BMGT 495 - Project 1:  Starting an External Environmental Analysis (Week 2) NOTE: All  submitted work is to be your original work (only your work). You may  not use any work from another student, the Internet or an online  clearinghouse.  You are expected to understand the Academic Dishonesty  and Plagiarism Policy, and know that it is your responsibility to learn  about instructor and general academic expectations with regard to proper  citation of sources as specified in the APA Publication Manual, 6th Ed.  (You are held accountable for in-text citations and an associated  reference list only). Project 1 is due Sunday at 11:59 p.m. eastern time of week 2 unless otherwise changed by the instructor. Purpose:  This  project is the first of four projects.  This project provides the first  steps in completing an external environmental analysis of your focal  company’s strategic management plan.   You will use tools and apply  concepts learned in this and previous business courses to demonstrate an  understanding of how organizations develop and manage strategies to  establish, safeguard and sustain its competitive position in the 21st century’s (rapidly evolving/shifting/changing), uncertain hyper-competitive business environment.  Completing  a company overview and assessing the general environment is a key  aspect of performing an external environment analysis.  This project  provides you with the opportunity to evaluate the competitive position  of one of the organizations listed below and integrate that information  in the beginnings of a external environmental analysis.  The  company you will be analyzing operates within the global market.  You  will assess the company in terms of the global industry.  Industries  differ widely in their economic characteristics, competitive situation  and future profit potential. In  this project, you are presenting a report document.  The expectation is  that the report provides the level of details to help the audience  grasp the main topics and to understand the General Environment.  Analysis  is the operative word.  In analyzing the external environment, you are  expected to thoroughly research and take that research and break it into  small parts to gain a better understanding of what is happening in the  external environment of the business.  In researching an industry, it is  important to understand that every company within an industry is  different so gathering information on one company does not mean that the  collected information is relevant to other companies within that  industry.  When researching, parsing the material is critical to an  accurate analysis.  Avoid presenting just any information as that may  lead to using irrelevant information. You  will then write the report in your own words to share the external  analysis.  You are expected to present information and support the ideas  and reasoning using the course material and your research.  You will  not lift any informatio.

1. BMGT 495 - Project 1: Starting an External Environmental
Analysis (Week 2)
NOTE:
All submitted work is to be your original work (only your
work). You may not use any work from another student, the
Internet or an online clearinghouse. You are expected to
understand the Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy,
and know that it is your responsibility to learn about instructor
and general academic expectations with regard to proper
citation of sources as specified in the APA Publication Manual,
6th Ed. (You are held accountable for in-text citations and an
associated reference list only).
Project 1 is due Sunday at 11:59 p.m. eastern time of week 2
unless otherwise changed by the instructor.
Purpose:
This project is the first of four projects. This project provides
the first steps in completing an external environmental analysis
of your focal company’s strategic management plan. You will
use tools and apply concepts learned in this and previous
business courses to demonstrate an understanding of how
organizations develop and manage strategies to establish,
safeguard and sustain its competitive position in the 21st
century’s (rapidly evolving/shifting/changing), uncertain hyper-
competitive business environment.
Completing a company overview and assessing the general

2. environment is a key aspect of performing an external
environment analysis. This project provides you with the
opportunity to evaluate the competitive position of one of the
organizations listed below and integrate that information in the
beginnings of a external environmental analysis.
The company you will be analyzing operates within the global
market. You will assess the company in terms of the global
industry. Industries differ widely in their economic
characteristics, competitive situation and future profit
potential.
In this project, you are presenting a report document. The
expectation is that the report provides the level of details to
help the audience grasp the main topics and to understand the
General Environment.
Analysis is the operative word. In analyzing the external
environment, you are expected to thoroughly research and take
that research and break it into small parts to gain a better
understanding of what is happening in the external environment
of the business. In researching an industry, it is important to
understand that every company within an industry is different
so gathering information on one company does not mean that
the collected information is relevant to other companies within
that industry. When researching, parsing the material is
critical to an accurate analysis. Avoid presenting just any
information as that may lead to using irrelevant information.
You will then write the report in your own words to share the
external analysis. You are expected to present information and
support the ideas and reasoning using the course material and
your research. You will not lift any information from source
documents without properly citing and referencing. For the
technical analysis aspect of the project, you are required to
create the technique on your own and may not use from any

