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Analyze the situation facing Viking River Cruises using the material available in the case and the analytic tools taught in this course

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Analyze the situation facing Viking River Cruises using the material available in the case and the analytic tools taught in this course. You are NOT to use any additional sources. The key question your report should answer is: How might Viking achieve sustainable superior profitability in the future? Your slide deck will be graded primarily on how well you demonstrate your ability to systematically use the frameworks taught in this class to systematically address some of the major issues facing Viking in 2023. The analysis summarized in your slide deck should address the following: Analyze the economic structure of the industry and identify the forces affecting the profitability of the rivals in the cruising industry. Identify the sources of competitive advantage for Viking River Cruises and evaluate if each advantage will "travel" to the new high growth segment emerging in this industry. Identify the sources of competitive disadvantage and competitive parity for Viking River Cruises, and evaluate if these competitive disadvantages will also be disadvantages in the new high growth segment emerging in this industry. Explain the trade-offs that rivals in the cruising industry must make in selecting competitive positions, including describing the tradeoffs Viking River Cruises has made in its current position. Is is possible to simultaneously gain dual competitive advantages in this industry by raising consumers' willingness to pay and lowering the cruise line's costs? Explain and support your position. Is it possible for a firm in the cruising industry to successfully pursue a niche strategy in an industry with substantial economies of scale? Conduct a financial analysis, such as a break even analysis, to analyze the implications of investing aggressively in new capacity in anticipation of future customer demand. Be explicit about what data from the case you have used to make your estimates of costs and revenues to conduct your analysis. Be explicit about the assumptions you made to estimate any numbers not provided. Propose two strategic alternatives Viking River Cruises could pursue, and recommend one of these two alternatives. Support your recommendation by tying it directly to the findings from the analytic frameworks you used to analyze the strategic situation facing Viking River Cruises. Your report will be graded primarily on: Demonstrating systematic application of the frameworks taught during weeks 1 through 4 in this course (70% of the grade). The second most important component of the grade is whether the alternatives and recommendations you put forth are supported by your analysis of the situation and by the direct support you provide for your recommended course of action (20%). Finally, the professionalism of the slide deck including use of visual displays of the frameworks from this course and what you write in the notes section of each slide is the final grading criterion (10%). I am expecting your PowerPoint slide deck will include the following sections: Title Slide: Name of case, your name, date (1 slide) Brief introduction: Historical analysis of how Viking River Cruises reached this decision point (one slide) Identification of primary problems/issues/opportunities facing the company (one slide) Strategic Analysis: Apply several of the analytical techniques from this course and report your conclusions of your analyses in this major section of the slide deck. You are expected to include graphs and frameworks to support your conclusions and recommendations (e.g., a 5 Forces analysis, financial analysis, competitive analysis, comparative cost analysis, etc.) that shows your work supporting your conclusions. Typically, the analysis section will be 5-7 professional quality slides suitable to present to the company’s CEO or board of directors. It can be longer if you want. (Note: You are expected to do your own analysis and create your own graphical slides to communicate the results of your analysis. Simply cutting and pasting appendices from the case does not demonstrate your ability to analyze case information nor does it demonstrate your ability to produce compelling graphical data displays to communicate the results of your analysis.) Strategy Alternatives: Summarize two alternatives Viking River Cruises could pursue to address the situation your analysis uncovered. These should be strategic management alternatives (e.g., business or corporate level strategy alternatives, not operational or functional level actions). (1 or 2 slides) Your recommendation and rationale: What you recommend Viking River Cruises should invest in now and over the next few years to remain successful in the cruising industry and why. These slides flesh out one of the two alternatives—the one you recommend Viking implement. (3-5 slides providing support for your recommended strategy, such as the expected financial implications or expected improvement in competitive position). Notes explaining what you would say in your presentation, including citations to relevant readings from this course and pages in the case, should be added to the notes section of each slide.