Analysis Artifacts Worksheet: Decision Years 15–16

Overview: Your submission must include evidence of the analysis tools that your team used to make decisions in this simulation. For the simulation rounds in this module, you will submit a Competitive Strength Assessment and a SWOT Analysis as your required artifacts.

Directions: Download and save a copy of this document so you can edit the sections below. Complete this worksheet and submit it as evidence of your analysis artifacts.
Competitive Strength Assessment: Refer to Chapter 4 for more information about this analysis tool. Using the methodology from Table 4.3, do a weighted Competitive Strength Assessment for your company and two other companies that you and your co-manager(s) consider to be very close competitors.
Specifically, follow these steps:
A. In the table below, make a list of the industry’s key success factors and the most telling measures of competitive strength or weakness (six to ten measures usually suffice).
B. Assign weights to each of the measures of competitive strength based on their perceived importance—it is highly unlikely that all the different measures are equally important. The sum of the weights for each measure must add up to 1.0.
C. Rate your firm and your closest two rivals using a rating scale of 1 to 10 (where 1 is weak and 10 is very strong).
D. Multiply each strength rating by its importance weight to obtain weighted strength scores.
E. Sum each company’s weighted strength ratings to obtain an overall weighted competitive strength rating.
F. Use the overall strength ratings to draw conclusions about the size and extent of the company’s net competitive advantage or disadvantage vis-a-vis its rivals.

Competitive Strength Assessment

Rating Scale (1 = Very Weak; 10 = Very Strong)

Your Company    Rival 1 Rival 2

Key Success Factors and Strength Measures Importance Weight Strength Rating Weighted Score Strength Rating Weighted Score Strength Rating Weighted Score

Weighted Overall Competitive Strength Rating

After completing Steps A-F in the table above, complete this analysis by addressing the following:
What are the areas of your company’s strengths and weaknesses?

List two strategic actions your company can employ to:

1. Capitalize on its strengths:
2. Shore up its weaknesses:
3. SWOT Analysis: Begin by reflecting on all of the previous analyses you have performed (Driving Forces, Key Success Factors, Five Force Analysis, Industry Outlook Analysis, and Competitive Strength Assessment), and use that information to complete a SWOT analysis. See Chapter 4 for information on this analysis tool.