BUS 499 Business Capstone Strategic

BUS 499 Business Capstone Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness

Instructions/Descriptions

BUS 499 Business Capstone Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness

Template Instructions (delete this page before submitting)

This template is provided to help you meet the assignment requirements.

This page should NOT be submitted with your assignment, as it is not part of an academically written paper. Note the “Clarity, writing mechanics, and formatting requirements” section of the grading rubric.

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HOW TO USE THIS TEMPLATE

• Read the explanations provided in the template for each section of your paper.
• The explanations are in blue font below.
• You should have already read the assignment instructions in Blackboard.
• Type your response to each of the assignment requirements within the designated sections.
• Each assignment requirement is identified using a section Heading that is in black font
• DO NOT add extra spaces between sections.
• DO NOT change the margins.
• You are required to have a heading for each of the sections in your paper.
• The required headings have been provided for you.
• Follow the instructions below to customize the Headings as directed.
• DO NOT type the assignment instructions into the sections.
• After typing your responses, change the font color to black and make sure it is not in bold.
• Be sure to change the font color on the title page to black after typing your name, professor’s name, and date.
• Everything in blue font below should be deleted and replaced with your responses.
• DELETE this entire page before you submit your assignment to avoid losing points. Do not leave a blank page here.

REMINDERS

• The assignment is due in week 6. Late submissions negatively impact your grade.
• Use the same public corporation you used for assignment 1.
• Do not copy content from other assignments in this class or others.
• Include at least 4 full and complete academically written pages that address the requirements. The title page, this instruction page, and the source page do not count.
• Use at least 3 quality sources, one of which MUST be the course textbook.

An automated plagiarism checker. It is advised that you do your own writing and use external resources to support what you have written in your own words.

Week 6 Assignment 2

Write your introduction here. Include one (1) paragraph (not more than 6 lines of text) that explains what your paper will discuss. Much of your introduction may be taken from the assignment instructions (in your own words). Read all assignment resources to understand what should be included in your paper.

Be sure to review the assignment instructions in Blackboard, the grading rubric, and relevant course announcements to understand the requirements. Do not exceed 6 lines of text in this introduction. There should be no direct quotes in this section. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your introduction and change the font color to black.

General Environment

In this section you will choose the two (2) segments of the general environment that would rank highest in their influence on the public corporation you chose for assignment 1. You must select from the segments discussed in the course. Hint: see table 2.1 in the textbook.

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Do not assess all the segments only assess the two (2) segments that rank highest in influencing your corporation. You will then assess how these segments affect the corporation and the industry in which it operates. There are two (2) subsections below, each has a heading.

The heading “Segment 1” should be changed to the first segment of the general environment you select. The heading “Segment 2” should be changed to the second segment of the general environment you select. Replace this paragraph with a very brief introduction that includes the identification of the two (2) segments of the general environment you selected and change the font color to black.

Segment 1

This subsection is where you assess the first of the two (2) segments of the general environment you think ranks highest in its influence on the public corporation you chose for assignment 1. Change the subheading for this section, which currently says “Segment 1” to the name of the selected segment.

Assess how this segment affects the corporation and the industry in which it operates. Remember that to assess a concept, you will weigh all aspects to judge the importance or relevance of that concept. Do not simply define the segment. Do not copy from you assignment 1 submission.

Your assessment should demonstrate that you have read, understand, and can apply the concepts covered in the course resources regarding the segment. Your writing here should thoroughly assess how the selected segment influences your corporation. Do not write about the general environment in general terms.

Your assessment should be directly related to your selected corporation. A thorough assessment is defined as providing a complete response that is not superficial or partial regarding the various details of the concepts as described in the course. You will need to apply and incorporate key concepts from the course material to your assessment.

Do not Google “segments of the general environment” or provide high-level summaries. You must display, in specific detail, an understanding based on what is studied in this course and demonstrate your ability to apply the concepts in a real-world assessment of a corporation.

