Internal Environmental Scan/Organizational Assessment

This section provides the opportunity to develop your course project.  Conducting an internal environmental scan or organizational assessment,  provides the ability to put the strategy audit together.

In this module, you will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the  internal environment at your business unit or organization you are  working with for this project, also known as an organizational  assessment, and present your findings in a report. In your report, you  should analyze the operating characteristics and assets of your business  unit.

The SWOT model is one of the most common business tools used during  organizational assessment. Another is developing a balanced scorecard  based on a prescribed or planned set of performance objectives that will  be measured and evaluated regularly. In this assignment, based on the  external environmental scan you conducted in M2: Assignment 2 and the internal environmental scan in this assignment, you will develop a SWOT analysis and a balanced strategic scorecard.

Part I: Internal Environmental Scan (2–3 pages)

The internal environmental scan or organizational assessment should include the following:

• Mission, vision, and values: Assess the  organization’s understanding of the mission, vision, and values, and how  they relate the business strategy. Is there consensus on the mission  and vision of the organization? What are the shared values of the  organization? What are the behaviors espoused by these values?
• Strategy clarification: Assess the organization’s  understanding of the business strategy through the interview with a  mid-level or senior manager. Assess his or her understanding and  agreement of the business unit’s value proposition, market position, and  competitive advantage.
• Cultural assessment: Explain the unwritten rules  and shared values that govern behaviors in the organization. Do they act  as enablers or blockers to the strategy? For example, is there a  culture of information sharing and collaboration that enables the  organization to respond quickly across structural boundaries to solve  problems for customers? On the other hand, do groups not share important  information through informal mechanisms, thus slowing response times?
• Value chain analysis: Identify the primary (direct)  and support (indirect) activities that create and deliver your product  or service to your customers. Assess each activity’s contribution to  competitive advantage through cost or differentiation. Identify any  areas where the business may be at a competitive disadvantage.
• Summary of findings: Using these different  analyses, identify the organizational strengths and weaknesses as they  relate to the business strategy. Organizational strengths are assets,  capabilities, and resources that contribute directly to the  organization’s strategic fit, differentiation, and competitive advantage  relative to competing organizations. Organizational weaknesses are  characteristics and capabilities (often lacking) that place the  organization at a disadvantage relative to competitors.

Part II: SWOT Analysis (1–2 pages)

Your SWOT analysis should summarize the opportunities and threats  from the external environmental scan with the strengths and weaknesses  from your organizational assessment or internal environmental scan.

Your output should include a matrix depicting strengths or weaknesses  on the horizontal axis and opportunities or threats on the vertical  axis. This matrix will reveal a set of strategy forces that can be used  to assess the current strategy and identify important potential changes  to the strategic direction of the company.

In creating your SWOT analysis, look for natural pairings of internal  and external factors that match internal resources and capabilities to  the external environment. Internal strengths and external opportunities  depicted in the upper-left quadrant on your matrix might form  complementary pairs that suggest necessary strategic focus for the  business unit to pursue opportunities that fit its competitive  strengths. Conversely, internal weaknesses and external threats shown in  the lower right quadrant of the matrix may combine to illustrate the  need for a defensive strategy to avoid becoming highly susceptible to  competitive threats.

Your matrix should not simply be a collection of four lists compiled  together in a matrix. Your analysis should combine factors and explain  why specific strengths complement specific opportunities, and selected  weaknesses are amplified by external threats. In addition to your  matrix, provide a brief narrative that summarizes the main findings in  your analysis and the implications for the current and projected  strategy.

Part III: Balanced Strategic Scorecard (1–2 pages)

Use the balanced scorecard or another similar tool to recommend  indicators and measurements that will tell you if the company is  successful or unsuccessful in progressing toward your vision through  execution of strategy.

A balanced scorecard presents organizational performance on four primary groups of measures:

• Financial
• Customer (external stakeholder)
• Learning and growth
• Internal process

You should develop a strategy scorecard that ties the performance of  your business unit in these areas to its overall business strategy. The  challenge you face is selecting two-to-three measures in each of the  four areas that give a measurable and reliable indication of the  business unit performance in the key activities that promote strategic  fit, customer value, and sustained competitive advantage.

Write an 5–7-page report in Word format.