Executive Summary
PROPOSED STRATEGY DOCUMENT GUIDELINES & FORMAT:
Format:
• 20+ pages, 12-point, Times Roman Font, 1.5 line spacing, 1-inch margins
• Graphs, charts, can be embedded throughout your document to support your analysis. If you do
not refer to a particular graph or chart in your written work, don’t include it.
Sections:
1) Executive Summary
• Maximum 1-2 pages
• Summarize your analysis and recommendations
2) External Analysis:
– Discuss Industry Characteristics
o Size of overall market as well as geographic and customer segments and growth rates
o Relevant Porter-5 forces characteristics
– Buyers Needs and Wants
o Analysis of customer segments – needs, wants, buying habits, media habits, channel
habits, etc.
– Competitive Analysis
o Strengths and weakness of relevant competitors in each segment
– Overall – Summary of Opportunities and Threats (use evidence from rest of section)
3) Organizational Performance and Analysis
– Overall financial and market performance (note- market performance is more to focus on
importance since you are a start-up
– Deep dive internal analysis
o Why are you doing poorly or well to-date? Use the Tree-Analysis to move from
symptoms down to key problems facing the business or potential problems
4) Key Strategic Issues
o Identify two or three key issues facing the business over the next 3 years.
o For each issue, describe it in detail using your analysis from sections #2 and #3 above as
proof points
5) 3-Year Strategy
– In detail, describe your proposed 3-year strategy for the organization using the Strategy Triangle
elements. Your strategy should address your strategic issues and help you achieve your goals.
– Goals need to be SPECIFIC and MEASURABLE. Please select a specific profit or market share
objective that you want to achieve by end of Year 3. For market share, this needs to be based
on the customer segments you are targeting.
–
6) Mandatory Appendices
– Source of Volume Report (see template provided)
– Financial Income Statement (see template provided)