The current topics case involves taking an article from the business press, like WSJ or the Financial Times, or other news sources that outline strategic decisions made by companies. Please do the following for the Current Topics Case:

• Please select one article that prominently features an organizational decision related to strategy.
• Write approximately 5-7 pages, max 9 (Times New Roman, 12 Font Double spaced) in which you answer the questions provided below. You should draw upon course concepts to provide a rigorous analysis based on well supported arguments:
  • What does this organization do and what is its business strategy (e.g., low cost, differentiator)? Provide a brief summary.
  • What was the strategic decision? Provide a short description or summary and a citation for the article.
  • Provide a combined SWOT/PESTLE analysis (3-4 paragraphs with a table) to help provide macro environmental context and explain the opportunity that the company may be taking advantage of and/or the threat they may be trying to mitigate.
  • Using Porters Five Forces, describe how competitive this particular industry is and your reasoning for coming to that conclusion. (NB:That will mean specifying the industry.)
  • Why do you think the organization made this decision?
  • Was this a good or bad strategic decision and why? Take a clear stance and argue for it.
    • You will want to use material and theory to support your claims regarding the companys strategic decision.
    • You should connect it to the SWOT/PESTLE and Competitive Analysis
    • But in addition, you should draw on at least one (1) additional framework. It must be something different than SWOT/PESTLE or Porters Five Forces