PUMA SE Company The strategic research report will delve much on Puma SE Company. This is renowned German International Corporation which conducts most of its business operations in the universal sports industry. Rudolf Dassler inaugurated Puma in 1948 after a family shoes business was split. The corporation developed into a limited partnership in late 1950s but became a public company in the financial year 1980 (Puma, 2011, p.10). Products and Market Area Puma SE operates in various regions across the globe. However, the key operational areas for Puma SE include Asia, Latin America, North America and Europe. The corporation has expressed interest in Africa since 2005 where it aims to market its products and outsource raw materials. The major primary dealings of Puma SE include accessories, footwear and apparels (Puma, 2011, p.10) Justification of the company choice Puma SE has become a renowned multinational corporation whose operations have attracted many investors and researchers alike. The transformation of Puma into a market focused firm means that it has to diversify its brands into superfluous fashion and lifestyle alternatives (Miller, 2010, pg.2). However, to overcome various market entry barriers, gain competitive edge and emerge a global leader in the sports industry, the company has developed and implemented various market and operational strategies (Spence & Kale, 2011, pg.197). It is on the basis of Puma SE strategies and market share that the researcher is obliged to perform a strategic research on this company. Key players in the industry Globally, Puma SE faces strong competition from legendary corporations like Adidas, Nike and Reebok. This corporation however reveled in a 1% share of the total international sports equipment market in the fiscal 2004 behind its closest market rivals. The company was ranked fifth in the same year after garnering 5% of the entire market brand shares (Puma, 2011, p.10). Interesting aspects of sports industry Various corporations found in the sports industry face stiff competitions. These has led to various challenges, creation of market opportunities and tendering of different products to suit clients demands in order to gain competitive advantage. By the nature of its competitive environment, it becomes more interesting to assess core competencies, threats, weaknesses, strengths and resources that Puma SE utilizes to exploit the emerging opportunities. As Porter (1980) asserts, it is interesting to examine the currently applicable Puma SE business and market strategies including resources, capabilities, value chain and modes of international market penetrations. Methodology: Assignment approach To successfully accomplish this task and realize the set objectives, the researcher will obtain relevant information from EIU reports, the weekly economist journals, annual reports, the financial times, data monitor sectorial reports, ABI as well as Google and Google scholar. The acquired data and information will analyzed through the use of tools such as VRIN framework, SWOT, PESTEL, strategic grouping, Porters five forces, market segmentation and structure. Besides, value chain analysis, resources, VRIN framework and core competencies will be used for strategic fit analysis (Porter,