Northwestern Leadership Course questions PDF

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Northwestern Leadership

Leadership Communication for Maximum Impact 1. A flag displays a symbol of pride for those that fly it. I have made a living helping other find pride in their work and the story that they have to share. I joined MIRA as the new CEO because I support that greater vision that was created by the founders. For the past 5 years, I've worked with individuals and organizations such as yourself in the healthcare industry with the primary goal of improving the mental and physical health of our loved ones. Here at MIRA, I see more than a flag company. We help organizations with dreams and aspirations as large as ours to proudly display their name and logo for all consumers to see and support. We collectively value our customers as the most important part of our organization. And I personally value my employees I my main support structure. Together, with a similar vision, I believe we can develop this organization to new heights with a structure that will set us apart from others in the industry. The competition has lacked innovation for years and the art of customer retention and acquisition is dying. I believe with my fresh experience we can begin a new age of pride in our flags. Please join me on this endeavor.

2. Response plan: We intent to use brief video recordings in a press release format to disperse on social media outlets. We specifically want to address our current customers and future customers so that this crisis does not deter our base from utilizing our services. Equally important, we hope that this crisis does not alienate us from potential buyers. We want to remind our customers why they chose us in the first place. We want to issue a response as swiftly and quickly as possible. We plan to be upfront and transparent about our relationship with an international partner. Company's Story: Our company has always had a passion for helping others take pride in their work, their heritage or themselves. These concepts are universal and span national boundaries. We believe that all individuals, regardless of nation or race are equally worthy of our tailored business design. Talking points for the media interview: Do you accept responsibility for what happened? I do not believe that laying blame is appropriate here. We have some of the best employees I have every worked with who are excellent at their job. We are continually trying to improve our customer experience without compromising product quality. What is being done? We are currently working to ensure our customers both past, present and future that our dedication is to them and providing them with the highest quality product and best customer experience we are able to. Do you feel you have deceived your customers? MIRA has always intended to be transparent in our actions. We value our customers and their trust.

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In todays world, less purchasing is made through traditional brick and mortar establishments At the same time, the number of small business in the nation is at an all time high. These businesses are typically struggling to brand and market themselves This is an opportunity for us to help The company has decided to open an online retail store so that the customer can create their own sign to be 3D printed. This move is to stay ahead of the dramatically changing retail climate that is sweeping the market by moving more sales online By the end of year 2021, our goal is to move at least 25% of all sales through online retail MIRA has always strived to be innovative in our business strategy and this move will give us an edge on our competition

How to present ideas of innovation: Need to tell a story with emotional content. Why is this appealing? State goals with explicit measurement and time frame. Know the audience to appropriately craft the story

#4 Leadership through Marketing Week 1 1. Select one brand of product or service with which you are familiar. Using this brand, please write 250-500 words in response to the following: Identify the value associated with your chosen brand, in terms of economic, functional, and emotional dimensions. Medtronic Medtronic is an industry leader in medical devices and sales. I am most familiary with their work in the neurosurgery and spine space although I know from word of mouth and online advertising that they may a number of other products for cardiology, etc. The brand is more than a product for the spine surgeons that use it. The customer service representatives that accompany you to the operating room, instruct the team on the use of the product and provide their expertise with the patients, the pathologies and the surgical devices are indispensable. The customer service experience outperforms many other spine devices. This creates a strong emotional attachment to the product for residents who then become practicing spine surgeons and choose Medtronic in their own career. Medtronic has made a mark globally as well. They have had neurosurgical product placement in big box office movies such as Doctor Strange. This placement has thrust the name into the public eye outside the operating room and operating room staff. They stay on the cutting edge of technology and are known for innovating devices. 2. Using the same brand of product or service, please write 250-500 words in response to the following: Identify the main competitor for the brand you have chosen and highlight at least 3 points of parity (similarity) between the brands. There are many points of competition. Large national brands are continually competing on a large scale. Brands are also competing in subspecialty area such as neurosurgery or spine surgery. Smaller groups can tailor their product to only one small market. I will focus on Depuy Synthes which also creates and markets surgical devices and instruments for spine surgery. The points of parity of the two is that they both create instruments for spine surgery and both target spinal surgeons for their sales. 3. Using the same brand of product or service, please write 250-500 words in response to the following:Once again using the main competitor as a benchmark, identify at least 3 points of difference that distinguish the brand you have chosen. Medtronic focuses more on marketing to neurosurgeons and using intraoperative navigation. They have bought patents for the O-arm or the operating room portable CT scanner that links the patient information to navigatable instruments. They further purchased and now manufacture the surgical spine robot which integrates with all of the former devices. Depuy synthes on the other

hand markets mostly to orthopedic surgeons as they have an array of other orthopedics products. They have an online portal with webinar and lectures dedicated to residents with a redemption center for the residents to order books.

