07. Corporate Strategy

7.1 Summarize corporate strategy and where the company is heading.
7.2 Does this involve a major departure from its current activities? How? Why?

In addi­tion to under­stand­ing where a com­pany has been, it is cru­cial to under­stand where it is head­ing. Under­stand­ing its growth strat­egy is imper­a­tive in under­stand­ing cor­po­rate decision-making, and may also be where a firm is most vulnerable. The Hotel workers (UNITE HERE) have been very successful in finding out where hotel firms are planning to grow, and intervening with local officials in the planning process.

Sometimes firms are explicit about their corporate strategy on their company annual report or web site. Other times you may have to ferret it out or piece it together from other sources. A general news search may yield recent press releases or an interview with the CEO which would allow you to piece together corporate strategy. The Wall Street Transcript provides a variety of interviews, including those with CEOs and industry analysts. EarningsCast provides information on corporate conference calls, transcripts and press releases.

Credit rating agencies may offer useful financial analysis of firms.  Check out Fitch, Moody’s, and Standard & Poor’s to see if the company has received a credit rating from one of these agencies.

Paid Resources (Subscription Required)

Mergent Market Atlas is an excellent source of information on corporate strategy.

Business Source Complete provides extensive Market Research reports reports on firms, which include a SWOT analysis.

CB Insights provides corporate analysis and information on major investor deals. (Note: you must be on the UMass network and sign up for an account to use this resource).

ABI/ Inform Global is a comprehensive source for business news.