BUSI 3308 - Group Project-Hills Stragtegy Framework-Instructions SSI2019 PDF

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Download BUSI 3308 - Group Project-Hills Stragtegy Framework-Instructions SSI2019 PDF

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Hills’ Strategy Development Framework This assignment is designed to force you to think strategically both in terms of operations and the organization as a whole. Although you will be applying the template from Chapter 3, which very aptly ties in operations strategy with the overall corporate and marketing objectives, you will also find that you are identifying all of the topics covered in this course (e.g., supply chain management, inventory, processes, sustainability, etc). You can never look at your operations strategy in isolation. It always has to be interrelated and stem from the overall corporate objectives. The end result of your project should be to highlight how Operations Management issues contribute to the overall mission, corporate strategy, and marketing objectives of the firm as a whole. You can select your firm to analyze but ensure you do not take on too big of a task. If you select a very large organization, it might be useful to focus on one product line or aspect of the company. You must select a publicly-traded company so I can view the sites to confirm information provided in your project. I have set up reporting dates that you need to be aware of. May 6-14: Group formation; May 15: provide me with the name of the organization you are assessing; May 27: submit the allocation of work each member has been assigned and an update on member participation; June 6: last day for you to report on non-participating members and ask for members to be removed from group. This leaves you 2 weeks before the project is due to finish the project in the event a group member has to be removed. You must keep evidence of non-participation, dates, and work submitted in order for me to assess (and the member to defend) the request to be removed.

If you encounter participation difficulties with any group member(s), you do not need to wait until the timelines shown above. Speak with me immediately upon a problem arising and hopefully we can rectify it. If you do not adhere to the above deadlines and come to me the week the project is due there is nothing I can do – you have to submit a full report so manage your team throughout the semester and deal with any group issues that arise immediately. That is why I have put the timelines in place. For example, if a group member does not attend the first agreed upon meeting, that should be a warning to you and you need to find out the reason for the absence and determine as a group if the absence needs to be dealt with. I can tell you from experience that by giving too many chances to offending members you will find yourself waiting for work from that member(s) that may never materialize and you will be forced to submit a less than complete paper. This is the reality in the workplace so managing it in the classroom is good practice! Therefore, I suggest you keep some sort of tracking

system for meeting notifications, attendance at meetings, participation, and work submitted. The instructions tell you to use the Hill’s Strategy Development Framework and follow the McDonald’s example which is an exact replica/template of what I am looking for. Where I think students might struggle is that they try to find something to put into every bullet point in the Framework template. This is not usually possible. In Exhibit 3.3 on page 61, you will see the first three columns help you understand the organization’s objectives, marketing strategy and “How Do Goods and Services Qualify and Win Orders in the Marketplace.” There are 17 bullet points under this third column but if you look at the McDonald’s example (page 64, Exhibit 3.6) you will see for column 3 they have only identified 6 ways the firm qualifies and wins orders in the marketplace and they have linked these 6 methods with the corporate objectives. They have not tried to “fit” something into each of the 17 bullet points in the generic Hill’s Strategy Development Framework template! So use the bullet points as guidelines as to what you should be trying to find information on but address only those issues that apply. You can also find other methods that are not in the list but it is best to use the suggested guidelines from the bullet points first as these has been tried and tested for many major corporations and are the most common guidelines or areas where you will find relevant information. Once you get the information gathered and can complete the first 3 columns then you can start linking how the last 2 columns under Operations Strategy help match the firm’s OM strategy to the overall organizational strategy. As this is an operations mgt course, I will be looking very closely at these two columns. If you are looking for (plentiful and quickly gathered) information, go to the website for the company you have chosen. You will likely find a location for “Investor Relations” or “Financial Statements” or, perhaps, some other wording similar to this. Find your way to the company’s financial statements and bring up the most recent ones and you will find significant information from the company – maybe even enough for all 5 columns to be completed! You are not looking at the numbers in these statements per se; rather, you are looking at all of the preamble given to shareholders by the company CEO/President. Typically, these preambles very specifically outline corporate objectives, strategies, infrastructure, etc. This is always where I go first when analyzing a company that is public. It does not mean you cannot make phone calls or do other analysis – in fact, I encourage it, and you might need to do so. But certainly make your first analysis for this project the company’s most recent financial statements. Keep in mind that the information in the financial statements is coming from senior executives of that organization, so it is slanted towards making the company look favourable, however, information about the corporation is generally accurate such as to markets, growth, products, corporate objectives, etc. It is just presented in the best light possible!

Your write-up will be in two parts. In the first part, present the framework summary as shown on page 64 (Exhibit 3.6), keeping in mind what was outlined above. In the second part, introduce your selected company, briefly identify the industry and core business strategy, and then provide an analysis of whether you feel the operations strategy is a good fit with the corporate and marketing strategy (explain why or why not). Final Comments: This project cannot be done in a few hours!!! Just because the number of pages is suggested to be around 5 does not mean this is a short and easy project. This is a 3000-level course and my expectations are that the work submitted will include 5 pages of high-quality analysis and critical assessment (and, of course, you may exceed the 5 pages, if required). A good idea is to divide the framework components amongst your group members. Also, keep on top of group members. It will be too late if you come to me a few days prior to the paper being due to tell me a group member has not completed his or her part. There will be no extensions granted at this point. If you leave it that late, you might end up having to do the work your nonparticipating group member did not do. That is why I have set up the reporting dates noted above in this outline.

Formation of Groups for this Project will take place between May 6 and May 14. If you are absent on Monday, May 6, you MUST advise me so I can assign you to a group. If you do not advise me of a group preference on or before 12:00 noon on May 13 you will be assigned to a group. You cannot do the project on your own. No make-up assignment be allowed, so a grade of zero will be assigned to you. Under no circumstances will students be added/changed to groups after May 14 as it is not fair to burden groups with making changes after that date so ensure you are aware of this deadline. You should start this project as soon as Chapter 3 is completed....