The Research Guide for Strategic Management is at URL http://guides.lib.campbell.edu/badm758
The tabs are organized by functional area (rather than the specific sections of your assignment).
· Internal analysis uses most, if not all, of the tabs – the focus being on the company.
· External analysis also uses most, if not all, of the tabs – here the focus is on investigating competitors, industry(s), and the economy(s).
It is up to your group to:
1. Define the purpose and technique of each analytical tool (KSF Matrix, Value Chain, etc.) and arrive at areas for investigation for each tool. This will help filter the raw information you retrieve from your sources.
2. Mine information from all sources. This should be general (organize fishing expeditions through various sources) and specific (digging through the last ten years of balance sheets and income statements). Expect to find some gems, and a lot of trash. Remember, sometimes “you do not know the question, until you see the answer.”
3. Record (list, or better yet, make a hard copy of) your pertinent findings AND identify the document, the source, and the way to retrieve each finding (prepare the citations NOW)
4. Process your pile of findings through each of the analytical tools. Likely you will recycle some of the findings through several tools. Patterns, conclusions, and some surprises will begin to shake out of your pile of raw intelligence. The bigger the pile, the better your chances of success.
5. Prepare your draft paper, have a ‘Red Team’ criticize your conclusions, have a ‘Purple Team’ compliance check your paper, proof read your paper, and check the in-text citations and the References page.
The subject term for this activity is “Business Intelligence” call number HD 38.7.