Graded Homework

Activity Context

This discussion helps you master the following course competency:

• Analyze the strategic elements of organizations and their external environments using theories and models of strategy.

Activity Instructions

In this discussion, you will further your knowledge of strategic development by:

• Applying strategic tools to identify and describe a firm’s strategy.
• Thinking and communicating strategically.

After reading Chapter 1 in Foundations of Strategy, identify the three components of the business model used by “Tough Mudder LLC: Turning Mud Runs Into a Global Business.” Using examples drawn from the case, distinguish the following concepts: corporate strategy and competitive strategy, strategy and tactics. What do you think is the role of Tough Mudder’s sense of identity (“we know who we are and what we stand for”) in influencing the effectiveness with which it implements its strategy?

Response Guidelines

Read the postings of your peers and respond to at least two other learners. When responding, seek clarification, share your personal experiences, and provide feedback.

dq 2

Activity Context

This discussion helps you develop the skills to master the following course competencies:

• Analyze organizations and competitive environments using theories and models of strategy.
• Communicate in a manner that is professional and consistent with expectations of members of the business professions.

Activity Instructions

In this discussion, you will further your knowledge of strategic development by:

• Researching data sources in order to frame the firm’s strategy.
• Thinking and communicating strategically.
• Applying critical reading skills to promote dialog.

Describe the strategy of the firm you selected for your project, using the strategy model in Figure 1.5 (p.13) of Foundations in Strategy, as a guide to frame the strategy description from the following two perspectives:

• First, the static perspective:
  • Where is the firm competing? What is the product? What are the firm’s vertical and geographical scopes?
  • How is the firm competing? What is the basis for the firm’s competitive advantage?
• Second, the dynamic perspective—the firm’s preparation for the future:
  • What does the firm want to become?
  • What does it want to achieve?
  • How will it get there?

Response Guidelines

Critically read the posts of your peers and respond to the posts of at least two other learners. Your responses should seek clarification of assumptions or statements that lack evidence to support them. Remember, you are participating in a dialog with your peers for the purpose of ensuring their communication is clear, persuasive, and defensible, from both business and academic perspectives.

capella MBA6024 unit 2 dq 1 & dq 2 latest 2016 april

dq 1

Activity Context

This week’s discussions help you to develop the skills to master the following course competency:

• Critically evaluate information from core business functions and the value chain to enhance organizational knowledge of strategic position and direction.

Activity Instructions

In this discussion, you will further your knowledge of strategic development by:

• Identifying and appraising the resources and capabilities of a firm.
• Using the results from analyzing resources and capabilities to formulate strategies to exploit internal strengths and defend against internal weaknesses.

After reading Chapter 3 in your Foundations of Strategy text, use the functional classification and value chain perspectives to identify Harley-Davidson’s principal resources and capabilities. Can their resources and capabilities confer sustainable competitive advantage? What strategy recommendations would you offer to Harley-Davidson’s management team?

Response Guidelines

Critically read the posts of your peers and respond to the posts of at least two other learners. Your responses should seek clarification of assumptions or statements that lack evidence to support them. Remember, you are participating in a dialog with your peers for the purpose of ensuring their communication is clear, persuasive, and defensible, from both business and academic perspectives.

dq 2

Activity Context

This week’s discussions help you to develop the skills to master the following course competencies:

• Critically evaluate information from core business functions and the value chain to enhance organizational knowledge of strategic position and direction.
• Create a comprehensive organizational strategy assessment.

Activity Instructions

In this discussion, you will further your knowledge of strategic development by:

• Analyzing the effectiveness of the core or mainline operations of the firm to create and deliver products and services.
• Identifying inconsistencies between the organizational design of the firm and its business strategy.

Analyze the firm key resources and core capabilities of the firm you selected for your project. Identify the functional areas of the firm’s organization or the activities in the value chain where the key resources and core capabilities reside (see Classifying Capabilities in Chapter 3). Are core or distinctive resources and capabilities structured and supported in a manner that aligns with the competitive advantage? What opportunities do you see to exploit the key capabilities of your project firm? Are there internal weakness that should concern the firm?

