Module 6 - Identifying IssuesObjectives The aim of this assignment is to understand the complexity of issues faced by CEO's of major corporations. At any one point in time such an individual might face dozens of issues which need to be prioritized.Instructor Comments Predicting competitor behaviour is of interest to most companies. Future plans are of course among the most tightly guarded of secrets held by executive teams. Corporate outsiders are rarely privy to this type of information except in cases where it is accidently shared or intentionally stolen. Understanding the future can be valuable. Imagine if an investment analyst knew in advance of BHP Billiton’s interest in acquiring Rio Tinto. Knowing the future is an unrealistic expectation of analysts. However, understanding the issues currently facing a corporation and its executive team is not an unreasonable demand. On a regular basis a CEO will have dozens of issues on his or her plate. The challenge for an analyst is not necessarily identifying all of the issues. The challenge is to identify the major issues and then estimate which of these issues are of the most pressing concern for the CEO. If this can be accomplished then predicting the future becomes a little easier. Sources of the issues include but are not limited to the company website, the regulator website and the industry association website. Deciding which of the issues matter most is an inexact science. One means choosing and ranking issues is to borrow from a school of thought termed Institutional Theory. One theorist from this school, Mark Suchman suggests three rules of thumb. Issues are important if they financially impact an organization, if they are viewed as legitimate and if they need to be addressed in an urgent manner. A ranking scheme based on these three points can help narrow the list of key issues to a few.Assignment This assignment seeks to help you understand the answer to a broader concern and that is, “What issues do CEO's face and how might they prioritize decision making?" You should base your responses to the following questions on your analysis of the company that you have chosen for this course. Please answer the following questions: · Use online sources to identify fifteen issues facing your company’s CEO. · Group the issues into three categories: issues of interest to all industry participants, issues of interest to regulators, and issues facing companies seeking to enter foreign markets. · Rank the issues using three measures: the legitimacy of the issue to the company, the urgency with which the issues will need to be addressed by the company, and the impact of each issue on the company. · Please create a table to summarize this information and be sure to associate each issue with a specific online information source url. · In one half page, please summarize what you think is the connection between the key insights of the Rogers and Tierney, (2004) reading and this assignment. Hint: Your onli ...

1. Module 6 - Identifying IssuesObjectives
The aim of this assignment is to understand the complexity of
issues faced by CEO's of major corporations. At any one point
in time such an individual might face dozens of issues which
need to be prioritized.Instructor Comments
Predicting competitor behaviour is of interest to most
companies. Future plans are of course among the most tightly
guarded of secrets held by executive teams. Corporate outsiders
are rarely privy to this type of information except in cases
where it is accidently shared or intentionally stolen.
Understanding the future can be valuable. Imagine if an
investment analyst knew in advance of BHP Billiton’s interest
in acquiring Rio Tinto. Knowing the future is an unrealistic
expectation of analysts. However, understanding the issues
currently facing a corporation and its executive team is not an
unreasonable demand.
On a regular basis a CEO will have dozens of issues on his or
her plate. The challenge for an analyst is not necessarily
identifying all of the issues. The challenge is to identify the
major issues and then estimate which of these issues are of the
most pressing concern for the CEO. If this can be accomplished
then predicting the future becomes a little easier. Sources of the
issues include but are not limited to the company website, the
regulator website and the industry association website. Deciding
which of the issues matter most is an inexact science. One
means choosing and ranking issues is to borrow from a school
of thought termed Institutional Theory. One theorist from this
school, Mark Suchman suggests three rules of thumb. Issues are
important if they financially impact an organization, if they are
viewed as legitimate and if they need to be addressed in an
urgent manner. A ranking scheme based on these three points
can help narrow the list of key issues to a few.Assignment
This assignment seeks to help you understand the answer to a
broader concern and that is, “What issues do CEO's face and
how might they prioritize decision making?" You should base

