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Case study with specific instructions and rubric Case study with specific instructions and rubric The focus on this group case analysis is on your external environmental analysis; in particular, the macro-environment and the industry ( Porters Five Forces model analyses, for example). The key issue facing the industry should come from your external analysis of the marketplace and industry, and the alternatives/recommended strategy for the company should also result from your external analysis. Be sure to include quantitative analysis to earn full points as per the grading rubric. This is a team assignment. The Case: Case 1 is about analyzing the external environment. External Analysis is the main topic of Chapter 3; external means the macro-environment and the industry.  The material in Chapter 3 will be the main source of analytical tools you will need to write your report. Your role is a consultant, hired by the Board of Directors of Molson Coors, to write a report to them about the state of the beer industry in the USA. The article “America’s Long Love Affair With Beer Is on the Rocks (see link below) will help you get started on your research about this important industry. The Board wants you to: 1) analyze and present to them the current state of the industry; (2) determine a significant problem facing the industry; (3) briefly present two alternative strategic actions they might follow to take advantage of opportunities or avoid risks or both; (4) recommend one of the alternatives and explain why, based on your analysis, it is the best course of action to follow considering the current state of the industry and its significant problem; and (5) briefly suggest an implementation plan that shows your recommendation is viable. Your report to the Board of Directors is about the industry and the macro-environment- not about the company.  The problem statement is about a significant problem facing the industry.  The analysis section is about the external environment. Based on your analysis, you recommend what the company should do. The key tool for industry analysis is Michael Porters Five Forces Model (Chapter 3).  It would be difficult if not impossible to conduct a good industry analysis without understanding and applying this tool. Please see the three files for instructions regarding Case Studies in this class.  Remember: your report is based on where the industry is now! In addition to this article, you should use at least three other recent authoritative sources. Authoritative sources include, but are not limited to, the Wall Street Journal, Fortunes, Bloomberg, Reuters, World Bank and IBIS World, Mergent Online. If you have doubts about the acceptability of a source, contact me. If you need more ideas for sources, contact me or a Research Librarian at our NSU Alvin Sherman Library. Here is the recent article: Case study with specific instructions and rubric XXX– Case Study Executive Summary Problem Statement Present a significant problem you have identified after analyzing the situation; it should be concise and, if not addressed, something that has the potential to prevent the company from being successful. One sentence is enough. Ask the question “Why” to make sure it is a root cause and not a symptom of a deeper problem. Analysis In this section you present a few points of analysis. Since there are many factors to consider, you would only present here the most significant of the many points of analysis you have in the full report. These factors would be the ones that led to your identification of a significant problem. The factors presented here would help a reader understand why your recommendation is the best. For Case One you are dealing only with external analysis – the macro-environment and the industry. For Case Two and Case Three you will be presenting key points of external and internal (company-related) analysis. Using bullet points, color, formatting will make the report more executive reader-friendly. Alternatives Briefly present a possible alternative strategic action the company could take. Briefly present another possible alternative strategic action the company could take. In some instances, you might even want to present a third alternative Recommendation Based on your analysis and the problem you have identified, you will want to present your recommendation. It will be one of the alternatives above. Then you should add a few comments as to why it is the best course of action, based on your analysis and the problem. Of course, your report will have far more detail and explanation – but this page will serve to summarize that lengthier report and justify your recommendation. Remember, you are a consultant and you must convince your client that you have thoroughly analyzed the situation and are presenting the best course of action. With a