Case Positions Papers

Purpose
Within an academic setting, you can practice being managers through analyzing case
studies. Case analysis puts you in the shoes of those faced with actual managerial
situations and forces you to make decisions as managers based on limited information
and a finite time frame. Thus, case analysis plays a major role in preparing you for a
business career.
You must actively participate in the case method to derive full benefit. This will require
you to appraise the situation from a top manager’s perspective asking: (1) What external
and internal factors are critical to understanding the situation? (2) What issues and/or
opportunities are evident? (3) What strategic recommendations can be offered? and (4)
How can these actions be implemented and evaluated?
These position papers are designed not only to facilitate class discussion, but more
importantly, to develop your ability to identify the strategic factors confronting
organizations, make suggestions as to what strategies firms can pursue to effectively
address these challenges, and discuss how these strategic plans/actions may be
implemented and evaluated. In addition, you will gain experience in recognizing what
information is most relevant to understanding the major factors influencing a particular
company’s performance and its competitive advantage.
This semester we will be analyzing and discussing the following five cases:

 Movie Exhibition Industry in 2015

 Columbia Sportswear
 Harley-Davidson
 Facebook
 Krispy Kreme

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Overall Requirements
Each student must prepare a total of three case position papers.First,you must submit
a position paper for the assigned industry-level case (Movie Exhibition Industry in
2015). Next, you must submit position papers for two of the four company cases.
The company cases are divided into two case sets (identified as Set A & B on the
course schedule) from which you must submit one in each case set. The first two cases
must be submitted individually.The third case position paper(from Case Set B) can be
submittedindividually or with one other student enrolled in your section. If you
choose the second option, both individuals are expected to participate in the class
discussion, but only one copy of the paper itself (with both names listed) should be
submitted. Finally, all three case position papers must be submitted via Canvasunder
the Case Position Papers moduleusing the respective Turnitinassignment link.
Links will close on the case due date listed in the course schedule.
A maximum of up to about half of the final course enrollment numbers will be allowed to
submit a position paper for each company in Case Sets A & B. Email me your
preferences (one for Set A and one for Set B) by week 3 of the semester(January
28th).Requests will be processed in the order in which they are received. If the slots are
filled when I receive your email, you will have to submit the other case in the group.
Students who do not provide preferences will be notified via email of which case(s) to
submit.
While you are not required to update the case in any way, you are expected to actively
participate in class discussion on the indicated day. In writing case position papers you must:
 Apply and incorporaterelevant theories/concepts covered in the textbook and class discussions.
 Provide supporting evidence from the case when making assessments. Please note that
while supporting evidence must be based on case facts, it is not acceptable for you to copy
or lift statements/sentences directly from the case without using quotation marks. Failure to
use quotation marks as appropriate will be considered plagiarism and result in a grade of 0
for the assignment.
 Submit the case position paper as a Microsoft Word file via the Turnitin Assignment link
under the Case Position Papers module in Canvasprior toon the day the case appears in
the assignment column of the course schedule. Late papers will be accepted only under
extreme circumstances that are verifiable and communicated prior to the submission
deadline. Also, there will be a reduction of a minimum of 20% of the total available points
(10 points for the industry-level case and 15 points for Case Sets A and B). Alternative
arrangements will also be necessary to earn points associated with the class discussion
component of the grade.

Overall Grading
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80% of the total grade will be based on the written paper and 20% based on your
participation in class discussion of that particular day. The paper must be in paragraph
format. Points for both the written and oral components of the grade will be based on
the extent to which you present your views in a logical sequence, support them with facts
from the case, and defend them as appropriate. In addition, your written and oral
presentation should be concise and to the point and reflect your ability to apply
concepts/tools from the textbook, lectures, and other case analyses. Points will be
deducted for not following the format provided, exceeding the page limitation,
incorrect grammar, misspelled words, and typographical errors. Evidence of
plagiarism will result in a grade of 0 on the assignment.

Please note that for the second and third case position papers (those company cases
from Case Sets A and B), significant points are allocated to the analysis and
recommendation section. This section requires that you generate possible alternatives a
firm can pursue in light of key information highlighted in the external and internal
assessments. Alternatives must go beyond maintaining the status quo or continuing to
implement its current actions. As an entrepreneur or employee of a company, your
ability to create maximal value for the firm is based upon how competent you are in
making sense of information and using it effectively to recommend possible
alternative actions. Such alternative actions often entail making modifications to
existing actions or considering new and different actions that have not been pursued in
the past. Thus, a critical skill of an individual contributor, manager, or strategic leader in
any firm – regardless of size, type, or product market focus – is the ability to leverage
knowledge about the firm’s external and internal environments to generate viable
alternative strategic actions. It is the desire that by gaining this experience and related
skill set in the context of case analyses you will be better equipped to make value
contributions in any firm or organization with which you are affiliated.

