Paper Requirements:
• Length: Minimum 10 pages, excluding cover page, table of contents, appendices, reference page, pictures, graphs, and any or all attachments.
Paper must follow either MLA or APA format.
• References: include all the outside sources that you consulted in completing this project in the format of either MLA or APA. These sources include books, academic articles, newspaper clippings, on-line sources, and/ or interviews, etc.
• Appendices: Attach supporting materials or analyses such as spreadsheet models, diagrams, graphs, statistics of value chain, forces, etc.
• Margins: 1” margins (left, right, top, & bottom
• Paper Size: 8.5” x 11.0” • Font Size: 12-point • Double spaced for all text (except for tables, references, or quotations)
• Page numbers: pages numbered in the upper right In this assignment, you are expected to include citations to relevant theories and concepts. You should have a minimum of five external references not including the textbook and lecture presentations. o References may be Company’s annual report, books, articles from technical journals (such as the Journal of Business Research or professional periodicals (such as Business Week), or business journals (such as Harvard Business Review or Organizational Dynamics). It is not acceptable to use opinion websites (e.g., blogs, Wikipedia, ask.com, and the like) as references.
I will submit each paper to a software that matches the content against internet and publications to determine the percentage of copy and paste. So, please use in-text citation to specify where you obtained your information.
Your paper MUST have proper format and structure based on either MLA or APA format.
Paper must have distinct sections as stated below with bold headings.
A poorly formatted paper which lack bold headings and subheadings will loose substantial points. Under each section with bold heading, you must have subheadings.
For example, under the “Introduction” heading you must have “Company History” subheadings and then followed by “Company Statistics” subheading then followed by “Company Sales & Revenues” subheadings.
This will apply to all four sections below.
1. Cover page & Correctly formatted Table of contents (0.5 points)
2. Introduction: (3 points) Company History (Origin, founder(s), date, circumstances, etc.) Company Statistics: (Size, Number of companies owned by RPM, divisions, number of employees, locations, etc.) Company Sales and revenue for the last 5 years
3. Analysis: (3 points) Mission, vision, and value statements. External analysis (Opportunity & threats, PESTEL, Porter’s five forces, strategic group, etc) Internal Analysis (Strength & weaknesses, core competencies, resources (tangible & intangible), capabilities, VRIO framework, etc. SWOT table and SWOT analysis
4. Formulation: (3 points) Identify Company’s current Business Strategy in detail (Low cost, differentiation, blue ocean, innovation, a combination or something different). Discuss in detail Identify Company’s current Corporate Strategy in detail (Vertical Integration, Diversification, Geographic scope, combination or something different)
5. Discussion & Conclusion: ( 2 points) Your interpretation and assessment of the overall strategy. You should discuss your finding and provide an opinion based on what you have learned in the course and your overall business knowledge as a MGMT 450 student. This section will be a reflection of your knowledge and business acumen.
6. References. (0.5 points)