ASSIGNMENT CORPORATE AND BUSINESS UNIT STRATEGY ASSIGNTMENT Creating a business model is of critical importance to success.  What is a business model?  What is a business model canvas?  How does innovation and competitive strategy converge at a business unit–level through the business model? SUGESTED: Apple (Mac), Dell, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Microsoft, Lenovo, Acer, Sony, Samsung and Toshiba. Objectives To successfully complete this learning unit, you will be expected to: 1. Research business models and corporate growth strategies. 2. Analyze the business strategy of a strategic business unit. Readings Use your textbook, Crafting and Executing Strategy, to read the following:  Chapter 4, "Evaluating a Company's Resources, Capabilities, and Competitiveness."  Chapter 5, "The Five Generic Competitive Strategies."  Chapter 8, "Corporate Strategy: Diversification and the Multi-business Company." 1. Alstyne, Parker, and Choudary's 2016 article, "Pipelines, Platforms, and the New Rules of Strategy," in Harvard Business Review, volume 94, issue 4, pages 54–62. 2. Girotra and Netessine's 2014 article, "Four Paths to Business Model Innovations," in Harvard Business Review, volume 92, issue 7/8, pages 96–103. Suggested Video The following optional video offers more information on the business model canvas.  Business Model TV (Producer). (2011). Business model canvas explained [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoAOzMTLP5s IMPORTANT: Before you begin working on the assignment, please view the Video Instructions located in the Resources section. This assignment focuses on the topics from Units 6 and 7. Review the Corporate and Business Model Strategy video, linked in the Resources, for additional information that will help you complete your assignment. Subject Selection Select a publicly traded, multinational corporation (MNC) to use as the case study for this assignment. The corporation you choose must have several strategic business units (SBU) and must not be a company that you have used in previous assignments. An example of an MNC is Walt Disney Company, a global entertainment company. As of 2016, Disney's SBUs are:  Parks and resorts.  Media networks.  Studio entertainment.  Consumer Products.  Interactive. ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS Once you have selected an MNC, complete the following: Introduction  State the purpose of your research paper and the case study MNC and the SBU/Business segment you have selected to evaluate.  Briefly explain what will be covered in your paper. Theory  What theories and analytical techniques are evaluated in your paper?  Include detailed application of theories and techniques in your case study application. Case Study Application  Identify the MNC's generic or base strategy (as defined in the text readings) and explain the overall direction for the corporation. What corporate guidelines are provided to the strategic business units?  Select one strategic business unit within the MNC as your focus: o What is the basic business model? How do the activities in the business model fit together?  The most effective technique to use to answer these questions is to create a table or figure to illustrate how the elements fit together. Examples: customer segments, value proposition, revenue stream, customer relationships, channels, key activities (processes), key resources, key partners, cost structure. o Assess the success of the SBU business model; how well has it been performing?  Analyze the underlying competitive trends that have affected the SBU.  Identify any radical shifts that have occurred within the industry in the last five years and explain how those shifts affected the SBU.  Identify key company resources and explain how they are deployed within the SBU.  Assess how well the SBU aligns with the corporate generic strategy.  PESTEL is an acronym and it stands for "Political, Economic, Social, Technology, Environment, and Legal and Regulatory, and are there other variations on this model. The essence of it is, you'll do a PESTEL ANALYSIS, as an illustration. Reminder: Be sure to clearly articulate your analyses and support your case study with information from multiple sources. REQUIREMENTS Your submitted assignment must meet the following requirements:  Length: Minimum of 2600 words.  Format: Follow current APA (Six Edition) guidelines for style and formatting; include a cover page, appropriate headings, and a reference list.  References: Use a minimum of five (5) peer-reviewed journals, practitioner journals, and two references not included in the required course readings—one (1) on theory and four (4) on your case study organization. • Sources: Must have three Scholastics Source (last 3 years) out of: Business Journals Review, Wall Street Journal, Market Line, Hoovers 10 K, Annual Reports, 7 A 1, 10 A 1  DO NOT FORGET PESTEL ANALYSIS, as an illustration