Read chapter 2 in the course textbook. Review the Week 2 Learn Reading for supporting content. Properly cite your sources and avoid the use of direct quotes. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your assessment and change the font color to black.

Segment 2

This subsection is where you assess the second of the two (2) segments of the general environment you selected. Change the subheading for this section, which currently says “Segment 2” to the name of the selected segment of the general environment that would rank highest in its influence on the public corporation you chose for assignment

1. Repeat the evaluation instructions provided in the “Segment 1” subsection above for this second segment of the general environment. Re-read the instructions above to ensure you have covered all of the requirements for this second segment of the general environment. After completing this section, replace this blue text with your evaluation and change the font color to black.

Five Forces of Competition

In this section you will consider the five (5) forces of competition and choose the two (2) that you estimate are the most significant for the corporation you chose in assignment 1. Hint: see figure 2.2 in the textbook. You will then, evaluate how well the company has addressed each of these two (2) forces in the recent past.

There are two (2) subsections below, each has a heading. The heading “Force 1” should be changed to the first of the two forces of competition you select. The heading “Force 2” should be changed to the second of the two forces of competition you select. Replace this paragraph with a very brief introduction that includes the identification of the two (2) forces of competition you selected and change the font color to black.

Force 1

This subsection is where you evaluate the first of two (2) forces of competition that you estimate to be the most significant to the corporation you chose. Change the subheading for this section, which currently says “Force 1” to the name of your selected force. Provide a thorough assessment of why you think the selected force is significant to your corporation.

A thorough assessment is defined as providing a complete response that is not superficial or partial regarding the various details of the concept as described in the course. Do not Google “five forces of competition” or simply provide a definition. You will need to apply and incorporate key concepts from the course material in your assessment.

Evaluate how well the company addressed the selected force in the recent past. This will require some research. Remember that to evaluate a concept, you will break down all components to determine or analyze facts, value, or views.

Your evaluation should demonstrate that you have read, understand, and can apply the concepts covered in the textbook and course resources. Do not write about the selected force in general terms. Your evaluation should be directly related to your selected corporation and include a thorough evaluation of how the company has addressed the force recently.

You must display an understanding based on what is studied in this course and demonstrate an ability to apply the concepts in a real-world evaluation of a corporation. You will need to read the chapters and listen to the lectures to understand the key concepts for each force.

Read chapter 2 in the course textbook and review the Week 2 Learn Reading for supporting content. Cite all sources and limit the use of direct quotes. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your evaluation and change the font color to black.

Force 2

Choose another one (1) of the five (5) forces of competition that you estimate to be the most significant for the corporation you chose. This should not be the same force assessed in the “Force 1” section above. Change the subheading for this section, which currently says “Force 2” to the name of the selected force.

This subsection is where you evaluate the second of the two forces of competition that you selected. Repeat the evaluation instructions provided in the “Force 1” subsection above for this second force of competition.

Re-read the instructions above to ensure you have covered all of the requirements for this second force of competition. After completing this section, replace this blue text with your evaluation and change the font color to black.

Future Improvements

With the same two (2) forces assessed and evaluated in the previous two (2) sub-sections above, predict what the company might do to improve its ability to address the forces in the near future. Your writing here should provide a thorough prediction of what the company should do to address impacts from the selected forces.

Do not simply discuss company information published by your sources. This section should be your prediction of what the corporation should do. Your prediction should be your own, not predictions or recommendations from your sources or actions your corporation has already taken or plans to take.

Remember that a thorough evaluation is defined as providing a complete response that is not superficial or partial regarding the various details of the concepts as described in the course. Your prediction should be specific to your selected corporation, relevant to the evaluation you conducted, and directly related to improvements the corporation could make to address the two forces you selected in the two (2) sub-sections above.

Read chapter 2 in the course textbook and review the Week 2 Learn Reading for supporting content. Cite your sources and avoid the use of direct quotes. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your prediction and change the font color to black.

