external environment and internal strategic capabilitie
1. Briefly analyse external environment and internal strategic capabilities (you could do this
using, for example, SWOT analysis – but don’t just provide bullet points, write in whole sentences) of the company your presentation was on.

2. Explain the strategic choices made (WHAT strategies were chosen, and WHY?). Here,
you should focus introduce some concepts and theories (i.e. vertical integration, horizontal
integration, alliances, or restructuring).

3. Explain how the strategy/strategies was/were implemented. How did this impact on the
company and its resources? Was it successful?

4. Briefly evaluate the strategies that were implemented. (How feasible have those strategies
been, and why?) The focus should be on section 2.11. If you need some more ideas on how to analyse your case, have a look at the following section.

5.6 Analysing Strategy Cases – Some Tips Give yourself time to assimilate a case
The longer that a case study is given to “sink in” to your subconscious, the deeper the understandingyou will get and the better your answers will be.
Read the case material for the first
time as soon as you have been allocated it as an assignment or seminar example.
Get ageneral impression:

Which organisations and industries does it relate to?
?
Is the organisation doing well or badly now, and how has it performed in the past? Is
it a company that has an unbroken record of success? Or a successful company that
has fallen on hard times?

What are the main issues and choices confronting the company? Is it in an expanding
industry, or a maturing one? Are customer needs changing? Does the firm confront a
variety of opportunities? Or is there a particular business decision which the case is
oriented towards?
?
What information is there in the case, as tables and annexes?
Analyse thoroughly, and use what you have been learning
Put the case aside for a few days before reading it a second time. Then, start to analyse it
seriously:
?
Look at the development of the organisation over time. What strategies has it pursued?
Which have succeeded and which have failed? Which are the types of environment
where it has been able to succeed, and in which types has it had problems?

Use the tools and techniques of strategic management theory, to see what insights
they give you. What is the nature of the competitive environment? What kind of strategic
resources does the organisation have – and which does it lack? How successful
has the organisation been – and how do you know?
?
Look carefully at all the tables, annexes and appendices. Why are they there? What
information is the case writer trying to get you to get out of them?
?
If there are numerical data in the case – analyse them. What trends over time do they
show? What ratios can you use to analyse performance in areas that are important to
the organisation?
Then, if you have time, put the case aside again for a day or two, and let all this sink in. You
may at this stage like to use SWOT analysis as a framework for a preliminary analysis of
your thinking.
Relate your analysis to the question
Now start to relate the analysis to the task or question you have been set.
?
What elements of the strategic analysis do you require to carry out the task, and how
do they relate to it?
?
Is there further information or analysis that you need?
Be logical and critical
12
Think hard about your conclusions and recommendations.
?
Have you really demonstrated them, backing up your reasoning with hard evidence
(events and results) from the case study?
?
Have you allowed yourself to be swayed by the opinions of the organisation’s own
managers? They have a vested interest in showing their actions in the best possible
light. You do not have to agree. Do the facts support their claims of success, or their
excuses for failure?
?
Beware of being taken in by the rhetoric of the case writer. Sometimes they may
genuinely believe that this is a wonderful company, sometimes they may just be trying
to mislead you.
?
We can read what they think – we want to know what you think! Dare to be different –
if you can marshal the evidence to support what you say.

Make sure it is clear what you are recommending…
If you are asked for a particular decision or recommendation, make sure that it is
Clearly stated (i.e. not just implied) in the report. You may have come up with fifteen good reasons why the company should enter the market in Utopia, but unless you clearly state that that is what you recommend, you will lose marks.
…and why you are recommending it
Make sure that, in developing recommendations:
You have considered the alternatives. There is hardly ever just one, single “obvious”
response to a strategic problem. And bear in mind that, if there is, all the company’s
competitors will have thought of it, too!

You have made it clear why the recommendation you have chosen is the best of the
available alternatives. That means showing what is wrong with the others!
Academic Journals
The following academic journals are the best and most relevant ones in the field of Strategic
Management. Most of them are available in the library (some as electronic resources only –
you can ask the librarians to help you).
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Strategic Management Journal (available in the library)
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Journal of Economics and Management Strategy (available in the library)
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Long Range Planning (available in the library)
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Technology Analysis & Strategic Management (available in the library)
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Journal of Business Strategy (available in the library)
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Business Strategy and the Environment (available in the library)
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Business Strategy Review (available in the library)
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Strategy & Leadership (available in the library)
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Advances in Strategic Management
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Strategic Change
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Strategic Organisation
The following journals gerneral Management journals, which are useful background reading.
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Harvard Business Review (available in the library)
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Academy of Management Journal
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MIT Sloan Management Review
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McKinsey Quarterly
6.4 Newspapers and Journals
You should read at least one of these newspapers and journals on a regular basis. All of
them have on-line editions.
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Financial Times (UK, daily; www.ft.com)
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The Economist (UK, weekly; www.economist.com)
14
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Wall Street Journal (US, daily; www.wsj.com)
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Business Week (US, weekly; www.businessweek.com)
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Fortune (US, weekly; www.fortune.com)
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Handelsblatt (Germany, daily; www.handelsblatt.com)
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Les Échos (France, daily; www.lesechos.fr)
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Il Sole 24 Ore (Italy, daily; www.ilsole24ore.com)
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Nikkei (Japan, daily; in Japanese and English; www.nni.nikkei.co.jp)
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Economic Observer (China, weekly; in English and Mandarin;
www.eeo.com.cn/ens
)
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The Economic Times (India, daily; in English, Hindi, and Gujarati;

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com