Business External Environments
External and Internal Environments
Due Week 4 and worth 350 points
INDUSTRY: SUPERMARKETS, COMPANY CHOSEN: WHOLE FOODS MARKET
Choose an industry you have not yet written about in this course, and one publicly traded corporation within that industry. Research the company on its own Website,
the public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR database (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml), in the University’s online databases, and any other
sources you can find. The annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these questions.
Write an eight to ten (8-10) page paper in which you:
Choose the two (2) segments of the general environment that would rank highest in their influence on the corporation you chose. Assess how these segments affect the
corporation you chose and the industry in which it operates.
Considering the five (5) forces of competition, choose the two (2) that you estimate are the most significant for the corporation you chose. Evaluate how well the
company has addressed these two (2) forces in the recent past.
With the same two (2) forces in mind, predict what the company might do to improve its ability to address these forces in the near future.
Assess the external threats affecting this corporation and the opportunities available to the corporation. Give your opinions on how the corporation should deal with
the most serious threat and the greatest opportunity. Justify your answer.
Give your opinion on the corporation’s greatest strengths and most significant weaknesses. Choose the strategy or tactic the corporation should select to take maximum
advantage of its strengths, and the strategy or tactic the corporation should select to fix its most significant weakness. Justify your choices.
Determine the company’s resources, capabilities, and core competencies.
Analyze the company’s value chain to determine where they can create value using the resources, capabilities, and core competencies discussed above.
Use at least three (3) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with
your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference
page are not included in the required page length.
