(1) Choose an industry and plot the competitive positions of 3-5 firms in the industry based on your backgroundresearch (Exhibit 1) (2) Plot the cost structure and profits on the positioning chart...

SI422: Strategy & Policy (Furman)?Assignment #2: Competitive Positioning & Relative Cost Analysis PLEASE READ THE ASSIGNMENT BELOW CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU BEGIN! Purpose: The primary goals of this assignment are: (a) to demonstrate the ability to conduct background research on the competitive activities and strategies of firms in an industry and (b) to demonstrate your command of Competitive Positioning and Relative Cost analysis, and (c) to apply your understanding in a professionally-written 1-page memo. Timing: The assignment will be due Thu-Oct-03. Content: To complete the assignment, please complete the following steps: (1)  Choose an industry and plot the competitive positions of 3-5 firms in the industry based on your background research (Exhibit 1) (2)  Plot the cost structure and profits on the positioning chart (Exhibit 2). It might be that you do not have full information to the cost structure of all the firms, but you can make assumptions based on the firms financial statements. (3)  Conduct a relative cost analysis for 2 firms within the industry (Exhibit 3) • Choose two firms from the industry that have different competitive positions; consider one of these to be “your firm” and the other firm as a “top rival”. For each firm identify 4-7 of the most important strategic activities performed by those firms and perform a relative cost analysis for each firm that notes the impact of firm activity choices on costs, willingness-to-pay, and associated profits. - Tip: An example to use for reference is the snack cakes mini-case in the Rivkin & Ghemawat reading! (4) Suppose that you are a junior consultant and that your manager asked you to complete this assignment by writing no more than one page memo that achieves the following: (a) Explains the purpose of the memo in the subject heading and very first sentence of the memo?(b) Defines your industry precisely (applying the SI422 definition for industry in a clear way) and identifies the firms you have...