Graded Homework

MGMT530
Week 1 Case Analysis Problem Definition Latest 2018 May

• Read the Conference Decision
  Case on the Case Analysis page for this week.
• Define the decision problem for
  the Conference Decision Case.

As part of defining the problem, the following
questions should be addressed.

• What is the general nature of
  the problem?
• What event triggered the
  situation?
• Are we imposing any constraints
  on the situation?
• What are the underlying
  elements of the problem?
• Are there dependencies on other
  decisions?
• Submit your definition of the
  problem in a MS Word document.

MGMT530
Week 2 Case Analysis Objectives and Alternatives 2018 May

In less than two weeks, an accounting system user’s conference is
scheduled to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 13–16, 2005.
Unfortunately, Hurricane Katrina has struck the city leaving a wake of destruction.
Based on what you see on television, the hotel and the city cannot possibly
accommodate this or any conference for the foreseeable future.

Approximately 200 attendees are scheduled to attend, flying in
from all over the country. All attendees pre-paid their registration fee for
the conference.

With a lot of competition in the marketplace, getting the users to
participate in the annual user’s conference is critical to retain current
customers. During the conference, several product enhancement ideas are
developed by the users, and this input is often used in future releases of the
product.

Potential new customers are invited to the event and their
involvement often leads to securing new contracts for the accounting system as
they gain confidence in the system seeing others use it.

As head of the group that puts on the conference, you are faced
with making a determination of what to do with this year’s conference. You are
getting calls from the registered attendees asking what to do.

Senior management feels that the conference is critical to ensure
continued customer engagement and fears that cancelling the conference
altogether, the company will lose the momentum it has developed over the past
few years.

Other considerations:

Keeping the original dates and moving to a different city may
drastically increase costs due to the short advanced notice. Will people cancel
because of the higher hotel costs?

If the date is changed, will the speakers and attendees still be
able to attend?

Having worked with the local Convention & Visitor’s Bureau and
the hotel, you worry about how their businesses will survive with all of this
destruction and wonder what you can do to help.

Using the same information from last week’s Case Analysis, build
on the work you did last week by identifying the following.

Define the objectives for the Conference Decision Case. The
objectives should be separated into fundamental and means objectives.

Identify the alternatives for the case.

MGMT530
Week 3 Case Analysis Problem Definition Latest 2018 May

Two weeks after New Orleans was devastated by
Hurricane Katrina, you made the decision to postpone the conference and select
a different city to hold the conference. Based on your initial objectives and a
survey you took of the registered attendees, you created the following
consequence table based on the information available.

	ALTERNATIVES
Cancel conference for this year—schedule for next year	Keep in New Orleans, but schedule for a later date (when the hotels re-open)	Keep same dates, but move to another city	Move to another city and schedule for a later date
OBJECTIVES	Maximize attendance	Does not meet objective.Senior management stated that cancelling is not an option.	Does not meet objective.Uncertainty on when New Orleans will be back in business is too far off.	Does not meet objective.Cost and logistics of finding a new location and getting attendees to change flights with such short notice is cost prohibitive.	Meets objective.In a survey of attendees, they would be willing to look at a new date in October and were most interested in Las Vegas, Chicago, or New York as alternative sites.
Keep conference costs at current level	Does not meet objective.Refunding registration fees would cause a loss for conference.	Does not meet objective.Because of uncertainty with city, the registration fees would need to be refunded.	Does not meet objective.Conference would lose money and incur additional costs for last minute scheduling.	Meets objective.A preliminary survey shows that costs would be similar to current budget.

From the survey, you found out that the
attendees were willing to still come to the conference and suggested three
cities as possible new locations for this year’s event.

1. Chicago
2. Las Vegas
3. New York City

As you move forward in locating available hotels
and conference facilities, you formulate the following objectives to select
which cities will be best to hold the rescheduled conference.

• Airfare (the estimated average
  round trip cost of the attendees)
• Hotel Room Rate (the nightly
  rate the attendees will pay during the conference)
• Conference Costs (the costs you
  will incur for meeting facilities, reception, registration, etc.)
• Survey Response (you want to
  factor in how the cities were ranked based on the survey you conducted.)

Because the budget is tight, you feel that the
Conference Cost objective is twice as important as the other three objectives.

Based on your research, here is the information
you gathered on the cities the user group was interested in.

