Competency 1

Analyze the needs of organizations within a changing global business environment.

Competency Statement

Using a SWOT analysis, the MBA candidate will be able to evaluate competitive advantage and present a proposal for adapting to changes in the global business environment.

Assessment Overview

Working in business management means taking on responsibility to lead your organization in a variety of situations. Part of that responsibility is understanding where an organization has been and where it’s going. In this course, you will put yourself in the shoes of a manager and use resources to make decisions on where an organization is heading in respect to business needs, organizational structure, leadership strategies, and change management. Some of the information needed will be easy to locate, but other information will take time and effort to find. You may even need to make assumptions based on research. These research and strategizing skills will be useful in your business management career.

In this assessment you will evaluate the strategic needs of a company within a changing global environment.

You will be able to submit this assessment after you’ve completed the Reflection assignments in Modules 1 and 2. There is a Competency 1 – Assessment Submission module that appears in the course after Competency 1 – Module 2: Managerial Planning and Strategy.

Save and upload each part of the assessment as a separate file and title the files so it’s clear to see what part of the assessment they serve. Include your name in your documents on the first page, upper left.

Select a company – (BROOKFIELD PROPERTIES RETAIL) Complete: SWOT Analyses list – to use for the rest of the course (this will sometimes be referred to as “your organization”) and research its history.

Managers at each level of the organization use SWOT analysis to identify strategies that will best position the company to achieve its mission and goals.The first step in a SWOT analysis is to identify and describe an organization’s strengths and weaknesses that characterize the present state of the company. The next step requires managers to identify potential opportunities and threats in the environment that affect the organization in the present or possibly in the future.

When the SWOT analysis is complete, managers begin developing strategies. These strategies should allow the company to attain its goals by taking advantage of opportunities, countering threats, building strengths, and correcting organizational weaknesses.

Congratulations! You’ve been hired as a manager and have been asked to analyze the current status of your organization (the company you selected in Part 1 of this assessment).

Review your organization’s SWOT analysis and other available sources to evaluate the strategic needs of the organization within a changing global environment. Complete the Organizational Analysis worksheet for your evaluation.

Respond to the following in a minimum of 500 words:

Consider the four functions of management (e.g., planning, organizing, leading, and controlling).

• How would you characterize your current or past supervisor’s approach to management?
• For example, which particular management tasks and roles does this person perform most often?
• What kinds of management skills does the manager have?
• How does this approach affect a global environment ?

Submit your assignment.

Respond to the following in a minimum of 500 words:

The global business environment is constantly evolving based on the forces in the general and task environment. In order to sustain the company and maintain a competitive foothold, organization leaders must consistently analyze the global environment and adjust their strategy as needed. Managers play an important role in implementing strategies to achieve a company’s mission and goals.

Research a company with stockholder reports available. These reports can usually be found on a company’s website. Use the report to answer the following questions:

• What is (are) the main industry(ies) in which the company competes?
• What business-level strategy does the company seem to be pursuing in this industry? Why?
• What corporate-level strategies is the company pursuing? Why?
• Have there been any major changes in its strategy recently? Why?
• Include citations in your response.

Submit your assignment.