(a) Prepare a ‘Brief’
“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” ? Mark Twain (also
attributed to Pascal, Cicero et al)
You are asked to prepare briefing notes for an incoming ‘Chairman of the Board’ for your
organisation (or last employer). Assume they know nothing about the business or your market
segment.
Prepare word document no longer than 3 pages, 1.5 spacing, 12 font on:
(a) The mission or value proposition of your organisation.
(b) The cost structure of the organisation? Have you achieved minimum efficient scale? Are you
facing diseconomies of scale?
(c) What are your value drivers? That is, what it the main source of your competitive
advantage? [Certain types of skilled workers, ownership of a scarce resource; intellectual property
(brands, design or inventions); access to knowledge from a foreign parent company]. What is your
competitive advantage (over rivals in your market)?
(d) What is the structure of your industry? (number and size of competitors, domestic or
overseas suppliers)
(e) How innovative is the organisation? Why does it innovate; what have been the past
successful and unsuccessful innovations?
• Assume the Chairman is new to the industry and only understands common English (avoid
jargon). This ‘Brief’ is an exercise in being clear, pithy and precise in your words. Use dot
points if appropriate, plenty of white space and do not make the page overly fussy. This will be
read by a busy person who will skim the page and will only read if it is well structured and
expressed. Layout and formatting is important. Leave white space on the page.
• You may want to mention the concepts with a short explanation if you think this is
warranted however. This is an exercise in conveying information about the company to a busy person
who needs the essential conceptual information.
• Academic referencing is not required