CAPSTONE MBA

Think of yourself as a paid consultant who is tasked with the responsibility of diagnosing long-term and/or cross-functional problems in organizational performance, identifying long-term opportunities, and recommending solutions and strategic pathways to improve long-term organizational health.

Remember, your opinion as a consultant doesn’t matter! You would be paid based on an integrated, documented, and strong analysis that offers diagnosis based on the application of relevant information.

It is important that you put together a cogent, clear analysis for each case that can help you explain the root causes of the problems and propose solutions, using concepts from the documents provided and other relevant concepts based on knowledge you reference to support your arguments.

Complete your Situational Analysis Portfolio as follows:

PART ONE: Situational Analysis of "Google.org"

Review the following:

Review all of the documents and videos provided for Case Study #1.

• “Supplemental Briefing Notes to Prepare for Effective Strategic Thinking”


• “Google.org” and keep detailed notes. You can, and should, scan it multiple times.


• All relevant readings from the “Capstone Bibliography.”

Write a polished analysis by responding to the prompts below.

1. What do you think are the strategic strengths and weaknesses of the institutional set-up between Google and Google.org? If you were a major shareholder in Google, would you continue to support Google’s strategy to both philanthropy and Google.org? Why, or why not? Be specific.


2. In Exhibit 8 of the case, Megan Smith is promoted to take over the day-to-day management of Google.org. One of the first things she is asked to do is “focus on how Google.org can best achieve its mission.” Imagine for a moment that you are Ms. Smith. What should Google.org do to focus its mission? Why? How? Be specific, and go well beyond simplistic recommendations, such as “hire a consultant” or “do a marketing study.”


3. Do you think that “good intentions” are enough to sustain Google.org, despite their apparent lack of focus and strategy? How should non-profits be assessed and disciplined, if profit is not the primary feedback mechanism?

In your response, be sure to integrate concepts and quotes from appropriate academic frameworks and best practices in strategic management. You must also integrate at least two resources from the “Capstone Bibliography.”

Your overall response should be approximately 500 words total, single spaced.

PART TWO: Situational analysis of "James Houghton and Signature Theater"

Review the following:

• “James Houghton and Signature Theater” and keep detailed notes. You can, and should, scan it multiple times.


• “A Playbook for Strategy: The Five Essential Questions at the Heart of any Winning Strategy.”


• Review “Mapping, Measurement and Alignment of Strategy Using the Balanced Scorecard: The Tata Steel Case.”


• All relevant readings from the “Capstone Bibliography.”

Write a polished analysis responding to the prompts below.

1. How would you explain the success of James Houghton and the Signature Theater, using the five-question strategy playbook and Wolfe’s Living Organization as your frames of reference? Be specific.


2. Using the strategy map illustrated on page 122 of “Mapping, Measurement and Alignment of Strategy Using the Balanced Scorecard: The Tata Steel Case” as a guide, create a similar strategy map for Signature Theater (circa 2014).


3. Based on your strategy map and earlier response, what should Houghton do in the future? Why? How?

Be sure to integrate concepts and quotes from appropriate academic frameworks and best practices in strategic management. You must also integrate at least two resources from the “Capstone Bibliography.”

Your overall response should be approximately 500 words total, single spaced, and you should have your Strategy Map in the form of a diagram.

PART THREE: Internal Situational Analysis of "Trader Joe's"

Review the following:

• Read “Trader Joe’s” and keep detailed notes. You can, and should, scan it multiple times.


• All relevant readings from the “Capstone Bibliography.”

Use information in the case study and other basic industry research data you can find. (Hoover’s database would be a good place to start, as would Business Source Complete.)

Note: You will have to search for information on the most relevant of Trader Joe’s competitors, as well as Trader Joe’s to be able to make an appropriate relative ranking of resources.

Write a polished analysis that responds to the prompts below.

1. Create a detailed and specific “Value Chain of Activities” at Trader Joe’s that identifies all the primary skills, competencies, and capabilities within the company, and orders them within a “Value Chain” logic. Note: This table should be in Word document format.


2. Use your best judgment, based on the information in the case, and your research, and rate Trader Joe’s current profile of skills, competencies, and capabilities, as identified in the detailed “Value Chain” in the case supplemental document. Use the following scale to rate:
   
   
   
   • If the skill, competency, or capability is “World Class” (clearly best in industry and could be benchmark for other industries), rate the item a 10.
   
   
   • If the skill, competency, or capability is “Industry Best” (clearly number one or two in the industry), rate the item an 8.
   
   
   • If the skill, competency, or capability is “Industry Average,” rate the item a 5.
   
