Which of the four (4) alternatives would you recommend? Explain. (Some things to consider in your answer includemain goals of the key stakeholders, the capabilities of Planet Intra, the target market, the competition,external factors,and the earnings models.

1. Place an ‘X’ in the appropriate circle below to indicate where Planet Intra’s solution, Intra.net, is situatedon the product life cycle curve (1 mark)

2. What are the two (2) immediate issues in the case? (4 marks)
Issue 1

Issue 2

3. Are there any basic issues? If so, identify them in the space below. (1 mark)

4. What does Alan McMillan want to do? (1 mark)

5. What does the venture capitalist (VC) want Allan McMillan to do? (1 mark)

6. Internal Analysis
For each of the following functional business areas – human resources, marketing, finance, operations – identify Planet Intra’s strengths and weaknesses. Based on your analysis, provide a brief (one or two sentence) assessmentof each business area.

Human Resources (4 marks)

Strengths Weaknesses

Assessment

Marketing (4 marks)

Strengths Weaknesses

Assessment

Operations (4 marks)

Strengths Weaknesses

Assessment

Finance (4 marks)

Strengths Weaknesses

Assessment

7. Customer Analysis
Describe thetwo (2) customer segments – small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises –that use EIP solutions. In the second box, identify Planet Intra’s relationship with respect to each segment. Based on your analysis, provide a brief (one or two sentence) assessment of each customer segment in the last box.

SMEs (4 marks)

Customer Segment Description

Planet Intra’s Relationship

Assessment

Large Enterprises (4 marks)

Customer Grouping Description

Planet Intra’s Relationship

Assessment

8. Trade Analysis (3 marks)
Currently, Planet Intra offers two service options to its customers – the “hosted method” and the “enterprise version”. What factors, positive and negative, must Planet Intra consider if it follows through on the alternative of using value added resellers (VARs) as a channel distributor.

9. Competitive Analysis (4 marks)

Describethe competitive position of Planet Intra relative to its large competitors.

Describethe competitive position of Planet Intra relative to its small competitors.

10. PEST Analysis (8 marks)
Where applicable, provide a brief overview of the external factors – political, economic, social, and technological that influence Planet Intra’s industry.

Political

Economic

Social

Technological

11. Firm Valuations (for information purposes)

The financial figures below provide a valuation of the firm with respect to each of the four (4) alternatives listed in part 12. The valuations are based on price-earnings multiples and assume a multiple of 15. Unless otherwise indicated, all figures are in $millions.

Alternatives Capitalization
of Earnings
($millions) Management
Equity Share
(65%) Venture Capitalist
Equity Share
(35%) Venture Capitalist
Return on Investment (ROI)

1. Status Quo $15.18 $9.867 $5.313 51.8%
2. Focus on Large Enterprises
$10.65 to $15.27 $6.929 to $9.926 $3.728 to $5.345 6.5% to 52.5%

3. VARs $13.9 to $21.6 $9.035 to $14.04 $4.865 to $7.56 38.9% to 116%
4. Advertising Revenues
Projected revenues of $100,000 for the upcoming year.

12. Alternative Assessment Matrix (10 marks)
The matrix below provides the four (4) alternatives and decision criteria that Alan McMillan will use to assess his options. Your first job is to provide Alan with a suggestion of how much weight he should put on each decision criteria. Next, rank order, from 1 to 4, each decision criteria against the four (4) alternatives; where 1 represents the best in classand 4 represents the worst in class.

Alternatives Decision Criteria
Revenue Growth
(_____%) “Liquidity”
(_____%) Infrastructure Costs
(_____%) Sustainable Niche Development
(_____%)
1. Status Quo
_____
_____ _____ _____
2. Focus on Large Enterprises _____ _____ _____ _____
3. VARs
_____
_____ _____ _____
4. Advertising Revenues
_____
_____ _____ _____

Use the revised assessment matrix below to calculate which alternative is preferred.

Alternatives Decision Criteria
Revenue Growth
“Liquidity”
Infrastructure Costs
Sustainable Niche Development
TOTAL
1. Status Quo

2. Focus on Large Enterprises
3. VARs

4. Advertising Revenues

13. Recommendation (5 marks)
Which of the four (4) alternatives would you recommend? Explain. (Some things to consider in your answer includemain goals of the key stakeholders, the capabilities of Planet Intra, the target market, the competition,external factors,and the earnings models.NOTE: you do not necessarily choose the alternative with the highest point total from part 12 above.

P(5.u)
Prime Essay Services , written from scratch, delivered on time, at affordable rates!