Business Strategy for MBA

This is a research paper that depends heavily on deep research and data mining maybe using bloomberg. Its an MBA level,
please make sure its well written and analysis are well supported. and Numbers are well referenced. As for number of
references you can do whatevery is necessary not only 10 as mentioned. The company’s name is Aeropostale. Analyze the
industry based on the below requirements. Please remember to follow all the steps and fulfill all requirements and use the
data asked.

An industry analysis of the industry(s) in which your selected firm competes must include empirical data for each trend
analyzed. Frameworks that must be completed are: Strategic Group Map, Porter 5 Forces analysis and Driving Forces, for each
industry and each region (same country proxies as previously detailed in macro-environment may be used for the industry
analysis).

»Industry Overview
-Provide and interpret last 3 years of stats for the industry including annual industry sales, annual growth rate, industry
ROI, ROE, ROA, number of firms, number of employees, and any other pertinent metrics
» Strategic Group Map
-Select the most pertinent distinguishing classifications (i.e. size, quality, breadth of products, number of outlets or
markets, etc) to support analysis and the competitive clusters you define
-Identify NAICS code(s) and all major firms in the industry clustered by segment
-Provide a supporting table for these firms of annual sales and market share for each firm (1 map per industry/region)
»Five Forces Analysis of the Industry
-Rank each force from 1 to 10, with empirical data, analysis and logic provided to justify ranking
-Where 1 = very low intensity of that competitive force and 10 = maximum intensity of that competitive force. (i.e. lower
number = less intense competitive force = higher profitability = more attractive industry)
»Rivalry or direct competitors
-Identify all major firms competing head to head (i.e. direct competitors; that segment from the Strategic Group Map in which
your firm is located). Compare annual revenues and growth rate percentage over past 3 years, total assets in dollars, number
of employees, number of outlets- locations, other pertinent metrics relative to your industry
-If the industry is concentrated with 2, 3 or 4 firms, provide the individual metrics for each firm e.g. ROA, ROI, EBITDA as
% of sales, same store sales, revenues per employee & industry specific data.
»Threat of Entry
-Identify and analyze any barriers facing potential entrants including patents, government regulation, average capital
investment needed to enter, presence of strong brand names amongst existing firms, economies of scale. Provide quantitative
or empirical data when analyzing each barrier.
»Substitutes
-Identify and analyze the number and functionality or utility of substitutes available including the price-value relationship
between the product and the substitute (i.e. Ottawa-Toronto return train ticket of $200 versus average cost of $100 to rent a
car with space for 4 people).
-Substitute is a replacement good/service to meet a need; may not be in same industry (i.e. video conferencing substitutes
for business travel).
»Power of Suppliers
-Identify the names of the major suppliers to the industry considering their annual revenues and assets, annual average
growth rate to assess relative power.
-Identify whether supplier industry is concentrated or fragmented (i.e. less than 5 firms account for more than 50% of
industry sales?). Are suppliers “price takers” or “price makers”?
»Power of Buyers: Customers and Consumers
-Analyze buyer power under both categories of customers (distributors or retailers) and consumers (final end buyer)
-Provide empirical support for whether Buyers-Customers are concentrated or fragmented; identify their aggregate number. Can
Buyers-Customers threaten to backward integrate? Are there switching costs? Is the product a commodity which gives buyers
more power as no differentiation with commodities except price?
»5 Forces Summary
-Provide a summary of the 5 forces with an overall numerical ranking (average of the 5 individual rankings). Which force(s)
is (are) most important i.e. intense?
»Driving Forces
-The purpose of Driving Forces analysis is to transform Porter’s 5 forces model – which is a static snapshot at one moment in
time– into a dynamic “video” of the industry measuring industry change over time.
-Identify and analyze those driving forces. Which competitive force is being affected by the driving force?

»Summary of Industry Analysis
-Provide an overall evaluation of industry attractiveness based on 5 forces analysis, industry growth rate, ROI, ROE and
driving forces.
-Is the industry extremely attractive, moderately attractive, moderately unattractive, extremely unattractive and support
your assessment.