Macy\’s Inc

Project Deliverables
Phase 1 Modules 1-3 (Outline for Strategic Management Case)
Introduction of the company.
o Description of the firm and its products
o Company history (brief history, critical events, competitors, leadership), including strategic elements of its history
o Vision and mission statement o Assessment of mission and vision
External assessment o EFE and CPM with strategic implications
o Analysis of competitive position, opportunities, and threats
Internal assessment o IFE with strategic implications o Financial ratio analysis with key conclusions and implications for strategic choice o Overall analysis of internal capabilities and implications for your strategic decisions

Module 1: Create plan outline, insert current mission and vision.
Module 2: Complete an EFE and CPM for your company (including analysis and conclusions)
Module 3: Complete an IFE and calculate financial ratios (including analysis and conclusions)

Phase 2 Modules 4-6
Internal assessment (continued from Phase 1include IFE and financial ratios) o Current strategy (brief description of the firms current strategies), including current use of technology
o SWOT matrix with strategic implications for the company o BCG matrix with strategic implications for the company o Space or other matrices with strategic implications for the company o Possible strategic alternatives
o Evaluation of current organizational structure
o Recommendation changes (if needed) to the structure, culture (including values), processes, rewards, or technology

Module 4: Develop SWOT, BCG, SPACE, and IE matrices with strategic implications for the company.
Module 5: Develop alternative strategies for your company with strengths and weaknesses of each.

Tips for Completing the Project
You should expect to build up a large mass of analyses before you can put together a coherent case. In the end, a great case will always look simple relative to the countless hours going down many different paths in order to build understanding. The volume of material generated can distract from the creative part of the process. The following suggestions are designed to serve as a reminder for things not identified distinctly in the assignments, the syllabus, or the textbook Plan preparation guidelines.
1. Company and industry background
Use your own judgment to determine the amount of background to include. Over-detailed company history is usually irrelevant and rarely improves the report. On the other hand, a history of strategic moves and competitive reactions might be very illustrative. Decide what to include based on whether that information is important to understanding the future environment and strategic choices. Market share, financial strength, brand image, and the like are always relevant strategically.
2. Address uncertainty
In your strategic analysis, make sure to state any assumptions related to your business. If you believe there is going to be high risk, describe contingency plans or alternate scenarios.
3. Discuss the things that create organizational culture and behavior necessary to support the strategy
a. What operational and motivational processes create the culture (acting your way into a new way of thinking, identity orientation, incentives, etc.)?
b. What organizational structure fits the mission/vision, the operational approach, and the need for adaptability or stability?
c. Make sure to delineate your ethics standards including values the company lives by.

4. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and internal/external (IE) matrices
Some of you may think that the BCG and IE matrices are not relevant to your project since your organization only reports one business segment. First, these exhibits are important to think through and are required even if they only have one product line. Second, there are often more segments in any organization than meets the eye. The reason to break up the business into component parts is to shed some light on the strategic positioning and future potential. Ask yourself, are there segments that behave differently (different customers, competitors, growth rates, success factors, etc.)? You can be sure that Wal-Mart is looking at grocery, clothing, pharmacy, electronics, toys, garden, and automotive all separately, and possibly even separating seasonal items. For purposes of this class, approximations can be used whenever necessary to separate a subunit. Pushing the analysis down to a more detailed level forces you to recognize what you know and what you do not know. I am more concerned with strategic thinking than with availability of detailed data. You can put estimated numbers in your plans as long as a note is added explaining the basis, reasoning, and level of uncertainty.
5. Implementation
Your implementation strategy must show how it is aligned with your strategic objectives. The strategic-level implementation questions are mainly resource-related (where the money/people come from) and timing issues (when are initiatives expected to happen). In addition, if there is something specific mentioned in the analysis (e.g., a trend, a weakness, concerns about the competitive response) that affects implementation, then you need to include the relevant part of the implementation approach mentioned as part of the strategy. If there is not anything notable in these kinds of areas, then specific content is not required in the report.
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