limit of one page to summarize the report, you would want to use most of the page. Implementation Since we do not have access to internal company information, all you can present here would be a cursory implementation plan. It should at least present material that supports the viability of your recommendation. You should offer a few words about the company having the time, the talent and expertise, and the financial resources to follow your recommendation – or can acquire them. Case study with specific instructions and rubric TITLE OF RUBRIC: Strategy Case Study Course: MGT 5170 LEARNING OUTCOME/S: See attached (CC 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6) Date: PURPOSE: Applying theory to practice and consistently using Strategy Name of Professor VALIDITY: Strategy Best Practices Name of Student: COMPANION DOCUMENTS: Individual Cases Earning maximum points in each box in ‘PROFICIENT’ column and / or points in columns to the right of ‘PROFICIENT’ meets standard. <<<<<<<<<< less quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . more quality >>>>>>>>>> Performance Criteria Basic Developing Proficient Accomplished Exemplary Score States Problem Effectively Does not identify the problem (0 pts) Identifies a symptom (4 pts) Identifies a significant problem (6 pts) Identifies a critical problem (8pts) Effectively identifies the crucial problem (10pts) Analyzes the Situation using Tools and Concepts of Strategic Management Does not present analysis (0 pts) Vaguely analyzes material (12 pts) Generally analyzes the situation (16 pts) Analyzes some key strategic factors (24 pts) Insightfully analyzes key strategic factors (30 pts) Analyzes Quantitative Factors Does not present quantitative analysis (0 pts) Presents irrelevant quantitative analysis (4pts) Generally analyzes the situation (6 pts) Analyzes some key quantitative measures (8pts) Insightfully analyzes key quantitative measures (10pts) Generates Realistic Strategic alternative Solutions Provides no realistic strategic solutions (0 pts) Provides ambiguous strategic solutions (4 pts) Provides strategic solutions (6 pts) Provides realistic strategic solutions (8 pts) Provides realistic strategic solutions related to the problem (10 pts) Evaluates Solutions/ Selects Optimal Selects without evaluation (0pts) Selects with little evaluation (8 pts) Evaluates alternatives and selects one (12 pts) Evaluates alternatives and explains rationale for selection (16pts) Evaluates alternatives, provides rationale, and selects optimal Strategic solution for the main problem (20 pts) Generates an Implementation Plan Provides no plan (0pt) Provides cursory plan (4 pts) Provides an implementation plan (6 pts) Provides realistic implementation plan (8pts) Provides implementation plan considering major factors (10 pts) Writes at the Graduate Level Does not use designated format or standard (0 pt) Uses designated format, but does not write clearly or in an organized fashion (4 pts) Uses designated format, style, grammar, punctuation, and references (6 pts) Uses designated format and writes at the graduate level (8 pts) Uses designated format and writes at the publishable level (10 pts) \% Case study with specific instructions and rubric 9/4/2018 Americas long love affair with beer is on the rocks https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/americas-long-love-af fair-with-beer -is-on-the-rocks/ar -BBLmss8 1/8 Amer icas long lov e affair with beer is on the r ocks Saabira Chaudhuri, Annie Gasparro  8/1/2018 An American walks int o a bar. “What’ll it be?” says the b artender . For years, mor e likely than not, the answ er would hav e been: “Mak e it a beer.” Not anymor e. Last year, for the fir st time, Americans r eaching for a drink mor e often chose a glass o f wine or a cock tail. U.S. drinkers, p articularly y oung ones, ar e having relationship pr oblems with the national beverage. It’ s no longer true they star t out favoring mild pilsner s and low‐calorie beer s, then graduate to har der stuff lat er in life, if at all. Now they ar e thinking about other things: taste, value, beer bellies. Brenden K ennedy, a 32‐y ear‐old New Y ork marketing executive, can’t r emember the last time he drank a beer . His parents drank Bud Light. When he hit drinking age, he t ended to reach for a pr osecco. “When I drink beer , it always feels very heavy , like empty calories, and I don’t find it’ s refr eshing unless it’ s super, super cold, ” he says. “The flavor has nev er really appealed t o me, and it doesn’t feel sophisticat ed.” Accor ding t o the Beer Institut e, a trade group, drinkers chose beer just 49.7\% o f the time last year, down fr om 60.8\% in the mid‐90s. Among 21‐ t o 27‐year‐olds, the decline has been sharper . Anheuser‐Busch InBev SA , Budweiser’s owner , found that in 2016, just 43\% o f alcohol consumed by y oung drinkers was beer . In 2006, it