Case you are critiquing:

For each of the major points below, comment on how well the case analysis team addressed each. This critique should not exceed three pages when complete.

1. Situation Analysis – how well was the SWOT analysis completed? Was there any missing information? Did the students clearly label what was internal and external to the case?

Overall, the team did a good job identifying the main points of the situation analysis. However, it did not clearly label which points are internal and which are external to the case. We would also recommend including the following missing points into SWOT:

One of additional strengths that we would include is the high quality of the ice cream and “super premium” ingredients that Marble Slab uses in its products. Penny Thomas can use this strength to the benefit of her promotion strategy to stress brand differences to better position the franchise against its competitors. Another strong characteristic of a franchise is assistance with expertise in areas like financing, real estate and marketing. This is a major advantage for a startup company, where potential financial risks can be minimized due to backing by the head company.

A weakness that was not pointed out is relatively high pricing of Marble Slab offerings. This weakness indicates that Penny Thomas will have to target a market of customers who would be willing to pay for “affordable luxury.”

An additional opportunity that we would suggest to list is changes in tastes. While the rich and flavorful taste of original ice cream is still more appealing to the majority, there might be an increase of followers of ongoing trends towards healthy eating. This trend can negatively affect ice cream sales.

We can also suggest two more threats that can possibly affect Marble Slab franchise operations in the future. The entrance of