Strategic Positioning

1. This assessment requires you to conduct an analysis of a single product (a calculator) from Casio. The reason for this assessment is that strategic managers are often tasked with finding a strategy for a product or a product range in a new or an existing market. To complete this assessment, you need to visit the site edu.casio.com (Google that address and it will take you straight to the website). Go to Asia and Oceania or any other section of the website to find a product. The product must be a calculator. This is because calculators are a product that is hard to market on the basis of promotion alone and is something that a strategic manager would often get involved in.2. The assessment has three (3) parts. These are submitted as two (2) attachments as follows:Part 1: a 1000-word report with the headings shown belowPart 2: a 10-slide PowerPoint set summarising the report and using the same bullet points as the reportPart 3: video of 1-minute for each member of the group. If the group has 4 members, this means that there will be 4 videos. Each video is recorded on YouTube. The link form the YouTube video is then pasted into the last PowerPoint slide after the reference list. Each member records their video and sends it to the group leader as a link. The group leader then pastes the links into the last PowerPoint slide.3. The submission of the assessment has to be via the Turnitin link and you will be submitting two (2) attachments: the 1000-word report and the 10-slide PowerPoint (which has the video links in the last slide).Only the team leader uploads the work (only 1 student), otherwise, if more than one student uploads the work, your group will have 100% similarity.The steps to complete this assessment are:Report (1000 words)Select a calculator productIntroduce the company and 1 product that you will be analysing: this means you will be writing a couple of paragraphs about Casio (calculators only) and the calculator that you selected.Provide a background to the 2 main competitors to the firm: here you will write some information about who Casio (calculators) competes with, what they sell, where they are from etc.Identify the product strategic positioning using the Ansoff matrix: here you will write about how the Ansoff matrix applies to Casio and where your product is located on the matrix and an explanation of the target market that your product is trying to attract and the benefits of having the product in that location on the matrix and a comparison of the competitors’ own products on the matrix.Identify the product strategic positioning using the BCG matrix: here you will write about how the BCG matrix applies to Casio and where your product is located on the matrix and an explanation of the target market that your product is trying to attract and the benefits of having the product in that location on the matrix and a comparison of the competitors’ own products on the matrix.Analyse the firm’s current strategic stance using Ansoff’s matrix: here you will discuss what you think Casio is actually (in the real world) currently doing with the product you selected and why your selected position on the Ansoff matrix will help them win against their competitors and why this location is better for this specific product and what the positive outcomes for the product might be from putting it in that location on the matrix.Analyse the firm’s current strategic stance using the BCG matrix : here you will discuss what you think Casio is actually (in the real world) currently doing with the product you selected and why your selected position on the BCG matrix will help them win against their competitors and why this location is better for this specific product and what the positive outcomes for the product might be from putting it in that location on the matrix.Recommend changes to the firm’s strategic stance: here you will recommend what changes Casio (calculators) needs to do to re-position the product you selected in the Ansoff and BCG matrix locations you suggested. For example, does it need to reduce its price, increase it, open a new market, delete the product and close that division, merge the product with another? These are merely your own thoughts and opinions based on what you have learned.Justify the proposed changes: here you will explain why you have made the recommendations above such as to preserve market share, improve access to a new market, respond to a competitor, etc.Identify 2 possible responses the firm’s competitors might take: here you will list and explain two (2) things that the competitors of Casio might do in response to your recommendations. For example, they could also discount their own prices, they might launch a new product, offer to buy Casio, etc. Again, this is your opinion based on what you have learnedRelate your work to the literature with regard to the two matrices used and their usefulness in identifying a possible competitive stance for a firm: this means that you will need to use references about Ansoff and BCG in your response in this section. Use academic journals or books to explain how Ansoff and BCG work, whether they are good tools for a strategic analysis, what researchers say about them (like them, don’t like them) etc. The minimum number of references for this assessment is 10 with at least 5 of these being from academic journals. The other 5 could be from the Casio web site or other commercial sites or magazines.Please remember not to copy anything. Every word in the assessment must be yours.