External environment
Business models & strategy
Critical Success factors
Laurier cases & applications
100

$100: This analysis framework examines Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal factors

What is PESTEL?

100

$100: This describes how a business creates, delivers, and captures value.

What is a Business Model?

100

$100: CSFs are the things a company must do to achieve this.

What is long-term success?

100

$100: This coffee giant is often analyzed in BU111 as a case for differentiation and customer experience.

What is Starbucks?

200

$200: A rise in interest rates belongs to this PESTEL factor.
 

What is Economic?

200

$200: A company competing on lowest cost is using this type of strategy.

What is a Cost Leadership strategy?

200

$200: This CSF focuses on ensuring companies do not run out of money.

What is Financial Resources?

200

$200: This ride-sharing company disrupted the taxi industry by creating a new platform-based business model.

What is Uber?

300

$300: This framework analyzes the competitive forces within an industry, including suppliers, buyers, and rivals.

What are Porter’s Five Forces?

300

$300: This concept explains why businesses must have activities that are rare, valuable, inimitable, and organized.

What is the VRIO framework?

300

$300: This CSF is achieved by ensuring products/services meet customer needs better than competitors.

What is Customer Satisfaction?

300

$300: In the Netflix case, shifting from DVDs to streaming primarily addressed this PESTEL factor.

What is Technological?

400

$400: Give one example of how the sociocultural factor could impact the fast food industry.

What is changing health preferences (e.g., demand for healthier menu options)?

400

$400: Explain the difference between a "business model" and a "strategy."

A business model explains how the firm makes money; a strategy explains how the firm gains and sustains competitive advantage.

400

$400: Innovation is a CSF because it helps firms achieve this advantage.

What is Competitive Advantage?

400

$400: RIM/BlackBerry failed in part because they ignored which Critical Success Factor?

What is Innovation (and customer needs)?

500

$500: In Porter’s Five Forces, this force increases when there are few suppliers of a critical input.

What is Supplier Power?

500

$500: Apple using ecosystem integration (hardware + software + services) is an example of this type of differentiation.

What is Broad Differentiation?

500

$500: Name 3 of the 6 Critical Success Factors taught in BU111.

What are: Financial performance, customer satisfaction, quality products/services, innovation, employee commitment, and distinctive competitive advantage?

500

$500: In BU111, cases are often used to connect theory to real-world examples. Why is this method effective for BBA students?

It develops critical thinking, application of frameworks, and decision-making skills in real business contexts.