1. The report must be typed using Arial 11.
2. Remember, this work must be your own. Copy and pasting information from textbooks, internet sources or other resources is not acceptable. This report will be run through TurnitIn, a software program that ensures originality of students’ work. (Keep in mind that this software also access ANY essay, report or project that has been published anywhere on the internet which includes those essays and reports available for sale.
3. If more than 15% of your material has been copied from various resources AND HAS NOT BEEN CITED USING APA 5th edition, all group members will receive a zero grade for this assignment, and an Academic Dishonesty report filed.
Please, if you do have questions, visit the Advanced Writing Centre or come and speak with me directly. Remember, if it is not your idea, you need to thank the original author.

The project:
choose the following company (their main competitor is in brackets):
• Doha Insurance: [Qatar Insurance]

Create a strategic plan. You will need to analyze the company’s current situation and its strengths and weaknesses. You will need to formulate, plan to implement and evaluate the competitive, functional and corporate strategy needed in order to help the firm move forward to a desired future situation.

This must be a formal written report 12-14 pages (3000 – 4000 words) not including cover, TOC, Appendices or References (appendices can be added at the end). This must follow the format found in the marking rubric on page 11.
Tip: Bullets, charts, tables and graphs are useful when providing details and information. This is a business report – not an essay! Your goal is to write clearly and concisely. Support your analysis statements with FACTS, not inference or feelings. Be specific; do not just say something the company does is “very well done.”
A thorough guide that may assist: http://college.cengage.com/business/resources/casestudies/students/analyzing.htm
You must include the following in your report.

Cover Page (include all student names and student IDs)
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
A one-page summary that includes the purpose of the report, the overview of the current company position, the company’s current challenges, the research involved with the project, your key findings, and alternate options AND your recommendation. THIS IS WRITTEN AFTER you write the rest of your report. It is the last thing your group will do.
1. Introduction
A one-page explanation of the company’s past five-to-eight years and how the company has changed over this period of time. The company’s position in the market should also be included. Finally, the report’s purpose, what was considered during the research stage and sources considered should also be covered.
2. Analysis
2.1. External Environment Analysis
..1 PESTLE (same as PESTEL) Analysis
Consider the Macro Environment that the company operates in. What factors influence the industry? Analyze the external environment, and carry forward any findings to your SWOT analysis (Opportunities & Threats).
Environmental factor –
Political Comments
Political
What is the political situation of the country (or internationally) and how can it affect the industry?
How does the government approach corporate policy, corporate social responsibility, and environmental issues? What impact would this have on the industry, and is it likely to change in the future? Are there future elections that could affect the industry?
Consider: tax policy, labour law, environmental law, trade restrictions, tariffs, and political stability, level of corruption and bureaucracy, freedom of press. Consider political impact on health, education, and infrastructure.
Economic
How the economy influences the industry’s performance.
How stable is the economy? Are customers’ levels of disposable income increasing or decreasing?
Consider: economic growth potential, interest rates, exchange rates, inflation rates, unemployment rates, disposable income levels, labour costs, price fluctuations, stock market trends, level of globalization in the industry and how these factors impacts companies in the industry.
Socio-cultural
The attitudes, values, norms, beliefs, behaviours and associated demographic trends characteristic of a given geographic area
How does a society’s views and beliefs influence an industry? How likely is there to be a shift in views/values? What impact will these expected changes have on an industry?
Consider: demographics, generational shifts, society’s levels of health/education/social mobility, social classes, family size and structure, minorities and expatriates, customer buying habits, immigration and emigration rates, gender distribution, employment patterns, job market trends, attitudes towards work, attitudes toward imported goods and services, attitudes towards work, leisure, career and retirement, and saving and investing, social attitudes and social taboos, religion and lifestyle choices and how these factors could influence an industry.
Technology
Are there any new technology changes that will affect the industry?
Consider: new technologies, new technologies available to competitors that are out of reach for your company, rate of technological change, spending on R&D, communication infrastructure, government restrictions (dial-up vs. fiber), infrastructure restrictions (remote working).
Legal
Legal restrictions in place (or may be in place in the future) that can affect the industry.
What is the likely timeline for proposed legislative changes?
Consider: human rights, consumer law, antitrust law, commercial law, copyright/patents/intellectual law, data protection, employment law, health and safety law, and international law.
Environmental
Ecological and environmental factors such as weather, climate, climate change, and how the weather may affect an industry.
Consider: weather, climate change, laws regulating environment pollution, air and water pollution, recycling, waste management, “green” products, endangered species, renewable energy, industries such as tourism, farming, and insurance are impacted by the environment. Consumer attitudes also can influence an industry.

