CS: Exam Review

2012 Exam Format:

Case study distributed Thursday morning at 930AM before Exam the following Monday.

1. Bring unmarked case, except for highlighting.
2. Bring a calculator.
3. Some examples of case questions are shown in Appendix 2. 

 Sample Exam

Section A

15 multiple choice questions (typically five options a,b,c,d or e).


Section B

Case Study: ‘The Global Pharmaceutical Industry’ and ‘AstraZeneka's Growth Strategies’ and accompanying benchmark data for top 20 Global Pharmaceutical Companies:

From ONLY the information contained in the AstraZeneka case, please address the questions below.

You are encouraged to draw on lessons or parallels from other pertinent cases you have studied on the Programme or from the related practitioner talks series (including partially overlapping cases), as well as from theory and literature.

Question B1 Provide a critical assessment of the business environment for AstraZeneca’s Strategic Planning Director, drawing out strategic implications for the company for the period up to the end of 2008. (35 marks)

Question B2 In the light of this, critically appraise AstraZeneca’s main strategic options at the end of the cases, elaborating the strategy finally recommended. Include some consideration of corporate level options such as Mergers and Acquisitions or radical changes in terms of vertical integration in the form of much greater outsourcing. (35 marks)

Case Study Tips:

• Don't use outside material. Analyze only the data in the case.
• Present a set of consistent arguments based on concrete examples leading to a clear conclusion.

• Be creative.
• Quantify.


Strategic Analysis Checklist:

1. Is their strategy a success?
1. Generic Strategies
1. cost leadership
2. differentiation
3. cost focus
4. differentiation focus
2. Market Position
1. Market Life cycle (new? mature? susceptibility to disruption?)
2. Market Share (Natl, Worldwide). Market share up or down for more than 1 year?
3. Concentration? (Natl, Worldwide)
4. Competitor Analysis
1. Determine Competitive KPIs
1. ROE, ROCE, RoS
2. Trends across industry (cross sectional)
   
3. Trend over time (temporal)
2. 5-Forces vs. key competitors
3. Value Chain Analysis 
3. Organizational Structure and Company Culture
1. HR
2. Stakeholder Knowledge Network Analysis
3. Stakeholder analysis- Share price, Shareholder value
4. Portfolio Analysis
4. Environment (PEST)
5. KFS