Alpha-Omega Strategy Development Process

Directions

THIS IS A HYPOTHETICAL SITUATION. IT DOES NOT REFER TO YOUR ACTUAL COMPANY. FOCUS ON THE PROCESS AND MAKE SURE YOU ANSWER THE QUESTIONS.

The purpose of this assignment is to assess your understanding of the Where to Play questions in the Strategy Cascade and to show the process or analytical tools you would use to determine the best Where to Play alternatives. You are not answering the questions, you are making a plan for how you would direct a team to find the answers.

TO: You

FROM: A Senior Manager in Your Company

SUBJECT: New Product Alpha-Omega Opportunity: Where to Play?

As a result of the recent acquisition of one of our competitors, our division has a number of new products/service offerings to launch (or not). You are being asked to lead a cross-functional team to explore the opportunities for the Alpha-Omega product/service. You have been chosen for this role in part because you have been studying strategy in your MBA program and Ive been impressed by your insights in recent meetings. I believe that this Alpha-Omega could help reposition our division in our highly competitive industry and provide sustainable advantage over key rivals.

The first step is for your team to address Where to Play? Your teams first meeting is coming up and your initial task is to create a plan of attack for the project that you will share with your team and use to guide the teams work. Id like to review your plan with you before I leave town next week and will need a written plan before we talk. The plan must cover three questions in no more than 1-2 pages.

1. What choices must be made to define the potential playing fields for this product/service?
2. What analytical tools can you use to evaluate and choose potential playing fields, and how will they guide you in your recommendations.
3. How will you incorporate consider of key success and risk factors into the work of your team?