.. 2 Industry Environment – Porters Five Forces
A. Industry Rivalry – How competitive and profitable is the industry?
Industry Rivalry
Industry growth rates Informational complexity Product differences
High fixed costs Concentration & balance Brand identity
Intermittent over capacity Diversity of competitors Switching costs
Exit barriers Corporate stakes

B. The Bargaining power of customers/buyers – How much power do buyers have to demand lower prices or higher quality from the industry?
The bargaining power of customers (buyers)
Differentiation of outputs Buyer information about supplier products Importance of volume to buyers
Switching costs Buyer profitability Cost relative to total buyer purchases
Presence of substitutes Decision makers incentives Impact of outputs on the cost of differentiation
Industry concentration relative to buyer concentration Threat of backward integration

C. The bargaining power of suppliers – How much power do suppliers have to charge high prices or offer lower quality materials to their buyers?
The bargaining power of suppliers
Differentiation of inputs Information about suppliers products Importance of volume to suppliers
Switching costs Supplier profitability Cost relative to total purchases in the industry
Presence of substitute products Decision makers incentives Impact of inputs on cost or differentiation
Supplier concentration relative to industry concentration Threat of forward integration

D. Threat of new entrants – How easy or difficult is it for new companies to enter a market?
The threat of new entrants
Economies of scale Absolute cost advantage Switching costs
Proprietary product differences Government policy Capital requirements
Brand identity Expected retaliation Access to distribution

E. Threat of substitute products or services – How easy is it for buyers to find substitutes with better prices or quality?
Threat of substitute products or services
Relative price performance of substitutes Buyer propensity to substitute Switching costs

• Internal Analysis
3.2.1 Company vision, mission, goals/objectives
Analyze the company’s vision, mission, goals and objectives. Remember to carry forward the information into your SWOT analysis.
Note: Mission: A mission statement is a short description of the purpose of the company/organization
Vision: How do we accomplish the mission? Presentation or prioritized, measurable goals with
deadlines.
Does the company’s mission/vision: clearly define your customers, identify the markets the firm operates in, seem concerned with survival, growth and profitability, outline its economic objectives and its beliefs, ambitions and value, as well as its competitive strengths? Does the statement(s) include a concern for public image, social community and/or the environment? Does the firm publically state how important their employees are to their success?
3.2.2 Resources – Provide a summary and explain how the company is achieving a competitive advantage using the following resources:
Tangible Resources Intangible Resources
Financial Resources Technological Resources
Physical Resources Innovation Resources
Human Resources Reputation
Organisational Resources
3.2.3 Capabilities – Provide a summary and explain how the company is achieving a competitive advantage using the following capabilities:
Corporate Information Managment
Research & Development Product Design
Marketing Sales & Fulfillment
3.2.4 Financial Analysis – Choose five (5) ratios to compute and analyze for the last five (5) fiscal years. Enter the details into a chart similar to the example below, and interpret the results – what do the numbers mean?
Note: Make sure to include your financials and calculations in an appendix. This can be uploaded as a separate file when submitting. A good guide: http://www.investopedia.com/university/ratios/
Year
Ratio 20XX 20XX 20XX 20XX 20XX
Current Ratio
Quick Ratio
Cash Ratio
Total debit ratio
Debit Equity Ratio
Times Interest Earned
Return on Equity
Return on total assets
Net profit / sales
Expense / sales
Asset turnover
Price Earnings Ratio
3.2 SWOT
Bring together your complete analysis – both internal and external into a summary SWOT table.
Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities Threats

3.3 Competitive and corporate strategy analysis
Analyze the company’s corporate strategy. Consider their business/functional/operational strategies. If the company has subsidiaries or different business units, analyze the interaction between them. Do they trade or exchange resources? Is there synergy? Which corporate strategy are they pursuing? How are they achieving or failing at achieving competitive advantage? Has their corporate strategy changed over time? Why? Is their competitive advantage sustainable? Consider the SWOT findings in the previous section during your analysis.

4 Options for the company’s strategic plan
Using your analysis, create two (2) options for the company to have as a plan for the future. These options should be in line with your analysis, and should focus on corporate, business, and functional level strategies. They will generally centre on how to change the company – its structure, market, products etc.
• Option 1
• Option 2
5 Recommendation
Choose one optional strategic plan and provide a rationale for why it is the stronger and therefore more likely to be successful for the company. Your recommendation should be directed at solving whatever issue the company is facing.

6 Implementation or Action Plan for your recommended strategy
Remember to include a timeline which sequences the steps and resources the company should follow while they implement your recommendation. It is strongly suggested you separate the steps into immediate, medium and long-term actions.

7 Evaluation
Include the key success factors and/or criteria to measure the success or failure of your recommended strategic plan.

8 Works Cited
• All pages should be numbered.
• Any reference should follow APA guidelines.
• DO NOT repeat sentences or phrases from the websites you consult, as this does count as plagiarism. Remember, this will be submitted to Turnitin for originality verification.