was 65\%. Per ‐capita beer consumption in the U.S. fell t o 73.4 liters last y ear, from 80.2 in 2010 and 83.2 lit ers in 2000, accor ding to IWSR, a drinks mark et resear ch firm. Ger many, by comp arison, consumed 103 lit ers a per son last y ear. John Saput o owns beer distribut orships in Florida and Ohio. He r ealized the industry had a problem a few y ears ago when he went out with a t eam of young radio‐ad sales people who want ed him to advertise Budw eiser and Bud Light on a local station. When it came t o their own drinks, some o f them ordered wine—and “ even a liquor drink with a fr eaking umbrella in it,” he recalls. “ These kids, they don’t ev en drink our product.” Get news and analysis on politics, policy , national security and more, delivered right t o your inbo x In some ways, big br ewers ar e facing the same seismic shif ts in taste as other lar ge consumer‐goods and p ackaged‐food giants. Consumer s, especially younger ones, ar e gravitating toward smaller brands mark eted as healthier , more natural or made closer t o home. Brands such as K ellogg’s cereal, Campbell’ s soup and Aunt Jemima p ancake mix ar e all feeling the pinch. Mass‐mark et beer mak ers ar e losing drink ers t o an explosion o f spirits brands, such as Tit o’s v odka, owned by Fif th Generation Inc. Craft beer br ewers r ode that wav e, too, but their v olumes haven’t come close t o making up for declines in mainstr eam beer. Mor e recently , craft‐beer sales also hav e slowed. Fewer Americans see China positively as trade tensions worsen, Pew ...  • South China Morning Post See How Some Retirees Use Options Trading As A Safe W ay To Earn Income  • T radeWins Pay Off Y our Credit Card Balance Faster Using This One Tip  • Comparecards.com SPONSORED FINANCIAL CONTENT whats this?  © 2018 Micr osoft Priv acy & Cookies Ter ms o f use Feedb ack    9/4/2018 Americas long love affair with beer is on the rocks https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/americas-long-love-af fair-with-beer -is-on-the-rocks/ar -BBLmss8 2/8 Miller Lit e, Coors Light, Bud and Bud Light hav e all lost share to upstar t labels. “ The big things ar e declining. The smaller things are growing, ” AB InBev Chief Ex ecutive Carlos Brit o told inv estors in Mar ch. Demographics also ar e at work. Industr y resear ch has shown y oung white males still pr efer beer, but their number s are declining as a per centage of the population. African‐Americans fav or spirits, and the percentage of liquor consumer s that are Hispanic is rising, the r esearch shows. Women’ s per‐capita alcohol consumption has risen, but they pr efer wine and cocktails. Millennials drink less than older generations, hitting alcohol v olumes more broadly . Nashville‐b ased Mike Baker, 26, drinks only a couple o f times a week. “A lot o f friends o f mine are very health conscious, ” he says. “They think drinking might add a few extra pounds and hav e long‐term consequences. ” When Mr. Baker does drink , he reaches for a bourbon or a craf t beer. The beer industr y has tried to make up for declining v olume by increasing prices. That has helped mak e whiskey and wine relativ ely mor e affordable. Beer prices r ose 42\% between 2000 and 2017, comp ared with 11\% for wine and 19\% for spirits, accor ding t o a Brewers Association analysis o f data from the Bur eau of Labor S tatistics. As sales slide, a sense o f crisis has taken hold of the industr y. In May , Molson Coor s Brewing Co. r eported a 3.1\% dr op in U.S. second‐quar ter sales driv en by lower volumes o f its light beer s. Last week, AB InBev—which swallow ed SABMiller PLC in 2016 to solidif y its title as w orld’s biggest br ewer— also r eported U.S. r evenue fell 3.1\% in the second quar ter on low er volumes. On Monday , Dutch br ewer Heinek en NV reported its U.S. beer v olumes declined in the fir st half, blaming the consumer shif t from lager t o craft beer and spirits. “Every consumer t oday drinks on av erage one bottle o f beer less a week than they did 20 y ears ago, ” Heinek en’s U.S. CEO , Ronald den Elzen, t old an industry conference last y ear. “If this is not a wak e‐up call that we have to do something, I don’t know what is. ” America has long been a nation o f beer drinkers. Thr ough the 1600s, the “or dinary,” akin t o the local pub, flourished acr oss New England. The Dutch West India Co. built America’ s first lar ge br ewer in 1632. Today’ s big beer brands trace their ancestr y to Ger man‐style lager s that made their way t o the U.S. in the mid‐1800s, along with waves of Ger man immigrants. Adolphus Busch was one o f them. He married the daughter of Eberhar d Anheuser , another local brewer, and ev entually w ent to work for his father ‐in‐law. In 1876, he r olled out America’ s first Budw eiser. Mr. Busch was the fir st U.S. brewer t o pasteurize beer t o prevent spoilage. He built a netw ork of ice houses near railr oad lines, allowing him t o distribute his brew widely . Anheuser ‐Busch, having sur vived Pr ohibition by using its r efrigerated trucks t o sell ice cream, ev entually surp assed Schlitz as America’ s biggest brewer. In the 70s, Philip Morris Cos.