Week 2 1. Select a current or previous employer to rate on the six market-focused values. Please do not use the actual name of the company or any employees in your responses. We suggest that you refer to the company and any individuals using a fake names.  Rate your selected firm on the six market-focused values (putting customers first, empathy, collaboration, respect, trust and openness) on a 1-to-10 with 10 being the ideal (e.g., always putting customers first) and 1 being complete absence (e.g., never puts customers first).  putting customers first 8  empathy 8  collaboration 5  respect7  trust 8  openness 4 2. For each of the six ratings, provide one example of a specific behavior that lead you to assign that rating. Please limit your response to 500-750 words.  Putting customers first – Memorial medical center has created a unique patient care experience by getting rid of all double room and opting only for private single rooms. They have renovated multiple patient floors and build additional wing of the hospital with elevated ceilings and larger rooms with multiple TV’s, couches and places with family members to rest.  Empathy – Again, memorial has gone through innumerable steps to enhance the experience of not only the patients but also their family and physicians.  collaboration – There are multiple other medical groups in town that I believe memorial could better collaborate with to improve patient care in the area. For example, a nearby hospital  Respect – Memorial respects the community. They provide multiple charitable contributions to local organiations.  Trust – Patients trust in memorial to provide the best care possible.  openness – Memorial has not always had the most transparent business plan. They have expanded through acquiring additional hospitals and now have a network of 7 hospitals.

3. Identify the most significant obstacle to the firm scoring higher on the lowest scoring two dimensions. Give a short explanation as to why each of these obstacles are significant. Please limit your response to 500 words.

 4. What would you as a leader do to improve the situation? Please limit your response to 500 words.

Week 4 Please read the Red Case and then answer the following questions. Please limit your response to 250 words per question.

1. 1. Are the groups of customers who are offered (a) a $100 phone credit or (b) a $5 pre-paid Visa card probabilistically equivalent? Why or why not? Yes. The individual does not need to use the exact same words as the correct answer, but the sentiment should be the same. The correct explanation is that consumers were randomly assigned to either one of the other group. Random assignment leads to probabilistically equivalent groups.

2. Are the groups of customers who sign up for (a) the $100 phone credit or (b) the $5 pre-paid Visa card probabilistically equivalent? Why or why not? No, $5 pre-paid card requires no commitment and is not even phone related that they can used for anything. In the meantime, customers who sign up for $100 credit need to sign a two year phone contract. People can quickly decide to sign up for $5 in thirty minutes but if they just don't want to sign contract with Red, they don't sign up even for $100 credit offer and thirty days of consideration. The correct explanation is that consumers who are offered two incentives are probabilistically equivalent. But that does not that imply that those who sign up for the two incentives are probabilistically equivalent. This is because the incentives appeal to different types of customers within the initially probabilistically equivalent groups. Since signing up for an incentive takes some effort and reveals a consumer’s identify, consumers will only sign up for either incentive if they see value in doing so. So, who would sign up for the $100 phone credit from Red? Consumers who like Red enough to consider getting a phone from Red. Who would sign up for a pre-paid Visa card? Consumers who are comfortable revealing their identify in exchange for a small payment. These are very different reasons for signing up. Hence, the two groups who end up signing up for these incentives could be different.

3. Are the groups of customers who sign up for (a) the $100 phone credit or (b) the $5 pre-paid Visa card equally pre-disposed to liking Red? Please answer “yes,” “no,” or “uncertain.” Explain why. No, group b doesn't know Red is sponsoring the prepaid card while group a knows they are offered to sign a contract with Red.

4. Answer Blanka Novak’s question: “So let’s say that 10 percent of users who signed up for the €100 phone credit ended up signing a contract with us. And let’s say that only 2 percent of users who did not get the €100 phone credit signed a new contract with us. Does this mean that the €100 phone credit is causally responsible for an eight-percentage point increase in new customer acquisition for customers who expressed an interest in a new phone via Twitter?” Why or why not?

No. The eight-percentage increase in new customers may not reflect the $100 phone credit. It may simple be because the customer was told of the existence of the Red company. Othewise, they may have not known that Red was a phone option. If they had known about Red previously, just the reminder that Red exists may have increased the probability of purchasing a new phone from them. We cannot say that the phone credit is causally responsible for an eight-percentage poit increase. It may be possible to get the increase with lesser amount.