Greatest External Threat

Identify what you consider to be the greatest external threat to the corporation you selected. The threat should be specific to your corporation. Justify why you consider the threat to be the greatest. Support your justification with an assessment of the impact the threat has on the corporation.

For example, your justification could include a comparison of other threats or an evaluation of facts that support the magnitude of the threat’s impact. Follow this justification with a discussion on how the corporation should address the threat. Specifically describe the strategy and provide a justification that supports why you believe the strategy will be successful in combating the threat.

This section must include both a clearly identified external threat and a clearly articulated action\strategy the corporation should take to address the threat. Do not write in general terms. Your writing here should be specific and incorporate the course concepts relating to threats and the external environment.

Read chapter 2 in the course textbook. The textbook provides a solid background for this section. Review the Week 2 Learn Reading for supporting content. Cite your sources and avoid the use of direct quotes. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your response and change the font color to black.

Greatest Opportunity

Identify what you consider to be the greatest opportunity to the corporation you selected. The opportunity should be specific to your corporation. Justify why you consider the opportunity to be the greatest. Support your justification with an assessment of the impact the opportunity could have on the corporation.

For example, your justification could include a comparison of other opportunities or an evaluation of facts that support the magnitude of the opportunity’s impact. Follow this justification with a discussion on how the corporation could best take advantage of the opportunity.

Specifically describe the strategy and provide a justification that supports why you believe the strategy will be successful in adding value to the corporation. This section must include both a clearly identified opportunity and a clearly articulated action the corporation should take to take advantage of the opportunity.

Do not write in general terms. Your writing here should be specific and incorporate the course concepts relating to opportunities and the external environment. Read chapter 2 in the course textbook. The textbook provides a solid background for this section.

Review the Week 2 Learn Reading for supporting content. Cite your sources and avoid the use of direct quotes. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your response and change the font color to black.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Give your opinion on the corporation’s greatest strengths and most significant weaknesses. Keep in mind that strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization (i.e. the internal environment). You will need to address both the greatest strengths and most significant weaknesses.

Do not choose one or the other. Both the greatest strengths and most significant weaknesses must be addressed. Do not write in general terms. The identified strengths and weaknesses should be specific to your selected corporation. Include a justification that supports your opinions. d

This section must include both clearly identified strengths and clearly identified weaknesses. Read Chapter 2 and 3 in the course textbook. The textbook provides a solid background for this section. Review the Week 2 and Week 3 Learn Reading for supporting content. Cite your sources and avoid the use of direct quotes. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your application and change the font color to black.

Strategy or Tactic

Choose the strategies or tactics the corporation should select to take maximum advantage of the strengths you identified in the section above, and the strategies or tactics the corporation should select to fix the most significant weaknesses you identified. You will need to select strategies/tactics for both the strengths and weaknesses.

Do not choose one or the other. Strategies/tactics for both the strengths and weaknesses must be addressed. Justify your choices. Your justifications should be sound and thoroughly explained. For example, do not simply state that the corporation should choose a selected strategy, but rather explain why the strategy is a good choice for your corporations’ specific strengths or weaknesses.

Read Chapter 2 and 3 in the course textbook. The textbook provides a solid background for this section. Review the Week 2 and Week 3 Learn Reading for supporting content. Cite your sources and avoid the use of direct quotes. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your responses and change the font color to black.

Resources, Capabilities, and Core Competencies

Determine the company’s resources, capabilities, and core competencies. Your determination should include an explanation of the relevance of each resource, capability, and core competency. Do not simply list the resources, capabilities, and core competencies.

Remember that a thorough determination will provide a complete response that is not superficial or partial regarding the various details of the concepts as described in the course. Use your course materials to demonstrate your understanding of the key course concepts regarding resources, capabilities, and core competencies.

