STRATEGIC PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION
Successful businesses regularly analyze their processes to ensure they’re operating as efficiently as possible and maintaining their competitive advantages. Although you can assess a company in many ways, a common technique is the SWOT analysis. In this assignment, you will practice using a SWOT analysis to better understand the factors involved in making business decisions that promote sustainable competitive advantage.
Select and research a company from the 2019 Fortune 500 list (or 2020, understanding the singular nature of that year) that demonstrates a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Evaluate the selected company’s sustainable competitive advantage using the SWOT analysis technique.
Write a 700- to 1,050-word modified SWOT analysis that includes the following:
- An introduction with a detailed description of the company
- A SWOT analysis that includes strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
- An evaluation of how specific internal factors (strengths and/or weaknesses) support and/or promote a competitive advantage; examples may include:
- Financial, physical, or human resources
- Access to natural resources, trademarks, patents, or copyrights
- Current processes (employee programs or software systems)
- An evaluation of how specific external factors (opportunities and/or threats) support and/or promote a competitive advantage; examples may include:
- Market trends (new products or technology advancements)
- Economic trends (local and/or global)
- Demographics
- Regulations (political, environmental, or economic)
- Conclusion with an evaluation of how the company has retained its competitive advantage
- Include APA-formatted in-text citations and a reference page with at least 2 sources. Note: You may include your textbook as 1 of the sources.