3. source material that you happen to find. No work from a
clearinghouse or similar website may be used or cited as a
credible source.
Outcomes Met With This Project:
utilize a set of useful analytical skills, tools, and techniques for
analyzing a company strategically;
integrate ideas, concepts, and theories from previously taken
functional courses including accounting, finance, market,
business and human resource management;
Instructions:
In completing the report, you will use the chapters in the eBook
and other course material, and perform research on the
company and industry in which the company operates and
answer the required elements below in narrative form following
the steps provided.
Step 1: Specific Company for All Four Projects is
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. ((TSX:SNC)
In this project, you will complete a Company Overview, an
Evaluation of the General Environment and a conclusion.
You will be assigned by your instructor one focal company to
complete the analysis. The assigned company must be used for
all four projects in this course. You are not allowed to write the
report on any other company different from the company
specifically assigned by your instructor. If a company other

4. than that assigned to you is used, a zero will be assigned.
The instructor will assign you a company from the list below.
(Students may not select the company). All companies can be
found on Mergent Online.
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. ((TSX:SNC)
Students must complete the project using the assigned
company. Deviating from the assigned company will result in a
zero for the project. You will look for the company assigned to
you in the Announcement area of the classroom.
Step 2: Course Materials and Research
You are required to research information about the focal
company and the internal environment for this project, You are
accountable for using the course materials to support the ideas,
reasoning and conclusions made. Course materials use goes
beyond defining terms but is used to explain the 'why and how'
of a situation. Using one or two in-text citations from the
course materials and then relying on Internet source material
will not earn many points on the assignment. A variety of
source material is expected and what is presented must be
relevant and applicable to the topic being discussed. Avoid
merely making statements but close the loop of the discussion
by explaining how
something happens
or why
something happens
, which focuses on importance and impact. In closing the loop,

5. you will demonstrate the ability to think clearly and rationally
showing an understanding of the logical connections between
the ideas presented from the research, the course material and
the question(s) being asked.
Note:
Your report is based on the results of the research performed
and not on any prepared documentation. What this means is
that you will research and draw your own conclusions that are
supported by the research and the course material rather than
the use any source material that puts together any of the tools
or techniques whether from the Internet, for-pay websites or
any pre-prepared document, video or source material. A zero
will be earned for not doing your own analysis.
Success:
The analysis is based on research and not opinion. You are
not making recommendations and you will not attempt to
position the focal company in a better or worse light than other
companies within the industry merely because you are
completing an analysis on this particular company. The
analysis must be based on factual information. Any
conclusions drawn have to be based on factual information
rather than leaps of faith. To ensure success, as stated above,
you are expected to use the course materials and research on
the focal company's global industry and the focal company.
Opinion does not earn credit nor does using external sources
when course materials can be used. It is necessary to provide
explanations (the why and how) rather than making
statements. Avoid stringing one citation after another as doing
so does not show detailed explanations.
Library Resources

6. On the main navigation bar in the classroom select, Resources
and then select Library. Select Databases by Title (A - Z).
Select M from the alphabet list, and then select Mergent
Online. You may also use Market Line and should be looking
at the focal company's Annual Report or 10K report. You are
not depending on any one resource to complete the analysis. It
is impossible to complete a Porter’s Five Forces, competitive
analysis or OT by using only course material.
You should not be using obscure articles, GlassDoor, or Chron
or similar types of articles.
Research for Financial Analysis:
Financial Research
Research for Industry Analysis
CSI Market
UMGC library is available for providing resources and services.
Seek library support for excellence in your academic pursuit.
Library Support
Extensive library resources and services are available online, 24
hours a day, seven days a week at
https://www.umgc.edu/library/index.cfm
to support you in your studies. The UMGC Library provides
research assistance in creating search strategies, selecting
relevant databases, and evaluating and citing resources in a
variety of formats via its Ask a Librarian service at
https://www.umgc.edu/library/libask/index.cfm
.
Scholarly Research in OneSearch is allowed.