Do not write in general terms. Your determination should display that you can apply the course concepts to your selected corporation. Read Chapter 3 in the course textbook. The textbook provides a solid background to this section. Review the Week 3 Learn Reading for supporting content. Cite your sources and avoid the use of direct quotes. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your determination and change the font color to black.

Sources

1. Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2020. Strategic management: Concepts and cases: Competitiveness and globalization (13th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning
2. Author. Publication Date. Title. Page # (written as p. #). How to Find (e.g. web address)
3. Author. Publication Date. Title. Page # (written as p. #). How to Find (e.g. web address)

Ford is an American multinational automobile company founded by Henry Ford in 1903. Firstly, the paper will also discuss the impact of globalization and technology on the Ford company. Secondly, it will further shed light on the industrial organization model and the resource-based model to assess the returns of the corporation. The paper will finally discuss the vision and mission of the company, including the impact of stakeholders on the success of the company.

Globalization

According to Grant, the key element in changing an industry’s profitability is in the evolution of an industry’s structure. Industries around the world have changed due to globalization and maturity. Both components have contributed to competition. The competition has increased as globalization has bought firms together by shrinking the space between them and providing them with the same market (Grant, 2008). The same is true for the Ford company. Globalization means using and being a part of the world economy and profiting from it.

Companies in the global economy need ways to supply and produce automobiles that don’t only cater to the needs of international clients but develop something that caters to the needs of locals. To overcome the problem of attending to local needs, Ford, for example, has created a global scale network to assemble plants to get access to the greater supply-base.

Ford’s partnership with Mazda, for example, has made it easy for Ford to get Mazda’s well-established supply base in Thailand. Given the hassle of building local supply and the pressure, companies go through to create local content; such partnerships help companies like Ford in globalization ( (Sturgeon & Florida, 2002).

But before adjusting to the world global economy, Ford has to struggle to be a part of the globalization. The reduced restrictions in trade in the emerging market after globalization has led to a wave of investment across the globe. Before the 1970s, the companies of automobiles were dominating the market in the U.S., which was called “Big Three.”

But after globalization permitted foreign vehicles to enter the market, the U.S. market for automobiles changed. For example, Japanese cars that were high-quality cars and introducing new modes of manufacturing changed the industry. Ford’s competition was threatened by globalization and the other two companies’ restrictions in trade in the emerging market after globalization has led to a wave of investment across the globe.

Before the 1970s, the companies of automobiles were dominating the market in the U.S., which was called “Big Three.” But after globalization permitted foreign vehicles to enter the market, the U.S. market for automobiles  changed. For example, Japanese cars that were high-quality cars and introducing new modes of manufacturing changed the industry. Ford’s competition was threatened by globalization and the other two companies (Miller & Sirgy, 2011)

Technology

Technology has hugely contributed to the success of the Ford company. The crucial need to reduce cost and simultaneously increase efficiency has led Ford to use Artificial intelligence as one of the main manufacturing process and planning systems. For example, Ford had built the “Ford Body &Assembly Operations developed Standard Language” in 19990 as a standard format for writing descriptions.

Before this, process sheets were used in a freeform text. These process sheets were ambiguous and inconsistent, that caused a lot of problems for the company. Standard Language was built to create a clear way of communicating with different engineers and manufacturing staff. It has eliminated ambiguity and inconsistency and helped the company to create a standard format across the corporation (Rychtyckyj, 2007).

Another tech advancement that has helped ford increase its manufacturing is the machine translation known as M.T. Ford has been using this tech since 1998 to translate English instructions to build and assemble cars to German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch.

It is being used worldwide in automobile companies as well to make it easier for the production of items (ibid). The company has also created and used the GSPAS AI system that represents all the “automobile assembly planning information by using its knowledge base’s semantic network model” (ibid.17).

The GSPAS AI system interprets instructions and creates actions required to implement those instructions at the assembly-plant level and also the time of the instructions to execute, making the process much easier for workers (Rychtyckyj, 2007).