   
   • If the skill, competency, or capability “Needs Improvement,” rate the item a 3.
   
   
   • If the skill, competency, or capability is a “Critical Deficiency,” rate the item a 1.
   
   
   
   


3. What is your average rating (which assumes that all the skills, competencies, and capabilities in the value chain were equally important)? What does this average tell you?


4. What three skills, competencies, or capabilities—across all categories—do you think are strategically the most important in the industry? Why?


5. Based on your responses above, does Trader Joe’s have the capabilities in place to win? To continue to win? Why?


6. What should Trader Joe’s do right now to leverage its competitive strengths and mitigate or improve upon competitive weaknesses?

Be sure to integrate concepts and quotes from appropriate academic frameworks and best practices in strategic management. You must also integrate at least two resources from the “ Capstone Bibliography.”

Your overall response should be approximately 500 words total, single spaced, and you should also have your completed, and rated “Value Chain of Activities” table.

PART FOUR: External Situational Analysis of "Tesla Motors"

Review the following:

• “Tesla Motor (in 2013): Will Sparks Fly in the Automobile Industry?” Keep detailed notes. You can, and should, scan it multiple times.


• All relevant readings from the Capstone Bibliography.

Part IV- A: P.E.S.T. Assessment of the Global Automobile Industry and Tesla Motors

Complete Part IV-A of this Assignment, using the following steps:

1. Examine each element listed below, and related others that you identify. Then, do brief online research to help you document and analyze how each force in question is changing in any significant manner and how it might impact the automobile industry and Tesla Motors in particular.
   
   
   
   • Political (Legislative) and Legal Elements: Regulatory environment, market access, technology regulation, zoning restrictions, industry specific, or company specific legislation, anti-trust laws, insurance/liability requirements, safety regulations, child workforce protection laws, immigration laws, etc.
   
   
   • Economic Elements: Interest rate and equity market movements, capital liquidity, inflation prospects, exchange rate movements, workforce availability, discretionary income levels, etc.
   
   
   • Societal Values and Ethics: Risk-taking propensity, family dynamics and behavior, cultural “in” behaviors, taboo activities, media focus, religious behaviors, ethical limitations on business, etc.
   
   
   • Technology Elements: Materials technology advances, electronics advances, communications advances, infrastructure access (communication, electricity, etc.), energy advances, etc.
   
   
   • Demographic Changes: An important—and too often forgotten—element that includes age distribution and trend, absolute population size and trend, birth and death rates, gender proportion and trend, ethnic mix and trend, location/mobility, and trends
   
   
   
   


2. After you’ve done basic research on these general elements, identify what you think are the major implications of your work. So, for example, if U.S. interest rates are beginning to rise, what are the strategic implications of this for the automobile industry? For Tesla Motors? Will they have to change their marketing strategies, their pricing, etc.?

You don’t have to address each sub-item, but you should have a short implications summary for each of the five major subject areas, plus any other strategic implications based on very specific items that stand out as most important to the industry and Tesla. Remember to support your conclusions with appropriate references using proper APA formatting.

Your response for Part-A should be approximately 200–300 words. Please title Part-A “P.E.S.T. Analysis for the Global Automobile Industry and Tesla Motors” in your response.

Part IV- B: Stakeholder Analysis of Tesla Motors

Another way to obtain a more comprehensive perspective of the general ecosystem that a company like Tesla Motors works within, is to identify, as explicitly as possible, all the stakeholders that have an interest in a given business.

You might want to think about this by thinking “outside-in.” That is, given each of the major P.E.S.T + forces, who are the people (stakeholders) behind each major force? So, for example, it is clear that international and national political figures may be relevant stakeholders in any given case—as would government regulators at local, regional, national, or international levels.

For example, you can’t change a local, regional, or national/international regulation directly—you have to know who to see, and the action occurs among people—so a stakeholder analysis is, in many ways, a “personified” version of your P.E.S.T analysis.

Complete Part-B of this Assignment, using the following steps:

1. Identify, as explicitly as possible, all the relevant stakeholders that have an interest in Tesla Motors.


2. Research your stakeholder list initially this way, to ensure complete coverage:
   
   
   
   • General Ecosystem Stakeholders: Those behind the specific P.E.S.T. + influences (includes the press, interest groups, the public at large, communities, shareholders, etc.)
   
   
   • Industry Level Stakeholders: Direct local competitors, potential substitute companies, other competitors or potential competitors outside your current markets, lenders, alliance or potential alliance partners, trade associations, suppliers in the entire supply chain, customers and their end-users, potential customers or end users, etc.
   
