Mr. Woodman, CEO of GoPro Inc., and his executive team are aware of your skills in strategic analysis. They are asking you to help them assess the situation and to recommend a competitive strategy for

Mr. Woodman, CEO of GoPro Inc., and his executive team are aware of your skills in strategic analysis. They are asking you to help them assess the situation and to recommend a competitive strategy for
Structure of Case Analysis Report Note: These guidelines are intended to help you get the structure right on the case report; meeting them does not guarantee a quality work. Please use the same sections headings (e.g., Key Issues, Current Strategy, etc.) in your paper. Please insert only bullet points (including short sentence) for each section; each point shall be no more than two lines (3-5 words beyond the second line is acceptable in rare cases). If you choose to fill in your points directly on this template, please make sure you remove all instructional words (other than the section titles) for clear presentation. Limit the text to 3 pages (12 font, single-spaced, 1” (2.54cm) margin on all sides), excluding tables and exhibits. Key Issues (preferably 3-6 issues each in one bullet point;) • Obvious and pressing issues, hidden problems, and long terms challenges facing the company. These issues set a direction in terms of where your strategic alternatives should focus. Please describe them (and number them) in order of importance. External Assessment. Top Three most important opportunities/threats in total, not three each. A table of external analysis (no need to include in the report) will be highly helpful for you to identify good opportunities and threats. Note: focus on the strategic group of which the focal company is a member, NOT the case company. Do NOT give recommendations here as to what firms can do or should do with respect to these opportunities and threats. • One sentence describing the strategic group (similar strategy and competitors) • Opp/threat #1: One sentence that clearly specifies the opp/threat for the strategic group; 1-2 bullet points following the sentence to provide evidence for the opp/threat • Opp/threat #2: ditto • Opp/threat #3: ditto Internal Assessment. Top Three most important strengths/weaknesses in total, not three each. • Str/weakness #1: One sentence identifying the strength/weakness; 1 subpoint providing evidence; 2-3 separate bullet points reporting the V, R, I evaluation of the strength. If it is a weakness, 1-2 points to discuss whether it can be transformed into a strength in the future. • Str/weakness #2: ditto • Str/weakness #3: ditto Financial Diagnosis – Exhibit 1 for this section • 3-6 bullet points to interpret the ratios in the Exhibit 1. Use various comparisons (e.g., temporal changes) and financial ratios to diagnose the company’s financial situation. Remember to comment on the company’s overall financial health and capacity to carry on future investments that might be part of your strategic alternatives. Current Strategy Note: focus on what the company is currently doing; do NOT discuss what it can or should do in the future 6 • Business strategy (one sentence defining the strategy such as differentiation, followed by 1-3 bullet points of explanations) • Functional strategy (2-3 separate points for major functional practices such as marketing initiatives); • Global strategy and corporate strategy, etc, whenever applicable Implementable Strategic Alternatives (a total of TWO alternatives; the most important section!) Note: (1) Business level strategies are expected, while corporate level strategies are accepted. Please do not propose functional level strategies (HR, marketing, etc.) as explained in Chapter 4, which focus on operational changes that aim to improve internal efficiency and effectiveness. (2) Business strategies represent major moves in the way the company competes on the market. They often involve significant investments or divestments that carry long term impact on the company’s competitiveness. These strategies are externally oriented, often answering the question of what to serve, who to serve, where and how to compete. (3) Business level strategic alternatives, often developed based on existing/potential strengths/weaknesses and available environmental opportunities/threats, should deal with key issues (including the pressure for growth). (4) Two alternatives need to be significantly distinctive, yet they all need to generate significant revenue or market growth to the company, which means that simply divesting (stop doing) something may not suffice. (5) Both strategies should go beyond a general goal (e.g., international expansion) and discuss what the company needs to do exactly. (6) Both alternatives should be plausible and appealing, supported with solid reasoning and strong arguments. Note that using status quo or current strategy as an alternative demonstrates weak creativity. Selling off the company is not an option of strategy in the exam. • Alternative #1: One sentence specifying the strategy, followed by 3-5 bullet points of explanations of what it is exactly and why it is considered a good strategy, with respect to the analysis in previous sections • Alternative #2: ditto Criteria and Evaluation of Alternatives by Criteria (second most important section) – Exhibit 2-3 for this section • One sentence to list 3 criteria (e.g., NPV), and 1-2 sentences to justify your choice of these criteria (that is, why these, not others?) • Then, separate points in correspondence to the three criteria, each point using one criterion to compare the two alternatives with clear conclusion (which one is better) and justifications (why). Recommendation and its Implementation • 1-2 points to summarize the evaluations and recommend one strategy based on the evaluations • 1-2 points to discuss major issues/challenges regarding the implementation of the strategy • 1-2 points to discuss the limitations of the recommended strategy with respect to the identified key issues. Offer suggestions on possible solutions if you can. Exhibits (append all exhibits to the end of the paper in the following order) • Exhibit 1: Financial Analysis. A table that presents financial ratios of multiple categories, such as profitability, leverage, liquidity, etc., as well as any useful historical comparisons such as sales increase/decrease. No specific ratios are mandatory. All depends on your analysis and needs. • Exhibit 2-3 (optional, with bonus): Two Exhibits of NPV corresponding to the two strategic alternatives respectively; put key assumptions, with brief justifications, either at the bottom of the tables or on a separate page. Please refer to the Westover Inn case in your case package for a template of NPV.