Month: February 2019

Purpose
In this project, you will complete Phase 2 of the Business Strategy Analysis. Drawing from the course material, you will:
Use the course material through week 6 and your research to complete Phase 2.
Learn and apply concepts concerning organizational structure, organizational culture, cultural differences, and product and service development. You will also create a communication plan.
In answering the requirements, you will support the reasoning and conclusions made, which means you will explain ‘why and how’ rather than relying on making statements.
Skill Building:
You are also completing this project to help develop critical thinking and develop part of a management plan.
You will be required to research the infant formula industry as a continuation of Project 1. Do not take the research lightly as you are required to do significant research to answer the requirements of the project.
Skills: Research, Critical Thinking, Write a Strategy Analysis
Outcome Met by Completing This Assignment
demonstrate leadership skills by communicating a shared vision, motivating and empowering others, and creating a culture of ethical decision-making and innovation
develop measures and assess outcomes against plans and standards to improve organizational effectiveness
Instructions:
The Executive Director has been asked by Max Barney to put together, and present in a memo to him, a business strategy that will be a guide for the next year as the new division moves forward. The Executive Director will be working with the consulting group over the next 5 weeks and they will assist with putting together this plan. The final plan will be laid out as outlined below and developed in three phases.
You have successfully completed Phase I and it is now time to complete Phase II. In the second phase, Sections IV, V and VI will be completed.
Section I – Executive Summary
Section II – Goals and Objectives
Section III – Competitive Analysis
Section IV – Description of Organizational Structure and Culture
Section V – Breakdown of Product and Services
Section VI – Communications Plan
Section VII – Human Resources Plan
The business strategy will provide the organization an opportunity to explain the goals and objectives of the new division and help with the development of the strategy to achieve them. The plan will allow the company to gain insight into the current status of the industry they are venturing into using internal and external analysis tools, and then use this analysis to design their division’s business environment. In addition, the plan will be used to form the team that will bring the vision for this division to reality. You will need the Biotech Company Profile to complete the analysis.
Phase II
The Executive Director of the Asia Division of Biotech has asked the Expert Foods Consultants that has been assisting with the development of the Business Strategy to begin putting the second phase together. In this phase, the director would like to start painting the functional picture of how the new division will be setup, the products that are believed critical for a successful initial launch, and how the division will communicate within itself, across other divisions, and with the corporate offices. To do this, the group will deliver a Description of the Organizational Structure and Culture section; a Breakdown of Products and Services for the initial Launch; and the Communication Plan.
Description of the Organizational Structure and Culture
In this section, you will identify and lay out the organizational structure through the use of an Organizational Chart with the new division and delivered informally to the director. It is intended that this section will now formally present the structure and explain the rationale behind its construction. The idea with presenting the Organizational Chart is to understand why the levels of the chart are developed. Explain why each part of the structure is critical to the success of the organization. For example, if an Assistant Division Director (ADD) of Research and Design was placed in the Org Chart, you could explain that he or she will be responsible for finding ways to integrate green/sustainable materials into infant formula, something that has not been done on a large scale in the past. The ability to create products that have not been introduced in the marketplace in mass production will give Biotech a competitive advantage, and under the VP of R&D there is a person responsible for the local testing. You will explain why their testing will have a critical impact on the success of the new product line.
You will also present the cultural complexities that will need to be monitored and possibly addressed. The director will be bringing a facility online in an area in which Biotech currently has no presence and there could be unforeseen cultural dilemmas that could arise. Expert Foods Consultants has considered whether or not to use local nationals in management roles or to bring in current Biotech employees from other locations. Each of these will have their own complexities from a cultural standpoint so consider them as you generate your response. Consider how the new location’s citizens view work hours, holidays, religious beliefs, etc. while researching this topic. Another example about understanding business cultures in foreign countries is how bribery is a big part of business for some cultures but still illegal for a U.S. based company to participate in this act while operating on foreign soil. If the location of the new facility has some cultural differences from what other locations do, you should explain whether Biotech will need to recognize the difference or expect the employees to adhere to Biotech’s standards.
Breakdown of Products and Services
In this section, you will present the products that Biotech will release in the first launch of the new division. You addressed the products in week 5 and will now be formally introduced as the product line. Biotech needs to formally introduce the line of products that it will be presenting to the public and how its production aligns with Biotech’s mission. This section will need to provide specifics on the product and how it meets the sustainable, green, and human friendly mandate set forth from Melanie at the beginning of this project.
Communication Plan
This communication plan will be a roadmap on how the new division will best be able to communicate with Biotech’s corporate headquarters, suppliers, other divisions, and internally. This should lay out best practices and how the organization will be able to use the latest technologies available.
