the General Electric case from Grant

Read the case study on the General Electric case from Grant, R. (2010) Contemporary Strategy Analysis, Wiley. [Attached]

1. Using appropriate academic models and concepts identify GE’s core competences and capabilities and discuss their effectiveness in supporting the corporate’s success up to 2009.

[Please make sure this is included in the answer]

1. It is important that you use the value chainandactivity systems to identify and then discuss core competences.
2. Make sure you really understand the concept of core competencies.
3. Show why your selected competences meet the tests of what a core competence is. Then use case data to show how these core competences have supported (or not) the corporate; be critical here and discuss the relative strengths of your core competences.
4. Make sure you look at the work of Hamel and Prahalad on core competencies; they have published several articles in the HBR.
2. Draft a briefing report to Jeff Immelt that advances an argument for the use of the real options approach to strategic planning as GE attempts to address the problems that engulfed the corporate in 2009. Once again, you should make specific reference to key authors and concepts within the real options domain.

[Please make sure this is included in the answer]

1. Advise on the merits of using real options in strategic planning.
2. The Luereman articles in the HBR are essential reading.
3. Set this out as a formal corporate style report. The key is to argue how using the real options approach could assist and improve strategic planning in the corporate. It would be a good idea to use real or sensible, but hypothetical examples (be specific) in your answer.
4. Remember you are arguing the value of the real options approach all the way through

3. Outline and discuss some strategic options (at least two) available to GE over the next five years (2009+). Your answer should include an explanation as to how these options will be implemented and evaluated (you should again make reference to appropriate academic models and concepts).

[Please make sure this is included in the answer]

1. Use the Rumelt criteria and the Balanced Scorecard to produce your answer.. You should also show how the strategies meet Rumelt’s criteria.
2. I strongly recommend you look at the 2gc.com website if you are using the Balanced Scorecard. You should look at the 2gc.com website for help here – see the 3rd generation scorecard example.
3. Here we are talking about actual strategies, not real options.
4. You should outline actual courses of action the corporate should take, for example: develop the business by franchising, expanding overseas, diversifying, getting rid if a business (divest) etc.
5. You need to outline the strengths and weaknesses of at least two such strategies/options i.e. you can use a SWOT analysis to undertake this. For each strategy you then show how the strategy could be implemented using the Balanced Scorecard (BS) and the Rumelt criteria.
6. If you want to, you could also research some other implementation frameworks – see next window. For the BS you could draw out the metrics that could be used in each dimension and justify them; you should also show how the metrics and dimensions are linked to each other and the corporate’s goals and objectives. You can even change or contextualise the dimensions to show critical thinking.

10-15 References

At least 70% of your references are academic ones e.g. from journals and textbooks. The remainder can be from quality “other” sources such as websites. Don’t use sources like Wikipedia etc. – they are not reliable.