1. Assignment Steps
   Write an approximately 1,000-1,200 word report on the organization you selected in Week 1, building upon the assessments and proposals from the Individual Assignments of Weeks 1, 2 & 3, and address the following:

   • Innovative Strategies
   • Discuss the possible future opportunities for innovation in your industry & firm. How would your propose for your firm to capitalize on this innovation opportunity?
   • Apply the Blue Ocean Strategy to identify and assess which strategic “ocean” your firm is currently in, and how your proposed strategic plan may impact this.

   • Competitive Strategy
   • Identify your organization’s most significant rivals, and building upon their competitive response profile, assess the likely competitive response of each key rival to your proposed strategic plan.
   • Discuss what competitive strategies you would propose to counter these competitive responses.

   • Strategy Implementation
   • Apply the 7-S Model to identify and assess your organization’s current strategic configuration. Discuss any changes you would propose to this alignment that are needed to help implement your strategic plan.
   • Apply Kotter’s 8-Step Change Management framework to identify and assess how best to lead the implementation of your proposed strategic plan (and the strategic changes inherent in it).

   • Evaluation and Control
   • Discuss the key measurements/metrics that are needed to help ensure the successful implementation of your plan.
   • Discuss Key Success Factors in your proposed strategic plan (i.e. what small number of key items or leverage points should your board or senior leadership team monitor closely in order to ensure that your proposed strategic plan is successfully implemented).

   Cite at least 3 scholarly references from the UOPX Library.
   Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
   Submit your assignment.
   Resources:

   • Center for Writing Excellence
   • Reference and Citation Generator
   • Grammar and Writing Guides
   • Learning Team Toolkit

   Copyright 2018 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.

Assignment: Create a new thread and write a two paragraph or longer response to the following question – Can you describe one of the five generic competitive strategies within the context of a real, current company and their product or service?

Your response can focus on any one of the five generic competitive strategies discussed in Chapter 5 of the textbook. Your task will be to take one of these five generic competitive strategies and discuss it within the context of a real organization and one of their current product or service offerings. Why did you pick this particular company and their product or service as an example of that particular generic competitive strategy?

Then, read and post a reply to two of your classmates regarding the analysis of their company. Specific questions to address include: Do you concur with your classmates’ analysis of the company? Is there another generic strategy that might also be appropriate for that company? Why? Does it appear that the company’s competitive strategy is different for different products and services that they offer? Why?

Rule: Post one (1) original thread and two (2) replies to other threads for a total of three (3) posts on the discussion board. Your original thread must be unique to you and must focus on one company and one product or service of the company.

Rule: Only one original company per thread. Each thread must be a unique company not discussed by another other thread on this discussion board. Please discuss only one company in your thread in order to give everyone a chance to focus on a single company in their example.

References

Gamble, J., Peteraf, M., & Thompson, A. (2017). Essentials of Strategic Management, 5^th Edition. NY, NY: McGraw-Hill.