Project 2

NOTE:  All submitted work is to be your original work. You may not use any work from another student, the Internet or an online clearinghouse.  You are expected to understand the Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy, and know that it is your responsibility to learn about instructor and general academic expectations with regard to proper citation of sources as specified in the APA Publication Manual, 6th Ed. (Students are held accountable for in-text citations and an associated reference list only). 

Project 2 is due Sunday at 11:59 p.m. eastern time of week 7 unless otherwise changed by the instructor.

Purpose 

In this project, you will be organizing human capital. Drawing from the course material, you will

• Use the course material through week 7 and your research to complete Phase 3 of the Strategy Analysis.
• Learn and apply concepts concerning human resources. You will also write an Executive Summary.

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 continue researching 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

• employ effective planning processes to develop strategies, goals, and objectives in order to enhance performance and sustainability
• organize human, physical, and financial resources for the effective and efficient attainment of organizational goals
• 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

The Executive Director for the new Asia Division, has been asked by Warren Pfife to put together, and present in a report 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 and they will assist with putting together this plan.  The final plan will be laid out as outlined below and developed in two phases.

You have successfully completed Project 1 and it is now time to complete Project 2. In the second project, Section I, Section V, Section VI, and Section VII will be completed.

Section I – Executive Summary

Section II – Environmental Analysis

Section III – Goals and Objectives

Section IV – Competitive Analysis

Section V – Description of Organizational Structure and Culture

Section VI – Breakdown of Product and Services

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 it is venturing into using internal and external analysis tools, and then use this analysis to design its 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.

Instructions for Completing Project

These final sections will finalize the strategy the group from Expert Foods Consultants has been assisting the Melanie and the New Executive Director with. Although you typically would be combining all three phases into one document, for the purpose of this work, you will on present the parts identified above.

You will need the Great Start Nutrition Company Profile to complete the analysis.

Step 1: Course Material

Although you are required to research information for this project, you are also accountable for using the course material to support the ideas, reasoning and conclusions made.  Course material use goes beyond defining terms but is used to explain the ‘why and how’ of a situation.  Using one or two in-text citations from the course material and then relying on Internet source material will not earn many points on an assignment.  A variety of source material is expected and what is presented must be relevant and applicable to the topic being discussed.   Avoid merely making statements but close the loop of the discussion by explaining how something happens or why something happens, which focuses on importance and impact.  In closing the loop, you will demonstrate the ability to think clearly and rationally showing an understanding of the logical connections between the ideas presented in a case scenario, the course material and the question(s) being asked.

Step 2:  Description of the Organizational Structure

• Drawing from the information presented in Exercise 3 create an organizational structure through the use of an Organizational Chart for 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 Executive 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 Great Start Nutrition a competitive advantage, and under the VP of R&D there is a person responsible for the local testing.  You will explain why testing will have a critical impact on the success of the new product line.

Step 3:  Cultural Complexities

• Drawing from Exercise 3, you will also present the cultural complexities that will need to be monitored and possibly addressed.  The Executive Director will be bringing a facility online in an area in which Great Start Nutrition currently has no presence and there could be unforeseen cultural dilemmas that could arise.  Mayberry Consultants has considered whether or not to use local nationals in management roles or to bring in current Great Start Nutrition 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 Great Start Nutrition will need to recognize the difference or expect the employees to adhere to Great Start Nutrition’s standards.

Step 4:  Breakdown of Products and Services

• You will present the products that Great Start Nutrition will release in the first launch of the new division.  You addressed the products in Exercise 3 and will now be formally introduced as the product line.  Great Start Nutrition needs to formally introduce the line of products that it will be presenting to the public.
• Explain how the production of the product(s) aligns with Great Start Nutrition’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.

Step 5: Human Resource Plan

A human resource plan will allow the director of the new Asia division to identify the future human resource needs for the organization.  The director has asked Mayberry Consultants to evaluate the product line identified and conduct market analysis to determine possible man power needs for the product manufacturing and all management and supervisory roles (to include all levels of management).  The management levels should have been identified in the Description of Organizational Structure section of this strategy, but the resource needs in manufacturing will need to be considered.  Remember the only person currently hired for the new facility is the Executive Director so there will need to be Assistant Executive Directors (AED) for the other areas identified in the Structure such as Marketing and R&D.  Each of the AED’s will need to have staff as well; you will need to identify how each AED will be provided staff.  Will they identify and interview themselves or will HR be a part of the hiring process.  The Organizational Chart is also a part of the HR plan so ensure that a revised organizational chart is placed in this section for reference.

Training is a key to retention in business today; employees like to feel they are important to the organization and investment in their competencies shows commitment to them.  So, consider what the new division will need to do to ensure they are keeping the best talent they find.

Evaluation is another way organizations can show their commitment to employees.  How will the new division conduct employee evaluations based on what is common in the area that the Mayberry Consultants identified?  This will require a level of research in common HR practices in that region.

You needs to remember that this is a brand new division that will be selling products that Great Start Nutrition currently is not involved in so all aspects of business will need to be considered.  Remember there is no perfect HR Plan, just plans that work and plans that do not.  Good plans consider the employee and the culture around them just as important as the organization itself.

Step 6:  Executive Summary

The Executive Summary will be the first section of the paper but should be written last since it will highlight what is intended for discussion in the rest of the strategy.  A good executive summary is compelling. It reveals the company’s mission statement, along with a short description of the products Great Start Nutrition will provide at the launch of the new division. It is also necessary to briefly explain why Great Start Nutrition is starting the new division and include details about Great Start Nutrition’s experience related to the industry the company is entering.  This requires integration of key information from the exercises as well as Project 1.

Step 7:  Review the Plan

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 8:  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 Plan

Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) document that is double- spaced.  Use 12-point font.  The final product will be 6-7 pages in length excluding the title page and reference page.  Write clearly and concisely.

Completing the Plan

In order to complete this 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.