In Wk 2, you completed a SWOT analysis on a successful company that demonstrated a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. Now, you will shift your focus to look at a company that is failing or experiencing challenges in the area of financial performance. Select and research a company that is having financial difficulties or is on the brink of bankruptcy.  Review “Where Can I Find a Company's Annual Report and Its SEC Filings?” from Investopedia. You can also access specific information about a variety of businesses in the University Library by searching the following databases: University Library > Databases > B > Business Source Complete University Library > Databases > E > EDGAR University Library > Databases > P > Plunkett Research Online Conduct a strategic analysis of the company’s current financial operations. Determine strategies for achieving a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace and increasing financial performance. Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word analysis. When writing your analysis, complete the following: Evaluate the company’s current financial plan, including charts and/or graphs showing financial data from the struggling company, and make recommendations for improvement. Determine strategies for achieving a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace and increasing financial performance. Create a plan to implement the strategies you selected.

The final Portfolio Project is structured to help demonstrate your understanding of the course material, as well as the implications of new knowledge gained from outside research. The subject organization maybe your workplace, an organization that you are familiar with, or an organization discovered in your research. Information about the subject organization must be publicly available and properly referenced in your work. As part of the initial Portfolio Project Milestone due in Module 4, you must secure instructor approval for the organization selected for your Portfolio Project. Based on your analysis, you will write an assessment about the subject organization's OM strategy and practices. When writing the assessment, assume the role of a highly regarded operations management professional commissioned to review, analyze, and describe the organization's OM for achieving increased sustainable business value. Your assessment should address the following key elements: Subject Organization: Name and briefly describe the subject organization in this section, including its mission. In this section, at least one in-text citation must refer to a source in your reference list that can be accessed by the reader to learn more details about this organization. Operations Management: Define OM and relate the subject organization's mission, operational strategy, and productivity measurements; compare and contrast OM with project management. OM Forecasting: Define forecasting in the context of OM; identify the subject organization's forecasting methods and practices; relate the Seven Steps in the forecasting system to the subject organization; highlight potential ethical considerations related to the subject organization's forecasting; recap applicable lessons learned based on your Forecasting Simulation experience and describe how they apply to your subject organization. Define Operations: Define design of goods and services and relate to the subject organization; highlight OM process, location, and human resource strategy in the context of subject organization. Quality Management: Define quality and identify common OM quality management best practices; identify the subject organization's quality management methodology; recap applicable lessons learned based on your Quality Management Simulation experience and describe how they apply to your subject organization. Supply Chain Management: Define supply chain management (SCM); designate the subject organization's SCM strategy and explain the basis for determination; describe the subject organization's use of technology for SCM; identify potential SCM risks and SCM ethical considerations related to the subject organization; recap applicable lessons learned in your Supply Chain Management Simulation experience and describe how they apply to your subject organization. Inventory Management: Define inventory management, its importance, and common inventory models; identify the subject organization's inventory management practices; identify potential ethical considerations related to the subject organization; recap applicable lessons learned in your Inventory Management Simulation experience and describe how they apply to your subject organization. Aggregate Planning: Define sales and operations planning (SOP) and relate to the subject organization; define materials resource planning (MRP) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) and relate to the subject organization; describe the subject organization's use of technology for aggregate planning. Lean Operations: Define lean operations; identify the subject organization's lean operations practices; relate strategic importance of maintenance and reliability to the subject organization; identify an OM innovation to improve the subject organization's operations for competitive advantage. OM Information Technology: Describe the role of information technology in operations management. Describe three technology Innovations that have significantly transformed operation management practices. Submit your Portfolio Project paper as a single Microsoft Word document to the Module 8 submissions area established for this purpose. Your essay should address the following requirements: OPTION #1: PRODUCT-BASED OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT The purpose of the Portfolio Project is to apply your synthesis of current research about operations management (OM) to a global product-oriented organization. For your Portfolio Project, you are required to select a global organization that has a predominately product-oriented mission as the subject for your OM assessment.