New Orleans(Not applicable, but used to compare
original costs of conference)

Average Airfare:	$300 to $400 (Round trip cost per person)
Hotel Room Rate:	$149.00 (Conference rate per room per night)
Conference Costs:	$16,000 (Meeting rooms, reception, refreshments, registration materials, etc.)
Survey Rank	Not Applicable

Chicago

Average Airfare:	$200 to $300 (Round trip cost per person)
Hotel Room Rate:	$149.00 (Conference rate per room per night)
Conference Costs:	$25,000 (Meeting rooms, reception, refreshments, registration materials, etc.)
Survey Rank	1

New York

Average Airfare:	$300 to $400 (Round trip cost per person)
Hotel Room Rate:	$349.00 (Conference rate per room per night)
Conference Costs:	$20,000 (Meeting rooms, reception, refreshments, registration materials, etc.)
Survey Rank	2

Las Vegas

Average Airfare:	$200 to $300 (Round trip cost per person)
Hotel Room Rate:	$169.00 (Conference rate per room per night)
Conference Costs:	$15,000 (Meeting rooms, reception, refreshments, registration materials, etc.)
Survey Rank	3

MGMT530 – Conference Decision Case, Part 2

Using this information, create the following.

• A consequence table
• A weighted scoring model

Are there any dominated alternatives that can be
eliminated? Are there any even swaps?

For additional resources pertaining to this
assignment, please review the Building a Weighted Scoring Model Video found
under the Week 3 Lecture Tab and the Conference Decision Case, Part 2 Video
below. A weighted scoring example is located in Files under the name Sample
Decision Problem.

MGMT530
Week 5 Case Analysis Uncertainties and Risk Latest 2018 May

INTRODUCTION

In January 2010, the island nation of Haiti was devastated by an
earthquake.

Royal Caribbean International, a major cruise line, owns a private
beach in Haiti, which is typically a port of call on several of their Caribbean
cruise itineraries. The private port, known as Labadee, is about 80 miles away
from Port au Prince. The beach was unaffected by the quake.

In the days following the earthquake, the company wrestled with
several issues as they determined whether to continue to stop in Labadee or
temporarily abandon the port of call.

Their objectives would be to 1) ensure guest satisfaction; 2)
protect the brand; and 3) maximize profitability.

Some of the consequences they considered as they tried to
determine whether the cruise line should continue to make a stop in Haiti in
the midst of this crisis are as follows.

• Will
  cruise passengers be interested in relaxing on a beach when hundreds of
  thousands are homeless and hungry just 80 miles away? Could this impact
  new reservations or cause people to cancel? Based on research and
  consulting with others, you believe there will be minimal impact.

• Because
  the community near the beach depends financially on the cruise line for
  income, would suspending the stop in Haiti make the country worse off?
  Based on your analysis, there is a high likelihood that the area would be
  negatively impacted if the line pulled out of Labadee.

• How
  would the media respond? Would they get bad press for continuing to stop
  in Haiti and be perceived as profiting in the midst of this tragedy, or
  will the public perception be worse if they suspend sailing to Haiti
  during this crisis? You determine that there is a higher chance that the
  company would get bad press if the company suspended services than if they
  continued to include it on itineraries.

MGMT530 – Labadee Decision

Using a risk profile such as the one below, define the
uncertainties and make the recommendation for a decision for the Labadee Case.

For additional resources pertaining to this assignment, please
review the How to Draw a Simple Decision Tree Video found in the Week 5 Lesson,
the Developing a Decision Tree Video found in the Week 4 Lesson, and the
Labadee Decision Video below.

MGMT530
–Labadee Decision

Week
5 Case Analysis Template

The
objectives for the assignment were to define the uncertainties using a risk
profile and make the recommendation for a decision for the Labadee Case.

Students
will have a wide variety of responses based on the limited information provided
in the case.

Risk
Profile

Uncertainty 1: List
Outcome:	Chance	Consequences:
Uncertainty 2: List
Outcome:	Chance	Consequences:
Uncertainty 3: List
Outcome:	Chance	Consequences:

Decision Recommendation

Decision Recommendation
Alternative Recommended	Summary Rationale

MGMT530
Week 7 Course Projects Latest 2018 May

OBJECTIVES

The objective of the Course Project is to provide you with
practice in creating, justifying, and explaining a decision-making proposal.
All elements involved in the creation of this proposal, from problem definition
through action plan, must be covered. Further, the proposal, as constructed,
must meet the tests of any sound business plan, namely that it has specific and
measurable goals and objectives, clearly defined activities, stipulated time
frames during which those activities will take place, and clearly defined
measurable outcomes.

The subject matter of your paper should be business-oriented in
nature and should avoid decisions that depend largely on intuition to solve.

GUIDELINES

Although the length of the paper is not predetermined, a 10–15
page analysis, including data and appendices, is probably correct. You will
also share a summary PowerPoint presentation with fellow students during the
Week 6 Discussion.

The Final Course Project Proposal with the PowerPoint presentation
isdue by the end of Week 7(graded).

Required Outline

The following outline is required for your Course Project.

• Executive Summary(less than one page)
  This summary is a short, carefully worded description of the problem
  situation that identifies the recommended solution. A brief justification
  and explanation of the selection method is to be included, highlighting
  factors that contributed to selecting the recommended alternative.
• Decision Problem Overview
  Describe the
  nature and scope of the decision problem selected, its history together
  with causes, and the outcomes of any previous attempts to deal with it.

