Readings:

• Lafley, A. & Martin, R. (2013). Playing to win: How strategy really works. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press. (read Chapter 5, Play to Your Strengths)
• Magretta, J. (2011). Understanding Michael Porter: The essential guide to competition and strategy. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press. (read Chapter 4, Creating Value: The Core)

Each week students should review one article related to business strategy.  The article can cover business strategy in fields like Finance, IT, HR, Accounting, etc.  

Articles can be found in Business Source Complete or ProQuest Central.
The article text itself must be 1) at least 1,000 words (excluding title, bios, and any other related material), 2) peer-reviewed, and 3) published within the last five years. If you have any questions about using a particular article, please reach out to your professor. Article Review Instructions:  In 500-800 words (including title and references) review the article as follows:

• First half – review of article contents, concepts, insights, and how it relates to business strategy
• Second half – application to your world
• Use at least one QCR (quotation, citation, reference) from the article itself
• Use at least one QCR from another source (can be a peer-review article or something from HBR, Fortune, Economist, or Wall Street Journal).
• Therefore, your references at the end of your article should have at least two entries.
• Title your review LastName_FirstInitialWk1AR

At the end of each article review, make sure and include:

• Your word count
• Your Grammarly score

In this second week of the SPA project, you will provide an overview of your business to be analyzed. This week’s chapter should include the following sections:

• Cover Page: Include your name, course, professor, date, and page number
• Business History: Provide an overview of the company’s past.
• Strategic Features: Describe the following features: 
  • Mission, vision, values
  • Key stakeholders (at least 3)
  • Value propositions to its key stakeholders
  • Overview of financial performance over the last 3-5 years