Louisiana State University Strategic Management & M1 Practitioner Discussion

M1 Practitioner Application

Defining the Competitive Field

Your M1 practitioner application will require devoted inquiry, assimilation, reflection, and refinement in order to achieve the highest possible score. Specifically, you are to take the scenario listed below, address it in full, and submit your work in accordance with the instructions contained herein. Importantly, this is an independent assignment to be completed by you and you alone. Sharing work with fellow students, supplying advice to your student peers, gaining assistance from outside parties, and similar actions will constitute violations of the academic code of conduct and will carry significant penalties in accordance with University policy.

The Challenge

M1 focuses significant attention on the extremely important topic of market structure, including environmental surveillance. Among other things, you were introduced to Porter’s Five Forces Model, via your readings, which serves as a useful reference for defining competition. Specifically, you are to place yourself in the role of Strategy Officer for a soon-to-be-established chiropractic clinic based in the city of your choice. (An actual city must be selected as this assignment calls for formal market research.) This entity will be named Greenbriar Chiropractic Clinic and it will offer the usual and customary array of services provided by chiropractic clinics. (If you are unfamiliar with chiropractic clinics and the types of services offered, conduct associated research and perhaps even visit one to gain a proper understanding before completing the assignment.)

Greenbriar Chiropractic Clinic’s owners, new in their role as healthcare entrepreneurs, wish to gain a better understanding of competition in the market and enlist you to prepare an associated assessment. The owners are familiar with Porter’s Five Forces Model and feel as though their knowledge of suppliers and buyers is sufficient. Noting the highly competitive market, however, they would like to bolster their knowledge of existing competitors, potential entrants, and substitutes and have requested your assistance and advice. (As the owners indicate that the clinic is in a competitive market, the city you select must mirror this attribute. Smaller municipalities likely will not qualify. As such, moderately-sized or larger municipalities should be selected.) Your task is to perform a market assessment, identifying existing competitors, potential entrants, and substitutes in the city of focus for chiropractic health services.

Doing so will require you to consult a variety of information sources (e.g., telephone directories, the Internet, industry databases), reflect on your own knowledge of the marketplace, conduct field research, and explore other relevant avenues in an effort to comprehensively identify the noted competitive forces across the three designated categories of Porter’s framework. Competitive forces in each category must be explicitly identified (e.g., existing competitors and potential entrants must be listed by their specific brand name, substitutes must be explicitly identified and named). Note that general portrayals will be penalized harshly; specificity is required.

The end result of your efforts should yield a comprehensive overview of the competitive threats in the city of focus, affording the chiropractic clinic’s owners with details that will help them plan operations.

The Submission Requirement

Your submission in its entirety (i.e., all inclusive) must be at least 1500 words. It is to be typed (or pasted) directly into the Moodle posting window, after which you will submit your work. After submission, students are advised to verify that the assignment was submitted successfully by revisiting the submission link in advance of the assignment deadline. (Warning: After the assignment deadline, do not return to the M1 Practitioner Application to check the status of your submission, as doing so can change the submission date, forcing issuance of penalties for lateness.) Note that attachments of any kind are prohibited and will carry no points value. Given the length of the submission, it is advised that students prepare it in a word processing program, and when finalized, copy and paste the text into the Moodle posting window. Moodle can be very finicky and often will distort formatting, so care must be taken in preparing your submission. It is understood that Moodle formatting is limited; simply make your submission look as nice as possible.

Your paper must be well referenced, with at least three (3) of the references being from scholarly academic journals. (If you cannot ascertain whether a journal does or does not qualify as scholarly academic, contact the Noel Library and request assistance.) References may be prepared using the style guide of your choice (e.g., APA, MLA); just be sure to consistently use the selected style. As Moodle formatting is limited, style guide requirements apply only to the preparation and presentation of references. Treat this as a formal report, rather than an informal web post. Note that references consisting merely of web links are unacceptable and will result in a 30-point deduction.

In presenting your work, identify the title, your name and student ID number, and submission date at the top of your submission and supply the following headings, exactly as they appear below, placing each in bold text:

• Abstract (Your paper must include an abstract of approximately 150-250 words. An abstract is a stand-alone summary of your submission; it must be presented at the beginning of your paper, although, for obvious reasons, it is prepared after you finish your paper. If you aren’t familiar with writing abstracts, simply Google “how to write an abstract” or similar phrases for a wealth of helpful tips.)
• Introduction (In this section, supply a brief introduction, helping the reader grasp the intent of the forthcoming work.)
• Background
  • City Profile (In this section, supply a brief overview of the city of focus, noting its name, population, demographic characteristics, and any other helpful background information.)
  • Service Profile (In this section, supply an overview of the area of medicine addressed by the clinic: chiropractic health services. Provide a definition, note major areas of focus, and offer other helpful details, demonstrating your grasp of this particular area of medicine.)
• Competitive Threats
  • Existing Competitors (In this section, identify chiropractic clinics by name currently in operation in the city of focus. Be sure to supply brief profiles of key chiropractic clinics, aiding the owners in their quest to understand direct competitors.)
  • Potential Entrants (In this section, identify healthcare providers by name who are not currently providing chiropractic services in the market, but might have the potential and desire to do so in the future. Be sure to indicate your view as to the likelihood that these entities actually might pursue offering chiropractic services.)
  • Substitutes (In this section, identify goods and services that consumers might use as a substitute for visiting a chiropractic clinic. Be sure to identify substitutes by name and indicate their threat potential for the chiropractic clinic.)
• Conclusions (In this section, summarize the report, being sure to express your thoughts on the overall competitive environment faced by the given clinic.)
• References (In this section, supply a list of references conforming with the instructions listed elsewhere in this communication.)

Assessment Criteria

Your submission will be assessed based on the following:

• Compliance quality: The degree to which your submission complies with noted guidelines, including word count and reference specifications,
• Communication quality: The degree to which your work meets standards expected in business communications, including matters concerning the use of proper grammar and punctuation, and
• Content quality: The quality of the content presented in your work.

Take care when determining word counts; Moodle automatically supplies these details to instructors. If word count requirements are not met, a 30-point deduction is assessed. (Note that Moodle’s word count algorithm may differ from the one used by your word processor, presenting yet another reason supporting an early submission, affording adjustment opportunities, if needed.)

Also, take care to note the deadline for this assignment. Late submissions will be accepted for up to 24 hours beyond the deadline; however, a 30-point deduction for lateness will be assessed. Submissions received more than 24 hours beyond the deadline are automatically scored zero points.

Good luck!