Strategic Management (MGT401) Assignment 1: Case Study Analysis

This document presents a comprehensive solution to Assignment 1 in the Strategic Management (MGT401) course at Saudi Electronic University. The assignment encompasses a detailed case study analysis of "Byte Products, Inc.," exploring its industry competitiveness, stakeholders, and the major challenges it faces. A SWOT matrix is provided to assess the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The solution addresses the core problem of the company's financial losses and proposes solutions, including an analysis of the board of directors' plan to improve demand. The assignment also features a discussion on the role of social responsibility in achieving a competitive advantage, supported by examples from the Saudi market. Furthermore, it includes a description of a successful strategic alliance between two companies. The solution leverages multiple recent scientific references to support the analysis and recommendations, offering a well-researched and insightful perspective on strategic management principles.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Ministry of Education
Saudi Electronic University
المملكة العربية السعودية
وزارة التعليم
الجامعة السعودية اإللكترونية
College of Administrative and Financial Sciences
Assignment 1
Strategic Management (MGT 401)
Due Date: 8/10/2022 @ 23:59
Course Name: Strategic Management Student’s Name:
Course Code: MGT401 Student’s ID Number:
Semester: First CRN:
Academic Year:2022-23-1st
For Instructor’s Use only
Instructor’s Name:
Students’ Grade:
Marks Obtained/Out of 15
Level of Marks: High/Middle/Low
General Instructions – PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY
 The Assignment must be submitted on Blackboard (WORD format only) via the
allocated folder.
 Assignments submitted through email will not be accepted.
 Students are advised to make their work clear and well presented, marks may be reduced
for poor presentation. This includes filling in your information on the cover page.
 Students must mention the question number clearly in their answers.
 Late submission will NOT be accepted.
 Avoid plagiarism, the work should be in your own words, copying from students or
other resources without proper referencing will result in ZERO marks. No exceptions.
 All answers must be typed using Times New Roman (size 12, double-spaced) font. No
pictures containing text will be accepted and will be considered plagiarism).
 Submissions without this cover page will NOT be accepted.

Learning Outcomes:
CLO1.Recognize the basic concepts and terminology used in Strategic Management.
CLO2.Describe the different issues related to environmental scanning, strategy formulation, and strategy
implementation in diversified organizations
CLO.5.Demonstrate how executive leadership is an important part of strategic management.
Section I. Case study (10 marks)
Read case study N.1 from your textbook entitled: The Recalcitrant
Director
at Byte Products, Inc., and answer the following
questions:
1. Describe the ”Byte Products, Inc” industry (competitivity, rivals, growth,
stakeholders…). 2 marks
2. Draw the SWOT matrix for ”Byte Products, Inc”. 2 marks
3. What is the major problem of ” Byte Products, Inc” and what are the main
solutions provided to this company to improve its competitive advantage? 2
marks
4. Describe the plan suggested by the board of directors to improve the demand.
2 marks
5. What can you recommend to “Byte Products, Inc” to improve the demand for its
products and ameliorate its competitive advantage? Justify.2 marks
Section II. Discussion questions(5 marks)
1. Is social responsibility a driver of a corporate competitive advantage? How?
Justify your answer using examples from Saudi Market.3 marks
2. Briefly describe a successful story of a strategic alliance between two companies
from the real (national or international) market. 2 marks
Note. To improve your answers, you are requested to use at least 5 recent scientific
references.

Answers
Section I.
1. The “Byte Products, Inc” industry is extremely competitive, with several players
and a small room for development. The stakeholders are the shareholders who
always searching for a return on their finance, and the workers who are searching
for job security and an equitable salary. The issue is that the firm is losing cash,
and the shareholders are in view of selling the organization (Zhang & Großschädl,
2011, December). The substitutes are to either sell the firm or change it. The
suggestions are to sell the firm. The shareholders are the initial stakeholders in
this scenario since they are the ones in view of selling the firm. The workers are
also major stakeholders of the firm because they are looking for a fair salary and
job security. The major reasons for selling the firm are that the firm is losing cash,
and the shareholders are in view of a return on their investment.
2. SWOT matrix
Strengths
 Shareholders are looking for a
return on their investment.
 Workers are looking for job
security and a fair salary.
Weaknesses
 The firm is losing money.
 The firm is not performing well.
 It would be critical to turning the
firm around.
Opportunities
 The workers will be able to find
positions elsewhere
 The shareholders will also be able
Threats
 The firm is not functioning well.
 It would be difficult to turn the
organization around.