‐owned Miller mount ed a serious challenge, eventually creating Miller Lit e. Anheuser‐Busch answered with “Budw eiser Light.” Bud Light, as it was lat er re‐christ ened, was br ewed and mark eted as a low er‐alcohol, low‐ calorie, mild‐tasting “ sessionable” beer. You could drink mor e in a single session without feeling t oo drunk or bloated. “Thr ough the 90s, the brand was ripping, ” says Andy Goeler who ran it in the 1990s. “It was a time when big was good. Levi’ s was good. McDonald’s was good. Budweiser was good.” Bud Light eventually overtook Budw eiser as America’ s best‐selling beer—a title it still holds. Yet ther e were signs o f trouble. Eur opean and Mexican impor ts and upstart craft brews, such as Samuel Adams, attract ed drinkers looking for something new . A bourbon renaissance—and the Cosmo‐sipping cast o f “Sex and the City”—helped reinvigorat e America’ s cocktail cultur e. After liquor mak ers ended a decades‐old v oluntary ban on T V and radio ads, Diageo PL C, the spirits giant that owns Johnnie Walk er and Smir noff, ramped up U.S. adv ertising. “W e didn’t see that as competition, ” says Tony Ponturo, a for mer mark eting executive at Anheuser ‐Busch. “It wasn’t beer .” 9/4/2018 Americas long love affair with beer is on the rocks https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/americas-long-love-af fair-with-beer -is-on-the-rocks/ar -BBLmss8 3/8 Budweiser v olumes peak ed in 1988. Bud Light hit its own peak in 2008, accor ding to estimat es from Beer Mark eter ’s Insights, a trade publication. The same y ear, SABMiller and Molson Coor s Brewing Co. mer ged their U.S. operations. A few months lat er, August Adolphus Busch IV , the great‐gr eat grandson o f Anheuser‐Busch’s co‐founder , orchestrat ed a sale t o InBev, the beer giant contr olled by Brazilian private‐equity fir m 3G Capital P artner s. Anyssa Ar mbrust, 24, says that when she star ted t ending b ar in the Chicago ar ea a few years ago, craf t beer was on the rise. Now, she says, a lot o f young people ar e opting for vodka with either club soda or wat er. “ They think if they get v odka and water, they’r e hydrating at the same time, so it’ s healthier.” Beer mak ers hav e begun tr ying to work t ogether t o do something about the thr eat—a departur e for an industr y that has been a hotbed of infighting and litigation. “W e need to be pro‐beer fir st and try to differ entiate our cat egory from wine and spirits, and w e need t o do that t ogether,” said Molson Coor s’s U.S. CEO Gavin Hatt ersley at an industr y conference last y ear. Early this y ear, top ex ecutiv es from AB InBev , Heineken and Molson Coor s gathered in Arlingt on, Va., to discuss ways t o pool resour ces and mark et beer more generally. No concrete plans hav e sprung from the summit, and comp anies haven’t committed any funding, ex ecutives say. This spring, AB InBev bought a comp any that owns a string of small gin, vodka and whisk ey brands and t ook a stake in a California winemak er. Ex ecutiv es are targeting Hisp anics with Sp anish‐language ads. Last w eek, the comp any said it was creating a new position: a head o f nonalcoholic drinks. AB InBev’s CEO, Mr. Brit o, says the futur e is still bright for big beer brands in the U.S., and that AB InBev has become mor e focused on profitability . Higher‐price beer s such as Michelob Ultra, S tella Ar tois and Bud Ice, he says, ar e gaining market share. “If you look at our por tfolio in the U.S., w e’ve been tr ying to rejig it, tr ying to add new things that w e think are growth engines for the futur e,” he said in Mar ch. Budweiser t eamed up this summer with whisk ey maker Jim Beam, o ffering shot‐and‐chaser specials at b ars acr oss the countr y. It also is r olling out a new Budw eiser beer, aged with bourbon‐b arrel stav es. “It brings nor mal bourbon drink ers t o beer ,” says T ravis Moor e, senior br ewmaster at Budw eiser’s S t. Louis br ewery. The new br ew, which hits st ores and r estaurants in August, is called Budw eiser Reserve Copper Lager . It is aimed at “ entry‐lev el drink ers,” age 21 t o 24, says Julia Mize, who pr omotes beer for AB InBev . “People who ar e in their 50s gr ew up with Bud because it was the No. 1 beer when they tur ned 21.” Now, she says, y oung adults hav e so many other options. Another recent limit ed‐edition Budw eiser is Freedom Reserve R ed Lager , which began appearing on shelv es this summer. And last fall, the comp any began selling 1933 R epeal Reserve Amber Lager , which has a slightly higher alcohol cont ent. The company is hoping the new pr oducts will reinvigorate drinkers’ int erest in Budw eiser, which last y ear fell off the list o f America’s top thr ee best ‐selling beer s. It now ranks four th. AB InBev is working to persuade consumer s to choose some o f its other beers over wine or cock tails during meals. Among other things, it has launched an or ganic version o f Michelob Ultra and fruit ‐flavored v ersions o f Bud Light. The comp any put Mr . Goeler, who managed the brand in the 1990s, b ack in charge of Bud Light, and the comp any launched a big‐budget ad campaign about a medieval king with a penchant for Bud Light and a made‐up t oast, “Dilly Dilly .” AB InBev says Bud Light is luring drink ers fr om similarly priced riv als. But the brand is still losing v olume and overall market share. Last y ear, Bud Light held 15.2\% o f the market, down fr om 19.5\% at its peak , according to Beer Mark eter ’s Insights’ estimat es. AB InBev sold 31.6 million b arrels o f Bud Light in 2017, down fr om 41.7 million barrels in 2008. Kaitlin Mey er, 30, w orks in the financial industr y in Chicago. She says she hasn’t drunk beer since college. “Y ou get full after beer ,” she says. “Wine is mor e drinkable. I’ll drink vodka if I’m at a bar that has cheap wine. ” Case study with specific instructions and rubric Case Preparation: Remember, the cases are graded per the rubric. The BoD would want your recommendations with the proper support. Any analysis details should be covered in an appendix. Do not go to the Internet to find, for example, a SWOT analysis and use it for your case. Do your own research and develop your own strategic analysis. In doing your cases you will need a minimum of three references outside the case I give you. One of the references must be the company’s latest 10K report or Annual Report - Wikipedia and QuickMBA type sources do not count. Use current business websites to find out about recent developments. Certainly do not use websites that develop term papers or do strategy analysis on these cases and publish them. This could lead to charges of plagiarism and the associated consequences. The case study analysis allows you to apply your knowledge to the real world. Your goal is to identify the major problem confronting the subject company and provide a strategic solution for the problem. You will need to collect data and interpret it. You must also isolate the critical issues that the company faces. Remember that in the words of Lord Kelvin, anything that cannot be expressed in numbers represents knowledge that is of a poor and uncertain kind. After identifying the critical issues you can generate alternatives to address the companys competitive situation. Evaluating these alternatives allows an organization to select one course of action. With a course of action defined the strategic manager can then provide a plan for implementation this is what you are to do on the case studies. Always refer to the rubric for the critical points to cover. The format for the case studies should be as follows. APA cover page, One page, single spaced Executive Summary for the case as noted below. This is a summary of your report and, therefore, must be done after you finish the report. This one-page report must use headings and subheadingss indicated in the following format to identify the critical issues. Begin with your understanding of the situation in a problem statement. Follow this with a concise presentation of your analysis and the alternatives you see. Recommend one course of action and support that recommendation with facts and other information, such as competitor’s moves. The last item is presents a plan for implementation –a sentence or two is sufficient. A sample of the Executive Summary is available with all this material. Body of your report. The summary page should encapsulate your understanding to the problems facing the company, a brief summary of the strategic analysis, financial analysis, the alternatives considered and a single recommendation with an implementation plan. After the executive summary page, you are to use standard APA formatting for a 5 page report. Tables, charts, graphs, etc. are to be put in the appendix and referenced from the body of your paper. Deductions may be taken for papers where the body is longer than five pages. Remember, in management you must get your thoughts across quickly if you expect your work to be read. Long reports generally wind up in a stack awaiting reading at some future date (which never comes). Case Study Report Format: Your report must include: I. NSU Cover page (1 page in length). It will present the name of the case and the author(s) of the report. II. Executive Summary (1 page in length). The Executive Summary is a concise overview of the report. The Case Study Report should be written from the perspective of an outside consultant, writing to the Board of Directors of the firm. It notes the essential points of the