MGT 415 Case Analysis Outline
 
The case is on Under Armor which is found on page 528.
 
 
General Instructions: Report must be double-spaced and utilize a 12-point font. Body of report (excluding title page and executive summary) may not exceed 10 pages. Paper may not exceed 18 pages including title page, executive summary, and appendices.  Recommended page lengths are approximate but body of report should be 10 pages without going over.  The report will make liberal use of heading and subheadings but is presented in paragraph form.
 

Title Page

 
 
Executive Summary

• Maximum of 1 page.
• Paragraph 1: About 15% of the page. State major strategic problem and briefly explain why it is identified as such.  Should be 2 to 3 sentences.
• Remaining Paragraph(s): About 85% of the page. Summarize recommendation (s):  For each recommendation state what, when, where, and especially why.   Be direct and provide detail without exceeding the one page under any circumstance.
• You have the option to summarize your recommendations per the guidance above in one paragraph or in a short paragraph for each. Use your judgment here with respect how it looks and reads.
• This is very important!

 

Introduction (.25)

• Describe company.  What are they, where they operate, range of products or services, revenue, and net income.  Insert small table with revenue and net income for years provided in the case at the bottom of this section.

 
 
Major Problem / Issue (.25)

• Don’t start talking discussing a list of SWOTS here.
• State major strategic problem.  State why it is identified as such.

 
External Audit (1)

• Discuss 3 to 4 major Os and 3 to 4 major Ts in body of paper. Describe the major Os and Ts in depth in body of paper.  The rest will appear in the appendix.   Don’t just list in this section.
• Be direct in your language. The first major O is ….   This is a major O because ……  The second major O is……   etc…
• Reference Five Forces when appropriate
• EFE Matrix in Appendix Required

 
 
Internal Audit (1)

• Discuss 3 to 4 major Ss and 3 to 4 major Ws in body of paper. Describe the major Ss and Ws in depth in body of paper.  The rest will appear in the appendix. Don’t just list in this section.
• Identify any major strength as a distinctive competency or source of competitive advantage if appropriate.
• IFE Matrix in Appendix Required

 
 
Financial Position (.5 page)

• Assess financial position to include:
• Overall financial status
• Revenue
• Profitability
• Ability to finance strategic initiatives to include comments on use of existing capital, debt, or equity.
• Financial Ratio computations required in appendix. Compute all that you can based on the data provided.
• In this section of the paper, discuss and interpret the most important ones.

 
 
Alternatives (2)

• Alternative courses of action that you have examined, but are not going to pursue at this time.
• Why did you consider? What were the potential benefits?  Why are you not pursing at the current time?
• You should have 3 or 4 of these.

 
 
Recommendation (3)

• Courses of action that you are going to pursue at this time.
• What, when, where, why?
• Long-term objectives of each: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound
• Identify resources needed and costs. Even if you can’t develop specific figures for costs, indicate what they would be.
• Be specific and detailed on what, when, where, and especially why. The “why” addresses the rationale for your recommendation.
• You should have 2 to 3 recommendations.
• Note, courses of action are not presented in both the alternatives and the recommendations section. They are only presented a single time in either section.

 
Implementation (1.5)

• Be sure to discuss how to implement each recommendation.
• Be process oriented here.  Think what a Gant Chart would include.
• A Gant Chart is required for each in the Appendix.

• Where? When? Time-line?

 
Review & Evaluation  (.5)

• How are you going to evaluate each recommendation?
• Link to Long-term objectives.
• 2 to 3 financial and non-financial measures are required for each recommendation.

 
 
Appendices

• Required: 9 component mission statement, EFE Matrix, IFE Matrix, Financial ratios, Gant Chart for Implementation of Each Recommendation
• Optional: Up to 1 pages.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sample of Major and Minor Heading
 

1. These are major and minor headings.
2. Numbers in parentheses are approximate page lengths.
3. The body of the paper is written in paragraph form using these or similar headings.
4. Paper is not in outline form.  Any use of bullets or lists in the paper is discouraged and should be extremely limited.  Bullets or lists may be placed in the appendix and referenced from within the body of the paper.

Title Page

 
Executive Summary (1 page)
 

Introduction (.25)

 
Major Problem / Issue (.25)
 
External Audit (1)
Opportunities
Threats
Five Forces
Internal Audit (1)
Strengths
Weaknesses
 
Financial Position (.5)
 
Alternatives (2)
Alternative 1
Alternative 2
Alternative 3
Alternative 4
 
Recommendation (3)
Recommendation 1
Recommendation 2
Recommendation 3
 
Implementation (1.5)
Implementation of Recommendation 1
Implementation of Recommendation 2
Implementation of Recommendation 3
 
Review & Evaluation  (.5)
Review and Evaluation of Recommendation 1
Review and Evaluation of Recommendation 2
Review and Evaluation of Recommendation 3
 
Appendix 1 –  EFE Matrix
Appendix 2  –  IFE Matrix
Appendix 3 –  Financial Ratios
Appendix 5 – Gant Charts (1 for each implementation or each recommendation)
Appendix 6  – Mission