Assignment 2: Planning the Future at Galaxy (Week 6)
Purpose:
In the second assignment, within a report, you will create a
SWOT analysis, discuss a SWOT analysis and provide a detailed explanation of
what considerations led to the determination of the SWOT components. You will then make recommendations and
explain what factors were considered in making the recommendations.
Note: Not all
critical company information is provided, so it is impossible to complete a
financial analysis but instead students will focus on the first elements of the
P-O-L-C, planning.
Outcome Met by Completing This Assignment:
integrate management theories and principles into management
practices
employ effective planning processes to develop strategies,
goals, and objectives in order to enhance performance and sustainability
identify the essential characteristics of decision making
and indicate the range and types of decisions a manager makes
Instructions:
NOTE: All submitted
work is to be your original work. You may not use any work from another
student, the Internet or an online clearinghouse. You are expected to understand the Academic
Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy, and know that it is your responsibility to
learn about instructor and general academic expectations with regard to proper
citation of sources as specified in the APA Publication Manual, 6th Ed.
(Students are held accountable for in-text citations and an associated
reference list only).
Step 1: Preparation
for the Assignment
Before you begin writing the report, you will read the
following requirements that will help you meet the writing and APA
requirements. Not reading this
information will lead to a lower grade:
Read the grading rubric for the assignment. Use the grading rubric while writing the
report to ensure all requirements are met that will lead to the highest
possible grade.
Third person writing is required. Third person means that there are no words
such as “I, me, my, we, or us” (first person writing), nor is there
use of “you or your” (second person writing). If uncertain how to write in the third person,
view this link:
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/first-second-and-third-person.
Contractions are not used in business writing, so you are
expected NOT to use contraction in writing this assignment.
You are expected to paraphrase and NOT use direct
quotes. You are expected to paraphrase,
which can be learned by reviewing this link:
https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_paraphrase2.html.
You are responsible for APA only for in-text citations and a
reference list.
You are expected to use the facts from the case scenario
paired with the weekly courses readings to develop the analysis and support the
reasoning. No more than two (2) external
resources can be used in completing the assignment. Books cannot be used as resources for this
assignment. The expectation is that you
provide a robust use of the course readings.
If any material is used from a source document, it must be cited and
referenced and the page or paragraph number must be provided. A reference within a reference list cannot
exist without an associated in-text citation and vice versa.
In completing the assignment, students are expected to use
the facts from the case study and company profile paired with the weekly
courses readings to develop the analysis.
View the company profile here:
Galaxy Toys, Inc. Company Profile.
Step 2: How to Set Up
the Paper
Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) document that is
double-spaced, 12-point font. The final
product will be between 6-8 pages in length excluding the title page and
reference page and appendix. Write
clearly and concisely.
Use the following format:
Create a title page with title, your name, the course, the
instructor’s name and date;
Introduction (no abstract)
SWOT Analysis
Strengths & Weaknesses
Recommendation
Short-term Production Goals and Objectives
Step 3: Part
One: Read critically and analyze the
following scenario:
The toy industry is very fickle and innovation is
critical. Sales for January 2017 showed
only a 3% rise over January 2016 leaving the company managers concerned about
meeting projected sales targets for 2017.
In a 30-month plan, George Jepson, Jr., as CEO, together with Edward
Mercury, CFO, set long-term goals for the company to include the following:
increase sales unrelated to NASA toys by 22 percent;
reduce company-wide costs by 5 percent within 15 months and
11.2 percent by the end of the plan;
create new technology based action toys;
use innovative technology in production to increase
efficiency;
reduce carbon footprint by 5 percent.
In November 2016, the long term planning team began to
select the newest Galaxy product line.
The choice of the right product design will hopefully stop the slump in
sales and jump start growth. Tomorrow,
February 4, 2017 is the final meeting of the planning team. The team will choose between three options:
produce 2 million Payload Nine toys or MMTJE1 for Christmas
2018;
produce 1 million Payload Nine toys for Christmas 2017 and 1
million MMTJE1 for Christmas 2018;
produce 1.5 million MMTJE1 toys for Christmas 2018.
The products have different production requirements. Payload Nine is designed to complement the
International NASA Space Station series.
Payload Nine is geared to the 7-10 age groups and contains building
blocks to make the space shuttle with emphasis on the cargo hold and its
loading arm.
