List factors that impact current and future legal regulatory requirements of a product, these factors can include laws around consumer protection, labor, health, safety, taxes and trade regulation in the individual countries where the product will be sold.

Outline

Title page: title of the paper, date, university, class and list of all participants in the group project.

Table of Contents: lists all the sections and subsections of the paper with page numbers

Table of Illustrations: lists all the charts, graphs, tables, pictures, etc. within the paper including page numbers.

Executive Summary: Write a concise summary of the key points of your research. (Do not indent.) Your executive summary should contain at least your research topic, research questions, participants, methods, results, data analysis, and conclusions. You may also include possible implications of your research and future work you see connected with your findings. Your executive summary should be a single page single-spaced.

V. Company Information, Profile and Background: Provide company specific information regarding company headquarters and other locations; the companies origins, start-up, and initial strategy; original products and customers; and company mission statement and vision statement.

Industry, competitor, and company analysis:

Broad-based Questions: What are the boundaries of the industry? What is the structure of the industry? Which firms are our competitors? What are the major determinants of competition?

In addition to discussion, this section of your paper should include the following models and/or methods (further detailed instructions provided below in sections A, B, and C):

Remote Environment conduct an external analysis utilizing the PESTLE tool related to Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental/Ecological variables (See guidance within Additional Resources folder).
Industry Environment – conduct an industry analysis utilizing Porter’s 5 Force Model (p. 101 – 109) related to competitors, creditors, customers/buyers, labor, suppliers and the competitive rivalry within the specific industry (reference text pages 121 to 122).
Operating Environment – conduct an internal analysis using the Value Chain Model (p. 159 – 163)

Remote Environment: Conduct an external analysis utilizing the PESTLE tool related to Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental/Ecological factors.
Political factors: Define the legal and regulatory parameters within which the firm must operate. Political constraints are placed on the firm through fair trade decisions, antitrust laws, tax programs, minimum wage legislation, pollution and pricing policies, and administrative jawboning. Aimed at protecting employees, customers, the general public, and the environment. Includes the government functions that influence suppliers and customers.
Economic factors: Managers must consider the availability of credit, the level of disposable income, and the propensity of people to spend. Also, prime interest rates, inflation rates, and trends in the GNP.
Social factors: The beliefs, values, attitudes, opinions, and life-styles of persons in the firm’s external environment, as developed from cultural, ecological, demographic, religious, educational and ethnic conditioning.
Technological factors: Avoid obsolescence and promote innovation. Creative technological adaptations can suggest possibilities for new products or for improvements in existing products or in manufacturing and marketing techniques. Technical forecasting attempts to foresee advancements and estimate their impact on an organization’s operations.
Legal factors: List factors that impact current and future legal regulatory requirements of a product, these factors can include laws around consumer protection, labor, health, safety, taxes and trade regulation in the individual countries where the product will be sold.
Environmental/Ecological factors: Include all those that influence or are determined by the surrounding environment. Issues include global warming, pollution (air, water, land), loss of habitat and biodiversity, and eco-efficiency.

Industry Environment:
Industrial Context
Industry Boundaries: A collection of firms that offer similar products and services. Executives also examine the companies that offer different product families, the overlapping or distinctiveness of customer segments, and the rate of substitutability among product families. To realistically define the industry, 5 issues need to be examined:
Which part of the industry corresponds to our firm’s goals?
What are the key ingredients to success in that part of the industry?
Does our firm have the skills needed to compete in that part of the industry? If not, can we build those skills?
Will the skills enable us to seize emerging opportunities and deal with future threats?
Is our definition of the industry flexible enough to allow necessary adjustments to our business concept as the industry grows?
Industry Structure: Examine the 4 variables that the industry comprises: concentration, economies of scale, product differentiation, and barriers to entry.
Concentration: the extent to which industry sales are dominated by only a few firms.
Economies of scale: the savings that companies achieve because of increased volume.
Product differentiation: the extent to which customers perceive products or services offered by firms in the industry as different.
Barriers to entry: the obstacles that a firm must overcome to enter an industry.
Competitive Analysis: in identifying the firm’s current and potential competitors, the following must be considered:
How do other firms define the scope of the market? The more similar the definitions of the firms, the more likely the firms will view each other as competitors.
How similar are the benefits the customers derive from the products and services that the other firms offer? The more similar the benefits of products and services, the higher the level of substitutability between them. High substitutability levels force firms to compete fiercely for customers.
How committed are other firms in the industry? This question sheds light on the long-term intentions and goals of the other firms.
Apply Porter’s 5-Force Model: Entry barriers, Supplier power, Buyer power, Substitute availability, Competitive rivalry (reference text pages 101 – 109)
Entry barriers: economies of scale, product differentiation, capital requirements, cost disadvantages independent of size, access to distribution channels, government policy,
Supplier power: Depends on a number of characteristics of its market situation and on the relative importance of its sales or purchases to the industry compared with its overall business.
Buyer power: Customers can force down prices, demand higher quality or more services, and play competitors off against each other at the expense of industry profits.
Substitute availability: By placing a ceiling on the prices it can charge, substitute products or services limit the potential of an industry. The more attractive the price-performance trade-off offered by substitute products, the more restrictive the firm’s profit potential will be.
Competitive rivalry: Rivalry among existing competitors utilizing tactics such as price competition, product introduction, and advertising.

Operating Environment:
Conduct a SWOT Analysis (reference text pages 153 -159)
Conduct a Value Chain Analysis evaluating Primary Activities (in bound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service) and Support Activities (general administration; human resource management; procurement; and research, technology, and systems development). (reference text pages 159 -165)

Financial Analysis: Provide context into the company’s past, current and prospective financial health and position in the industry. Provide at least one paragraph discussing past, current and prospective financial health (at least 1 paragraph for each). Remember to answer the question “why?” Reference chapter 6, appendix B, pages 186 to 194.

VIII. Strategy Recommendations: This section of your paper should discuss the conclusion(s) of the analysis contained in the previous sections of your paper. It is expected that all tools and elements used in your analysis sections should be discussed thoroughly. You are expected to make several recommendations that are well supported by your analysis.

References: Minimum of 5 resources

X. Appendix: All charts, graphs, tables, pictures, and any additional data not previously contained in the main body of the paper, should be contained in the appendix and should be referenced in the body of the paper. Students will need appendices to include the visuals and additional material for sections V, VI, and VII. For example, Appendix A will include graphics from the Industry, Competitor and Company Analysis section of your paper, Appendix B will include graphics from the Strategy Recommendation section and Appendix C will include graphics from the Financial Analysis.

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