Comprehensive EXAM Business Policy (BUSI 4940.001) | Complete Solution

Comprehensive EXAM (Spring 2016)
Business Policy (BUSI 4940.001)

INSTRUCTIONS:

•    The comprehensive exam consists of two parts that requires you to answer five (5) questions.  
•    Questions 1 & 2 will be answered in Part 1 of the exam, and questions 3, 4 & 5 will be answered in Part-2 of the exam.
•    Your responses to all five questions need to be uploaded to the comprehensive examination drop-box (in Blackboard) on May 9th.
•    You must answer all five questions.  Maximum points for the exam = 250 points.  Each question is worth 50 points 
 
•    Part 1 of this Exam is a take-home assignment.  
o    You will answer questions 1 & 2 that relate to SBI Part-1A (Industry Analysis).  
o    The specific industry that you will analyzed will be announced on Sunday, May 1st.  The announcement will be made in the “Examination” folder in Blackboard. 
o    You will work on the assignment on your own and upload your response to the questions posed in Part 1 during the exam session on Monday, May 9th.  
o    Your response to each take-home question should not exceed 500 words. 
o    We encourage you to work in this template in a word processor, and then transfer your answers to the Comprehensive Exam Drop Box in Blackboard after it becomes visible at 6:30 pm on Monday, May 9th.

•    Part 2 of this exam is an “in-class” assignment
o    This is an open-book, open-notes exam
o    You will answer questions 3, 4 & 5 that are related to SBI Parts 1B, 2A, 2B & 3A
o    You will answer these questions during the exam session on Monday, May 9th, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.
o    On the day of the exam, you will be provided with supplemental information (hard copy) about a firm that operates in the same industry that you analyzed in Part-1 of the exam.  Please read the supplemental material for Part-2 of the exam, and answer the questions in the context of the industry and the firm discussed in the supplemental material.
o    Your response to each take-home question should not exceed 250 words
o    We recommend that during the exam, you work off-line, using a word processor (e.g. MS-Word), to compose your answer to each question.  When you are done, login to Blackboard, access the examination drop-box, and paste your response to each of the three questions from Part-2 of the exam in the appropriate submission location.  At this point, you would also submit your responses to the two questions from Part 1 of the exam.
o    Give yourself enough time to upload the five responses
o     Ensure that you hit the submit button after all responses have been submitted. 
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GOOD LUCK!
GIVE IT YOUR BEST SHOT!

 
Comprehensive Examination - Part 1
(Take Home)

1.    Identify forces prevalent in the environment  
a)    Conduct a PEST analysis. Identify and describe 2 to 3 of the most influential forces in the broad environment. 
b)    Conduct a 5-forces analysis.  Identify and describe 2-3 of the most influential forces in the competitive (industry) environment.
2.    Use your response to questions 1a & 1b above, and the theory taught in class, to answer the following questions:
a)    Identify and describe the most significant drivers of change in the industry, and the expected influence they could have on the industry in the next five years. (Note:  you MUST reference the results of the PEST and the 5-forces analysis found in your response to the previous question to justify your selection of key drivers of change in the industry):
b)    Identify and describe the most significant key survival factors in the industry (Note:  you MUST justify your selection as you did in part a):
c)    Use your analysis in Part (a) & (b) of this question (above) to assess and describe the overall attractiveness of the industry and the trend toward the future (you MUST provide details): 

 
Comprehensive Examination - Part 2
(Take Home)

3.   Assess the Firm and its Strategic Consistency.
a)    Assess and describe the firm’s organizational performance.
I.    Operating performance (Financial and Market performance).
II.    Organizational health.
b)    Identify current goals of the firm, and describe each component of the current strategic orientation of the firm.
c)    Describe the most significant current capabilities of the firm.
d)    Use the Criterion of Consistency to assess overall fit (environment ←→ Strategy ←→ business capabilities) and identify key issues/problems.  
4.    Strategic Choice:  Use information from the case, your response to the questions in Part-A of this exam, and your response to Question-1 on the previous page, to propose a new set of goals, strategy components, and capabilities for the firm that will improve strategic fit and resulting performance. (Remember that you MUST present your response in terms of CHANGES that need to be made to the current goals, strategy and capabilities of the firm):
a)    Proposed changes to current goals of the firm
b)    Proposed changes to the current strategic orientation of the firm
c)    Proposed changes to one or more categories of capabilities of the firm necessary to affect your proposed change. (These must be logical extensions of the changes to the strategy that are proposed above):  
i.    Changes to Customer Capabilities
ii.    Changes to Operational Capabilities
iii.    Changes to Innovation Capabilities
5.    Strategy Implementation:  Describe the strategy implementation process
a)    Identify ONE department that will be MOST CRITICAL to successfully implementing the capability changes identified by you.  Next develop a 5 year strategic plan for this department.  
b)    Estimate costs that would be incurred to implement the proposed departmental strategic plan
c)    Develop a change agenda, analyse starting conditions, and provide a summary of an action plan for the proposed departmental strategic plan