Strategic Business Management
PAPER OUTLINE- External Analysis
3.1 General Environmental Analysis (PESTEL analysis)
3.2. Demographic Segment
1) List the first factor in this segment that can have impact on our industry and/or related industries:
2) How would this factor affect our industry and/or related industries? Positive, negative, or more complex? Please specify with a few sentences.
3) What the trend of this factor in near future? Growing? Declining? Changing in structure? Or anything else? Use a few sentences to justify.
4) Based on the trends in 3), what are the resulting changes of our industry and/or related industries?
5) List the second factor that you think can affect our industry/related industries:
6) Follow the order 1) to 4), outline your analysis regarding the second factor you just proposed. You can also propose several more factors following the same procedure of analysis.
7) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables here.
3.3 Economic Segment
1) List the first factor in this segment that can have impact on our industry and/or related industries:
2) How would this factor affect our industry and/or related industries? Positive, negative, or more complex? Please specify with a few sentences.
3) What the trend of this factor in near future? Growing? Declining? Changing in structure? Or anything else? Use a few sentences to justify.
4) Based on the trends in 3), what are the resulting changes of our industry and/or related industries?
5) List the second factor that you think can affect our industry/related industries:
6) Follow the order 1) to 4), outline your analysis regarding the second factor you just proposed. You can also propose several more factors following the same procedure of analysis.
7) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables here.
3.4 Political/Legal Segment
1) List the first factor in this segment that can have impact on our industry and/or related industries:
2) How would this factor affect our industry and/or related industries? Positive, negative, or more complex? Please specify with a few sentences.
3) What the trend of this factor in near future? Growing? Declining? Changing in structure? Or anything else? Use a few sentences to justify.
4) Based on the trends in 3), what are the resulting changes of our industry and/or related industries?
5) List the second factor that you think can affect our industry/related industries:
6) Follow the order 1) to 4), outline your analysis regarding the second factor you just proposed. You can also propose several more factors following the same procedure of analysis.
7) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables here.
3.5 Socio-Cultural Segment
1) List the first factor in this segment that can have impact on our industry and/or related industries:
2) How would this factor affect our industry and/or related industries? Positive, negative, or more complex? Please specify with a few sentences.
3) What the trend of this factor in near future? Growing? Declining? Changing in structure? Or anything else? Use a few sentences to justify.
4) Based on the trends in 3), what are the resulting changes of our industry and/or related industries?
5) List the second factor that you think can affect our industry/related industries:
6) Follow the order 1) to 4), outline your analysis regarding the second factor you just proposed. You can also propose several more factors following the same procedure of analysis.
7) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables here.
3.6 Technological Segment
1) List the first factor in this segment that can have impact on our industry and/or related industries:
2) How would this factor affect our industry and/or related industries? Positive, negative, or more complex? Please specify with a few sentences.
3) What the trend of this factor in near future? Growing? Declining? Changing in structure? Or anything else? Use a few sentences to justify.
4) Based on the trends in 3), what are the resulting changes of our industry and/or related industries?
5) List the second factor that you think can affect our industry/related industries:
6) Follow the order 1) to 4), outline your analysis regarding the second factor you just proposed. You can also propose several more factors following the same procedure of analysis.
7) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables here.
3.7 Global Segment
1) List the first factor in this segment that can have impact on our industry and/or related industries:
2) How would this factor affect our industry and/or related industries? Positive, negative, or more complex? Please specify with a few sentences.
3) What the trend of this factor in near future? Growing? Declining? Changing in structure? Or anything else? Use a few sentences to justify.
4) Based on the trends in 3), what are the resulting changes of our industry and/or related industries?
5) List the second factor that you think can affect our industry/related industries:
6) Follow the order 1) to 4), outline your analysis regarding the second factor you just proposed. You can also propose several more factors following the same procedure of analysis.
7) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables here.
[Integration and thoughts]
Do you have any other thoughts regarding the interaction among different factors you have proposed so far?
3.8 Summary of General Environmental Analysis
[No need to make summary for your outline here. But you need to have this section written up in the complete paper]
4.1 Industry Analysis
4.2. Description of the Industry
1) What is the definition of our focal industry according to SIC and NAICS codes?
