Project Objective:

The report is to be a situation analysis for the downtown (Main Street program) area of Texarkana.  This report should maintain focus on the marketing environment and should be suitable (with minor modifications in its objective) as the first part of a larger strategic plan.  Photocopies of some existing strategic planning documents might be distributed in class (one per team) or become available either online or on CD. 

Note that the strategic and tactical focus of any of these documents is different from our present analysis.  Some of the documents that we might study date back to 1973; the situation and objectives at that time were very different from the present, and the purpose of each report was different from our present purpose.  You have one document that was prepared by prior students in which the assignment was to identify downtown stakeholder needs, to identify existing downtown SBUs, and to identify new SBUs as a strategy to create a cohesive portfolio of product lines that could be used in a downtown marketing strategy.  The assignment in that class was specifically NOT to recommend specific tactics (implementation) with regard to specific spaces, but rather to recommend a strategy associated with a portfolio of downtown SBUs.  The present assignment now IS asking you to identify specific spaces that are important tactical elements to implementing the strategy that these prior students proposed.

The prior student document, then, was an analysis that focused on and resulted in what seems to be a reasonably sound foundation with regard to a general marketing portfolio strategy.  The present class is being asked to build on that foundation in taking a more tactical approach to the portfolio of SBUs that was proposed in the earlier analysis.  The focus this time is to be on identifying specific areas or even buildings that would or should play a key role in supporting this strategic portfolio of SBUs; our focus now is on how to implement the general strategy that was recommended by students in the prior class. 

In considering tactical issues, you are to consider older documents that have been used in various capacities in the Texarkana area.  Although these reports had different objectives from the present assignment, they are valuable to us in getting a sense for what people have thought were missing or needed tactical elements of the portfolio of SBUs that make up the Texarkana, USA.  By incorporating these ideas and by referencing them in your report, you have a higher likelihood of meeting the needs of local stakeholders. 

Some Important Rules:

Please take special precautions if you discuss this project with anyone outside of the class.  Some information that is distributed or discussed in class might be confidential.  Equally important, we do not want anyone outside of the class to be misled by our activities, especially since several organizations in Texarkana are working on some of the same issues.  We must be especially careful that anyone outside of our class understands that this is a learning exercise for the class and that the university otherwise has no association with the project or the client.  Please exercise restraint when expressing personal opinions about project issues outside of our class meetings.

For a variety of reasons, you are prohibited from conducting primary research excepting some kinds of observational research that would not reveal the nature of our project.  This has caused serious enough problems in the past that I will immediately drop you from the course if I have reason to suspect that you have interviewed or surveyed other organizations or report participants, business leaders, prospective property buyers, etc.  Engaging in these activities could, for example, jeopardize our relationships with other business school clients, could jeopardize relationships with college donors, and if running surveys, would jeopardize federal funding that our institution receives.

You are, however, expected to do outside secondary research for this project.  This could include, for example, finding demographic information that is related to estimating the size and location of potential target markets for this product or organization, finding information regarding industry trends, and such.  Keep copies of all information that you find because you will be required to cite all sources of information and to submit copies of all cited information with your final report. 

If you have access to reports that were not distributed to the entire class, you are asked to share them.  Don't presume that you will somehow receive a higher evaluation by introducing "surprise" information or sources in your report; this will instead annoy your professor.  If you have access to a document that is confidential enough that it could not be shared internally with our class, then it would most certainly not be easily accessed by people outside of our class.  Therefore, referencing such "secret" sources in a report is completely pointless.

General Report Structure:

The attached generic outline might provide some guidance with regard to writing an environmental analysis in general, but strict adherence to this outline is not expected where not appropriate for our client's target area.  This is not a creative writing assignment; it is a technical writing assignment.  Length is expected to be no more than about 25 pages of text (exclusive of appendices).

All reports must have some sort of introduction that explains the nature, focus, and objective of the report to the reader.  The body of all reports must in some way address opportunities and threats in the environment and address the strengths and weaknesses of our client or client product.  All reports must also end with some sort of recommendation.  That is, the report should lead to some speculation regarding the outlook for our client organization or product, the direction which should be set for the organization or product, and possibly some suggestions regarding how it is that the organization could go about heading in this direction.

Although some sort of recommendation is required, most of the text of the report will be associated with a scan and assessment of the current environment that logically leads to a recommendation. 

The Assignment:

1. Students will work in teams of five members.  An individual team member evaluation form will be distributed in another class. 

2. This is a real world assignment.  The initial draft of the written report will be scored in large part on the professor's perception of the usefulness and acceptability of the report to the real client within the framework that this is to be a situation analysis.  A common problem is that students tend to include irrelevant and inappropriate material in a report to show evidence that some particular concept has been learned in the course.  Note that a minimal requirement is that reports be relatively free of problems of grammar, spelling, typing, and such.  Do not fabricate material for the sake of creating a report.  Remember that this is not a creative writing assignment but is a technical writing assignment.

