Case Analysis: American Express

Instructions:
Please review the AMERICAN EXPRESS case. Must read all 8 attachments.

Criteria:
Background: provide a brief overview of the case to include key issues and key players
Conduct a SWOTT (Strengths, Weaknessess, Opportunities, Threats, Trends) analysis: Strengths are positive internal capabilities of the organization that give it strategic advantage in achieving its objectives. Weaknessess are the internal liabilities or limitations that the organization currently possessess that prevent it from effectively achieving its objectives. Opportunities are usually the external factors, which an organization can exploit to give it a strategic competitive advantage. Threats are external factors, which have the potential of adversely affecting the organization’s effectiveness and/or survival. Trends are external factors taking place in the business or general environments, which may the firm positively or negatively. The SWOTT analysis helps locate problems, associated with exploiting opportunitieS, and trends, protecting against threats, building onstrenghts and correcting weaknesses.
Financial analysis: Analysis the financial condition of the firm and explain your findings. Use the results of ratios to support your findinds. Explain why the organization is doing well badly.
Problem definition: clealy state your view of what the focal problem is and label it as such. Next briefly discuss the causes and effects of the focal problem as stated in the case. Problems must be stated in strategic terms.
Generate strategic alternatices: list threee alternative solutions to the problem you have stated. We assume that you have reviewed many alternatives and the three that you present are the three best.
Evaluate alternatives: include the following three subjections in this section: (1). Evaluation criteria: you should use the same criteria to evaluate each alternative (you want to compare apples with apples)
(2). Evaluation method: you may yse a quantitive technique (e.g., payoff matrix). A well developed pros versus cons analysis should also be included. Rememeber to use the same criteria to determine if it is a pro or con to each alternative.
(3). Presentation and discussion of results: here you should present a table that summarizes the results of your alternative analysis. For example, you might use pros versus cons analysis where the table would consist of the alternatives on the horizontal axis and the criteria on the vertical axis. The cells would contain the word pro or con. Next, develop a method to compile this data and discuss the rationale for the results.
Recommendations: present your recommendations to solve the focal problem and discuss how it wills address/alleviate the effects of the focal problem. This should include the impact of your recommendations on the firm’s actions, structure, processes andperformance.
Suggest implementation plan: present ways in which the recomendations can be implemented in the firm. Describe what should managers do right now, six months and oneyear from now?
Attatchments for American Express Case:
1. 2-1 A New Mission in Enterprise Growth
2. 2-2 The Closed-Loop Network
3. 2-3 Experiencing Exclusion
4. 2-4 Options in a Competitive Landscape
5. 2-5 History of Prepaid Products at American Express
6. 2-6 An Expansion in Brand Identity and Business Model- From Exclusive to Inclusive
7. 2-7 Reaching the Underbanked- How to Distribute the Product?
8. 2-8 Calling the Question

Last Completed Projects