Need a large and thorough analysis done on the automobile industry specifically the Ford Motor Company
GROUP CASE ANALYSIS on Ford Motors Company: PART 1: The first part of the group project is intended to give students practice
in compiling relevant information about organizations and their industries toward solving key issues. PART 2:
The second part of this project compels students to brainstorm and formulate strategic options using relevant
data in order to solve critical issues which greatly impact a company’s strategic and financial success.
The following is a list of suggested industries for analysis:
1. manufacturers (e.g., paint, paper, recreational equipment, etc.)
2. nursing home chains (national)
3. trucking industry
4. book store chains
5. national home builders
6. food distributors
7. hotels or other hospitality organizations (e.g., clubs)
8. newspapers
9. wine makers
Industries may be chosen by only one group on a first come – first served basis. Please post your
industry/company choice on the Discussion Board thread labeled “Groups” and let me know by email which
industry you choose. I will consider other industries if you have a burning desire to analyze some other industry
that is not listed above. Again, you must get approval.
Minimum requirements for your selected industry:
1. The industry must consist of a relatively high number of competitors, and a significant number of rather
large single-business companies.
2. The industries must have companies that are publicly owned.
3. Among the publicly owned companies, you must be able to identify a primary company within the
industry, as well as a similar competitor(s) within the industry.
4. You must be able to find or calculate industry averages for a period of five years for a minimum of two
ratios within each of the five ratio categories.
5. You must select an industry for which adequate research information is available.
It is VERY IMPORTANT that you examine the research literature to be sure of these requirements before you
invest significant time in getting the project going. Your professor strongly suggests that, as you select your
industry and do the necessary research, you also select a primary comparison company within that industry. If
you do this, you will have most of the industry analysis already completed for your second group case.
EACH SECTION MUST BE LABELED WITH THE GROUP MEMBERS NAME WHO DID THE
WORK!! If you do not state who performed the work for a section, the points for that section will be
discounted. There is no way to distinguish effort, so the group is guaranteed to share the grade associated
with that section.
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16. References – list references alphabetically and number ([1], [2]).
Cite reference throughout the report by numbering each [1], [2], etc.
MGMT4842—Strategic Management Group Project – Written Portion Parts 1 and 2
PART 1:
1. Title Page
2. Table of Contents
_________(5 Points)______________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Executive Summary – This can only be completed after PART 2 is complete. This component should
be inserted behind the table of contents. It involves a 1-page summary of the major findings of the
report provided in PART 2. The executive summary is NOT supposed to be a summary of everything
presented in the report.
_______ (5 Points)______________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Mission and Vision – Include (or write) a mission and vision statement for your company. According to
Chapter 2 are the statements (if) provided by the company adequate and appropriate? Why/why not?
Cutting and pasting is ok, but be sure to quote and cite!
_______ (5 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Objectives – List and discuss separately strategic objectives and financial objectives. Must have at least
5 objectives of each type. Discuss how each objective relates to and works to fulfill the company
strategy overall.
For both types of corporate objectives, refer to the definition in your text for each. The statements you
provide should be as described in your text. Remember to delineate each one separately.
Financial Objectives (5 points)
a.
b.
….
x. (at least 5 are required)
Strategic Objectives (5 points)
a.
b.
….
x. (at least 5 are required)
_______ (10 Points)______________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Driving Forces (macro) – List and discuss each separately. You must address all driving forces, and how
each may affect the industry, as a whole as well as the company of interest…(see text as a checklist type
reference).
_______ (10 Points)_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Industry Key Success Factors (KSFs) (competitive environment) — List and discuss each separately.
You must address all KSFs for your industry, keeping in mind that there may be more than one KSF for
each category described in your text book …(see text as a checklist type reference).
_______ (10 Points)_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
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8. Competitive Analysis: Begin this section by providing the SIC/NAICS code information for your
industry as well as the industry definition. Then, discuss the 5 Forces within your company’s industry,
and how these forces impact your company.
For all forces, indicate:
whether this competitive force is strong or weak,
list and discuss how each force impacts the competitive environment of the company,
analyze the competitive pressure presented by each force, and how the company is positioned in
relation to each force.
A. New Entrants: (Also, address: barriers to entry, learning curve effects, other considerations including
macro forces)
B. Substitutes: (Also, name all possible substitutes. Be sure to consider the 3 characteristics that make a
product a substitute.)
C. Rivalry within the Industry: (Consider market size and growth rate, #/size/strengths of rivals, list
competitive behaviors of rivals)
D. Suppliers: (are there company/supplier collaboration/contracts, consider availability and/or
differentiation of supplies, size of companies (your company and rivals) buying the supplies, size of
suppliers, etc.)
E. Customers/buyers: (are there company/ customers collaboration/contracts, differentiation of available
products, size of customer). Please note, customers in this section means those who buy the product
provided by the company being analyzed.
_________(25 Points)______________________________________________________________________________________________________
SWOT
9. Internal Analysis – List, by order of rank, a minimum of 5 Strengths and 5 Weaknesses. Considering the
industry competitive environment, rank each according to how beneficial the strengths are (or how
problematic the weaknesses are) for your company, and why.
10. External Analysis – List, by order of rank, a minimum of 5 Opportunities and 5 Threats. Rank each
according to how beneficial the opportunities are (or problematic the threats are) for your company, and
why.
_________(20 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
11. Competitive strategy – choose from the 5 generic competitive strategies provided in Chapter 5 your text.
List reasons why the strategic category you chose best fits your company.
________(5 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
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12. Financial Analyses – You are to provide a 5-year trend analysis for each of a minimum of 5 ratios
which are appropriate to the effective understanding of your company’s financial state. Provide 5 tables
and line graphs with a discussion of each table. NOTE: Mergent Online (a project resource available on
the Joyner resource cite) will assist you in calculating the ratios for this assignment.