3. The exact format of the finished report is of the team's own choosing.  Although a general format for a situation analysis is attached for guidance, it is unlikely that you could follow this exactly.  HOWEVER, the attached outline does cover the major issues that are often important in a situation analysis; whatever format that you choose must be appropriate for this assignment.  For example, Texarkana, as a portfolio of products, offers a portfolio of benefits that could possibly meet the needs and wants of multiple constituencies; the client organization does not have customers as buyers of tangible products, but it does have to consider the different needs and wants of a variety of constituencies who must buy-in to whatever you propose.  Other published report formats commonly called "situation analysis," "market analysis," "environmental analysis," "business plan," and such might or might not be appropriate and acceptable.  No two finished reports would be the same, and it is unlikely that a report could ever be constructed to exactly fit an imposed outline.

4. ALL facts in the report must be substantiated except those that are obviously common knowledge.  This necessarily requires that the source of information be cited (footnoted).  Watch for statements that lend themselves to red-ink comments such as, "says who" or "I disagree."  For example, if a statement is made that the local economy is likely to get better or worse over the next five years, then the report MUST indicate the source of this expectation.  Additionally, related questions associated with substantiating this statement might have to be answered, e.g., Who expects this?  How did this person or organization or publication arrive at this expectation?  How many others agree with this expectation?  How many others disagree?  If the speculation is your own, be sure that it is substantiated with charts, graphs, tables, or figures that indicate the source of the information contained therein.

5. Information sources must be as close to the original source as possible.  For example, reporting population statistics that you found on a Chamber of Commerce or real estate agency Web site is not appropriate in a professional report and these third-party compilations are very often in error.  Such demographics, for example, are easily obtained directly from Census Bureau and you have absolutely no excuses for not citing directly to an exact page at this original source.

6. You are required to cite all sources of information.  A less obtrusive method of citing in a business report is to list the references at the end of the report in a numbered list: List all sources at the end of the report in alphabetical order.  Number them in this order, starting the list with number 1.  Whenever a statement is made that must reference that source, indicate the source by a number in parentheses after the statement, like this (12).  Note that the first time in a report that a source is referenced, the number is not necessarily (1), the second is not necessarily (2), etc.  Also note that the same source may appear multiple times in the same report, like this (23).  If several sources support the same statement, they should all be included like this (4, 7, 12, 15); a greater number of sources often strengthens an assertion.  If several statements are made in the same paragraph that use the same source, list that source only once after all such statements within a single paragraph.  That is, do not source this (8) and this again (8) for two separate issues that are included in the same statement.

7. If you cite information that was obtained from a Web site, your reference list must provide a complete URL to the exact page that you cite.  Since Web pages sometimes disappear, you must also indicate the date on which you accessed the page.  (Assume that I WILL look up those references to verify information and that I will seek out cached and archived pages if I cannot find them.  The more work you make for me, the lower your grade.)  For more information on citing Web sources, see a recent style manual such as APA - this information can be found online if your notes and books from a writing course are getting too old.

8. You must submit a folder with your report which contains a copy of any documents that you reference.  For example, if you reference demographic statistics which were obtained from the US Census web site, then you must include a printed copy (clearly identified) of the web page which contained that information.

9. Please do not use any sort of report folders; use plain white paper with a single staple in the top left corner.

1. Introduction and Overview

   • focus of the report
   • objective of the client
   • objective of the report
   • brief summary of the report

2. Assessment of Organizational Resources, Strengths, and Weaknesses

   • mission and objectives
   • portfolio analysis
   • resources and competencies
   • organizational weaknesses

3. Assessment of External Environmental Opportunities and Threats

   • demographic
   • sociocultural
   • economic
   • technological
   • competitive
   • political
   • legal and regulatory
   • etc.

4. Product-level Assessment

   • Consumer/customer Assessment

     • who buys?
     • why do buyers buy?
     • how do buyers make choices?
     • what are bases for market segmentation?
     • what are potential target markets?

   • Competitor Assessment

     • who are direct competitors?
     • who are indirect competitors?
     • what is the likelihood of new competition?
     • what is the intensity of competition?
     • what are competitors' advantages and disadvantages?

   • Market measurement

     • estimate market potential
     • determine potential of each geographic area
     • assess trends
     • make forecasts

5. Summary and Recommendations

   • define opportunities and threats
   • define strengths and weaknesses
   • suggest objectives or future direction
   • suggest strategy for reaching objectives
   • suggest tactics to implement strategy

Adapted from Guiltinan and Paul (1990), Marketing Management: Strategies and Programs, New York: McGraw-Hill.