Assignment 1
Based upon your assigned country prepare an assignment that conforms to the following structure:
- Identify the latest World Ranking of your assigned country;
- The bookmakers’ odds for your assigned country;
- The goal of your country in the competition;
- How do you expect your assigned country to compete? Defensive, attack?
- Provide examples of what your country has done in order to prepare the squad as well as possible for the competition in terms of the players’ physical and psychological welfare.
- Does your country have a unique competitive position or strategy, or is its focus simply upon operational effectiveness.
- If you were trying to convey the nature of your assigned country to someone who knew nothing about soccer, imagine that your country is a smartphone: what brand best describes your country, and explain your choice:
- Apple
- Blackberry
- Nokia
- Samsung
- Now look at your assigned country and predict the result (win, draw, loss) of each game in your country’s Group. A country obtains three points for a win, one point for a draw and 0 points for a loss. Based upon your predictions complete the table below.
Country | Played | Win | Draw | Loss | Total Points |
3 | |||||
3 | |||||
3 | |||||
3 |
Assignment 1: Key concepts and Business Strategy
Concept | Football | Other Industries |
Strategy | A unique way of playing (e.g. Holland in 1970s; Spain 2010, 2014) | Apple; Ikea Tesla |
Goals | e.g. win World Cup; qualify from group; secure 6 points in group stage | e.g. become industry number one; increase market share; increase international sales. |
Operational effectiveness | Training to become better | Focus on value chain activities |
Competitive position | Attack vs defense | Choice of generic strategy Low cost vs differentiation (Porter) |
Disruptive innovation | Example: Total Football | Example: Apple and ecosystem; Spotify |
Business model | Means of winning games | Means of delivering superior value to target market |
External environment – remote environment | Home advantage due to large number of “12thman” – fans; Best medical staff; Playing conditions; Decisions of referee; | PEST or PESTEL analysis Political Economic Social Technological Environmental Legal |
External environment- industry analysis – intensity of rivalry Bargaining power of suppliers | Are some groups more intense than other? Some groups very difficult due to membership; others much easier. – some countries (e.g. Brazil) have so many excellent players that it is difficult to decide on final 22 players; Some countries have so few excellent players, it is easy to decide on final 22. | Are there many rivals (e.g. car industry), or very few (e.g. soft drinks). Latter offers a much more appealing environment Companies want to ensure that they have upper hand in negotiations with suppliers |
External environment – competitor analysis | When you examine different teams you are conducting competitor analysis. Think of the factors that you employ to assess a team. | You need to understand who has been strong in the past, but also who are the new rivals that are developing new competences. What are the critical success factors in the industry? How does each company score against the CSFs? |
Internal analysis | When you examine your country, what do you consider the most important considerations to address? | Just apply the same approach as employed to soccer to the company of your choice. |
The strategist | The manager | The CEO |
The product portfolio/brands | The players | Products/brands |
The product life cycle | The age of the players | The stage of the products |
Organizational culture | What makes for a successful side? What is the nature of your culture. At every World Cup, we have often seen a country “fall apart” due to internal squabbling (e.g. France 2010). Similarly a strong culture without division is conducive to success. | Does the culture breed success? Look at all the current problems now facing GM…the result of a poor organizational culture. |
Human resource management | Vital to get the best out of every player; create harmony, motivate etc. Often sides suffer from bust-ups over player selections, team bonuses, quality of facilities for training. Some countries demand players live a monastic existence – no access to partner/spouses. The manager of Brazil adopts a more relaxed approach and has told players that they are free to have sex but refrain from tiring “acrobatic sex”. Teams are increasingly multi-racial or multi-cultural and this has either resulted in divisive cliques or been an incentive for the team to unite and show the world that the country is a successful example of a cosmopolitan society (e.g. France 1998) Some countries will always insist on having a coach from the country, whilst others appoint a foreign national. | Just think of the labor, management and staffing issues that face multinational corporations. |
Intended strategy | The original game plan | Ditto |
Emergent strategy | The actual plan arising from adjustments to circumstances. | Ditto |
Other | ???? | ??? |
Important Websites
httpss://www.fifa.com/worldcup/
httpss://espnfc.com/league/_/id/fifa.world/fifa-world-cup?cc=5901
httpss://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/world-cup/2014/
httpss://soccerly.com/competition/world-cup#source=menubar
httpss://www.theguardian.com/football/world-cup-2014