Amazon Strategic Audit
Assignment Description
Submit the complete Amazon Strategic Audit with sections I to V(SFAS).
Submit also the updated/improved/corrected versions of 5-Y financials, Common ratios, Financial ratios, EFAS, IFAS, and SFAS in your SA.
Exhibit attachments to be included – Some exhibits go at the end of your SA (word document) and others are included in the 5-year financials of your case (Excel document).
- Exhibit 1, EFAS, included at the end of your SA
- Exhibit 2, IFAS, included at the end of your SA
- Exhibit 3, SFAS, included at the end of your SA
- Exhibit 4, Ratio Analysis for the past 5 years, included in Excel 5-year financials.
- Exhibit 5, Common-Size Income Statement for the past 5 years, included in Excel 5-year financials.
Assignment Submission Procedures
Writing Instructions
Level of detailed discussion and analysis: Your prose needs to be in sufficient detail to demonstrate your business knowledge, critical thinking, and critical analysis abilities. One-line statements do not show nor demonstrate satisfactory business knowledge. Bullets do not show nor demonstrate satisfactory business knowledge. Your writing needs to expand on each point in a paragraph where you discuss and analyze the important elements of that particular SA item. Make your paragraphs good complete detailed discussion and analysis
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Formatting and Admin of the SA: Single space your SA with the appropriate line spacing between parts, sections, and paragraphs. Extra line spacing is a serious detractor. Follow the alphanumeric paragraph structure as in the text’s SA and as shown in the SA Paragraphing Structure Template and the Expanded Paragraph View for sections VI, VII, and VIII document. Do not use bullets. Use font size 10-12. Use Portrait page mode for your SA text – do not use Landscape page mode for your SA text. Use single space of 1.0 – do not use 1.15, nor 1.5.
Use the SA Writing Template in Course Resources.
For Section I: Current Situation:
1. For the paragraph on the Current Posture, discuss how Amazon as a company is doing currently in terms of revenues, profits, market share, etc. This is a big picture look at how the company is doing.
2. For the paragraph on Strategic Posture, state the current mission, talk about how the company is doing on its corporate, business, and functional objectives, talk about the Amazon’s strategy or a mix of strategies, and talk about the company’s current policies. .
For Section II: Strategic Managers:
1. For the paragraph on the Board of Directors (BOD), talk about who is on the BOD, how the BOD is organized, what are the important experience, knowledge, skills, background, and connections the BOD members bring, and what is their involvement and performance in the strategic management of the Amazon.
2. For the paragraph on the Top Management, talk about who the top managers are, how they are organized, what are the important experience, knowledge, skills, background, and style the top managers have, and what is their involvement and performance in the strategic management of the company.
For Section III: External Environment:
1. This paragraph covers the current status of the external environment facing the company. Don’t talk about what the the company should or could do or might do in the future about these external factors. Keep focused on what is facing the company now in the external environment.
2. Cover the many factors in the External Environment that you discovered as you analyzed and evaluated the case study. You need to discuss and analyze the 10 Strategic Factors from the EFAS (O1, O2, O3, O4, O5, T1, T2, T3, T4, T5) and any other external factors that are important to a good complete discussion about the external environment that your company is facing. Be sure to put in the EFAS SF tags (O1, O2, T1, T4, etc) at the sentence or paragraph where you discuss/analyze those most important 10 SF from the EFAS. Be sure to put in an O or a T when you discuss other factors of importance. This is your place to shine with your analytical abilities in your discussion and analysis of the factors facing your company. Do a good complete discussion and analysis.
3. For the Task Environment, be sure to cover the 6 elements of Porter’s methodology of competitive forces. See pages 108-112 in the text.
4. Your Summary in paragraph D should summarize the most important external strategic factors facing the company.
For Section IV: Internal Environment:
1. This paragraph covers the current status of the Amazon’s internal environment in three areas: Corporate Structure, Corporate Culture and Corporate Resources. Keep focused on the current internal status of the corporation, not what they should or should not do in the future. Remember, Corporate Structure is about how the corporation is organized, not about the BOD nor the Top Managers. Remember, Corporate Culture is about culture, not about HR programs or top management personnel.
2. Cover the many factors in the Internal Environment that you discovered as you analyzed and evaluated the case study. You need to discuss and analyze the 10 Strategic Factors from the IFAS (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, W1, W2, W3, W4, W5) and any other internal factors that are important to a good complete discussion about the internal environment of the firm. Be sure to put in the IFAS SF tags (S2, S5, W3, W4 etc) at the sentence or paragraph where you discuss/analyze those most important 10 SF from the IFAS. Be sure to put in a S or W when you discuss other factors of importance. This is your place to shine with your analytical abilities in your discussion and analysis of the factors facing Amazon. Do a good complete discussion and analysis.
3. Be sure to identify your Core Competencies and your Distinctive Competencies.
4. Be sure to demonstrate your financial analysis skills by discussing some of your financial ratios as part of the paragraph on the Finance function. Discussing income statement trends is fine but does not replace your good complete discussion and analysis of the financial ratios of your company.
5. Your Summary in paragraph D should summarize the most important internal strategic factors of the company.
For Section V(SFAS): Analysis of Strategic Factors:
1. In your Situational Analysis, discuss the 10 most important Strategic Factors that are contained in your SFAS. These are the most important strategic factors for the company. Divide them up into paragraphs on Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Be sure to identify them with your SF tags from the SFAS (S2, W4, T3, O2, etc etc)
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2. In your Overall Situation of the Firm, provide an evaluation of the SFAS by answering the following questions: Could the ‘strengths’ be used to take advantage of the ‘opportunities’ mentioned in A? How?; Could the ‘strengths’ be used to minimize the ‘threats’ mentioned in A? How?; Does the firm needs a radical change to move forward? In what direction?
How do you build the SFAS?
The SFAS (Strategic Factors Analysis Summary) table is Exhibit 3 of your SA and supports Section V of your SA.
Complete the SFAS as described on pages 171-173 in the textbook. Focus on identifying the 10 most important strategic factors. Be sure to keep your SWOT tags on each SF.
Revise the weights to add to 1.0 and the ratings as needed.
You must complete the Comments Column in the table. Repeat or revise your comments for each strategic factor from the previous EFAS and IFAS tables.
Be sure to explain WHY it is a strategic factor; a quantified estimate of the potential impact (QPI) in the future of the SF; how you assigned the weight; and how you assigned the rating; and for Internal SF identify the Core Competencies (CC) and Distinctive Competencies (DC). Use the same quantitative analysis that you did for the EFAS and IFAS to estimate and quantify the potential impacts in the future; the impact on the firm’s future survival; and how well or how badly the firm is handling the SF right now.
Use the SFAS Template provided in Course Resources and here. These are just templates with words of reference. Use your own thinking and words.