to receive a return on their
investment.
 The firm is not possible to be able
to fight in the market.
3. Facts and assumptions – the current three manufacturing sites or plans of Byte
Company cannot fulfil the demand for its goods, and if the requirement of the
brand is not met, buyers will visit elsewhere and things could be critical if
contenders would take benefit from this case. Major problem is to develop a new
plant will take at least 4 years and the firm cannot wait for four years (Liu et al.,
2013, November). Thus, that firm has developed a temporary solution, yet this
temporary solution has a large most important problem. The huge overriding
problem is that if the firm initiates a temporary plant in the Plainville area then
temporary positions will be developed in Plainville and for short-term positions,
the administration won’t facilitate to development of local cases such as colleges,
schools and banks. Thus, it won’t be possible for the community to adjust to
Plainville for just 4 years. That’s why certain board individuals of the firm are not
in the favour of short-term solutions. Moreover, certain board members are not
convinced by the conclusion of the CEO. The argument rose by Williams one of
the board members is that a short-term solution won’t be productive for the
people of Plainville since the positions are going to be short term and after telling
the people that positions and vacancies will only be for 4 years damage the firm’s
value and reputation.
4. Byte Company Workers Analysis – according to workers of the firm, the factory
in Plainville, which is close down for approximately 7 years can be employed
temporarily for four years. Requirements and needs can be similar if the factory is

made to function for four years and the brand or good cost will also remain the
same. Thus, the CEO has agreed with their strategy. One of the boards of
directors is not fully convinced with the president as this strategy and procedure
won’t benefit the people of Plainville, since this strategy for employment is short-
term and temporary (Walton & Murano, 2020). CSR is always to facilitate and
help the community or people. Performing on the president’s strategy will damage
the firm’s value and worth because this will be a short-term solution and strategy
for four years and the local administration of Plainville also won’t facilitate a
short-term solution.
5. The strategy or plan developed by the CEO “Elliot” will surely support the firm
but it won’t support the local people of Plainville, where the company factory is.
The strategy and scheme should be such that both community and the firm are in
a win-win case. My recommendation is that the organization should keep the
factory performing by correlative forecasting among the firm and employees. The
overall salaries of employees should be such that they won’t influence the final
and finish brand price (Latapí Agudelo et al., 2019). The only problem is salaries,
if resolved by correlative understanding among the organization and employees
then the factory can function indelibly. Thus, local administration will also
facilitate establishing the local case needed for the people of Plainville.
Section II
1. CSR is becoming an important aspect of the overall firm aims or goals of
forward-thinking firms. CSR is also becoming extra common in today’s business.
However, certain firms may fail to implement CSR as a section of their “actual

business strategy”, & certain presidents and board individuals may suppose that
“primarily we conduct business”, before addressing CSR and addressing any
surrounding problems. This may be the scenario in some businesses and firms. If
a planned approach to CSR is suitably used in the firm’s planned tasks and
operations, it might serve as fundamental for long-term benefits (Zaman et al.,
2022). Thus the company may increase value development for all of its
stakeholders, partners, employees and shareholders while also enjoying an
advantageous impact on the community as a whole. Since its formation, as one of
the most developed companies in KSA, Armco has been one of the richest and
most famous firms in its industry. Since its foundation, the organization has
placed enhancing the sections in which it functions with the help of engaging in a
range of CSR activities and initiatives. Clients see the firm as important since they
believe it is tangled in CSR activities and programmes all of its products or
services ethically.
2. The melodies alliance between Uber and Spotify is an exceptional type of
combination; a planned partnership. A planned combination or alliance is a
reciprocity connection among two firms that preferably develops a mutually
helpful condition. The strategic alliance between Spotify and Uber means that
Uber riders or customers can enjoy Spotify playlists at the time of ride (Kleis,
2021). This makes the Uber experience extra favourite and motivates Uber
customers to subscribe to Spotify Premium such as for extra control over the
playlist on and off the ride. Uber’s contenders do not have the same

individualized music adventure, thus Uber has a huge competitive advantage over
other firms and other similar services.
References:
Zhang, Y., & Großschädl, J. (2011, December). Efficient prime-field arithmetic for
elliptic curve cryptography on wireless sensor nodes. In Proceedings of 2011
International Conference on Computer Science and Network Technology (Vol. 1,
pp. 459-466). IEEE.
Liu, Z., Seo, H., Großschädl, J., & Kim, H. (2013, November). Efficient implementation
of NIST-compliant elliptic curve cryptography for sensor nodes. In International
Conference on Information and Communications Security (pp. 302-317).
Springer, Cham.
Walton, K. E., & Murano, D. (2020). Students Have Shown Significant Social and
Emotional Skill Development during COVID-19. ACT Research & Policy. Data
Byte. ACT, Inc.
Latapí Agudelo, M. A., Jóhannsdóttir, L., & Davídsdóttir, B. (2019). A literature review
of the history and evolution of corporate social responsibility. International
Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, 4(1), 1-23.
Zaman, R., Jain, T., Samara, G., & Jamali, D. (2022). Corporate governance meets
corporate social responsibility: Mapping the interface. Business & Society, 61(3),
690-752.

Kleis, J. (2021). Emotional Bonding über Playlisten auf Spotify. Eine Online-Befragung
zur Akzeptanz. GRIN Verlag.