Starting in late September, student-consultant groups working in teams of five will spend 150 hours per team developing strategic solutions and tactics to maximize your organization's growth in upcomming years.

As a Post-Graduate certificate program, students in this program will already hold undergraduate and/or graduate degrees (in various subjects). Most will also have professional experience, better preparing them to contribute to this strategic analysis.

Based on the information that you provide, students will conduct research and analysis to develop a plan to achieve your growth-goals.

Each group will complete the following activities:

• Complete a business plan review for your organization, including business description, product or services description, market analysis summary overview, operations summary overview, and a financial planning summary overview.

• Complete a SWOT analysis based on the information available.

• Identify the economic characteristics of the macro-environment of the industry in which your orgnaization competes.

• Characterize your organization's current strategy and describe its strategy implementation efforts. For example, has management instituted policies and procedures that facilitate good strategy execution?

• Create a strategic group map for your organization and at least three of your industry competitors using price range (lowest/highest) and product type (standard/custom) on each axis, identifying the company's competitive position in the market.

• Assess your organization's performance relative to its competitors in the Canadian and global market space.

• Explain how your organization's strategy and its approach to execution have produced good financial results (or not).

• Provide at least five recommendations with reasoning to your organization concerning the strategic plan for growing over the next 2-5 years. For example, continue as is, expanded aggressively, discontinue, or move into another sector.

Selected organizations will be invited to participate (optionally) in a marketing audit project beginning in Winter 2019.