Internship Questions

CASE STUDY/INTERNSHIP QUESTIONS

1. What is the nature of the company business/background? What are their product lines?

(2.5 marks)

1. Develop suitable vision and mission statement for the company

(2 marks)

1. Outline THREE (3) MAIN concerns and issues faced by the firm in the effort growing their business? (eg. Economic downturn, decreasing revenue, rising cost of raw material, competitions etc)

(3 marks)

1. In the situational analysis, Porter’s Theory of National Competitive Advantages being used as a tool to analyze the impact of each element to the company profitability. Applying the model to your case, identify THREE (3) factors of each element that has a major impact to the company profit and what action could be taken to remedy the situation. Please refer to attachment for the details.

• THREAT OF NEW COMPETITION - As more entrants enter a market, competition within that market increases and pricing power for a company decreases. Understanding how easy it is for new competition to enter the market is essential.
• THREAT OF SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES - A substitute product is different from direct competition.  Coke and Pepsi are competitive products.  However if the cost of Coke and Pepsi rise too much, buyers may move to substitute products such as water, tea, energy drinks, etc.  So you can see how the threat of substitution can impact pricing power.
• INTENSITY OF COMPETITIVE RIVALRY - Competitive rivalry is what most companies immediately consider.  Do major players currently exist in the industry? How deep are their advertising budgets?  Do they continually innovate to keep a competitive advantage?
• BARGAINING POWER OF CUSTOMERS (BUYERS) - The bargaining power of a customer is dependent upon many factors.  Does the customer have other companies they can order from?  Are there other channels of distribution that a customer can use?  Are your company’s products unique in some way which might stave off a customer bargaining power?  Is competitor information readily available to the customer? What is the size of the customer market?
• BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS -The bargaining power of a supplier is dependent upon a number of factors as well.  How difficult is it for your company to switch to a different supplier? How many other suppliers are in the market? Are there substitute inputs that your company can use to replace a supplier (using a different type of material to create the same part or product)?

Please use the following template.

(0.5m x 45 pts=22.5 marks)

1. Industry Market outlook – by referring to the industry stock analyst, identify the last 3 years industry growth trend and forecast for the next 3 years of the industry growth. Provides supporting information for your forecast data.

(4 marks)

1. Conduct the following ratios analysis and give your comments and formulate the improvement strategies for the coming year.

1. Overall performance ratio analysis
2. Liquidity ratio analysis
3. Leverage ratio analysis
4. Activity ratio analysis

(0.5 marks x 25 points = 12.5 marks)

1. Using the following template, develop EIGHT (8) core short business objectives in fulfilling the stakeholder’s expectation. The objectives MUST meet SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely) criteria. Please refer attachment for the details. (DO NOT COPY THE IDEA BELOW)

(1 mark x 8 pts=8 marks)

1. Critically analyze FIVE (5) important business strategies that have been implemented by the company and identify ONE (1) advantage and ONE (1) disadvantage of its implementation.

(5 Marks)

1. Using TOWS Matrix below,

1. Identify THREE (3) elements Internal (Strengths & Weaknesses) and THREE (3) elements of External (Opportunities & Threats) analysis on the business operation.
2. Formulate THREE (3) workable improved business strategies (SO, WO, ST& WT) in each quadrant in achieving the company targeted goals and objectives. See example below. DO NOT COPY THE EXAMPLE GIVEN BELOW.