2. your responses to the following questions on your analysis of
the company that you have chosen for this course.
Please answer the following questions:
· Use online sources to identify fifteen issues facing your
company’s CEO.
· Group the issues into three categories: issues of interest to all
industry participants, issues of interest to regulators, and issues
facing companies seeking to enter foreign markets.
· Rank the issues using three measures: the legitimacy of the
issue to the company, the urgency with which the issues will
need to be addressed by the company, and the impact of each
issue on the company.
· Please create a table to summarize this information and be
sure to associate each issue with a specific online information
source url.
· In one half page, please summarize what you think is the
connection between the key insights of the Rogers and Tierney,
(2004) reading and this assignment.
Hint: Your online information sources for the first of these
categories are the web sites of industry associations. The
second group of sources refers to government regulator web
sites. The third set refers to websites that address country
specific socio-cultural, health oriented, technological,
economic, environmental, and political legal issues. Online
sources of information for this include Earth
Trends (http://earthtrends.wri.org/), the Population Reference
Bureau (www.prb.org), and the U.S. State Department Country
Back Ground Notes (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/). For the
purpose of this third set, pick a country that your company
wishes to enter into and undertake the analysis from that point
of view.
One obvious site to look for issues facing a company is the
industry overviews found on the High Beam Business
(http://business.highbeam.com/industry-reports)or Plunkett

3. Research (http://www.plunkettresearch.com/) websites.
Other important places to identify common issues are industry
association Web sites as well as the news releases found on a
company’s web site.
Please limit your response to this assignment to three and one
half single spaced, typed pages. Cite your sources in the text
and reference them at the end of your assignment. End your
write–up with one paragraph that summarizes what you think is
the importance of this assignment.
Module 7 - Managing People: Cross Cultural
ManagementObjectives
The aim of this assignment is to suggest the role played by
management scholars in developing new ideas useful to
individuals interested in cross cultural management.
Specifically this assignment addresses the ideas and frameworks
of Geert Hofstede.Instructor Comments
Executives manage employees of different nationalities and
cultures. They often do business in different countries or with
representatives who live in different countries and cultures.
Geert Hofstede is a researcher who developed a set of national
culture dimensions. Hofstede’s original ideas regarding
differences in national culture resulted from a large scale
research project that captured insight from surveys completed
by over 100,000 employees of IBM working in their offices in
64 countries in the 1970’s. He then followed up this research
with more data collection from managers in 19 countries,
students and airline pilots in 23 countries, and consumers and
government managers in 14 countries.
From this enormous set of data, Hofstede and his research team
identified five independent dimensions of national culture
differences. These dimensions include:
· The distribution of roles between genders in a society;
· The tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity in a society;
· The extent to which a society has a long or short term
orientation;

4. · The extent to which the less powerful members of society
accept that power is distributed unequally; and,
· The degree to which individuals in a society are integrated
into groups.
A worthwhile reading for this assignment is Hofstede's
consequences: The impact of his work on consulting and
business practices by John Bing. It is referenced in the Syllabus
where the readings are noted for this course.Assignment
This assignment seeks to help you understand the answer to a
broader concern and that is, “How are some national cultures
similar?” You should base your responses to the following
questions on your analysis of the ideas of Geert Hofstede.
In order to complete this assignment, you will need to access
the country profiles based on Hofstede's cultural dimensions
using the following website: http://www.geert-hofstede.com.
Please complete the following exercises:
· Identify five countries that are similar in terms of Power
Distance. Summarize in your own words why they are similar.
· Identify five countries that are similar in terms of
Individualism. Summarize in your own words why they are
similar.
· Identify five countries that are similar in terms of
Masculinity/Femininity. Summarize in your own words why
they are similar.
· Identify five countries that are similar in terms of Uncertainty
Avoidance. Summarize in your own words why they are similar.
· Identify five countries that are similar in terms of Temporal
Orientation. Summarize in your own words why they are
similar.
· In one half page, please summarize what you think is the
connection between the key insights of the Bing (2004) reading
and this assignment.
Hint: The country profiles described in terms of Hofstede’s
cultural dimensions (http://www.geert-hofstede.com) may be of
great value when completing this assignment.

