Phase II: Company Strategic Analysis
This phase of the ICAP is an individual report where the analysis shifts from the industry to the
company (or a division within a company). At the beginning of this report, provide the following
information about the company:
Focal industry and company (or division) name;
Location of headquarters;
Name of CEO (and division general manager if appropriate);
Mission and/or vision statement;
Stock exchange on which the firm is traded, its ticker symbol, and recent share price (please
indicate the date of the stock price information).
In Phase II, analysts are required to:
1. Identify and explicitly state the generic business level strategy (cost leadership, differentiation, focus cost leadership, or focus differentiation strategy) that the company pursues to position itself in the industry you analyzed in the industry analysis.
2. Identify major strategic actions that the firm has taken to execute its generic strategy over the
past few years; these should represent actions that are critical to the firms success and should
be linked to the firms overall strategy. At this point, include strategic actions associated with
corporate level strategies (e.g., diversification, outsourcing, vertical integration, or/and
alliances) that your focal firm implements, if relevant.
3. Evaluate the companys financial performance using a variety of accounting measures of performance over the last 2-3 years; additionally, compare the firms financial performance to
its key rivals (minimum 2) and industry averages; if you are analyzing a division in a
diversified firm and performance information for the division is not available, you may use
the parent companys financial information. Use tables or/and graphs to enhance clarity and
readability. It is very important to remember that your task includes interpreting, and not just
reporting, these performance data.
4. Evaluate whether the firm possesses a competitive advantage over its rivals. Discuss the
sources of that competitive advantage/disadvantage. Use the VRIO framework to evaluate
whether the competitive advantage is sustainable. Use the VRIO template, which was taught
in lectures, for your VRIO analysis . If you do not believe that the firm possesses a
competitive advantage over rivals, explain the rationale behind this conclusion.
5. Finally, to complete the company analysis, please discuss whether its strategy and
capabilities fits with the environment in which the firm competes. Put differently, you
should draw a conclusion as to whether the firm has resources and capabilities to take
advantage of external opportunities and to mitigate external threats. To do this, you should
review the conclusions that you drew during ICAP I about the overall industry and consider
opportunities, threats, strengths, and weaknesses. Finally, do you expect the firms
performance to improve, decline, or remain steady for the next 2-3 years?