Read the posts of your peers and respond to the posts of at least two other learners. When responding, seek clarification, share your personal experiences that relate to their experiences, and provide feedback.

capella MBA6024 unit 3 dq 1 & dq 2 latest 2016 april

dq 1

Activity Context

This week’s discussions help you to develop the skills to master the following course competencies:

• Critically evaluate information from core business functions and the value chain to enhance organizational knowledge of strategic position and direction.

Activity Instructions

In this discussion, you will further your knowledge of strategic development by:

• Identifying important ethical issues with a firm’s strategy.

Focus on the goals and values of your project firm to identify important strategic ethical issues or dilemmas. Analyze the firm’s actions for instances of inconsistencies, or practices where the words in the mission, espoused values, or goals, don’t match the actions of the firm. Should the firm be concerned about its Corporate Social Responsibility or balancing stakeholder and stockholder needs?

Response Guidelines

Critically read the posts of your peers and respond to the posts of at least two other learners. In responses to your colleagues, comment on and respectfully challenge one another’s different conclusions.

dq 2

Activity Context

This week’s discussions help you to develop the skills to master the following course competencies:

• Critically evaluate information from core business functions and the value chain to enhance organizational knowledge of strategic position and direction.

Activity Instructions

In this discussion, you will further your knowledge of strategic development by:

• Identifying strategic issues that affect the sustainability of a firm’s competitive advantage.
• Conducting a competitive analysis of the firm, using resource-based theory or value chain model.

In Foundations of Strategy, review Case Insight 4.5: Singapore Airlines: Reconciling Differentiation With Low Costs, on page 141. Porter argues that a competitive advantage strategy of both cost leadership and differentiation is impossible to sustain.

Describe your project firm’s competitive strategy and mount an argument in favor of or against Porter’s assertion as it relates to your project firm. Does your critical thinking about the firm’s competitive advantage bring to mind concerns, or opportunities for how the firm could exploit its competitive advantage? Do you have actionable insights about exploiting strengths of the firm or insights about how the firm should defend against its weaknesses?

Response Guidelines

Critically read the posts of your peers and respond to the posts of at least two other learners. When responding, seek clarification, share your personal experiences that relate to their experiences, and provide feedback.

capella MBA6024 unit 4 dq 1 latest 2016 april

Industry Influences

Activity Context

This discussion helps you develop the skills to master the following course competencies:

• Analyze the strategic elements of organizations and their external environment applying theories and models of strategy.
• Critically evaluate information from core business functions and the value chain to enhance organizational knowledge of strategic position and direction.

Activity Instructions

This discussion will help you further your knowledge of strategic development by:

• Evaluating environmental and industry influences that create strategic opportunities or issues.
• Using theories and models of strategy to increase knowledge of an organization’s strategic position and direction.

After reading Chapter 2 in Foundations of Strategy, use the PEST and Porter 5-Forces Model to identify environmental and industry influences that should be a concern or present an opportunity to your project firm. Provide a rationale for your response.

Response Guidelines

Critically read the posts of your peers and respond to the posts of at least two other learners. When responding, seek clarification, share your personal experiences that relate to their experiences, and provide feedback.

capella MBA6024 unit 5 dq 1 & dq 2 latest 2016 april

dq 1

Activity Context

This discussion helps you to develop the skills to mater the following course competencies:

• Analyze the strategic elements of organizations and their external environment applying theories and models of strategy.
• Create a comprehensive organizational strategy assessment.

Activity Instructions

This discussion will help you further your knowledge of strategic development by:

• Analyzing strategic issues.
• Formulating and proposing strategic changes for the project firm.

“Strategy has two major dimensions: positioning for the present and adapting to the future” (Jordon & Grant, p. 170). In adapting to strategic change, structures, systems, and culture are the most stable parameters of an organizational design and those that are malleable in crafting a strategic change.

For this discussion, consider changing one or more of these elements for a critical strategic issue you have identified for your project firm. Then, craft a strategic recommendation that your project firm could realize in no more than six months.

Reference

Grant, R. M., & Jordan, J. (2015). Foundations of strategy(2nd ed.). West Sussex, UK: Wiley & Sons.

dq 2