The company that you are working for is considering buying another smaller firm. However, there is some business analysis needed for your company to make its final decision about purchasing. Throughout this course, you will be working on creating the Business Strategy and Management Plan.

Keep in mind that the final Business Strategy and Management Plan template should contain the following elements:

• Title page
• Course number and name
• Project name
• Your name
• Date
• Table of contents
  • Auto-generated
  • Up-to-date
  • Maximum of 3 levels deep
• Section headings

Each week, you will add a section to your Business Strategy and Management Plan and submit it for grading. For Week 1, you will make a qualitative evaluation of the industry's strategic position using Porter's five forces. (Please note that the summaries below for Weeks 2–5 do not need to be completed in Week 1. Just create the section headings at this time). As a preview, each section will contain the following subsections:

• Qualitative Evaluation of the Industry’s Strategic Position (Week 1 IP)
  • Choose an aspect of the information technology (IT) industry that has not been previously used as an example in this course. Use Porter’s five forces to make a qualitative evaluation of the industry’s strategic position. Be sure to explain each of the five forces, as well as how they relate to your chosen industry.
    • Note: The mobile phone industry was provided as an example in the video material and may not be used as the subject for this assignment.
  • Remember to include the following elements (Porter’s five forces):
    • Threat of new entrants: Are new entrants being attracted to the market, and are there barriers to entry in the industry?
    • Threat of substitute products or services: Are there other products that could be alternatives to offerings in the chosen industry?
    • Bargaining power of customers: What degree of bargaining power do the buyers have in terms of putting the industry under pressure to provide more products or less cost?
    • Bargaining power of suppliers: What is the importance of raw materials, components, labor, and services that are required for the industry, and are there substitutes for those inputs? Discuss the possibility of switching suppliers, if necessary.
    • Intensity of competitive rivalry: Does the industry have a sustainable competitive advantage?
• Strategic Information Systems Assessment (Week 2 IP)
  • Analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the case study organization that are related to its present information systems environment.
  • Assess the forces that are presently governing competition for the case study organization.
  • Using Wiseman’s framework of strategy development, define the strategic thrusts (and related advantages) that the case study organization should use to build a business case for implementing an information systems management plan.
• Information Systems Business Case (Week 3 IP)
  • Based on the information contained in the Business Systems Plan and the Strategic Information Systems Assessment, write an IT strategy statement that details the following:
    • Critical success factors for the IT manager
    • A general strategy for how the IT department will determine congruence between the goals of the IT department and the goals and objectives of the case study organization
    • A general strategy for how the IT department will support the goals and objectives of the case study organization
• Strategic Business Plan (Week 4 IP)
  • Executive summary
  • Marketing analysis
    • Identify a target market.
    • Establish a strategy for acquiring a customer base.
  • Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis
  • Financial statements
  • Summary of the relevance of Porter’s five forces
  • Conclusion
• Project Management Plan (Week 5 IP)
  • Initiating
  • Planning
  • Executing
  • Monitoring and Controlling
  • Closing

Week 1 Assignment

Choose an aspect of the IT industry that has not been previously used as an example in this course.

Note: The mobile phone industry was provided as an example in the video material and may not be used as the subject for this assignment.

Use Porter's five forces to make a qualitative evaluation of the industry's strategic position. Be sure to explain each of the five forces, as well as how they relate to your chosen industry.

Remember to include the following elements (Porter's five forces):

• Threat of new entrants: Are new entrants being attracted to the market, and are there barriers to entry in the industry?
• Threat of substitute products or services: Are there other products that could be alternatives to offerings in the chosen industry?
• Bargaining power of customers: What degree of bargaining power do the buyers have in terms of putting the industry under pressure to provide more product or less cost?
• Bargaining power of suppliers: What is the importance of raw materials, components, labor, and services that are required for the industry, and are there substitutes for those inputs? Discuss the possibility of switching suppliers, if necessary.
• Intensity of competitive rivalry: Does the industry have a sustainable competitive advantage?

Please submit your assignment.

For assistance with your assignment, please use your textbook, all course resources, and any external research and resources you have gathered.