Which of the four generic (Porter) strategies does Pepsico follow, and how do you know?

Which of the four generic (Porter) strategies does Pepsico follow, and how do you know?

MGT 599 Strategic Management

Module 3 – Case

STRATEGIC CHOICES

Assignment Overview

The Case in this course is an ongoing exercise, meaning that we will continue to review one company over the course of our four modules. In Module 3, we will be conducting a strategic analysis of Pepsico.

Specifically, the Module 3 Case requires that you identify the primary business strategy employed by Pepsico. You will also be providing a critical, written analysis evaluating that strategy in the context of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats you identified in Module 2.

Required Reading

Refer to the required and optional readings related to strategic choices, the theme of Module 3.

Case Assignment

In a 6- to 8-page paper, respond to the following:

1. Which of the four generic (Porter) strategies does Pepsico follow, and how do you know?

2. Integrate the strategy you have identified above with the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats you identified in Module 2 (this exercise should provide you with some specific actions the company should be taking relative to its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. These actions are referred to as “strategic choices”). Do Pepsico’s strategic choices align with the firm’s generic strategy? If not, what are the specific points of disconnect? Think critically about this step, as no company achieves perfect alignment of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with its chosen strategy. As the MBA, it is your job to uncover the discrepancies and problems.

3. How can Pepsico leverage its strengths and shore up its weaknesses by altering its strategic choices? How can the company take advantage of environmental opportunities and minimize environmental threats by altering its strategic choices? Be specific.

4. Complete the paper by commenting on how your view of Pepsico’s vision and mission has changed or has been reconfirmed by this process of strategic analysis. Would you make any suggestions to revise the company’s vision, mission, or values statements, or to any of its goals/objectives?

5. Consider the Case as a formal business report that you are developing for the Board of Directors and CEO as Pepsico’s consultant. This is a professional document. Follow the format below:

• Executive summary: This is a synopsis of the main points, conclusions, and recommendations made in the longer report. If you would like a refresher on writing an executive summary, check this website: http://www.csun.edu/~vcecn006/summary.html

• Introduction: State the main purpose of the paper (thesis statement), what you hope to accomplish, and how you will go about doing it.

• Main Body: The “meat” of the paper. Emphasize analysis, not just description. Delineate separate topics or sections with headings.

• Conclusion: Summarize your paper in light of your thesis statement.

Assignment Expectations

Your paper will be evaluated using the grading rubric.

Tips and Suggestions

• Business school case-study assignments are meant to offer practice opportunities for future business people who are earning their MBA degrees. Consider yourself a consultant hired by the company to make these critical assessments. There are no right or wrong answers to the Case question, as long as your position is well defended.

• Study the theoretical concepts provided in the Background materials section of the module, and identify main strategy concepts.

• Include a cover page and reference page, in addition to the 6-8 pages of analysis described above.

• Include section headings as appropriate.

• Cite and reference all sources, including those that you paraphrase. This means include citations and quotation marks for direct quotes of more than five words, and citations for information you have “borrowed” or paraphrased from other sources.

• Follow Guidelines for Well-Written Papers.

• Submit your analysis by the end of this module.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires alot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource