Michael E. Dobbs, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Management

Internal Analysis in Practice: Templates for Firm and Case Analysis

Five Forces Templates

Michael E. Dobbs, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Management

Preview

•  Challenges in Using Case Analyses •  Internal Analysis Templates

§  Structure §  Example §  Usage

•  Extensions & Limitations

Five Forces Templates

Michael E. Dobbs, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Management

Challenges in Using Cases

•  Wide Ranging Guidance for Internal Analysis in Strategy Textbooks §  From no pages of coverage §  To Wheelen & Hunger’s 28 pages of IFAS (Int. Factor Analysis Summary) §  Most include some kind of checklist, but not specific structures

•  Student Learning Preferences §  Millennials want structure -- believe it or not! §  If students are required to develop their own structure

§  It will demotivate most and increase procrastination §  It will produce an inferior structure and analysis §  Less time will be spent on analysis

•  Providing a structure for students addresses these issues well

Five Forces Templates

Michael E. Dobbs, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Management

Five Forces Templates

Michael E. Dobbs, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Management

Internal Analysis Template §  Template Mechanics

§  Subcategories are guidelines, not mandates §  Each organization is different, each analyst may see things differently §  Subcategories provide a starting point and ideas about what to analyze

§  Assessment §  Descriptions, effectiveness, evaluations, benchmarking, mission fit, etc. §  Can be text, charts, tables, etc.

§  S/W §  For each item analyzed, strength and/or weakness identified §  In some cases it can be both

§  Space utilization §  Adjustments to column and/or row sizes as needed §  Each section of the Internal Analysis on a separate page

Five Forces Templates

Michael E. Dobbs, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Management

Five Forces Templates

Michael E. Dobbs, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Management

VRIO Analysis •  Is a core competence a distinctive competence? •  Answer these questions (4 yes = distinctive competence):

§  Is there Value to customers/organization? §  Is there Rarity among competitors? §  Is there Inimitability for future competitors? §  Is there Organization to fully exploit it?

Five Forces Templates

Michael E. Dobbs, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Management

Five Forces Templates

Michael E. Dobbs, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Management

Five Forces Templates

Michael E. Dobbs, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Management

Internal Analysis Templates Usage

•  M.B.A. Students §  Semester-long strategic management consulting project for local organization §  In conjunction with other templates (e.g., industry analysis, MOWST Matrix, etc.)

•  Undergraduate Strategic Management (Capstone) §  Case analysis (Toyota latest used) §  Comprehensive final exam case

•  Consulting §  Small businesses, non-profits, start-ups

•  Former Students §  In-class projects led to larger use within companies

Five Forces Templates

Michael E. Dobbs, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Management

Extensions & Limitations

•  Extensions §  More guidance for what to include in “Assessment” blocks §  Weighting of factors/forces? (may exceed user utility limits)

•  Limitations §  Designed for use over multiple class periods §  Quantitative measures still not explicitly called for §  User’s understanding of underlying principles will strongly impact quality and

accuracy of strategic insight gained

Five Forces Templates

Michael E. Dobbs, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Management

Internal Analysis in Practice: Templates for Firm and Case Analysis

Michael E. Dobbs, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Management

Eastern Illinois University medobbs@eiu.edu

217-581-6925 600 Lincoln Ave.

Charleston, IL 61920

Michael E. Dobbs, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Management

Industry Analysis