Q1. After about four years in college, how sure are you of what kind of career job you hope to start in soon? How definite are you about the industry, organization, and region/city? How do you
feel your answers compare to the “average” among your peers? Comment introspectively and insightfully on why you’re above or below average in career planning, and what effects that’s likely to
have.
Q2. Whatever organization you most hope to work for, might you benefit more this semester from studying one of its top competitors instead? Or one of its key suppliers, key distributors, or other
key partners? Demonstrate serious consideration of these possibilities.
Q3A. Describe the first of the top three organizations you’re considering to study for the REAL Case. What interests you about it, and why would working there be a particularly good fit for you?
What role (general job title/description) would you ideally be filling within a year or so? Describe at least one possible strategic issue they’re facing (including planning, creativity, breadth,
and relatively big implications) that you could study this semester. Also, list several of the sources you’ve used to get information about the organization.
Q3B. Describe the second of the top three organizations you’re considering to study for the REAL Case. What interests you about it, and why would working there be a particularly good fit for you?
What role (general job title/description) would you ideally be filling within a year or so? Describe at least one possible strategic issue they’re facing (including planning, creativity, breadth,
and relatively big implications) that you could study this semester. Also, list several of the sources you’ve used to get information about the organization.
Q3C. Describe the third of the top three organizations you’re considering to study for the REAL Case. What interests you about it, and why would working there be a particularly good fit for you?
What role (general job title/description) would you ideally be filling within a year or so? Describe at least one possible strategic issue they’re facing (including planning, creativity, breadth,
and relatively big implications) that you could study this semester. Also, list several of the sources you’ve used to get information about the organization.
Q4. Of the three top options described above, what organization “lights you up” the most, and why? Which one might produce the most valuable insights for use in your future, no matter where your
career takes you, and why?
Q5. Which of the three options most closely resembles the following description:
*Is not a division or unit within a larger company.
*Is not already the leader in its industry, rather is aspiring to get there.
*Is stockholder owned, with shares traded on a public stock market.
*Has annual revenues of between about $500 million and $5 billion.
*Has at least been breaking even (profitable) in bottom-line earnings in recent years.
Studying an organization with these qualities will make the REAL Case steps flow most easily for you. It could be much harder to study an organization that’s outside of these descriptions, so if
you prefer to do so anyway, fully explain why and how you’re going to make the trade-offs. (The burden of proof is on you as to why that would be wise, and the responsibility for sub-optimal
outcomes must also be yours.) Confirm whether thinking through Q2 more fully might guide you to a wiser choice of firm to study.
Q6. For the organization you’re proposing to study, the REAL Case steps call for applying strategic management topics as we progress through them all semester. Consider how the topics of each
step could be applied to your organization, by skimming ahead in the text to get a sense of:
• Step 2: ANALYSIS topics
o Governance, external Os & Ts, internal Ss & Ws, SO-WT insights, sustaining competitive advantage, business unit strategies within emerging trends
• Step 3: FORMULATION topics
o Integration (mergers & acquisitions), strategic alliances, joint ventures, global factors, and expansion/contraction of the scope of the firm
• Step 4: IMPLEMENTATION topics
o Ethics, corporate culture and organizational design to fulfill on formulated strategies, corporate social responsibilities and accountabilities
Please look through the text chapters’ index, and browse through upcoming chapters for details on the above topics, to get a sense of the applicability of topics to your firm. Do the topics appear
to be readily applied to your preferred organization; why or why not?
Q7. How well do you see yourself fulfilling this projects potential of Relevant Engagement from Applied Learning? Refresh your memory about what prior students advised you (re-read those “memos
to future students” that focused on the REAL Case project). How are you feeling about the prospects of deriving value from this semester-long project, and what are you doing to maximize your
personal return on investment?