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General Requirements for Industry-level Case Position Paper
AACSB (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business -
http://www.aacsb.edu/) is the accreditation institution that tests the effectiveness of higher
education institutions. It tests whether students coming out of a business school have
acquired the knowledge and skills that a business school is supposed to provide. If the
answer is yes, the school is “accredited”, which increases the value of the diploma that
the school gives in the job market. FAU is currently AACSB accredited. But we have to
constantly demonstrate that we are an effective institution. To do this each department
selects certain classes and gives an assignment in these classes to test relevant sets of
knowledge and skills. This assignment serves this purpose for the Management Programs
department.

Do not confuse this assignment with the “company case position papers” explained
on pages 7-9.

The industry-level case position papers are due. Each student must submit a case
position paper via Canvas under the Case Position Papers module using the respective
Turnitin assignment link.

Format Requirements

 The industry-level case position papermust be typed and submitted via Canvas.
Hand-written assignments will not be accepted.
 Narrative/paragraph format must be used.Do not use bullet points or a table.
 Use of subheadings (sections) to enhance clarity and readability is required.
 Ensure that the use of concepts from the course is explicit and appropriate.
 Be concise – avoid passive voice and long sentences.
 Emphasize the evidence from the case provided and build on it – eliminate
unfounded speculation and opinion.
 Use only one term per concept or issue (e.g. if you use the word “company” do not
interchange it throughout the paper with “firm” or “organization”)
 Times New Roman 12 pt. font, double spacing, 1 inch margins, 4-page
maximum.
 Proofread! Excessive grammatical errors will lower your grade!

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Content Requirements

This assignment will assess your ability to use Porter’s Five Forces model as an
analytical tool to examine the external environment of the global automobile industry.
The knowledge and skills to be tested with this assignment are:
 knowledge of Porter’s 5 forces model,
 assessment of the global context,
 analytical skills,
 reflective thinking, and
 quality of written communication.
For the analysis you will use the information provided in the case as well as what you
have learned in class so far and in other business-related classes in your undergraduate
program. No additional research fromwebsites, newspapers, or articles is required.
The paper is expected to be “analytical” as opposed to “descriptive”. Analytical means
reading a piece of information in the case, realizing that it is an example of a theoretical
concept that we have covered in class, and stating that link between the case and the
theory. On the other hand, descriptive means just describing what has happened to the
company in question without referring to what theoretical model or concept explains the
experiences of the company. To be able to write a truly analytical paper, you need to go
back to the relevant course materials and readings (i.e. text book and lecture notes),
understand them well, and then read the case multiple times with an eye to identify what
parts of the events described in the case correspond to what part of the theory (and
concepts) covered in the class. Your paper should show how the material in the case
relates to theory covered in the class. Accordingly, you have to use course concepts and
relate them to the events in the case.

Organization

Introduction: A short introductory paragraph should state the focus of your analysis and
why this is an interesting case to study. In this section, I expect you to identify the key
lesson to be drawn from this case in relation to the material covered in class. In your
opinion, what is the most interesting thing about this case? What strategic issue does the
case mainly illustrate? The introduction should include a sentence of the form: “to me the
most interesting thing about this case was…..” The issue that you identify should be
relevant for the theoretical material covered in the class. It is also a good idea to provide a
brief description of the overall industry being analyzed in this paragraph.

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5 forces analysis: The analysis should include all five forces proposed by Porter under
separate headings. For each force, you should:

1. State whether the force is strong/weak/neutral.

2. Explain your reasoning as to why you believe so using appropriate course
materials (i.e. text book) and illustrating theoretical concepts using examples
from the case.
3. Discuss how the global context influences each force (for example, fierce
competition from abroad increases competitive rivalry in the airline industry;
increased threat of international terrorism reduces the number of ticket buyers
and an elaboration of such ideas)
4. Discuss how this particular force influences profitability in the industry.

Conclusion and Recommendations: Building on your analysis, write a concluding

paragraph in which you discuss whether and why the industry is an attractive industry for
the incumbents and new entrants as well as offer creative recommendations for a
particular company of your choice as to how it can best exploit weak forces or deal with
strong forces. What should the company do next?

