Analysis of the Effects of an Environmental Scan on the South Western

Topic: An Analysis of the Effects of an Environmental Scan on the Company’s Performance————-10% Introduction
a) Write about the South western airlines, industry under which it operates, and the Industry’s Six Digit NAICS Code.
b) Background of the Company (headquarters, annual revenues, number of employees, and state
whether it operates internationally.
c) Problem leading to the researching of the company’s environmental scan
d) Organize the paper into four sections. Section I discusses the external environment to address
the opportunities and threats facing the industry, and the hence the company. Section II assesses the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses in light of the company’s external scan. Section IV discusses the corporate governance of the company. Section V provides a summary, and conclusions with recommendations for formulating and implementing strategies.
Section I External Environment———————————————————–35%
a) The general environment
b) The Industry Environment
c) The Competitor Analysis
Section II The Organization’s Internal Environment——————————————————35%
a) Resources
b) Capabilities
c) Core Competencies
Section III The Company’s Corporate Governance
a) Board of Directors and state whether the CEO is also the Chair of the Board
b) Ownership concentration (large block of share) in decision making
c) Issue about executive compensation
Section IV Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations———————————————-10% References—————————————————————————————————————–10%
APA Format and Errors Free _____________________________________________________________________________100%

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GUIDELINES for CASE 1
The profitability of the Industry and hence the company is determined by the external environment which consists of three major components:
Section 1:
a. The General Environment is composed of dimensions in the broader society that influence the industry and the performance of firms within it. Refer to Chapter 2 in the textbook for more detailed information regarding the seven segments of the General Environment as follows:
1. Global
2. Demographic
3. Physical
4. Political/Legal
5. Economic
6. Technological
7. Socio-Cultural
Based on the information that you have gathered on your Company, textbook, and research, you are to determine which aspect(s) of the general environment affect your company. Select the Top Three segments with supporting evidences (scholarly articles, textbook references and the case study of the company) the impact the most.
Next, you will make an evaluation(s) as to whether they are opportunities or threats to the company’s performance.
b. The Industry Environment: Porter’s Five Forces Framework
The industry environment refers to the forces that directly influences the profitability of the industry as
follows:
Threats of new entrants
Bargaining power of suppliers
Bargaining power of buyers
Rivalry among existing firms
Threats of product substitutes. State, where necessary, if opportunities exist for product
complement.
Porter’s five forces (and product complement) model is a conceptual framework for analyzing the industry environment. Based on the information gathered about your company, textbook and research, determine the importance of each force in Porter’s model; also, offer reasons and cite references.
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For example, under the threat of new entrants, there are barriers to entry and how existing firms will react. Some of the barriers to entry include high initial capital set-up costs or government regulations that will make a weak or strong threat of new entrants. If so, what are the entry barriers? Also, a threat can arise form substitutes which may affect the firm’s market share and hence profit.
c. Competitor Analysis
The competitor analysis focuses on how the company competes directly with other companies in the same industry. For example, Walmart competes with Amazon; Apple vs. Samsung; Home Depot with Lowe’s.
Identify the Top Three competitors in your industry and briefly discuss the followings:
Where/how does your company hold an advantage over the competitors?
What will your competitors do in the near future (next 6 months to a year)?
What should your company do to remain competitive?
Section II. The Organization’s Resources
Resources, capabilities and core competencies are the foundation of competitive advantage. For this section, you are asked to do the followings:
Briefly discuss the components of an Internal Analysis (Refer to Figure 3.1, chapter 3 in the textbook)
Include a discussion of Value Chain Analysis; Figure 3.3, Chapter 3.
Which value chain activity provides the most value to your company and why? Offer examples
and cite references.
Does your company engage in any outsourcing activities? If yes, explain and offer an example.
Section III. Corporate Governance
Describe the company’s corporate governance about the guidelines in aligning the interest of the shareholders and the managers in terms of:
d) Board of Directors and state whether the CEO is also the Chair of the Board
e) Ownership concentration (large block of share) in decision making
f) Issue about executive compensation
NOTE: Please be reminded that:
· Paper 1 is worth 20% of your final grade
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