You will be responsible to read chapter 7 completely and submit the following Exercise Task.

BULDING EFFECTIVE DECISION-MAKING SKILLS

Exercise Overview

Decision-making skills refer to the ability to recognize and define problems and opportunities correctly and then to select an appropriate course of action for solving problems or capitalizing on opportunities. As we noted in this chapter, many organizations use SWOT analysis as part of the strategy-formulation process. This exercise will help you better understand both how managers obtain the information they need to perform such an analysis and how they use it as a framework for making decisions.

Exercise Background

SWOT is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The idea behind SWOT is that a good strategy exploits an organization's opportunities and strengths while neutralizing threats and avoiding or correcting weaknesses.

Case

You've just been hired to run a medium-size company that manufactures electric motors, circuit breakers, and similar electronic components for industrial use. In recent years, the firm's financial performance has gradually eroded, and your job is to turn things around.

At one time, the firm was successful in part because it was able to charge premium prices for top-quality products. In recent years, however, management has tried cutting costs as a means of bringing prices in line with those of new competitors in the market. Unfortunately, the strategy hasn't worked very well, with the effect of cost cutting being primarily a fall-off in product quality. Convinced that a new strategy is called for, you've decided to begin with a SWOT analysis.

Exercise Task (Library Research)

Reviewing the situation, you take the following steps:

1. List the sources that you'll use to gather information about the firm's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

2. Then ask yourself: For what types of information are data readily available online? What categories of data are difficult or impossible to find online? Conduct your research

Instructions: (Library Research)

After thoroughly reading your chapter, review the above information (Exercise Task) and take the necessary notes Prepare a research paper based on your case reading that will be structured with the following three important elements: Introduction to the case A middle content that will conduct a SWOT analysis, the strategic analysis will consider the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the case given situation. Summary/Conclusion as a result of your analysis.

Your answers for this paper must be in an APA format and each of the answers should be original (70% or better), relevant, and substantive in writing content (no less than three words per answer). Your work should be conducted by performing research through the FNU Electronic Library "STATISTA", Pro-Quest and the textbook chapters' readings. No work will receive the maximum amount of points value unless the proper amount of research is demonstrated and referenced (Textbook and "STATISTA", and Pro-Quest References).

Your writing content must prescribe to APA. format (1-inch margins, double space, running head, page numbering, times roman font, size 12th pitch, indents at the start of every paragraph, references page hanging indents, in-text referencing). You must submit a cover page, followed by the three text content pages and your references page.

It is of utmost importance that your writing content exhibits the titles for each of the elements required for your research paper (Introduction, SWOT Analysis, and Summary/Conclusion).