7. To search for only scholarly resources, you are expected to
place a check mark in the space for "Scholarly journals only"
before clicking search.
Step 3: How to Set Up the Report:
The document has to be written in Word or rtf. No other
format is acceptable. Pdf files will not be graded. Use 12-
point font for a double-spaced report. The final product cannot
be longer than 8 pages in length, which includes all tables and
matrices but excludes the title page and reference page. Do no
use an Appendix.
Create a title page with title, your name, the course number, the
instructor's name.
Step 4:
Company Overview
Provide a company overview, which is an essential component
to the strategic management process. The company overview
includes the purpose(s) for the founding of the company, i.e,
what problems was it formed to solve and/or opportunities it
was formed to exploit, who are the founders, home country or
state, current management, employee headcount, last year’s
revenue, etc.).
Step 5:

8. Evaluate the General Environment
Identify the global industry in which the company operates.
This will come from Mergent Online.
Discuss the company's general environment by developing a
PESTEL analysis. First, use the course material to identify the
elements of the PESTEL and what components make up each
element. Then, complete the analysis using research on the
industry and the focal company. Be sure to thoroughly present
and support the reasoning for what is presented. You may not
use a PESTEL analysis that is already completed and available
on the Internet. A zero will result if used as the analysis has
to be the result of your research and your own development.
NOTE:
A PESTEL analysis is not a table and it is not a bulleted
assessment.
Identify and discuss one key trend for each letter of the
PESTEL for the industry. Key trends are separate from the
PESTEL analysis.
Select one of the six trends identified in the previous
requirement and discuss how the focal company could be
affected by the selected trends.
Discuss key areas of uncertainty related to the identified trend
for the focal company that could potentially impact the
company's strategy.
Perform a strategic analysis of the company's mission, vision
and objectives.

9. Step 6:
Conclusion
Create a concluding paragraph. The Conclusion is intended to
emphasize the purpose/significance of the analysis, emphasize
the significance/consequence of findings, and indicate the
wider applications that are derived from the main points of the
project’s requirements. You will draw conclusions about the
findings of the external environment analysis.
Step 7: Review the Paper
Read the paper to ensure all required elements are present.
The following are specific requirements that you will follow.
Use the checklist to mark off that you have followed each
specific requirement.
Checklist
Specific Project Requirements
Proofread your paper

10. Read and use the grading rubric while completing the paper to
ensure all requirements are met that will lead to the highest
possible grade.
Third person writing is required. Third person means that there
are no words such as “I, me, my, we, or us” (first person
writing), nor is there use of “you or your” (second person
writing). If uncertain how to write in the third person, view
this link:
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/first-
second-and-third-person
.
Contractions are not used in business writing, so do not use
them.
Paraphrase and do not use direct quotations. Paraphrase means
you do not use more than four consecutive words from a source
document. Removing quotation marks and citing is
inappropriate. Instead put a passage from a source document
into your own words and attribute the passage to the source
document. There should be no passages with quotation marks.
Using more than four consecutive words from a source
document would require direct quotation marks. Changing
words from a passage does not exclude the passage from having

11. quotation marks. If more than four consecutive words are used
from source documents, this material will not be included in
the grade.
You are expected to use the research and weekly course
materials to develop the analysis and support the reasoning.
There should be a robust use of the course material. Material
used from a source document must be cited and referenced. A
reference within a reference list cannot exist without an
associated in-text citation and vice versa. Changing words
from a passage does not exclude the passage from having
quotation marks.
Use in-text citations and provide a reference list that contains
the reference associated with each in-text citation.
You may not use books in completing this problem set unless
part of the course material. Also, do not use a dictionary,
Wikipedia or Investopedia or similar sources. You may not use
Fern Fort University, Ibis World or any other for-fee website.
Provide the page or paragraph number in every in-text citation
presented. Since the eBook does not have page numbers,

12. include the chapter title and topic heading. If using a video,
provide the minutes and second of the cited material.