Readings (to be completed prior to write):
• “What is Strategy?” Michael Porter, Harvard Business Review, Reprint #96608, 11/1/96, 21 pages.
• “The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy,” Michael Porter, Harvard Business Review, Reprint #R0801E, 1/1/08. 19 pages.
Activity:
Lecture designed to supplement information in the readings. Additional frameworks, concepts will be presented in the lecture. This lecture should provide you with the “fundamentals” of strategy that will enable you to analyze the cases that follow.

Finish the case question writing, if need more than one page,it’s fine.
Case: LEGO. Jan Rivkin, Stefan Thomke, Daniela Beyersdorfer, HBS Case #9-613-004, July 7, 2012, 23 pages.

Objectives: Understand how an iconic company grew, declined, and grew again under changing market and industry conditions: Study competitive strategy, product differentiation and the importance of branding using 5-forces, PESTLE, and SWOT analyses. How can firms position themselves for superior performance under adverse conditions?

Finish the following questions:

1. What is the LEGO group mission?
2. What are the forces in the macro-environment that are driving the need for change?
3. How would you profile the industry structure of the “construction toy” industry using Porter’s Five Forces Model?
4. What is LEGO’s generic competitive strategy?
5. What do you see as LEGO’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT)?