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 Ratings
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| Reviewed: |
Jan 29, 2005 by Business Editorial Board |
| Overview: |
The Intel vs. AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) Case Assignment requires students to
not only read and analyze the Intel Corporation case, but to do additional
research to address specific questions asked by the instructor. This is a
team-based case assignment that extends a traditional case analysis of the Intel
Corporation to include an analysis of the competition between Intel and its
major competitor, AMD. There are links to a wide varierty of readings on both
INTEL and AMD.
Provided with the assignment is an extensive list of links to articles on Intel
and AMD. The assignment is very appropriate for either upper-division
undergraduate, or graduate, business students taking a business strategy course.
The approach taken by the instructor provides a good model for case and
organization analysis that could easily be adopted for any business strategy
course using other cases or organizations.
The Intel-AMD analysis is particularly relevant today, as AMD is becoming an
increasingly more competitive threat to Intel.
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| Learning Goals: |
The assignment has several major learning goals; namely, to:
*provide students an opportunity to apply strategic management concepts used to
formulate strategy (e.g., Porter?s Five Forces Model, SWOT Analysis) in the
analysis of two real organizations, Intel and AMD.
*apply critical thinking skills to analyze and define the strategic situation in
which AMD and Intel find themselves.
*work collaboratively as part of a group to provide a finished product, e.g.,
??a definition of the strategic situation AMD faces.?
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| Target Student Population: |
The Target Student Population would include those in a business/management field
(or related field) taking a business strategy course.
The education level would be upper-division undergraduate or graduate students
in business/management fields (or related fields). MBA ad Executive Education
would also apply.
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| Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills: |
Completion of all or most of the core courses in a business/management program ?
undergraduate or graduate.
Students should have completed,
at a minimum, courses (or their equivalents) in
accounting, finance, economics, marketing, organization theory, and operations
management before undertaking this assignment. Students should have some
coursework experience in doing case analyses.
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| Type of Material: |
The primary materials used in this assignment are print based and web based and
consist of:
*the Intel Corporation case (or any other organization if one wants to apply the
assignment to other organizations)
*an extensive list of links to articles on Intel and AMD
*assuming the students working on this assignment are to orally present their
findings, presentation software would be strongly recommended
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| Recommended Uses: |
The case is given for students to conduct a detailed analysis of an existing
business situation to include a review of all pertinent information provided in
the popular business press and then provide a written analysis of the present
strategies, a SWOT analysis and a recommended strategy for the organization to
pursue.
This assignment could be used as is to analyze Intel-AMD, or with very slight
modification, used to do a similar analysis of other organizations.
It could be used for individual or group assignments for a traditional
face-to-face classroom course, or for an online course.
The assignment should be used in conjunction with a course on business strategy
and with a standard business strategy textbook.
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| Technical Requirements: |
Technical Requirements for use of the material are:
*A computer with access to the Internet
*An Internet browser (any browser should be sufficient)
*A printer if student wants to print out the articles
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| Strengths: |
Overall, the site is extremely well organized and supported with necessary
background links. More specifically, this site is evaluated in terms of:
Validity:
*The assignment material provides numerous links to other resources/articles
concerning Intel and AMD. The assignment and numerous links will provide the
student with an accurate depiction of reality as concerns the Intel and AMD
organizations.
*Students have the opportunity to access and read numerous articles to compare
and contrast the articles as to their accuracy and validity.
Significance:
*The assignment requires students to apply core concepts in formulating strategy
learned in a business strategy course.
*The assignment requires students to function as team to complete the
assignment, although it could also be done as an individual assignment.
*The assignment provides an applied, real-time opportunity to analyze and
synthesize numerous articles and data on the two organizations.
Strengths:
*Consistent with standard textbooks and theories in business strategy
*Requires comprehensive analysis of the two companies through readings beyond
the traditional assigned case
*Provides an excellent opportunity to compare and contrast the strategic
positions of two major corporations
*Provides an opportunity for application of core strategic management tools
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| Concerns: |
There could be more explicit detail provided for the written portion of the
assignment.
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Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool |
Rating:    |
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| Strengths: |
Strengths:
*Requires comprehensive analysis of the two companies through readings beyond
the traditional assigned case
*Provides an excellent opportunity to compare and contrast the strategic
positions of two major competing corporations
*Provides an opportunity for application of core strategic management tools
The site is self-contained in terms of the information required to conduct a
thorough case analysis.
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| Concerns: |
Additional guidance regarding the format of the case analysis assignment would
be helpful
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Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty |
| Rating: |
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| Strengths: |
The basic instructions are clear, concise and to the point. The supporting
materials are well organized and included through links. The site is extremely
easy to use and navigate.
Assuming this assignment is part of a business strategy course, it provides an
interesting opportunity to extend the analysis of one case (Intel Corporation)
to include an analysis of AMD.
It provides straight-forward assignment questions for students to address
through links to numerous articles on the two organizations.
The assignment questions as posed provide a great opportunity to apply the core
concepts in strategy formulation.
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| Concerns: |
The number of links to available articles on the two companies may initially
overwhelm some students. Faculty may want to specify a minimum required number
of articles for the analysis so that the student does not spend too much time
trying to access and read every article (this may not be a serious concern if
the assignment is done as part of a team and the team divides the articles among
themselves).
A few links did not load properly. With this many links, it would be beneficial
to make sure that the links are current.
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| Other Issues and Comments: |
Very well organized and includes all necessary supporting information to
complete the assignment.
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