In
order to define the problem correctly, the following questions should be
addressed.

• What
  is the general nature of the problem?
• What
  event triggered the situation?
• Are
  we imposing any constraints on the situation?
• What
  are the underlying elements of the problem?
• Are
  there dependencies on other decisions?

Briefly introduce the
key decision elements—objectives, alternatives, consequences, and
uncertainties; details are to be discussed in the following sections.

• Objectives Statement
  Explain each objective in detail. Separate objectives into fundamental and
  means objectives. A minimum of three objectives is required.
• Alternatives
  Describe each alternative, and explain how the alternatives differ from
  one another. A minimum of three alternatives is required.
• Selection
  Describe the
  alternative recommended and why. Explain the tradeoffs you utilized or
  present a weighted scoring model. Explain why you feel that this report
  contains sufficient information to make a decision on the problem.
  Describe any additional information that would be useful to have.
• Consequences
  Explain how you determined the values for each alternative and their
  corresponding objectives. Show your consequence table, either in this
  section or as an appendix. Include the bases for forecasts and any techniques
  or tools used to estimate consequences. Discuss the reliability of your
  predictions. Indicate what events were considered to be uncertain, explain
  the probabilities of their occurrence, and what information you used to
  establish your confidence level in these probabilities. A minimum of two
  uncertainties is required for the paper.
• Implementation, Monitoring,
  and Control
  This section
  contains a detailed implementation plan. There will be an explanation of
  how the recommended alternative will be implemented, resources dedicated
  to accomplishing it, and key individuals who will be responsible for the
  plan’s success. Details should be included on how the plan will be
  monitored, subsequent evaluation criteria, and how the plan can be
  amended.
• Works Cited(at least two external
  sources should be used)

Presentation

Once you have outlined your paper, you should be ready to begin a
PowerPoint presentation. As you develop the contents of the sections in your
paper, you should extract bullet-point ideas that best express your intended
message. If you prefer, use the slides to brainstorm and organize your thoughts
before writing the paper. Then refer to your presentation to guide and remind
you of the flow of your storyline.

The presentation will be used to showcase your decision problem in
one of the Week 6 Discussion topics, where you will receive feedback from your
fellow students. This exercise will assist you in finalizing your Course
Project prior to submission at the end of Week 7.

BEST PRACTICES

Additional hints on preparing the best possible project follows.

1. Apply
   a three-step process of writing: plan, write, and complete.
2. Prepare
   an outline of your research paper before you go forward.
3. Complete
   a first draft and then go back to edit, evaluate, and make any changes
   required.
4. Use
   visual communication to further clarify and support the written part of
   your report. Example graphs, diagrams, photographs, flowcharts, maps,
   drawings, animation, video clips, pictograms, tables, and Gantt charts.

MILESTONES

Suggested:

Week 1:Determine
your Course Project decision problem you want to research.

Week 2:Identify
and share the decision problem for your project in the third Week 2 Discussion
topic (ungraded).

Week 3:Identify
objectives and alternatives for your project.

Week 4:Identify
the consequences and tradeoffs for your project.

Week 5:Identify
and analyze your uncertainties for your project. Also, make your decision and
prepare your initial PowerPoint presentation.

Required:

Week 6:Submit
a draft of your PowerPoint presentation to this week’s second Discussion topic,
and offer feedback to at least two other students’ presentations.

Week 7:Submit
your completed Course Project and finalized PowerPoint presentation.

The following are the best practices in preparing this paper.

• Cover Page—Include who you prepared the
  paper for, who prepared it, and the date.
• Table of Contents—List the main ideas and
  section of your paper and the pages in which they are located. The illustrations
  should be included separately.
• Introduction—Use a header on your paper.
  This will indicate you are introducing your paper.

The purpose of an introduction or opening is to

1. introduce
   the subject and why the subject is important;
2. preview
   the main ideas and the order in which they will be covered; and
3. establish
   a tone of the document.

Include in the introduction a reason for the audience to read the
paper. Also, include an overview of what you are going to cover in your paper
and the importance of the material. (This should include or introduce the
questions you are asked to answer on each assignment.)

• Body of Your Report—Use a header titled with the
  name of your project. Then proceed to break out the main ideas. State the
  main ideas, state major points in each idea, and provide evidence. Break
  out each main idea you will use in the body of your paper. Show some type
  of division, like separate sections that are labeled; separate group of
  paragraphs; or headers. You would include the information you found during
  your research and investigation.
• Summary and Conclusion—Summarizing is similar to
  paraphrasing but presents the gist of the material in fewer words than the
  original. An effective summary identifies the main ideas and major support
  points from the body of your report. Minor details are left out. Summarize
  the benefits of the ideas and how they affect the tourism industry.
• Work Cited—Use the citation format as
  specified in the Syllabus.