TIM685 First Solar Additional Section

Company: First Solar (FLSR) Please include any relevant data and references

A. Corporate Structure

1. How is the corporation structured at present?

a. Is the decision-making authority centralized around one group or decentralized to many units?

b. Is the corporation organized on the basis of functions, projects, geography, or some combination of these?

2. Is the structure clearly understood by everyone in the corporation?

3. Is the present structure consistent with current corporate objectives, strategies, policies, and programs, as well as with the firm’s international operations?

4. In what ways does this structure compare with those of similar corporations?

B. Corporate Culture

1. Is there a well-defined or emerging culture composed of shared beliefs, expectations, and values?

2. Is the culture consistent with the current objectives, strategies, policies, and programs?

3. What is the culture’s position on environmental sustainability?

4. What is the culture’s position on other important issues facing the corporation (that is, on productivity, quality of performance, adaptability to changing conditions, and internationalization)?

5. Is the culture compatible with the employees’ diversity of backgrounds?

6. Does the company take into consideration the values of the culture of each nation in which the firm operates?

Corporate Resources – Marketing

1. What are the corporation’s current marketing objectives, strategies, policies, and programs?

a. Are they clearly stated or merely implied from performance and/or budgets?

b. Are they consistent with the corporation’s mission, objectives, strategies, and policies, and with internal and external environments?

2. How well is the corporation performing in terms of analysis of market position and marketing mix (that is, product, price, place, and promotion) in both domestic and international markets? How dependent is the corporation on a few customers? How big is its market? Where is it gaining or losing market share? What percentage of sales comes from developed versus developing regions? Where are current products in the product life cycle?

a. What trends emerge from this analysis?

b. What impact have these trends had on past performance and how might these trends affect future performance?

c. Does this analysis support the corporation’s past and pending strategic decisions?

d. Does marketing provide the company with a competitive advantage

3. How well does the corporation’s marketing performance compare with that of similar corporations?

4. Are marketing managers using accepted marketing concepts and techniques to evaluate and improve product performance? (Consider product life cycle, market segmentation, market research, and product portfolios.)

5. Does marketing adjust to the conditions in each country in which it operates?

6. Does marketing consider environmental sustainability when making decisions?

7. What is the role of the marketing manager in the strategic management process?