A dry cleaning chain that has operated in some of the major metropolitan locations on the west coast for the last five years is interested in expanding to other geographic areas of the U.S.
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MG 441 – Business Policy and Strategy
Final Exam
Due Jan 22, 2014
A dry cleaning chain that has operated in some of the major metropolitan locations on the west coast for the last five years is interested in expanding to other geographic areas of the U.S. Boston
Using what you have learned about the five-step strategic planning process, explain how you would analyze and report back to management on your findings.
You will need to assess the internal nature of their organization and the external factors they will face by expanding their business in this geographic area. You should consider factors such as the demographics and other forces present in the industry.
For this assignment your task is to explain how you, as a strategic consultant, would approach the second, third and fourth steps of the strategic planning process (ignore the Mission
I. Step II: How would to assess the External Analysis? Include a discussion as to how you would utilize the Porter Five-Force Model as a tool to analyze the local industry and position the organization to enter the market to succeed.
II. Step III: How would you evaluate the Internal Analysis? You should: (a) Explain how you might consider the “four building blocks” to position the organization to succeed in their plans to expand to the greater Boston
III. Step IV: What “alternative strategic decisions” (regarding functional and business level strategies) would you recommend? In other words, (a) How would you suggest that the organization craft its functional-level strategy to succeed? (b) What business-level strategy would you recommend?
To answer the inevitable question about length, I would guess that each of the three sections should be on the order of 1 ½ to 2 pages (total length likely around 6 pages). Feel free to use lists or bullets where appropriate. I am looking for your ability to think strategically and apply the concepts from the course to this exercise.
