Introduction
“In order for strategy to be effective, it has to be clearly communicated. Everybody in the organization has to understand why we are doing what we’re doing,
and what they need to do in order to execute the strategy.”
– Jack Welch – Time to Shine! You’ve done the hard work to evaluate the playing field and competition. You’ve looked at seven potential strategic moves and assessed the pros and cons of each. Finally, you have arrived at the game-winning move that can help your company beat competitors, generate significant shareholder value and create a sustainable competitive advantage. All you need now is a “yes” from your CEO! You know that one of the most important skills leaders must develop is the ability to sell their ideas. They need to understand their audience, craft their presentation appropriately, have poise, and communicate clearly. They also need to show their passion and demonstrate executive presence! You know your CEO’s time is valuable and you have only five minutes to “sell” your game-winning move and explain the key rationale. You will synthesize your previous executive briefs to create a succinct, well-organized presentation based on Jack’s 5 slides and then present these during your five-minute slot. The presentation is focused on selling the move and your rationale – and this probably means that some of the slides are going to be more important than others. Your CEO wants you to touch on each slide during the 5-minute presentation but doesn’t mind if you spend only a brief amount of time on some slides and more time on others. You have a great game-winning move. You have been perfecting your executive presence. You have confidence. You are ready to impress! Instructions
1. Distill the work you have done in Assignments 1 and 2 to create a 5-slide strategy deck. This is explained in Chapter 11 of Winning and is also included in summary form below. Be aware that information needed for some of Jack’s questions would be available to a company’s strategy team leader but may not be in the public domain for our use. Therefore, your content in each slide will primarily be derived from your research for your first two assignments. This may mean that you focus on answering some of Jack’s questions, but perhaps not all of them.
JWI 540: Strategy Assignment 3
© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University. This document is subject to change based on the needs of the class.
JWI 540 – Assignment 3 (1244) Page 2 of 5
2. You should approach your presentation from a senior executive perspective, with your intended
audience being the CEO of the company. Your presentation should be both informative and inspirational. Your goal is to persuade the CEO to support your strategic plan.
3. You should assume that the CEO has already read your two executive briefs. However, you are unsure whether there is support or skepticism for of your game-winning move. Thus, you need to focus on “selling your strategy” and not just regurgitating your first two assignments. Your CEO will be compelled by an enthusiastic presentation that explains why your game-winning move is the right one, but that also presents a balanced, cogent understanding of the risks involved.
4. Your presentation should have a professional look and feel. It should demonstrate your executive presence through professional dress, eye contact, clear and confident speech and body language. Think about Jack’s “4 E’s + 1 P” as you prepare, and use this as a guide for your delivery.
Formatting and Submission Requirements
• Record your presentation using Zoom This will allow you to record your use of a PPT deck and webcam at the same time. Recording instructions and samples: https://www.kaltura.com/tiny/xgw5h
• Keep your presentation within a 4- to 6-minute timeframe.
• You may only present slides from Jack’s 5-slide methodology, and you must present all 5 slides. However, you are not required to allocate your time equally on to each of the 5 slides. Instead, spend your time on the slides that best enable you to convincingly sell your game-winning move. There are many tactics that allow you to briefly cover a slide that is not essential to sell your move. An example is to quickly flash the competition slide while noting, “You are well aware that our two key competitors are Ford and GM, and I shared their recent moves in the executive brief, so I’d instead like to advance to the Our Organization slide”.
• Submit your Zoom video in mp4 format only. Note: Zoom offers several formats, so make sure you save to your computer and then upload only the mp4 formatted version.
• You do not need to submit a separate PPT file for grading because each slide should be visible in your Zoom video.
JWI 540: Strategy Assignment 3
© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University. This document is subject to change based on the needs of the class.
JWI 540 – Assignment 3 (1244) Page 3 of 5
5-Slide Methodology Questions Slide questions are not set in stone. Focus your content on the most important and relevant questions for your company and industry. You are not expected to incorporate every bullet under each slide as part of your five-slide presentation. Instead, choose the most compelling elements that help you tell the most persuasive story. Slide 1: What the Playing Field Looks Like Now
• Who are the competitors in this business, large and small, new and old? • Who has what share globally, and in each market? Where do we fit in? • What are the characteristics of this business? Is it a commodity, high value, or somewhere in
between? Is it long cycle or short? W here is it on the growth curve? What are the drivers of profitability?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor? How good are its products? How much does each spend on R&D? How big is each sales force? How performance-driven is each culture?
• Who are this business’s main customers, and how do they buy? Slide 2: What the Competition Has Been Up To
• What has each competitor done in the past year to change the playing field? • Has anyone introduced game-changing new products, new technologies, or new distribution
channels? • Are there any new entrants, and if so, what have they been up to in the past year?
