Thornton’s Case Study
Paper details:
Assume you are an independent management consultant. You have been asked to write a business report of 1,200 words (see guidelines below for the structure of your business report) on: Thorntons
• Using Porter’s five-Force model analyse Thorntons’ competitive situation in its core market.
• Discuss Thorntons’ sources of competitive advantage
• Make recommendations for a long term strategy.
Your report must contain the following:
1. A brief introductory overview of Thorntons and the importance of Porter’s Five Force analysis. Include your statement of purpose (approx. 150 words)
2. A Five-Force analysis of the company (approx. 600 words)
3. A discussion of Thornton’s sources of competitive advantage (approx. 200 words)
4. Based on your analysis, make recommendations for a long term strategy and conclude (approx. 250 words)
5. Clearly labelled references (refer to your Student Handbook for how this should be set out)
Your source material will include:
• Business Studies textbook, lecture notes and seminar reading material
• Material in the University library (including any management textbooks from the university library, quality academic journals, reputable internet sources (e.g. company website, and Financial times, Economists etc)
Where appropriate, use graphs and other visual material in your report.
Guideline Structure for Business Report
1. Introduction
2. Analysis
a. Power of Buyers
b. Power of Suppliers
c. Threat of Entry
d. The intensity of Rivalry
e. Substitutes
3. Discuss Thorntons sources of competitive advantage
4. Recommendations & Conclusions
5. References