The Organization is Structured in a Traditional Hierarchical Manner

Your written report must be comprehensive and flow logically. There is no page minimum,
but it must not exceed 15 pages of text. The paper should consider the following -- but is not
limited to -- the following elements: (Note: This is simply a list of potential ideas to motivate
your thinking and it is not a fixed outline or list of questions to be answered directly!).
 Who are you – what role have you assumed in the case?
 If relevant and/or necessary (but only if relevant and/or necessary) briefly introduce and
describe the organization, its history of operations and business outcomes over identified
periods of its existence. Depending on where it has been in the organizational life cycle at
different periods, what strategies did it undertake to grow and/or change the business?
How successful were these?
 Analyze how the organization is structured (type of structure) and governed (its board
and senior management), with a critique of whether this structure and governance
approach fit its mission and strategy now.
 What has been the performance of the organization over time, with particular emphasis
on the past five years? What have been its revenues and profits (or surpluses)? Have any
of the performance indicators been affected by changes in products or services by the
organization, or by other strategic changes by the organization or in its external operating
environment? Have similar factors affected their principal competitors?
 In terms of its operations today, conduct a detailed analysis – e.g. SWOT, Porter’s fiveforces + complimentary, Financial, and PESTEL, Value Chain, etc. including a
description of the organization’s directional strategies, and why have they chosen these?
Also identify the advantages and limitations of your analysis?
 What are the organization’s marketing, financial, and research & development strategies?
Do these fit well with its operations strategy?
 Identify and develop the relevant decision criteria (which if possible should be
quantified) that you employed in order to guide your choice of alternatives.
 Identify 3 or 4 feasible alternatives (may not be limited to those put forward in the case).
 How would you assess and rate the organization’s leadership? Do the persons in
leadership at the management or board level appear to have the appropriate skills and
experience for the challenges the organization now faces? What is your evidence for your
opinion?
 Has the organization engaged in joint ventures or strategic alliances, or value-chain
partnerships? What has been the effect of these?
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 How does the organization measure its own performance? Do its documents and reports
indicate the methods or benchmarks and external measures to which they subject the
organization?
 What is your recommendation – which should follow a discussion of the pros and cons of
each of your alternatives (relative to the decision criteria).
 What changes, if any, would you suggest to their strategy or structure in order for them to
be more successful in fulfilling their mission now and in the future? When and how
should these be implemented? Your recommendations and timelines should be displayed
in a GANTT or PERT-type chart and discussed in-class. You must provide supporting
evidence for your arguments.
 If necessary provide a contingency plan.
 Your paper must include a proper Title Page, Executive Summary, and Table of
Contents. Figures and Tables must be numbered and labeled and sourced, both in the text
and any appendices. Bibliographic and footnote references for material accessed
electronically must include the URL and date it was accessed.
To repeat, you are not limited to the above items (you should include other items you believe
may be of importance to understanding the organization and its strategies). You must also
relate this information to key ideas and frameworks covered in your text.
The written cases will be graded (by your instructor) using three criteria: First and foremost,
they will be graded to the extent they address the case goal/purpose/issue(s)/problem(s).
Secondly, they will be graded based on professionalism, grammar, style and proper
formatting. Lastly, they will be graded based on the degree to which your paper tells a
comprehensive and logical story that identifies, and resolves the issue(s)/problem(s)
identified. See pages 8 – 11 of the course outline for a detailed marking rubric and format.
We will be devoting a considerable amount of class-time working through a template/model
for analyzing and presenting both your oral and written paper and presentation.