Slide 3: What You’ve Been Up To
• What have you done in the past year to change the competitive playing field? • Have you bought a company, introduced a new product, stolen a competitor’s key
salesperson, or licensed a new technology from a startup? • Have you lost any competitive advantages that you once had – a great salesperson, a special
product, a proprietary technology? Slide 4: What’s Around the Corner?
• What scares you most in the year ahead – what are one or two things a competitor could do to nail you?
• What new products or technologies could your competitors launch that might change the game?
• What M&A deals made by a competitor would knock you off your feet? Slide 5: What’s Your Winning Move?
• What can you do to change the playing field – is it an acquisition, a new product, globalization? • What can you do to make customers stick with you more than ever before and be more loyal
to you than to anyone else? • Persuasively and logically present your “winning move”
JWI 540: Strategy Assignment 3
© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University. This document is subject to change based on the needs of the class.
JWI 540 – Assignment 3 (1244) Page 4 of 5
RUBRIC: Assignment 3
Criteria Honors High Pass Pass Low Pass Unsatisfactory
1. The 5 slides include the most important key findings and analyses and insights and are professional in appearance.
Weight 50%
All 5 slides are exemplary in content, professional in appearance, and exceptionally well aligned to the presentation. They illuminate key facts and insights and are graphically interesting. All slides are well designed and fully developed, with excellent content, and effectively enhance the student’s narration.
The 5 slides have very good content and are professional in appearance.
They provide an excellent support for the presentation by illuminating key facts and insights and are graphically interesting. All slides are well developed, with good content, and enhance the student’s narration.
The 5 slides have satisfactory content and are professional in appearance. They support the presentation by illuminating key facts and insights and are graphically interesting. No slides are missing, underdeveloped, or not aligned with the narration. The slides are generally effective in enhancing the student’s narration
The 5 slides meet minimum content requirements.
Appearance is professional but only partially supports the presentation. No more than one slide is missing underdeveloped, or not aligned with the narration.
The slides may not significantly enhance the student’s presentation.
The 5 slides are not satisfactory in content and do not satisfactorily support the presentation. Two or more slides might be missing or not fully developed. There may be a lack of alignment with the slide content and the student’s narration. The slide design may distract from, rather than enhance, the student’s presentation.
2. Persuasively and logically present the “Game- Winning Move.”
Weight 20%
Excellent presentation of the game-winning move. The student’s narration and the game-winning move slide complement each other and contribute to a highly persuasive, logical, and clear plan of action. The presentation demonstrates a high degree of both importance and urgency around the game- winning move. Presents information appropriate for a CEO, effectively sells the move while providing clear balance of risk and reward.
Logical and persuasive presentation of the game-winning move. The student’s narration and the game-winning move slide complement each other and support a clear plan of action. The presentation demonstrates a reasonable degree of importance and urgency around the game-winning move. Presents information appropriate for a CEO, effectively sells the move, and manages to persuade the CEO while providing reasonable balance of risk and reward.
Satisfactory presentation of the game-winning move. The student’s narration and the game-winning move slide may complement each other but the move may lack details regarding the viability, importance, or urgency. Presents information in a satisfactory manner but may only partially consider the balance of risks and rewards.
Presentation of the game-winning move is lacking in some regard. It may not be fully defined or persuasively sold.
Missing or unsatisfactory presentation of the game-winning move.
JWI 540: Strategy Assignment 3
© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University. This document is subject to change based on the needs of the class.
JWI 540 – Assignment 3 (1244) Page 5 of 5
Criteria Honors High Pass Pass Low Pass Unsatisfactory
3. Executive Presence
Weight 20%
Delivers a presentation with exceptionally strong Executive Presence. Demonstrates confidence, poise, professional dress, appropriate background, consistent eye contact with the camera. Voice is quite dynamic, and verbal cues are exemplarily. Sound and lighting are excellent to provide high- quality video. Narration is highly engaging and enhances the slide content by supplementing the slides and not reading from a script.
Demonstrates good Executive Presence that includes confidence and poise, professional dress, appropriate background, consistent eye contact with the camera. Voice is dynamic, and verbal cues are consistently applied. Sound and lighting are very good and provide good video quality. Narration does not just replicate the slides, or sound like it is being read from a script.
Demonstrates satisfactory presentation skills regarding confidence and poise, professional dress, appropriate background, consistent eye contact with the camera. Voice is dynamic, and verbal cues are satisfactorily applied. Sound and lighting are sufficient to provide good video quality. Narration may add additional details to the slide content.
Demonstrates marginal presentation skills, lacks confidence, poise, professional dress, appropriate background, consistent eye contact with the camera. Voice is monotone, verbal cues are poorly applied. Sound and lighting are inadequate to provide good video quality. Narration does not fully enhance the slide content, or it is largely a word-for-word duplication of the content presented on the slides.
Demonstrates unsatisfactory presentation skills or does not include a video component with the assignment thus preventing the rating of executive presence.
4. The presentation is within the 4- to 6- minute timeframe.