Focus group results suggest that Payload Nine will sell well
but it is not a “wow” product in the eyes of the group. It is not a trendsetting toy. The introduction of Payload Nine is estimated
to jump NASA sales by 6.8%. Payload Nine
requires little change on the production floor and supplies are easily
obtainable. Production could begin May
1, 2017 and completed in time for the Christmas toy market. No additional personnel would be needed and
existing production would not be delayed.
Production costs would fit within the current year’s budget.
The other project “Moon Mission to Jupiter’s
Europa” (MMTJE1) is a 3D engineered of the Curiosity vehicle used to
explore Mars. The toy is operated
remotely allowing a child and parent to launch the capsule “Juno 1”
craft 500 feet in the air, unload the rover called Galileo and move it along
all terrain surfaces. Galileo takes
pictures remotely and sends them to a cell phone. The toy is geared for the age 11-15 market
but can be used with younger children as long as there is adult supervision. The toy is made from a 3D printer and
consists of a plastic capsule and rover base with electronics added separately
in production. [If uncertain about what
3D printing is, view http://3dprinting.com/what-is-3d printing/]
Focus group results suggest that it is a “wow”
product and would also encourage sales of related toys and books as Jupiter’s
Moon Europa has been deemed by scientists as the most accessible and likely
place to support habitable life as we know it to be. Children can view pictures
and imagine a Moon currently covered in ice as a new space frontier adventure.
An interactive video game is also envisioned.
It will be the first intergalactic action toy that Galaxy Toys has ever
produced. MMTJE1 is estimated to bring a
15% increase in unrelated NASA sales if rolled out in 2017 and 21.6% increase
if rolled out in 2018. However, MMTJE1
is not production-friendly at this point.
The new production equipment, electronics, computer
programming and trained personnel would not see production beginning before
November of 2017. Anticipated budget
costs of $450,000 necessitating a budget increase of $300,000 over all five
plants would be needed. In order to meet
the October deadline for Christmas 2017 sales additional labor would be needed
with a cost increase of 20% over the projected $450,000 budget costs. In addition, the push would necessitate
significant rescheduling of current production and likely require factory
workers to put in overtime. Finally, the rush would be predicated on the
assumption that production problems would not occur.
Keith Wisternick, VP of Production, has the job of aligning
all the production teams for Galaxy Toys, and more specifically, he is the
person that ensures that each of the plants are capable of producing toys that
meet the quality standards of Galaxy Toys in an efficient and cost-effective
manner. Also, part of Keith’s job is to
provide valuable input into the long-term planning process of the company.
Every two years, Keith and his counterparts in the other departments meet to
determine the new product line for the upcoming two years. They are presented with new ideas that have
been developed by the Design and Engineering Department.
After soliciting input for recommendations on the toys that
would most likely meet the company’s future objectives, the Board of Directors
narrowed the choices to Payload Nine and Moon Mission to Jupiter’s Europa 1
(MMTJE1).
As VP of Production, Keith is very aware that his
recommendation and vote lends great influence to the outcome. Lucky for Keith, he is not expected to
provide his recommendation without first delegating some researching
responsibilities to others. One person
that he relies upon for research and analysis is Itza Yu who is a Production
Manager. Yu has been tasked with
creating a SWOT analysis for Keith’s review.
However, Yu has not had any prior experience with creating this type of
information. Keith has provided the
following source to help him:
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm
Step 4: Create the
introductory paragraph. Within this
paragraph, provide a brief overview of the scenario. Then, provide a thesis statement and tell the
reader the main topics covered in the paper.
The introductory paragraph is the first paragraph of the paper but is
typically written after writing the body of the paper (Questions students
responded to above). View this website
to learn how to write an introductory paragraph:
http://www.writing.ucsb.edu/faculty/donelan/intro.html
Step 5: SWOT
Analysis
Using the facts that have been provided in the case scenario
and company profile as well as your own research on the toy industry, create a
SWOT analysis table Yu can give to Keith to use in making his long-term
planning decisions. If you need to know
how to create a table, view: How to Insert a Table in a Microsoft Word
Document.
Note: A SWOT tool used correctly examines both the internal
status of the entire company as well as the current external climate of the toy
business. It is necessary to do the
research on the toy industry to create the SWOT correctly. This task requires
the use of external sources as well as the in-class material and case facts. Choose your source documents wisely!
Be sure to remember that the SWOT tool is not being used to
examine the project itself but to examine the current position of the company
both internally and externally in the toy industry.
Step 6: Strengths
& Weaknesses
To assist further Keith, Itza Yu must also provide a
detailed explanation as to what considerations led to the determination that
certain facts should be classified as “strengths”
“weaknesses”, “opportunities” and “threats.” In
other words, it is not enough to list an item in a quadrant but instead, Itza
Yu must explain “why” these facts were included in the analysis.