Case Discussion

Post a response to one of the questions (discussion boards/forums) related to the case. Be
sure that your response demonstrates the appropriate application of course concepts and
reflects proper representation of case materials/facts.

** You will be graded based on this information. Make sure to include everything
listed here and follow the recommended format.

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General Requirements for Company Case Position Papers

Format Requirements

 The company case position papersmust be typed and submitted via Canvas.
Hand-written assignments will not be accepted.
 Narrative/paragraph format must be used.Do not use bullet points or a table.
 Use of subheadings (sections) is optional.
 Apply and incorporate relevant theories/concepts covered in the textbook and
class discussions.
 Place emphasis on the most pertinent facts and relevant information. General
definitions or generic statements should be avoided.
 Provide supporting evidence from the case when making assessments of
multiple aspects of the firm’s internal and external environments.
 Identify which problems and/or opportunities are being addressedby each
recommended strategic action.
 Summarize your analyses inno more than three pages. These papers should be
single-spaced. The font size can be no smaller than 10 point. All margins must
be at least 0.5 inches.
 Proofread! Excessive grammatical errors will lower your grade!

Content Requirements

External Assessment 15 points

General Environment
Discuss at least 2 segments of the general environment that are especially relevant to this
industry. Provide evidence from the case to support your description of each segment
listed. Assess whether the factors pertaining to the segments highlighted represent
opportunities or threats for the focal firm.
Industry Environment
Discuss at least 2 elements of the industry structure (Porter’s Five Forces Model) that are
especially important to your understanding drivers of industry performance. Provide
evidence from the case to support your assessment of each force listed. Also, assess the
overall attractiveness of the firm’s primary industry.

Internal Assessment 15 points

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Resources/Capabilities
Identify 2-5 important resources and/or capabilities. For each resource/capability listed,
provide evidence from the case to support its existence and importance.
Core Competencies as Source of Competitive Advantage
Determine if any of the firm’s resources/capabilities are core competencies that lead to
competitive advantage. If none, provide evidence supporting this view. If a competitive
advantage is identified, then identify and describe the specific type of advantage and its
strategic implications. Be sure to provide supporting evidence from the case.
Weaknesses/Competitive Deficiencies
Identify at least 2 major weaknesses of the focal firm. For each weakness, provide evidence
from the case to support its existence and briefly mention issues it creates for the firm.
Firm Performance
Discuss the performance of the company being studied. Using information in the text as
well as in exhibits, tables, etc. include indicators such as (1) growth or change in sales, net
income, total assets, etc., (2) financial ratios, and (3) stock market performance. Be sure to
provide an assessment of how multiple selected indicators changed over a given time
period. Also, compare the focal firm to key rivals and/or industry averages along several
dimensions/indicators. Use only the information provided in the case.
Business Level Strategy
Identify the company’s primary business level strategy. Provide evidence from the case to
justify the strategy identified.
Corporate Level Strategy
Identify the company’s corporate level strategy (-ies). Use evidence from the case to
support your assessment. If you feel there is not enough information to make this assessment,
then provide a statement indicating what additional information is needed to determine the
firm’s corporate-level strategy (-ies).

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Analysis & Recommendation 30 points
Identification of Alternatives
Develop a list of 3-4 alternative actions that the company could consider pursuing
to address its current issues and challenges. Go beyond those alternatives mentioned
in the case itself. Also, continuing to engage in existing actions is not an
acceptable alternative/recommended action.

Relationship to Internal and/or External Assessment

Relate each strategic alternative to a strength, weakness, opportunity or threat
identified in the internal or external assessment. This establishes a justification as to
why strategic leaders of the focal company should consider this alternative.

Implementation and Evaluation

Provide a brief discussion of how each strategic alternative might be implemented
and evaluated. (i.e., What specific actions should the firm consider engaging in to
carry out the recommended strategic alternative? What functions or units within the
firm would be involved in executing the suggested actions? How could the firm
measure the “success” of the strategic alternative/action being recommended and
ascertain if its intended goals/objectives were met?) Discuss at least one potential
issue or disadvantage associated with each recommended strategic alternative.

* For this section, it is advised that you do a separate paragraph for each alternative
where you identify the alternative, relate it to the relevant aspect of the internal or
external assessment, and then discuss how it could be implemented and evaluated along
with at least one potential issue/disadvantage.

Case Discussion 15 points

Post a response to at least one question (discussion board/forum) in canvas
Provide responses that are consistent with case materials
Present perspectives different from those of your peers in a constructive way