Assignment 2: 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 chara.

1. Assignment 2: 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. sustained competitive advantage.
Write an 5–7-page report in Word format. Apply APA standards
to citation of sources. Use the following file naming
convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M4_A2.doc.
The paper should include a cover page, executive
summary/abstract, table of contents, body of paper—proper
headers (mission, vision, and values assessment; strategy
clarification; cultural assessment; value chain analysis;
summary of key findings; SWOT analysis; balanced strategic
scorecard; and references).
By
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
, deliver your assignment to the
M4: Assignment 2 Dropbox
.
Assignment 2 Grading Criteria
Maximum Points
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?
16
Strategy Clarification:
Assess the organization’s understanding of the business
strategy through an 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.
16
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 their culture of
information sharing and collaboration that enables the

5. organization to respond quickly across structural boundaries to
solve problems for customers? Or do groups not share important
information through informal mechanisms, thus slowing
response times?
16
Value Chain Analysis:
Identify the primary (direct) and support (indirect) activities
that create and deliver your product and/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.
16
Findings:
Using these different analyses, identify the organizational
strengths and weaknesses as they relate to the business strategy.
20
Write using ethical scholarship and proper grammar and
mechanics.
16
Total:
100