Provide a detailed explanation as to what considerations led
to the determination that certain facts should be classified as strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Step 7: Recommendation
Lastly, Itza Yu must recommend the best long-term planning
decision for Keith’s approval. In this
report:
Yu must explain the analysis and factors used in evaluating
the vision, mission, long-term goals and SWOT analysis of the company that led
to the conclusions that formed the basis of the decision. Remember, what Yu presents must be accurate
and well supported since Keith will make this recommendation to the Long-term
Planning Committee. In the evaluation, the explanation must answer the question
what recommendation will likely bring the most sustainability to Galaxy toys
and why?
Step 8: Part Two:
Short Term Production Goals and Objectives
Read critically and analyze the following scenario:
The Board of Directors has decided to accept the recommendation
to roll out the “Moon Mission to Jupiter’s Europa 1” for the holiday
season of 2018. In a virtual meeting,
led by Itza Yu, the production managers have had a “brainstorming”
session and have created a list of short-term goals and objectives.
In reviewing the list, Itza Yu noted that some of the items
on the list are sound short-term goals and objectives while others are not and
therefore, should be removed. He also
noted that some of the items do not fit well with the company’s vision and
mission and will need to be eliminated.
Assuming the role of Itza Yu, students must determine
whether the items on the list are “goals” or “objectives”
and whether they should be adopted or abandoned. The list is as follows:
Short Term Goals and Objectives List
Production of quality MMTJE1 toys must start February 20th,
2018.
Production of quality MMTJE1 toys must start by July 1,
2018.
Establish timelines for starting production.
Establish timelines for hiring new personnel.
MMTJE1 quality toys production.
Additional personnel must be hired by February 20th 2018.
Materials must be state of the art.
Completion dates for material purchase and delivery set for
prototype
Completion dates for material purchase and delivery set for
production roll out
3D printers must be purchased by February 20th, 2018.
3D printers must be purchased and installed by November 1,
2018.
The first MMTJE1 toys should be produced by December 1,
2017.
QC should evaluate first prototype toys by December 31,
2017.
Completion dates for QC standards will be determined by QC.
Safety standards should be determined by QC by May 1, 2017.
Materials must be purchased by and delivered by July 1,
2017.
New packages should be palletized by May 1, 2018.
Personnel for all production functions must be organized by
March 31, 2017.
Shipping should begin immediately upon final inspection from
Quality Control.
Shipping should begin July 1, 2018.
Shipping start dates should be determined.
IT must confirm programming for 3D printers is complete by
June 1, 2017.
3D machine operators must be trained by October 31, 2017.
Establish timelines for completion of 3D programming,
training and installation.
Maintenance for 3D printers must be done daily.
Personnel must be cross trained on the 3D printers.
Training on new equipment must be done by October 31, 2017.
Marketing will determine shipping start date.
Answer the following required elements for Part Two making
sure that the facts of the scenario and the course readings support the
reasoning of the answers provided.
From the list above, students should generate a table with
three columns. Label the first column, “Appropriate
Short-term Goals.” Label the second column “appropriate
objectives”. The third column
should be those other goals and objectives that have to be abandoned.
Take each item from the list above and place the item into
the appropriate column. In completing
this task, Yu is expected to demonstrate an understanding of the difference
between “goals” and “objectives” and their choices should
reflect this understanding. Yu cannot
change any of the goals and objectives that he has been provided in the list.
(G) A goal is defined as being a broad aim and spells out
what needs to be done generally.
(O) An objective is defined as a specific and measurable
action needed to meet the goal.
An abandoned item is neither a goal nor objective, or does
not fit with the time line of the project. Hint look at the pattern of the
tasks and dates to achieve them.
Yu will clearly explain the reasoning for the categorization
of the goals and objectives as this analysis will be very helpful to Keith
Wisternick and the Board of Directors of Galaxy Toys, Inc.
Step 9: Write the
summary paragraph
Write the summary paragraph. A summary paragraph restates
the main topics of the paper. Make sure
to leave a reader with a sense that the paper is complete. The summary paragraph is the last paragraph
of a paper and does not need a heading.
Step 10: Proofread the report for spelling and grammatical
issues, and third person writing.
Use the spell and grammar check in Word as a first measure;
Have someone who has excellent English skills to proof the
paper;
Consider submitting the paper to the Effective Writing
Center (EWC). The EWC will provide 4-6
areas that may need improvement.
