New York University Best Buys Ecommerce Service Case Study

Strategy Report for Digital Business Structure Class

An electronic copy of your report (4-5 PAGES, excluding appendices, single-spaced, 12-point font;

Assignment: You will be provided with the name of a company operating in the digital space ((the name provided was BEST BUY)). Your assignment is to analyze the strategic situation currently facing the company, and suggest strategic growth options that the company can follow over the next three years. If your assigned company operates in multiple businesses, you are encouraged to look at creating synergies with other business that the company owns among its businesses while proposing your strategy. Materials in support of your analysis such as tables, quantitative analysis, etc., should be placed in appendices, and not in the text.

This assignment is meant to be challenging. It essentially asks you to perform a comprehensive analysis that includes three important levels – (1) the global and national environment in which the industry and firms operate, (2) the industry and competitive factors influencing the activities of the company, and (3) the company itself and its operations. Good papers will not simply analyze the three levels independently, but look for linkage and interactions among them. In addition, they will draw on this analysis to make thoughtful strategic recommendations for the firm.

Framework (suggested page length based on single-spaced)

1. (1?2-page). An executive summary of your report highlighting the main points. This should be concise and targeted at senior executives of the company who are mainly interested in the big- picture overview, not the minute details. You will typically write this section after you have finished writing the rest of the report.

1. (2-3 pages). Strategic Situation Analysis consisting of the sections listed below.
   • Environmental Analysis: Examine the economic, technological, social, regulatory, political, and legal environments affecting the company’s industry sector. Please restrict this analysis only to factors that directly affect the industry and company.
   • Industry and Competitor Analysis: Examine the structure of the industry (whether monopoly, oligopoly, or pure competition), the different players operating in the industry (domestic and international), the economics of the industry, the strengths and weaknesses of the main competitors, and the nature of competition in the industry.
   • Consumer Analysis: Examine the consumer culture, consumption patterns, customer needs, and trends in the industry.
   • Company Analysis: What are the strengths and weaknesses of the company? Analyze the company’s current strategy, its business model, and evaluate its prospects. Explain clearly the strategic challenges facing the firm today.
2. (2-3 pages). Strategic Recommendations
   • Identify at least three strategic revenue growth opportunities for the company and describe them using a short paragraph. For each opportunity, list and explain the pros and cons. Your analysis of the pros and cons should explicitly reference and draw insights from your analysis in Section 2 above (note: strategic growth options are those that require significant commitment of time and money, and have a long-term impact on the performance of the company. Some examples are entering a new business or a new market segment, increasing market share among existing market segments, or changing its business model, etc.).
   • Write a clear and concise recommendation, selecting the best option out of your three suggested growth opportunities. Give a rationale for your choice and provide a clearly defined plan for how the company can implement this growth opportunity.
3. (No limit). Appendices and bibliography using the APA or MLA format. Points will be deducted for submissions with improper formatting. The appendices should contain materials such as tables and quantitative analysis, and should be referenced in the text of the report. Including appendices that are not supportive of the text of your report will result in point penalties.

—-you should separate out the different sections indicated. For example, separate Environmental Analysis, Industry and Competitor Analysis, etc. Please do not write one long essay where all the sections are combined.

—-The company assigned for the report is Best Buy’s E-commerce Service. Best Buy is the largest electronics retailer in the country. Please see the Attached material on Best Buy to get you started.

—You MUST cite the material attached AND many credible outside sources.