Instructions for completing Phase II
Step 1: Write an Introduction paragraph
Create the Introduction Paragraph
A well written management plan begins with a statement of the company’s goals for the project. This Introductory paragraph is the first paragraph of the plan and will be used to describe to the reader the intent of the paper. This intent should be understood prior to reading the remainder of the paper so the reader will understand the intent of the information.
Step 2: Organization Structure
Identify and discuss the current organizational structure;
Develop the organizational chart providing detailed information on the levels of the chart, the role and responsibilities of the position. Explain the rationale behind the construction;
Discuss the part of the organizational chart for the new division. Explain the rationale behind the construction and explain why each part of the structure is critical to the success of the organization;
Discuss the position and role of the person responsible for local testing explaining why his or her testing will have a critical impact on the success of the new product line.
Step 3: Organizational Culture
Identify and discuss the current organizational culture;
Identify and discuss the cultural complexities that Biotech will need to monitor and potentially address;
Explain whether local nationals should be used in management roles or whether Biotech employees should be transferred to the new location discussing the cultural complexities that need to be considered;
Step 4: Breakdown of Products and Services
Discuss the product(s) that Biotech will release in the first launch of the new division;
Discuss how the production of the products align with Biotech’s mission in terms of being sustainable, green and human-friendly.
Step 5: Communication Plan
Create a communication plan that clearly identifies the communications objectives (results Biotech wants to achieve and purpose of the plan, defines key audiences, identifies media channels, and establishes a timeline and a way to evaluation effectiveness of plan.
Step 6: Review the Paper
Read the paper to ensure all required elements are present. Use the grading rubric to ensure that you gain the most points possible for this assignment.
Proofread the paper for spelling and grammatical issues, and third person writing.
Read the paper aloud as a first measure;
Use the spell and grammar check in Word as a second measure;
Have someone who has excellent English skills proof the paper;
Consider submitting the memo to the Effective Writing Center (EWC). The EWC will provide 4-6 areas that may need improvement.
Step 7: Submit the paper in the Assignment Folder (The assignment submitted to the Assignment Folder will be considered the student’s final product and therefore ready for grading by the instructor. It is incumbent upon the student to verify the assignment is the correct submission. No exceptions will be considered by the instructor).
How to Set Up the Paper
Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) document that is single-spaced, with double spaces between paragraphs. Use 12-point font. The final product will be 4-6 pages in length excluding the title page and reference page. Write clearly and concisely. Do not exceed 6 pages.
Completing the Analysis
In order to complete this Business Analysis, you will want to first read the module, Learn How to Support What You Write, as this assignment requires you to use the course readings and research to support what you write. Also,
Read and use the grading rubric while completing the problem set to ensure all requirements are met that will lead to the highest possible grade.
Third person writing is required. Third person means 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.
Contractions are not used in business writing, so do not use them.
Paraphrase and do not use direct quotation marks. Paraphrase means you do not use more than four consecutive words from a source document. Instead put a passage from a source document into your own words and attribute the passage to the source document. Not using direct quotation marks means that there should be no passages with quotation marks and instead the source material is paraphrased as stated above. Note that a reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated in-text citation and vice versa. You may not use more than four consecutive words from a source document, as doing so would require direct quotation marks. Changing words from a passage does not exclude the passage from having quotation marks. If more than four consecutive words are used from source documents, this material will not be included in the grade and could lead to allegations of academic dishonesty.
You are expected to use the case scenarios and weekly course material to develop the analysis and support the reasoning. There should be a robust use of the course material along with thorough analysis of potential location information. Material used from a source document must be cited and referenced. A reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated in-text citation and vice versa. Changing words from a passage does not exclude the passage from having quotation marks. If more than four consecutive words are used from source documents, this material will not be included in the grade and could lead to allegations of academic dishonesty.
Use in-text citations and provide a reference list that contains the reference associated with each in-text citation.
You may not use books in completing this problem set unless part of the course material. Also, do not use a dictionary or Wikipedia.
Provide the page or paragraph number in every in-text citation presented. If the eBook does not have pages, provide the chapter title and topic heading. If using a video, provide the minutes and second of the cited material.
Self-Plagiarism: Self-plagiarism is the act of reusing significant, identical or nearly identical portions of one’s own work. You cannot re-use any portion of a paper or other graded work that was submitted to another class even if you are retaking this course. You also will not reuse any portion of previously submitted work in this class. A zero will be assigned to the assignment if self-plagiarized. Faculty do not have the discretion to accept self-plagiarized work.