Order Description
In this assignment you have been summoned to help Marcus Crosby determine the best course of action in response to recent developments with Grovex. As you prepare your recommendation, be sure to consider the following factors:
 What is Cilkray’s product line strategy
 Why, and when, did Groves decide to
reject Cilkray’s vision of the market in 2013?
 How serious a threat is GSpeed?
 What should Cilkray do now with respect to:
o Price
o Current and future product development plans
o Marketing and/or customer support?

For this case you will assume that you are a marketing consultant hired by the company that is the subject of the case to respond to the strategic marketing questions given. Your report should be in the form of a business memo—a consultant’s executive summary-addressed to the decision maker identified in the case. Begin with this header:
TO: Decision maker indicated in case
FROM: Your Name
RE: Case title and/or key issue
DATE: Date submitted

The rest of the memo must be business format. Use the following structure to organize the content of your memo:
1) Introduction A (purpose & value): Begin your memo in a way that makes its purpose and value clear to the recipient, and makes him or her want to read it. (Make this short—one sentence should usually suffice).
2) Introduction B (preview): Next, immediately give a very short (1-2 sentences) summary of your primary recommendation or conclusion. Your recommendation must be up front! Your audience should know your position from the outset. It should be top of mind as they evaluate the support you provide for it in the body of the memo. You might want to consider underlining or boldfacing your recommendation to make it stand out.
3) Analysis and Support: Proceed to the analysis requested in the assignment. Given the identity of the individual to whom you are writing the memo, you should assume that he or she knows everything that is in the case. Do not repeat the facts from the case except as necessary to support your points. There should be a clear link between the information you include and your recommendation.
4) Exhibits: Include supporting exhibits you think the reader will find helpful in the appendix. These are not part of two-page memo. But remember—the memo must stand on its own! Do not rely on your exhibits to make important points, because busy executives don’t always look at them. I am much like a busy executive when we grade these assignments, and might not read exhibits if you haven’t piqued our interest for them in your memo. Still, for important calculations you MUST include exhibits so we can verify your process.