The objective of this study is to select any strategic business unit from a publicly traded multi-national corporation and to analyze the overall competitive environment including market conditions, evaluate the current growth and new business strategies, along with implications, analyze the organization’s primary business model, evaluate the organization’s competencies and resources, evaluate the leveraging of growth strategies through partnerships and alliances and identify future opportunities for innovation based on past success and failure.

Cisco Systems, the self-proclaimed “worldwide leader in networking for the Internet,” has dominated similar firms in its industry. As Wall-Streets’ beloved stock and an essential stock in any investor’s portfolio, with over 35,566 employees worldwide and boasting revenues totaling 22.2 billion in the previous fiscal year the company aims to ensure that networks both public and private operate with maximum performance, security, and flexibility.

Cisco is a company that has a high rate of retention on its employees. According to Yves Lermusiaux, in his Recruiting at Cisco, the company’s highest turnover rate in the 90s was 7.3%. In 1999, it only has 6.3% of turnovers. Randall irkwood, Cisco’s Director of Employment, states the following formulas with regards to retaining employees (Lermusiaux, 2000).