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Using only Porter’s Five Forces model, fully analyse the competitive environment in the U.S. motorcycle industry based only on the case study timeline. List all of the forces and apply reasoning to each to support your argument.
Contemporary Issues in Strategic Management Coursework 1: Case Study Assessment
This summative assessment accounts for 50% of your final grade and is based on a case study of POLARIS INDUSTRIES. The other 50% of your grade is accounted for by the second assessment (40%) and the end of unit tests(10%), so it is important to make sure that you have completed these .
In the assessment brief below you will find:
• Details of the coursework assessment 1
• Guidelines to assist you in answering the questions
• The assessment marking criteria
• Information on presentation and the submission date
You are required to conduct an analysis of the following case study and article:
POLARIS INDUSTRIES
POLARIS & VICTORY : Entering and Growing the Motorcycle Business:
Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D., Hoskisson, R.E. (2016)
Strategic Management: competitiveness and globalization - concepts and cases (12th edition). Boston: Cengage Learning
The objective of your case analysis will be to demonstrate your comprehensive understanding of the competitive business environment in the US motorcycle industry, and to identify and discus POLARIS INDUSTRIES capabilities and core competencies, linked to its strategic choices at business and corporate level.
• It is not necessary to include a history of POLARIS INDUSTRIES. A case analysis is not a conceptual explanation or discussion so do not spend too much time on conceptual explanation. Focus should be on how the concepts are used to analyse the case events and reach evaluative judgments.
• If you are not familiar with the company then you can find out more about it by visiting its website, but take care - when answering the questions below, you should only use information that is contained in the case study.
• You should not use alternative sources of information on the company, because it is your ability to analyse the case information provided that is being assessed
COURSEWORK ASSESSMENT 1
ONLY USE EVIDENCE FROM THE CASE STUDY PROVIDED
To gain the best possible grades, please pay attention to: presentation of analysis, application of appropriate tools and use of case evidence.
QUESTION 1 Using only Porter’s Five Forces model, fully analyse the competitive environment in the U.S. motorcycle industry based only on the case study timeline. List all of the forces and apply reasoning to each to support your argument.
QUESTION 2 Conduct a Value Chain analysis to comprehensively assess POLARIS INDUSTRIES motorcycle division capabilities. In doing so, identify, appraise and evaluate its core competencies, and argue how these core competencies underpin its choice of generic competitive strategy.
GUIDELINES
To answer the questions in a robust and thorough way, please look at the following guidelines.
Question 1
Review Porter’s Five Forces model (Unit 3) and apply it to analyse the US motorcycle industry.
This is an industry-level analysis of the competitive environment - part of external environment analysis. At this stage do not focus too much on how POLARIS INDUSTRIES managed to overcome the forces and successfully compete in the industry, as this is the basis for the analysis of its internal capabilities in question 2.
The purpose of the Five Forces Model is to gain a deeper understanding of the intensity of competition in the industry and which forces are the key influencers. The more intense the competition, the less attractive the industry, the lower the average level of industry profitability. The reverse applies to less intense levels of competition. You must analyse each force individually through an examination of the structural factors which determine the impact of this force.
The discussion of how these factors influence each force means that your answer will go beyond a simple description of each force. For each force sufficient arguments should be presented as to whether the force’s influence is high, medium or low. Your arguments should reach formal conclusions:
• Is this an attractive/unattractive industry (high/low/average profit margins) as result of the intensity of the competitive forces?
• What are the most significant forces facing the US motorcycle industry in the future that all competitors should take into account in their strategy formulation?
Question 2
Conduct an internal analysis (Unit 4) of POLARIS INDUSTRIES capabilities linked to its motorcycle division, then to identify and evaluate its core competencies:
• You must go further than simply describing what it does. You must describe each activity through a discussion of what it does well (strengths) and what areas it needs to improve (weaknesses to address).
• To identify POLARIS INDUSTRIES core competencies, analyse critical linkages/processes in the Value Chain, some of which should be the basis for your choice of core competencies (CCs). The explanation of Value Chain linkages is an intermediary stage to identifying CCs. Assess which linkages are “core” by applying either Barney’s or Grant’s criteria.
Coursework Marking Criteria
Your assignment will be marked using GradeMark on Moodle, according to the following
Category
Grade
Comment
Presentation of analysis, use of appropriate tools and case evidence.
(10% weighting of total grade)
Presentation should be in report format and must have appropriate headings for sections and tables. APA7 must be used for all referencing.
Five Forces analysis of the competitive environment in the US motorcycle industry
(50% weighting of total grade)
You must analyse each force individually through an examination of the structural factors which determine the impact of this force.
Your answer will go beyond a simple description of each force. For each force sufficient arguments should be presented as to whether the force’s influence is high, medium or low.
Analysis of POLARIS INDUSTRIES` Value Chain capabilities, core competencies and generic competitive strategy (40% weighting of total grade)
You must go further than simply describing what it does. You must describe each activity through a discussion of what it does well (strengths) and what areas it needs to improve (weaknesses to address).To identify POLARIS INDUSTRIES core competencies, you must describe your analysis of the critical linkages/processes in the Value Chain, some of which should be the basis for yourb choice of core competencies (CCs).
ASSESSMENT PRESENTATION INFORMATION
When preparing for your assessment, please take note of the following;
• Always draw on evidence from the case to support your analysis and conclusions. Using evidence without analysis will amount to describing what has happened in the case and will not gain many marks.
• Try to keep your answers to report format. Write in sections which reflect the major elements of your analysis.
• It is critically important that if you use information from the case or theory from academic texts, you must reference it appropriately. Any direct quotations from the text should be used sparingly these must be placed in quotation marks and referenced in the same way.
• The case ends in 2013 and you should answer the questions in terms of the information presented in the case up to this time. As a result, you should not include generic references on POLARIS INDUSTRIES from the internet or from sources, other than those contained in the case and from its own website.
Assessment 1 = via Turnitin on Moodle -- FRI 25 MARCH
Target Length: 2500 words
Absolute Maximum Length: 3000 words
You are NOT required to submit a paper copy of this assignment.
Assignments submitted after the deadline without an agreed extension will be penalised according to the University Regulations.
The word limit excludes the cover sheet, figures/tables, references and appendices. Where a submission exceeds the stated word limit, the maximum grade awarded will be P1. Appendices can be used to provide additional raw information from your analysis, so long as the analysis itself is incorporated into the main body of the assignment. Using only Porter’s Five Forces model, fully analyse the competitive environment in the U.S. motorcycle industry based only on the case study timeline. List all of the forces and apply reasoning to each to support your argument.
You may upload your assignment as many times as you wish before the deadline, using the Draft Assessment Checking Facility. It is recommended that you do so at least once in order to check your Turnitin score - this is a helpful way of making sure that you have used references appropriately. Bear in mind that during busy periods Turnitin may experience delays in generating scores. Assignments submitted to the checking facility will not be marked. To make your final submission, use the Final Assessment Submission Link.
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