Format for each ratio: You must use this format. Each ratio should be all on one page.
RATIO NAME
Year 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Company
Competitor
Industry
Graph the information in a line graph.
Paragraph #1: You are to provide a general explanation of the chosen ratio immediately following the
above table for each ratio.
Paragraph #2: Interpret the specific information presented in the graph to address the similarities or
differences in the trends of company, competitor, and industry. Also, indicate outliers, and why these
extremes may exist.
_________(30 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
PART 2:
NOTE: For sections 13-15, present EACH issue together with its associated alternatives and
recommendations. Please do NOT group all issues together, then all alternatives, and all recommendations. The
section descriptions are simply listed this way below to make instructions clear.
13. Analysis of Major Issues – based on the analysis of data and identification of industry issues:
a. List and discuss the major strategic issues the company faces in the next 1-5 years. You must
have at least 5 major strategic issues that are of primary importance to the company
b. Thoroughly explain why these issues are most important for the company to address at this time.
Include references to SWOT, industry KSF and driving forces information or whatever is
relevant to justify the importance of this issue to the company’s success. Do not forget
international concerns.
c. Cite at least two news articles which discuss the issue.
________(20 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
14. Presentation and Analysis of Alternatives — Alternatives should not be “To do or not to do”. That is
NOT the question! “Alternatives” mean the various ways by which an issue may be resolved.
You must have at least 2 alternatives for each issue.
Identify and evaluate (by discussing the pros and cons) the alternatives to solving each issue.
o Pros and cons may include the references to SWOT, industry KSF and driving forces
information or whatever is relevant to justify the value of an alternative in solving the
issue to be addressed. Do not forget international concerns.
_______ (30 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________4
12. Financial Analyses – You are to provide a 5-year trend analysis for each of a minimum of 5 ratios
which are appropriate to the effective understanding of your company’s financial state. Provide 5 tables
and line graphs with a discussion of each table. NOTE: Mergent Online (a project resource available on
the Joyner resource cite) will assist you in calculating the ratios for this assignment.
Format for each ratio: You must use this format. Each ratio should be all on one page.
RATIO NAME
Year 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Company
Competitor
Industry
Graph the information in a line graph.
Paragraph #1: You are to provide a general explanation of the chosen ratio immediately following the
above table for each ratio.
Paragraph #2: Interpret the specific information presented in the graph to address the similarities or
differences in the trends of company, competitor, and industry. Also, indicate outliers, and why these
extremes may exist.
_________(30 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
PART 2:
NOTE: For sections 13-15, present EACH issue together with its associated alternatives and
recommendations. Please do NOT group all issues together, then all alternatives, and all recommendations. The
section descriptions are simply listed this way below to make instructions clear.
13. Analysis of Major Issues – based on the analysis of data and identification of industry issues:
a. List and discuss the major strategic issues the company faces in the next 1-5 years. You must
have at least 5 major strategic issues that are of primary importance to the company
b. Thoroughly explain why these issues are most important for the company to address at this time.
Include references to SWOT, industry KSF and driving forces information or whatever is
relevant to justify the importance of this issue to the company’s success. Do not forget
international concerns.
c. Cite at least two news articles which discuss the issue.
________(20 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
14. Presentation and Analysis of Alternatives — Alternatives should not be “To do or not to do”. That is
NOT the question! “Alternatives” mean the various ways by which an issue may be resolved.
You must have at least 2 alternatives for each issue.
Identify and evaluate (by discussing the pros and cons) the alternatives to solving each issue.
o Pros and cons may include the references to SWOT, industry KSF and driving forces
information or whatever is relevant to justify the value of an alternative in solving the
issue to be addressed. Do not forget international concerns.
_______ (30 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
5
15. Recommendations – Choose from the aforementioned alternative for each issue to provide the most
reasonable and appropriate recommendation to resolve each issue.
Discuss each issue’s recommendation and why one alternative was chosen over the other.
Provide support about how each recommendation will correct or address the issue better than
the others.
Discuss the implementation considerations (i.e., the costs and other issues) to obtain full credit
for this part. Remember, for strategy to be effective it must be executed well.
Also, specify if the company needs to change its generic or master strategies.
_______ (30 Points)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
DO NOT FORGET — Editing, spelling, grammar, formatting (titles and subtitles) – (3 points will be deducted
per error) if you have made an error on previous papers in this class, the noted error should not be present in
this paper. This would be a reason for multiples in point reductions.
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GRADING: Any/All of the following points may be considered in grading the written report.
The report was compiled in a readable manner. Major points may be deducted if this is not so!!! This
means paragraph lengths of no more than 10-15 lines. Indentation is necessary. Labeling is
EXTREMELY important!!!
o Section titles
o Subject subtitles
o Italicized paragraph subtitles (if appropriate)
Proper editing. Please see Hints for Effective Writing on Blackboard and/or consult with an editor from
the campus writing labs.
Information presented in report was on topic.
Writer demonstrated a grasp of the information.
Sufficient research was performed.
Recognized all important factors in strategic planning and implementation.
Identified major strategic issues facing the company
Clearly stated the recommendations in sufficient detail including analysis of alternatives, pros and cons
of each, and sufficient reasoning to elect one alternative as the best to resolve an issue.
Maintained proper balance among identification, analysis and evaluation, and recommendation.
The writer proofread the report and removed grammatical, spelling and typographical errors. (See the
Editing Rules document about common errors in business writing, posted on Blackboard.)
The writer credited the work of others in the body of the report and in a bibliography (There should be at
least 15 to 20 references!)