Industrial Organization Model

The global market for automobiles is very competitive. Ford, for example, used to be one of the best automobile companies in the U.S. but has lost its name because of poor strategic decisions and lack of innovation in its automobiles. The changes in the market for Ford were because of global competition that raised after globalization.

On the other hand, Ford has been building better vehicles that meet customers’ needs and desires. Ford managers lost their market and did not invest in new products while its competitors went ahead (Hanson, Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2017).

More recently, for above-average returns, Ford takes part in the industrial organization model. The strategies of Ford company are usually centered on their external environment. For example, with the trend and popularity of vehicles that were more environmentally friendly, Ford responded to it with cars that were ford Fusion Hybrids. The external environment has a clear impact on the firm than the internal capabilities (Buisness Says, 2020).

Resource-Based Model

Ford uses a unique way to differ from its competitors, and one of the main strategies it uses it to claim that it is t it is “greener” and “more technically advanced” than its competitors such as General Motors. It uses its reliable resources and capable work staff to build innovative automobiles (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2017). Ford has also embraced the recently advanced technologies for decreasing pollution and waste production.

Vision

The vision of the company is “to become the world’s most trusted company, designing smart vehicles for a smart world” (Thompson, 2019, p.4). The vision of Ford is very relevant to its targeted audience, which helps ford to attract consumers every year.

For example, Ford uses its vision statement to show that it is a company that leads in the automobile industry and is available worldwide. This expands their range of customers globally. The smart vehicles, for example, is the need for current worldwide customers. The world today looks for efficient products with more innovation in technology.

The vision also intends to bring forward the pursuit of Ford company in walking with the recent marking trend. For example, the electric car by Ford is an indication of the vision to produce a smart vehicle, and if customers want the latest tech cars, they know where to look for (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2017).

Mission

The mission of Ford is “to make people’s lives better by making mobility accessible and affordable” (Thompson, 2019, p.4). The statement forces the stakeholders to restructure their methods to guarantee expanding profits for the company at the existing model mix and market. Also, the statement asks the stakeholder of the company to work towards a more profitable, quick, and viable Ford (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2008).

Stakeholders

The stakeholder of Ford includes its customers, employees, suppliers, and unions. All of the above impact the success of Ford in one wat to others. The company’s primary source of profit is its customers. The host companies of Ford keep the supply market for ford’s product.

According to Ford, for example, the company relies on” 1,200+ global production suppliers to provide many of the parts that are assembled into Ford vehicles. Another 11,500 supplier companies provide a wide range of nonproduction goods and services, from industrial materials to computers to advertising” (Ford, 2012, p.4).

The employee of the company ensures efficient work, and the company takes care of their welfare. Employees also main the company’s positive work culture and make sure to deliver strong products with the latest innovation. They also improve the product’s quality and maintain the company. According to the company, more than 5.7 million vehicles to our customers worldwide as of 2012 (Ford, 2012, p.1).

Sources

1. Ireland, R. D., Hoskisson, R. E., & Hitt, M. A. (2008). Understanding Business Strategy: Concepts and Cases.
2. Business Says. (2020). Auto Industry I/O Model.
3. Hanson, D., Hitt, M. A., Ireland, D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2017). Strategic Management and Strategic and Competitiveness.
4. Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2017). Strategic Management Competitiveness & Globalization.
5. Miller, C., & Sirgy, M. J. (2011). Impact of Globalization of the Automotive Industry on the Quality of Life of the U.S. Southeast. The Economic Geography of Globalization.
6. Rychtyckyj, N. (2007). Intelligent Systems for Manufacturing at Ford Motor Company.
7. Sturgeon, T., & Florida, R. (2002). The Globalization of Automobile Production.
8. Thompson, A. (2019). Ford Motor Company’s Mission Statement & Vision Statement: An Analysis.

BUS 499 Business Capstone Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness

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