2nd assignment: Individual Report. In this individual assignment I ask you to undertake a full case study analysis of a given company, which will involve three main parts:
Part 1. The analysis of the external and internal environment of the company Part 2. The selection of the main strategic options for growth
Part 3. Your strategic solutions for the company’s ongoing health.
In the following paragraphs you will find advice on how to approach the different elements of case analysis in Strategy as reflected in the assignments. I will also give you advice on how to do well in these assignments.
Case analysis in Strategy
When considering how to analyse a case in strategy you might like to follow the model offered below, although you will find that your proposed text book contains more detailed and extensive advice.

Part one. The analysis of the external and internal environment of the company
o Locating the company in its environment. This is where you set the scene, and so you should:
– Offer a brief overview of the company (from your own research or the case material provided).
– Put the company in its context, which will be international or global. At this point you will start using the various analytical tools available to describe the main opportunities and threats of the environment analysed. PESTEL is the usual tool employed. You should also analyse the characteristics of the industry in which the company competes and here you should employ the 5 Forces of Competition analysis carried out in some analytical depth.
– You could emerge from this first analysis with a PARTIAL SWOT analysis, that is drawing out the opportunities and threats facing the firm.
o After having analysed the company’s environment, the focus moves to the company itself by conducting an internal analysis where the objective is to identify the capabilities and resources developed by the company. This will be carried out through the application of some well-known analytical instruments, such as the value chain, the threshold and distinctive resources and competencies framework and the VRIO framework.
You should be able by now to complete the above SWOT analysis by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your company.
o Finally, you should now be able to define the competitive position of the company in relation to the Generic Strategy chosen.
Part two. The selection of the main strategic options for growth
You should emerge from this Phase with an inquiry based view of your company’s level of business success and what it must do to sustain that success and continuously improve.
Which are the main options for growth? To answer this question you can refer to the Ansoff Matrix and – if the company is part of a larger diversified corporation – to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix.
Somewhere in this phase you will need to appraise the company’s financial state of health using well- established measures of efficiency and profitability. But please take note that we do not cover finance in our twelve weeks together but my expectation is that your studies in corporate finance should equip you to include a general commentary on the company financial predicament.
Part three. Your strategic solutions for the company’s ongoing health
Now that you have derived a picture of your Company’s state of health, can it be improved—what medicine can you offer?

So Phase three is about Strategic options for the future. There could be many but which would you recommend and why? Are you happy that your choices are derived from your systematic analysis of the company at Phases one and two? Are they feasible? Can they be resourced? Can they be implemented and sustained?

Introduction (100)
Part I – External analysis (500 words)
Part II – Internal analysis (500 words)
Part III – Description of Eataly current corporate and business strategy (200 words)
Part IV – Eataly’s Issues and challenges (100 words) Part V – The Selection of Strategic Options (400 words) Conclusions (200)
Reference List
Appendices
o Purpose of the report
o What does Eataly do?
o What is the background of the organisation?
o What industry does it operate in?
o What are its geographical markets?
o What products and services does it offer and what are the market segments?
o What are Eataly mission, vision and value?
o What generic strategy it is following? (cost leadership or
differentiation?)
o Who are the key stakeholders?

Overview to state the purpose of the analyses
1.1 Macro-Environmental Analysis
Refer to PESTEL model (appendix?)
Discuss the main points
? How do these macro factors impact the industry you are analyzing and therefore your company?
1.2 Industry Analysis
Refer to Porter’s Five Forces of Competition model (appendix?)
Discuss it and draw conclusions about the attractiveness of the industry analysed.
? Remember to use the appropriate factors… and to conclude: Is the industry profitable or not??
1.3 Opportunities and Threats (Partial SWOT analysis) Derive them from 1.1 and 1.2
IMPORTANT: You need to carry out some aIDitional research (online) in order to undertake these first 3 sub-sections 3–5

Overview to state the purpose of the analyses
2.1 Analysis of Eataly resources and competencies
2.1.1.Identification of the Resources & Competencies ?Refer to Value Chain model (appendix?)
2.1.2. Distinction between Threshold and Distinctive Resources & Competencies ?Refer to Competency framework
2.1.3. Appraisal of the Resources & Competencies ?Refer to the VRIO framework
? Draw conclusions: which resources and competencies are really contributing towards Eataly sustainable competitive advantage?
2.2 Strengths and Weaknesses (Partial SWOT analysis)
Optional: Here you can also aID some discussion about The Financial Performance of Eataly (using some financial ratios and statistics ..etc)
3–6
Threshold Resources
Threshold Competences
Strategic Capital
Distinctive Resources
Distinctive Competences
3.1 Eataly corporate strategy
Where does the company compete?
Refer to the three main corporate strategies that you know
3.2 Eataly generic strategy
How does the company compete?
?Refer to the Strategy Clock model (appendix?) and/or Porter’s Generic Strategies model (appendix?)
Provide a summary of the issues from the external and internal analyses
Then highlight the issues and challenges that you believe Eataly now faces in order to remain competitive and continue to grow the business
5.1 Generating Strategic options
o Which are the 3/4 strategic options available to grow and develop the business further? To do this use:
o Ansoff matrix (appendix?)
o and Tows Matrix models (appendix?)
5.2 Evaluating the Strategic Options
o Refer to the SFA framework to evaluate the options identified and select the best one.
5.3 Implementation: Which are the resources needed to implement the strategic option chosen?