Staples in 2015 case study

Staples Case Analysis - Revision

After reading Case 12, Staples in 2015, complete a case analysis using the outline format. Your headings will be History, Industry Analysis, Corporate Level Strategy, Business Level Strategy, Structure and Controls, Internal Analysis, External Analysis, and Recommendations and Evaluations.

Remember that you may only use the textbook case and Staple's website for your facts.

The purpose of this assignment is to give you practice in applying the managerial concepts you have learned over the course of your studies in the Business Administration program. You will also gain experience in condensing a company's history, and putting all the information in an outline format instead of a narrative paper.

DIRECTIONS FOR PREPARING CASES

All cases will be prepared using an outline format. The main headings are as follows:

I. History

II. Industry Analysis

III. Corporate-Level Strategy

IV. Business-Level Strategy

V. Structure and Control

VI. Internal Environment Analysis

VII. External Environment Analysis

VIII. Recommendations/Evaluations

Your first case, Staples, is a practice case worth 50 points to get you started on the right track. You will take the information given in the reading and analyze it so that you can explain the various categories. For instance, the history section should contain the “Readers’ Digest” version of the company’s history. Enough information should be contained in this section without boring the reader with every detail.

In the Industry Analysis section you will use Michael Porter’s Five-force Model to examine the industry of which the company is a part. Think “big picture” here. For instance, South Airlines is part of the transportation industry. They could then be placed in a sub-category of airline travel industry.

In the corporate and business-level strategy sections and structure and control section you will be telling what the company’s strategies ARE, not what you believe they should be. The same holds true of the structure and controls. Remember that structure has to do with the jobs and controls are those things that you do that are a check on effectiveness.

In the section on Internal Environment you examine the company’s strengths and weaknesses. In the External Environment section you list the opportunities and threats facing the company. Taking your findings from these two sections, you create your Recommendations section. Think of yourself as a management consultant that has been hired by the company to give them their best advice on how to be successful. You must also evaluate your proposals, truthfully stating the pros and cons that may be attached to each.

Most of the language you use will be in the present tense. Future tense may be used when describing the opportunities and threats that exist and the recommendations you make to this company