2) Describe the emergence and development of the industry in the United States (3-5 sentences):
3) Identify the names of major supplying industry(-ies)/supply materials and major buying industry (-ies)/customers of our focal industry:
4) What is the current global and US market size in terms of sales revenue? What is the expected growth rate in near future?
5) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables here.
5.1 Industry Dominant Economic Features
5.2 Market Size
1) What is the current industrial total sales revenue in US market in 2019, 2020, and 2021? How many companies in this industry? How many employees hired by this industry?
2) use several sentences to describe the global aspects of the industry: A) what is the degree of globalization of this industry? B) What is global market size (total sales revenue) in 2019, 2020, and 2021? C) Are there any large foreign companies take significant market share worldwide?
3) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables (highly recommended) here.
5.3 Market Growth Rate
1) What is the industry’s average growth rate in recent years? (It’s better to provide several other measures besides sales revenue.)
2) What is the expected growth rate in near future? (It’s better to provide several other measures besides sales revenue.)
3) Is there any other related changes in the industry recently and in future? (If you have, please list as A, B, C, etc. below, with a few sentences for each change.)
4) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables (highly recommended) here.
5.4 Industry Trends
1) Are there any changes recently or expected in near future in terms of total number of firms in the industry, location distribution of the firms, abnormal industrial dynamics (such as merge and acquisition, new entrants, and declining incumbents), etc? List as A, B, C, … below if you found any with several sentences for each item.
2) Are there any new products, production process, technology innovation (improvements) recently or expected in near future? If you found any, list below as A, B, C,… with several sentences for each item.
3) Are there any change of the scope of the market such as pace of globalization; product/business diversification of current large companies? If you found any, list below as A, B, C,… with several sentences for each item.
4) Put any other industry trends you identified here and list as A, B, C, … with several sentences for each item
5) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables (highly recommended) here.
5.6 Threat of New Entrants
1) Follow the checklist in the textbook to analyze the whole industry, and identify the factors that may encourage new entrants to this industry. Use one sentence to make your argument for each factor, and list them as A, B, C, …
2) Follow the checklist to analyze the whole industry and identify the factors that may prevent new entrants. Use one sentence to make your argument for each factor, and list them as A, B, C, …
3) What is your overall verdict on threat of new entrants: low, moderate, or high? (Just pick one from these three or you can make a term like “low but growing”, “moderate and declining”, etc.
4) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables too.
5.7 Power of Suppliers
1) Specify what industries are suppliers of our focal industry:
2) Follow the checklist to analyze the whole industry and identify the factors that may increase the suppliers’ bargaining power. Use one sentence to make your argument for each factor, and list them as A, B, C, …
3) Follow the checklist to analyze the whole industry and identify the factors that may weaken the suppliers’ bargaining power. Use one sentence to make your argument for each factor, and list them as A, B, C, …
4) What is your overall verdict on the power of suppliers: low, moderate, or high? (Just pick one from these three or you can make a term like “low but growing”, “moderate and declining”, etc.
5) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables too.
5.8 Power of Buyers
1) Specify who (what industries) are buyers of our focal industry:
2) Follow the checklist to analyze the whole industry and identify the factors that may increase the buyers’ bargaining power. Use one sentence to make your argument for each factor, and list them as A, B, C, …
3) Follow the checklist to analyze the whole industry and identify the factors that may weaken the buyers’ bargaining power. Use one sentence to make your argument for each factor, and list them as A, B, C, …
4) What is your overall verdict on the power of buyers: low, moderate, or high? (Just pick one from these three or you can make a term like “low but growing”, “moderate and declining”, etc.
5) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables too.
5.9 Power of Substitutes
1) Specify what products by which industries are possible substitutes of our focal industry’s major products:
2) Follow the checklist to analyze the whole industry and identify the factors that may increase the power of those substitutes. Use one sentence to make your argument for each factor, and list them as A, B, C, …
3) Follow the checklist to analyze the whole industry and identify the factors that may weaken the power of those substitutes. Use one sentence to make your argument for each factor, and list them as A, B, C, …
4) What is your overall verdict on the power of substitutes, low, moderate, or high? (Just pick one from these three or you can make a term like “low but growing”, “moderate and declining”, etc.
5) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables too.
5.10 Intensity of Rivalry
1) Specify major companies and number of total companies in our focal industry (primarily in US markets).
2) Follow the checklist to analyze the whole industry and identify the factors that may increase the intensity of rivalry. Use one sentence to make your argument for each factor, and list them as A, B, C, …
3) Follow the checklist to analyze the whole industry and identify the factors that may weaken the intensity of rivalry. Use one sentence to make your argument for each factor, and list them as A, B, C, …
4) What is your overall verdict on the intensity of rivalry: low, moderate, or high? (Just pick one from these three or you can make a term like “low but growing”, “moderate and declining”, etc.
5) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables too.
5.11 Summary of Industry Analysis
(NO outline needed, but you need to have this section written up in your complete draft.)
6.1 Industry Driving Forces
6.2 Brief Summary of 3.1 and 4.1
(NO outline needed, but you need to have this section written up in your complete draft.)
6.3 Industry Driving Forces
[Read and understand the content of industry driving forces in the textbook and evaluate the whole industry for each item. The file in “Knowledge Base Articles” in the project folder is also very useful too. Keep in mind you need to be specific to our focal industry.]
1) Among the factors identified in your general environmental analysis and the industry analysis (such as five forces analysis), what factors do you think are driving forces of our focal industry? listed them here with A, B, C, … Use one sentence for each factor to make an argument why and how that factor is a driving force.
2) You may find some driving forces in several industry reports, but you need to have connections to your previous analysis for general environment and industry if you list any factors from those reports.
3) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables too.
7.1 Competition Analysis
7.2 Industry Competitors
1) List the major competitors (companies) (about 3-5 companies) of the Company in United States (or North America) in the whole industry:
2) Why you list them as major competitors of the Company?
3) Make a brief comparison table of them (and include the Company too) below listing their major products, headquarter location, establishment year, number of employees, last year’s sales revenue, market share, net income, profit, and other related data.
4) Make a brief introduction of the first competitor following this sequence:
- Brief history including significant strategic changes of the Company:
- Its product & services:
- Revenue, market share, and profitability of recent years:
5) Make a brief introduction of the second competitor following this sequence:
- Brief history including significant strategic changes of the Company:
- Its product & services:
- Revenue, market share, and profitability of recent years:
6) Make a brief introduction of the third competitor following this sequence:
- Brief history including significant strategic changes of the Company:
- Its product & services:
- Revenue, market share, and profitability of recent years:
[Please make more sections if you have more than three competitors identified here]
7) List your references here. Copy the competitors’ logo here. You can also copy and paste other useful graphs and tables too.
7.3 Rivals Anticipated Strategic Moves
Following the same order that you introduce the competitors in the previous section, create a few sections each of which analyzes the strategic moves of each competitor below.
1) What are the current strategies of the first competitor?
2) What is the future strategic plan of the first competitor?
3) What are the current strategies of the second competitor?
4) What is the future strategic plan of the second competitor?
5) What are the current strategies of the third competitor?
6) What is the future strategic plan of the third competitor?
[add more sections if you have more than three competitors to analyze. Change the following section numbers accordingly.]
7) Below make a strategic map for the major competitors (including the Company) following the sample strategic map in Chapter 3 in the section of “strategic group analysis”. Here are some variables (i.e., X- and Y-Axis) you can consider for your strategic map: degree of business diversification; broadness of franchising brands; (domestic/global) market coverage/locational presence; price (high value vs low cost), etc.
8) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables too.
7.4 Summary of Competition Analysis
[NO outline needed but you need to have this section written up in your complete draft.]
7.5 Industry Key Success Factors
[Read and understand textbook content from page 59-61. Also read the knowledge base articles on this in the folder “documents and instructions on part one”.]
1) List several factors (not more than five) that you think are critical for a firm to succeed in our focal industry, and specify why and how (with 1-3 sentences):
- Factor one:; Why and how this is critical for a firm to succeed in this industry:
- Factor two: ; Why and how this is critical for a firm to succeed in this industry:
- Factor three:; Why and how this is critical for a firm to succeed in this industry:
- Add more here if you have more than three KSFs.
2) List your references here. You can also copy and paste useful graphs and tables too.