   
   • Internal Stakeholders: Those who influence the company from inside, including the board of directors, senior leadership, management, skilled employees at any level, other employees, contract workforce, outsourced workforce, potential new recruits, etc.
   
   
   • Potential New Stakeholders: Those at any level, but which may become stakeholders as you consider new strategic actions and activities
   
   
   
   


3. Re-order and rank the stakeholder list in order of “influence priority,” where stakeholders at the top of the prioritized list require more of Tesla Motor’s attention because they can/will influence your strategic choices for the future the most.


4. Using your prioritized list of stakeholders, write a summary of your stakeholder analysis that explains who the key stakeholders are that Tesla Motors must pay attention to, and why; and then offer specific strategies for how Tesla must seek to manage or otherwise, legally and ethically, influence these stakeholders.

Your response to Part-B of this Assignment should be approximately 300–400 words. Please title Part-B, “Stakeholder Analysis for Tesla Motors” in your response.

Be sure to integrate concepts and quotes from appropriate academic frameworks and best practices in strategic management. To obtain an exemplary assessment, you must also integrate at least two resources from the “Capstone Bibliography,” as well.

PART FIVE: External Situational Analysis of "Apple"

Review the following:

• Read “Apple (in 2013): How to Sustain a Competitive Advantage?” Keep detailed notes. You can, and should, scan it multiple times.


• All relevant readings from the “Capstone Bibliography.”

Utilize information in the case study and other basic industry research data you can find. (Hoover’s database would be a good place to start, as would Business Source Complete.)

Write a polished analysis that responds to the prompts below.

• Provide a detailed explanation of the critical competitive forces (and their underlying dynamics) in the smartphone industry that may threaten Apple, Inc., based on a very thorough, detailed and relevant 5-Forces analysis and other concepts you’ve learned from your MBA program. Be sure to explain how and why you’ve focused on the critical forces that you’ve identified.


• Include a detailed explanation of the potential for new entry and/or effective substitute competition, based on a relevant Blue Ocean Strategy analysis and other concepts you’ve learned from your MBA program. Be sure to explain how and why you’ve focused on particular new entry or substitute threats to Apple, Inc.


• Explain the strategic implications of the competitive forces you identified above—what are the opportunities and threats to Apple, Incorporated’s position in the ecosystem of the smartphone industry that it must factor into its strategy for the future, based on your analysis, and why? Provide evidence from the case and any other research you might do, and support your reasoning with references to appropriate academic readings and from prior MBA program content.

Your response to these prompts should be polished, researched and well documented, and should be approximately 800 words in length.

Be sure to integrate concepts and quotes from appropriate academic frameworks and best practices in strategic management. To obtain an exemplary assessment, you must also integrate at least two resources from the “Capstone Bibliography,” as well.

PART SIX: Integrated Situational Analysis of "Trader Joe's"

Review the following:

• Reread “Trader Joe’s,” and keep detailed notes. You can, and should, scan it multiple times.


• Your original research on the company and industry.


• All relevant readings from the Capstone Bibliography.

Conduct additional research on the U.S. food retailing industry to obtain some insights about future threats and opportunities in the industry. (Hoover’s database would be a good place to start, as would Business Source Complete.)

Note: You will have to search for information on the most relevant of Trader Joe’s competitors, as well as Trader Joe’s to be able to make an appropriate relative ranking of resources.

Write a polished analysis that responds to the prompts below.

1. Based on your projecting out the implications of FUTURE 5-forces of competition, P.E.S.T. (general environment), and stakeholder support (or stakeholder challenges), what essential skills, competencies and capabilities will be critical in order for Trader Joe’s to survive or thrive in the future? Why? Support your analysis with evidence and reasoning linked to appropriate knowledge.
   
   
   
   Note: These critical areas may be the same as in the past, but they may not. Think this through carefully and use your innovative and economic thinking skills from prior courses. You must become futurists to be good strategists, which means there is some ambiguity about the bets you will be making (that's one of the responsibilities of senior leadership).


2. Identify critical gaps in the skills, competencies and capabilities that Trader Joe’s currently has versus what you think they will need in the future. Think about how Trader Joe’s can bridge that gap. If Trader Joe’s were to hire you as consultant to provide strategic direction in what specific skills, competencies, and capabilities the company should invest in or acquire (and how), which would you emphasize as critical and why?

Be sure to integrate concepts and quotes from appropriate academic references and prior MBA program content. To obtain an exemplary assessment, you must also integrate at least two resources from the “Capstone Bibliography,” as well.

