Project 3

Henry Thompson

Team Chester

Cake, Cedar, Coat

USA

MBA 670

1121- Strategic Decision Making

Professor Zavialova

28 February 2021

1. What strategy were you implementing? Give examples of any three decisions over the four rounds that were consciously driven by your chosen strategy. Explain.

Our group Team Chester followed our vision statement as Differentiator Niche and local which was to give premium, tailored products for technology-oriented customers in the local region; our brands define the cutting edge. We also put focus on the high-tech segment in only one country. Competitive advantage is gained by distinguishing products with excellent design, high awareness, easy accessibility, and new products, any of which may be tailored to the individual local market’s needs. R&D competency is developed to keep designs fresh and exciting. Products will keep pace with the market, offering improved accuracy and speed. Tailoring products with specific region kits is considered. Prices are above average. Regional and product branding and sales efforts are given a larger budget to work with. Capacity is expanded as higher demand is generated.

2. Which country and customer(s) did you target with your product (high tech, low tech, or both)? Why? Give examples of two decisions in R&D and two decisions in marketing that you implemented over the four rounds to enable your desired targeting.

We stayed in the US to target high tech customers. In Round 1, we set our speed 6.5 and our accuracy to 6.4 to target our high tech customers.

3. In the market segment that you were focused on, what do your customers want most? Did your market share for the country where your products are sold change over the four rounds? Comment on how it changed and why.

Our market share increased each round.

4. Did you meet your potential demand in Round 1? Round 2? Round 3? Round 4? Hint: Look at Section 3 of the report (marketing). If you observed a stockout (inability to meet demand) in one or more rounds, pinpoint the reasons behind each instance.

We sold out of stock in each round so we did not meet potential.

5. Based on Section 1 (High Level Overview) of the Round 1 Report, how did your sales results compare to those of the other five teams? If your sales results were extreme (top two or bottom two among the six teams), explain what other than sheer luck, caused that to happen. In other words, what decisions in Round 1 might have caused your sales to excel or suffer in comparison to its competition?

6. Based on the Round 4 Report, were your sales after Round 4 higher or lower than your sales after Round 3? How do you explain this change in sales in view of your team’s decisions in Round 4?

7. Did you need an emergency loan in any of the four rounds? If so, why? If you did not need an emergency loan in any of the four rounds, explain the decisions that you made to ensure that your company would not need an emergency loan to survive.

We did not need an emergency loan in any round.

8. Explain your capacity decisions, including whether or not to use a second shift in each round. Compare the available plant capacity in each round (first and second shift) versus the number of units produced. Was there idle capacity in any round? Is it possible that you could you have used capacity more efficiently while increasing your plant utilization? Explain why or why not.

We did not use a 2nd shift because we were meeting demand with what we produced. We constantly kept developing a new product. Automation is too expensive. You have to pay to change the plan of your product. It’s cost effective to keep it automation low.

9. See Finance Section of the Round 4 report. At the end of Round 4, do you have any current debt? Explain the presence or absence of current debt at the end of Round 4. At the end of Round 4, do you have any long-term debt? Explain the presence or absence of long-term debt at the end of Round 4.

We borrowed long-term to prepare for capacity in Round 1.

10. Did your team’s decisions in Rounds 1–4 always align with the chosen strategy? If you found yourself deviating from your strategy, explain why. In hindsight, what decisions would you have made differently? Explain.