5 . Overstate the causal effect. There are other factors in the eight-percentage point increase such as people who will sign a contract with Red, people who will be persuaded by a promotional offer, so it overstate the true causal effect. The correct explanation is that the eight percentage-point difference is likely to overstate the causal effect because consumers in the €100 phone credit like Red better than consumers in the pre-paid Visa condition, even before redeeming the phone credit. #5 Week 1 1. I went to a local supermarket called Schnucks. Schnucks is a chain of grocery stores through the Midwest. The time of day is noon on a Saturday. Location is a capital city in the Midwest. I spend an equal amount of time in most time in the fresh produce section followed by meat, and dairy. Very little time is spent in the frozen foods. 2. Picture 3. Three Nothing really stood out at the grocery store. It was set up and looked like any of the thousand other stores throughout the nation. I noticed that there are separate departments that appear to be head by an individual. I noticed a meat department with seafood, a bread department, fruit and vegetables, dairy, boxed food, canned food and miscellaneous. I noticed a flower department with gifts, cards and decorations for special occasions. This was particularly unique. I noticed that there was not a huge presence for customer service. I wasn't talked to the entire time I was at the store. No one approached me to ask if I needed assistance or tips for pairing foods together. I did not see any employees in any section except behind the meat counter. There was the occasionally busy workers zipping through the aisles with intense focus on their face and little time to help customers. I also witnessed a few independent workers stocking their products in the beverage aisle. I used to self-checkout and didn't even have to speak with a worker to purchase my items. 5. Five We go to the grocery store with the intention to prepare food for our families. Some people go with a meal preparation in mind. Others go at a whim and purchase items as they go up and down the aisles. The greatest room for improvement I believe is “how might we” better engage the customer, “how might we” enhance their experience with food at home, “how might we” streamline their shipping experience and “how might we” sell them more of the grocery store products. I believe this could be accomplished by helping the shopper create a meal idea. This could be visual in the store with items that go well together grouped together. Or it could be a chef sampling a meal to customers. Or it could be a worker with specialized expertise in pairing foods to the customers taste. These individuals should have knowledge of where items are in the store to help customers locate the items quickly. Week 2 1. Provide one HMW statement

“how might we” better enhance the customer experience with food. I chose this HWM statement because there is one of the ultimate goals of the grocery store. They are providing a service to consumers to sell the grocery store products that the consumer desires. 2. Photo of 15 concepts for the HMW statement

3. Do the ideas reflect a broad range of thinking? Are there some that seem implausible but sound amazing? Do all of your ideas look the same? Did you get stuck in the details? Are some big changes? Are some small? Now that you’ve taken a moment to reflect, fill in some of the gaps. If all of the ideas you generated are products, try to think of services that could meet your HMW statement. We often use questions to reframe our thinking and challenge ourselves to push further in concept generation. What if it had to fit inside of a shoebox? What if we had to do it without any electricity? What if we had to spend at least one million dollars? What would make this experience even worse for users? What if Google designed the grocery store? Based on what is missing from your concepts, create challenges for yourself. List two challenge questions that you would like to focus on.

 4. Spend 5 minutes generating concepts based on your 2 challenge questions. Upload at least 3 new concepts for each of the two challenge questions based in the form of sketches and notes (you should have at least 6 sketches/notes in total). Please place all of your sketches and notes into one file before you upload it. Be sure that it is clear for the reviewer which sketches and descriptions go with each of the challenge questions.

 5. Take a step back and look at what you & your team have created. You should now have a broad range of solutions and a lot of ideas. Some might be silly, others really compelling, but overall you have just generated your first set of concepts. Congratulations! Feel free to add to this set at any point in the design process. If you wake up in the middle of the night with an AHA! moment, add the concept to your set. Now take a moment to organize what you’ve just generated. Do some of the concepts seem to work together? Are some of them similar enough to be combined into one? Do some feel like small parts of a larger idea? Physically group the ideas together and move them around. DON’T REMOVE ANY! Upload a picture of your reorganized concepts and write a short description for of any concepts that you combined or grouped together. Please place all of your sketches and notes into one file before you upload it. Be sure that it is clear for the reviewer which sketches and descriptions go with each of the concepts.

 6. Choose one concept that you find most compelling. Create a storyboard for that concept. Begin to consider how that concept fits into the larger context. How do people become aware of it? How do people use it? Now is the time to begin thinking about some of the details. Refer to Video 3 on how to create a storyboard. Small sheets of paper or square sticky notes work well for this-- it's not art, it's just rapid visualizations of the user experience. Remember that each sheet should contain one “scene” and that you can rearrange and reorder the sheets as you go. You can also swap “scenes” or remove them entirely. The drawings should be as simple as possible and you should use notes to augment the drawings. The user should be the focus of the story. Please upload your completed storyboard as single file. (use pictures, stick figures, etc)

Week 3 1. Write a brief (~100 word) description of the idea, including who it is for and how it will improve that person’s life (e.g., by solving a problem or creating delight). The description might take a form like this: First, a problem statement including who, what, why: [e.g., physical therapists] need a way to [e.g. allow patients to move naturally while remaining safe] so that they can [e.g. challenge the patients] because [e.g. research has shown that more challenge leads to fuller recovery]. Next, a high-level solution description: Our solution will overcome the challenges of [e.g. natural movement and safety] because [e.g., it takes gravity (and therefore the risk of falling) out of the equation by tilting the patient back, yet it provides the freedom of natural motion]. The form is generic: try swapping out the parts in brackets to modify this for your concept.Note that the improvement you are seeking might be something quite small, like helping a new father select baby food or making floor cleaning a little easier.A successful innovation need not be revolutionary, but it should deliver some value to the user.

Physicians need a way to sign out patients to each other because efficient handoff’s of care improve patient safety. Our solution will be to create modern and efficient method to track patient information, handoff pertinent details and relay t...