A Capstone Experience in Integration and Strategy
©2012 Argosy University Online Programs
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Solutions to Organizational Challenges: A Capstone Experience in Integration and Strategy
©2012 Argosy University Online Programs