5. Please limit your response to this assignment to three and one
half single spaced, typed pages. Cite your sources in the text
and reference them at the end of your assignment. End your
write–up with one paragraph that summarizes what you think is
the importance of this assignment.
Module 8 - Assessing CEO PerformanceObjectives
The aim of this assignment is make use of online information to
assess the financial performance of corporate CEOs.Instructor
Comments
How much is a CEO worth? How is he or she performing
relative to his or her peers in competing organizations? Be it in
boom times or in recession, answers to these questions are of
great interest to shareholders, stakeholders and observers alike.
However, the answers are not always simple. Should
compensation be tied to financial performance? If so, does
financial performance mean profits, or revenues, or share price,
or some other indicator? Or should performance be judged
relative to competitors or the market in general? If it should not
be tied to performance then what should be the level of
compensation. Should it be a negotiated amount or an absolute
figure or an industry average? This assignment directs your
thoughts to these queries. At its conclusion, you should have an
improved understanding of just how difficult it is to get the
formula right.Assignment
This assignment seeks to help you understand the answer to a
broader concern and that is, “How senior managers perform
relative to the market and to their peers in competing
organizations”? In order to do so, please identify sources of
financial information about your company, its industry and its
competitors. You should base your responses to the following
questions on your analysis of the company that you have chosen
for this course along with its direct competitors.
Please answer the following questions:
· Identify the three most direct competitors of this firm and its

6. industry.
· For this firm and its competitors, identify the CEO and
provide a three sentence bio for each. How long has each of
these individuals been in the CEO position.
· Indicate how much each individual was paid in each of the last
three years. Include salary, bonuses, and stock options.
· Document the share price performance of this firm and its
three major competitors for the last three years. Also make note
of any relevant industry measures. Comment on its performance
relative to the industry and its competitors.
· Document the financial performance of this firm and its three
major competitors for the last three years. Choose three relevant
measures. Comment on its performance relative to the industry
and its competitors.
· Have any events occurred in the macro or competitive
environment that have had a major impact on all of the
competitors in this industry? If so, what is it or are they?
· Given what you know about the CEO, his or her compensation,
the macro and competitive environments, the share price and
financial performance of the company and its competitors, is the
CEO doing a good job when assessed according to these
measures?
· In one half page, please summarize what you think is the
connection between the key insights of the Simons, Mintzberg
& Basu (2002) reading and this assignment.
Hint: Information regarding CEO compensation is often found
in the SEC Def 14a or 10K filings of a company
(http://www.sec.gov). An even easier method is to glance at the
company’s profile on Reuters (http://www.reuters.com). It
explicitly ties executive performance and bios to company
performance. Financial performance, share price performance,
bios, and competitor information can also be found on the
company profiles available through Biz.Yahoo!
(http://biz.yahoo.com).
Please limit your response to this assignment to three and one

7. half single spaced, typed pages. Please cite your sources in the
text and please reference them at the end of your assignment.
We are interested in your own thoughts. Please do not simply
copy and paste information to answer the questions. Please end
your write–up with one paragraph that summarizes what you
think is the importance of this assignment.
Module 9 - Identifying Blind spots in Competitive
AnalysisObjectives
The aim of this assignment is explore blind spots in a
company’s competitive environment.Instructor Comments
This assignment is about building awareness among students
and analysts about potential blind spots in the competitive
environments of corporations. In the reading for this
assignment, Zahra and Chaples (1993) identify six blind spots.
These include misjudging industry boundaries, poor
identification of competitors, overemphasis on competitors
visible competence, overemphasis on where, not how,
companies compete, faulty assumptions about the competition
and paralysis by analysis. The aim of the assignment question is
to focus attention on aspects of these blind spots. The
assignment task regarding corporate culture refers to the blind
spot regarding visible competence. The assignment task dealing
with operational performance indicators deals with paralysis by
analysis. The assignment task that explores examples of not
meeting observer expectations addresses faulty assumptions.
The link between the other three assignment tasks and the blind
spots are self-evident.Assignment
This assignment seeks to help you understand the answer to a
broader concern and that is, “How might corporate analysts
improve their understanding of their competitive environment?”
You should base your responses to the following questions on
your analysis of the company that you have chosen for this
course.
Please answer the following questions:

8. · Define the industry and the boundaries of the industry within
which your company competes.
· Identify the major competitors of your firm and use two
different sources of information to do so? Identify any
differences between the two information sources.
· Choose one of the competitors of your firm. Examine recent
news stories about its performance. Offer examples of how it
did not meet the expectations of observers and insight as to why
this did not occur.
· Provide insight regarding the corporate culture of this firm.
· Define how, not where your company competes.
· Identify the key operational performance indicators for firms
competing in this industry.
· In one half page, summarize what you think is the connection
between the key insights of the Zahra & Chaples (1993) reading
and this assignment.
Hint: Operational performance indicators may be found in the
Industry Handbook found on the Investopedia website
(www.investopedia.com). You will need to go into each
industry profile to find them. Industry competitors can be
identified using sources such as Biz.yahoo
(http://biz.yahoo.com), Reuters (www.reuters.com), and the 10K
Corporate Annual Report forms filed with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov). To address the
assignment task dealing with industries, you will need to do
some research and come up with a definition of an industry
boundary. In regards to corporate cultures, consider keyword
searches using Google and other search engines or news
aggregators. Look for news stories or magazine articles that
discuss its culture. Do also look for online job advertisements
posted by the company and do examine the human resource
section of the company’s web site. They often provide insight
into the company’s definition of its culture. As for how the
company competes, take a look at it's SEC 10K Annual
Report www.sec.gov (do not print this off as it can often be

9. hundreds of pages). It often discusses its business model or how
it makes money.
Please limit your response to this assignment to three and one
half single spaced, typed pages. Please cite your sources in the
text and please reference them at the end of your assignment.
Please complete write–up with one paragraph that summarizes
what you think is the importance of this assignment.
Module 10 - Assessing the Future – Scenario
AnalysisObjectives
The aim of this assignment is make use of online information to
help predict future issues facing a company.Instructor
Comments
No corporation is an island unto itself. Even companies such as
Wal-Mart, IBM, or Toyota face stiff competition. A challenge
that companies such as these face is one of not becoming
complacent or over confident in their business dealings. Their
competitive environments are complex. These companies are
continually challenged by issues related to technology,
government regulation, society, politics, the economy, the
natural environment and human health. To say that they cannot
predict all future outcomes would be an understatement. Indeed
one important effect of globalization and the Internet has been a
dramatic increase in amount of information facing businesses as
well as the overall intensity of competition.
Despite their inability to predict the future, managers do need to
reduce the uncertainty that they face in order to plan and
conduct business affairs in a profitable and efficient manner.
One tool that is available to help managers reduce uncertainty is
a scenario analysis. Developed within the Shell Oil company to
address uncertainties related to the 1973 oil crisis, scenario
analysis and scenario planning are now among the most widely
used planning processes in the corporate sector and are
commonly taught in Business schools around the world.
Analysts practicing competitive intelligence can use Scenario
Analysis to think through environmental challenges in the same
manner as the executives in the companies that they are

10. studying.Assignment
This assignment seeks to help you understand the answer to a
broader concern and that is, “How might managers perform a
simple scenario analysis for their company? You should base
your responses to the following questions on your analysis of
the company that you have chosen for this course.
Please answer the following questions:
· Identify 6 to 8 trends facing the industry within which your
company operates.
· Identify 4 to 6 uncertainties facing your company.
· For each of these uncertainties, offer a measurement scale
(high, low; hot cold; light heavy).
· From these uncertainties, pick the two with the highest
potential impact on your company. Please justify your choices.
· From these two uncertainties create three scenarios of the
future 24 months from now.
· Scenarios should be labeled, best case, worst case and
moderate case.
· Please suggest which scenario is most likely and why.
· In one half page, please summarize what you think is the
connection between the key insights of the Shoemaker (1995)
reading and this assignment.
Hint: Aside from company press releases, industry association
and regulator web sites, trends and issues can often be found
within the industry profiles found on theHigh Beam Business
(http://business.highbeam.com/industry-reports)or Plunkett
Research (http://www.plunkettresearch.com/) websites. You
may also want to consider using a Google keyword search.
Please limit your response to this assignment to three and one
half single spaced, typed pages. Cite your sources in the text
and reference them at the end of your assignment. Please end
your write–up with one paragraph that summarizes what you
think is the importance of this assignment.