Assignment 2: Planning the Future at Galaxy (Week 6)
Purpose:
In the second assignment, students will create a SWOT
analysis and provide a detailed explanation of what considerations led to the
determination of the SWOT components.
Students will then make recommendations and explain what factors were
considered in making the recommendations.
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:
Step 1: Review “How
to Analyze a Case Study” under Week 3 Content.
Step 2: Create a Word
or Rich Text Format (RTF) document. This
paper should be presented in a professional manner, double-spaced with indented
paragraphs. The final product will be
between 6-8 pages in length excluding the title page and reference page.
Step 3: Title page
with your name, the course name, the date, and the instructor’s name.
Step 4: In writing a
case study, the writing is in the third person.
What this means is 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. Do not include personal commentary.
Step 5: In writing
this assignment, students are expected to support the reasoning using in-text
citations and a reference list. If any
material is used from a source, it must be cited and referenced. A reference within a reference list cannot
exist without an associated in-text citation and vice versa. View the sample APA paper under Week 1 content. Step 6:
In writing this assignment, students are expected to paraphrase and not
use direct quotes. Learn to paraphrase
by reviewing this link:
https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_paraphrase2.html
Step 6: In writing
this assignment, students will use resources from the course material and no
more than 2 external source documents. NOTE:
The expectation is that students provide a robust use of the course
material. This reference is not about
just using the company profile.
Step 7: 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 8: Review the
grading rubric for the assignment.
Step 9: Read
critically and analyze the case study provided under Week 6 content. Notate the key points in the case study.
Step 10: Create the
introductory paragraph.
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 11: Respond to
the required elements of the assignment.
Be clear and concise in the writing and make sure the questions are
comprehensively answered.
Review the main case study located under week 6 content.
Part One: Long Term Planning Goals and Decisions
The toy industry is very fickle and innovation is
critical. Sales for January 2016 showed
only a 3% rise over January 2015 leaving the company managers concerned about
meeting projected sales targets for 2016.
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 2015, 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, 2016 is the final meeting of the planning team. The team will choose between three options:
produce 1 million Payload Nine toys or MMTJE1 for Christmas
2016;
produce 1 million Payload Nine toys for Christmas 2016 and 1
million MMTJE1 for Christmas 2017;
produce 1.5 million MMTJE1 toys for Christmas 2017.
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 group 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, 2016 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 ft. 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. [Not sure 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 also 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 2016 and 21.6%
increase if rolled out in 2017. 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 2016. 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 2016 sales additional manpower 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.
Part One: Long Term Planning Goals and Decisions
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
Required Elements for Part One:
Using the facts that have been provided, the course content
and your own research on the toy industry, students should assume the role of
Itza Yu and create the SWOT analysis for Keith.
To further assist 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” while others were classified
as “weaknesses.” In other words, it’s not enough to simply list various
strengths and weakness, but instead, Itza Yu must explain “why” these facts
were included in the analysis.
Lastly, Itza Yu must
select the best long term planning decision for Keith’s approval. In this report, Itza 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 that Keith would recommend to the Long-term Planning
Committee.
Part Two: Short Term Production Goals and Objectives
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 2017. 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,
2017.
Production of quality MMTJE1 toys must start by July 1,
2017.
Dates for starting production set.
Completion dates for
new personnel hire set.
MMTJE1 quality toys production.
Additional personnel must be hired by February 20th 2017.
Materials must be state of the art.
Completion dates for material purchase and delivery set.
3D printers must be purchased by February 20th, 2017.
3D printers must be purchased and installed by November 1,
2016
The first MMTJE1 toys should be produced by December 1,
2016.
QC should evaluate first toys by December 31, 2016.
Completion dates for QC standards will be determined by QC.
Safety standards should be determined by QC by May 1, 2016.
Materials must be purchased by and delivered by July 1,
2016.
New packages should be palletized by May 1, 2017.
Personnel for all production functions must be organized by
March 31, 2016.
Shipping should begin immediately upon the nod from Quality
Control.
Shipping should begin July 1, 2017.
Shipping start dates should be determined.
IT must confirm programming for 3D printers is complete by
June 1, 2016.
3D machine operators must be trained by October 31, 2016.
Completion dates for 3D programming, training and
installation set.
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, 2016.
Marketing will determine shipping start date.
Dates for personnel hire set.
Required Elements for Part Two:
From the list above, students should generate three lists.
The first list should be a selection of “appropriate” short-term goals. The second list should be a selection of
“appropriate” objectives. The third list
should be those other goals and objectives that have been abandoned.
In completing this task, students are expected to
demonstrate their understanding of the difference between “goals” and
“objectives” and their choices should reflect this understanding.
Moreover, students are required to clearly explain their
reasoning for the selection (of certain goals and objectives) and the
abandonment of others. This analysis will be very helpful to Keith Wisternick
and the Board of Directors of Galaxy Toys, Inc.
Step 13: Using the
grading rubric as a comparison, read through the paper to ensure all required
elements are presented.
Step 14: Proofread the paper 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.
Step 15: Submit the
paper in the Assignment Folder.