report and must have the following sections: Problem Statement: State the main problem facing the firm (or industry) in one, succinct sentence. Analysis: Summarize the main findings of your analysis. You may use bullet points, bold, italics – any means to convey and highlight the key factors you have determined based on your analysis. Don’t repeat items from the body of your report like the SWOT. Summarize the major issues. Alternatives: State briefly (one sentence or a bullet point each) 2 or 3 alternative courses of action that could be implemented Recommendation: Choose one course of action and support your choice. Implementation: Briefly (1or 2 sentences are sufficient) present how the plan would be implemented. This tests the viability of the choice. For example, your plan would demonstrate that the company has the people, financial resources and time to implement your recommendation. These bullets should appear in your paper. The following is a precise format for the Case Studies. FORMATTING for Executive Summary: Single-space One inch all margins Use bullet points, lists, or other means to convey information briefly. Further explanation can be found in the main body of the report. Use headings and subheadings to organize the material in an easy to read and understandable manner that highlights the essential points of your analysis. Do not include a summary or overview of the firm in your report. The Board of Directors are knowledgeable and need no background presented. The body of your paper should be in standard APA format, double-spaced, with appropriate references, but not exceeding five pages. You may attach Appendices for tables, charts, anything useful that is referred to in body of the case report. Remember that cases are graded per the rubric. The Case Study rubric can be found here or in the in the Course Instruction Tab and should be added at the end of your submission. Case study with specific instructions and rubric Case Studies There are three cases that are evaluations of companies as outlined in the Assignments and the Schedule of Weekly Activities. The preparation of the cases in this course is different than the cases you have written in the past. These will require substantial investigation into case company’s strategies, competitive positions and actions, problems being faced, the company financials, ratios and trends. The case studies are about a real companys current position in the industry, the external competitive environment, the current strategies being used, and recommendations for strategies the company should use going forward. The cases should identify a problem faced by the company, using the strategic management tools highlighted in the text and a quantitative analysis. You then generate realistic solutions, evaluate and select one, and then provide recommendations and the timeline to implement your recommendations. Remember that you are working to understand the companys current strategy and future direction that offers a solution to the problem of meeting the company’s shareholder requirements. Again, remember that you are fulfilling the requirements of the rubric for each of these cases. By analogy, in the BSG you have a set of prescribed goals to attain and a set of reports issued weekly to assist you in understanding how your company is doing relative to the competition and giving you an opportunity to revise your operational plans for the next period. However, in the three cases you have to look at a company’s performance over the past few years and understand how their performance is changing and identify underlying problems. You are to identify trends in performance, problem areas, and how the company is performing using all of the tools that you have learned throughout your MBA program. Remember that you are working to meet or exceed the shareholder expectations. The perspective for your report analysis should be directed to the company’s Board of Directors (BoD). Remember that the BoD is familiar with the company’s history, its management structure and the strategies deployed in the past. Recycling old history about the formation of the company, its previous management, etc. will not be looked upon favorably by the BOD (or your instructor). Remember that your case study must be brought up to date with the most current 10K report or financial information. Get at the critical issues and report on them. Remember that in business, situations do not come with a set of questions. The questions sometimes have to be generated and then researched to find solutions to those questions. Success in the cases is important to your final grade in that the three cases constitute 35\% of your course grade. The first case is a team case, worth 5\%, so you can learn from one another and have a little less stress approaching the assignment. The other two cases are individual, each worth 15\%