Q You will conduct a SWOT report to help build your strategic thinking and planning skills. The SWOT report will consist of two parts. Part 1 focuses on Awareness while part 2 focuses on Analysis. Reading Chapter 9 of the Strategic Management book can give you some ideas on how to approach this assignment. You will need to think creatively and search online for information to successfully complete this assignment. For part 1, you will be provided with an example SWOT report on Moodle. This report contains general information about the company and identifies at least 2 strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for that company. You will produce a similar report for a different company of your choice that identifies at least 2 strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. You will choose the company you do your report on. In your report you must report which industry the company or brand is competing in. You can check the industry of your company by finding its North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code and checking it at https://www.census.gov/naics/. If the company you chose to do your report on owns many brands, you may find it easier to focus your report on one of its brands rather than the organization as a whole. You may also choose to use this opportunity to instead produce a SWOT report for your place of employment, your own company, or the company of someone you know. If you wish to do this, please let me know as I would be very interested to learn more. You will write one to two paragraphs that describe and justify each of the items you identify in the four SWOT quadrants (see the Coco Cola example below). The items you identify must be supported by data and/or examples. The purpose of part 1 of the SWOT report is to increase your awareness of how company characteristics, market forces, and current events can affect a company’s internal and external circumstances. Part 2 will continue your work from Part 1 and focuses on identifying and comparing potential strategic actions. There are not necessarily wrong or right answers for parts 1 or 2 of the SWOT report, but you must support your identification and assessment of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and strategic alternatives with some logic, facts, or even appeals to emotion/values of the company (pretend you are producing this report for managers of the company). Your report must be convincing and persuasive (think as if you are really making the case for the company to take specific actions). Consult the “Penguin Handbook” document on Moodle under Getting Started for some quick tips on writing persuasively. Please refer to the grading rubric further below and submission format document on Moodle under the Getting Started section for more details on what is expected of you. The simplest way to begin is to download the submission format document and start filling it out. Part 1 is due Thursday, February 3rd at 11:00 pm CT. Example of SWOT Matrix: Coca Cola Co. SWOT Matrix, Published December 2019 by GlobalData Strengths Weaknesses 1. Comprehensive Bottling and Distribution System 2. Billion-Dollar Brands 3. Growth in Popularity 1. Product Recalling Opportunities Threats 1. Rise in Global Soft Drinks Market 2. Strategic Collaborations 3. Focus on Offering Healthier Options 1. Competition 2. Water Scarcity Impact on Profitability 3. Foreign Exchange Risks Some questions that may help you identify items that you can place in each of the four quadrants of are listed in the table below. You can find many more examples of questions to ask yourself by searching online. Such questions are useful for brainstorming. Strengths Weaknesses 1. What is golden about your company? 2. What do you do well in (sales, marketing, operations, management, etc.)? 3. What are your assets? 4. Where are you making money? 5. What experience do you have? 1. What looks a bit rusty inside your company? 2. What do you need (customer service, marketing, accounting, planning, etc.)? 3. Where do you lack resources? 4. What can you do better? 5. Where are you losing money? Opportunities Threats 1. Where is the blue sky in your environment? 2. What new needs of customers could you meet? 3. What are the emerging political and social opportunities? 4. Are there any recent technological breakthroughs relevant to your product? 5. What niches have your competitors missed? 1. Where are the red alerts in your environment? 2. What are recent negative political, social, environmental, technological, or economic trends that could impact your business? 3. Where are competitors growing the most? 4. Is our target market shrinking? 5. Where are you vulnerable? Expectations for SWOT Report Part I (due Thursday, September 16th at 11:00 pm CT) Points Assignment uses correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and conforms to the provided submission format 4 A single paragraph company overview is provided that contains the following information (similar to the one in the example report). It is important that the company overview be comprehensive but concise. 1. The industry the company is in 2. What types of products the company sells 3. Whether the company produces, distributes, or markets its own products 4. What brand(s) the company sells it products under 5. Who the company markets its products to (the segments they target) 6. The mission statement of the company (If no mission statement is available, then state that “[Company name]’s mission could best be described as […]” where […] is a mission statement that you make up for the company) 6 A single paragraph financial performance overview is provided that contains the following information (similar to the one in the example report). It is important the financial overview be comprehensive but concise. If financial information for your chosen company is not available, then provide your best estimates. 1. Revenue and profit for most recent fiscal year for which data is available 2. Percentage increase/decrease in revenue compared to prior fiscal year 3. Percentage increase/decrease in profit compared to prior fiscal year 4. Revenue and profit of current quarter compared to prior quarter 4 All the cells in the Key Company Information table from the submission format document are completed 4 Two of each of the following items are identified in the SWOT matrix: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. These items should not be more than 1 sentence in length (ideally, just a few words). 4 A single paragraph overview of the SWOT analysis that summarizes the identified strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats 4 1-2 paragraphs justifying and elaborating on each of the identified strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is provided 16 Data and/or cited examples are used to elaborate on each of the items. Sources are required only in the paragraphs describing the SWOT items. Cite your sources using APA formatting. 8 Total Possible Points 50 Your report must be at or fall below the 20% similarity threshold on Turnitin or it will not be accepted. You cannot use work submitted for a previous course. Your report is submitted through Moodle and a Turnitin report will be generated for you. Try to submit your report early so that if you do not meet the threshold, you have time to edit and resubmit it.