Your overall response should be approximately 500 words total, single spaced.

PART SEVEN: Evaluation Situational Analysis of "The Weather Company"

Review the following:

• “The Weather Company” and keep detailed notes. You can, and should, scan it multiple times.


• All relevant readings from the Capstone Bibliography.

Write a polished analysis that responds to the prompt below.

1. If you were on the board of directors at The Weather Company in 2013, would you approve the proposed strategy? Why, or why not?

Be specific, and be sure to support your response with evidence from the case. Use appropriate concepts from the course and MBA program to make the strongest case you can. Your response should be approximately 500 words.

You may want to consider the questions and analysis elements below to help you craft your response. Note: Do not, however, respond to these questions in a “checklist” format as your original response. Your response should be a single, persuasive narrative argument that is polished and could serve as the basis for a speech you might make to the board of directors—to either support or question the proposed strategy.

Hint: The following are strategy evaluation elements that you should formally consider:

• Strategy Evaluation: Clarity of the Strategy
  
  
  
  • Does the strategy and associated initiatives have a “name” that evokes the strategy?
  
  
  • Is it easy to communicate what the strategy is and why it can work?
  
  
  • Is it likely that people inside the organization will understand and commit to the strategy?
  
  
  
  


• Strategy Evaluation: Consistency of Purpose (Context Level of Analysis)
  
  
  
  • Based on your reading of the case, is The Weather Company’s proposed 2013 strategy consistent with its soulful purpose and its mission, vision, and values? How?
  
  
  
  


• Strategy Evaluation: Feasibility and Alignment (Activities and Relationships Level of Analysis)
  
  
  
  • What are the primary key success factors that The Weather Company needs to excel at in the future?
  
  
  • Do they have the internal skills, competencies, and capabilities to execute their strategy? (If not, does the plan do a good job of saying how they will acquire these?)
  
  
  • Are the basic elements of the proposed strategy feasible from a:
    
    
    
    • Teamwork and healthy organization standpoint?
    
    
    • Financial standpoint?
    
    
    • Measurement/metrics standpoint?
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Does the strategy appear to be internally aligned?
  
  
  • Do the specification plan steps support each other? How and why?
  
  
  
  


• Strategy Evaluation: External Consonance and Potential Competitive Advantage
  
  
  
  • Is the proposed strategy consonant with the current and future needs of the external ecosystem and stakeholder needs? How and why?
  
  
  • Does the strategy indicate any long-term strategic intent?
  
  
  • Does the proposed strategy position the company to perform activities differently than rivals do? How and why?
  
  
  • Does the proposed strategy lead to incremental change within the industry, or more fundamental change within the industry, or does it establish new positions outside the industry or in blue ocean spaces? How and why is the scope of the strategy appropriate?
  
  
  • Do you think the proposed strategy can create or preserve any advantages it may confer on the company? Which advantages, and how and why?
  
  
  
  

Be sure to integrate concepts and quotes from appropriate academic references and prior MBA program content. You must also integrate at least two resources from the “Capstone Bibliography.”

Your overall response should be approximately 500 words total, single spaced.

PART EIGHT: Implementation Situational Analysis of "People Operations at Mozilla Corporation"

Review the following:

• “People Operations at Mozilla Corporation: Scaling a Peer-to-Peer Global Community.”


• All relevant readings from the Capstone Bibliography.

Write a polished analysis that responds to the prompts below.

Part-A: Execution of Strategy at Mozilla

1. How would you describe Mozilla’s cultural and organizational DNA? What, specifically, about the way Mozilla enacts strategy and executes its business plan provides it with such depth?


2. What do you think are the lessons from Mozilla for other knowledge-based organizations, especially in terms of strategy execution and the involvement of people throughout the organization?


3. What are the critical challenges that Debbie Cohen faces as Chief of People at Mozilla, specifically in terms of strategy execution and alignment? What should she do to meet these challenges, and why?

Your response for each prompt that you address in Part-A should be approximately 175–200 words.

Part-B: Getting Everyone to Participate in Strategic Thinking and Execution

1. Based both on the Mozilla case study and on your general thoughts from this course, explain how the knowledge and effective practice of cross-functional strategic thinking can help individual stakeholders (people at all levels of the organization and others outside the organization) participate more fully in organizational efforts to improve long-term performance and overall stakeholder engagement.

Your response to Part-B should be approximately 200 words.

Be sure to integrate concepts and quotes from this week’ readings. You must also integrate at least two resources from the “Capstone Bibliography.”

Your overall response should be approximately 500 words total, single spaced.