umuc bmgt364 assignment 2 latest 2016 november

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…./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…./what-is-3d-printing/]