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Mgt662Week6Assignment.docx
Week 6 Assignment
Derrick L. Booker
California Intercontinental University
MGT 662
Dr. Orlando Rivero
Introduction
The descriptive case studies helped establish an insight based on different contexts including legal, social and entrepreneurial ones. Some cases explored include the following: The United by Blue case Brian Linton wants to use his business to improve the environment. His business is geared at ensuring that the waters are safe and sustainable. The Rosshandler’s Case which involved establishing a Jacquii LLC plant for manufacturing breath-freshening products. Then there was a case which sought to evaluate whether a family-owned restaurant ought to open a second location to accommodate many customers who endeavor to have its services upon being featured on the food network. This case involved parties including Ramon and Maria, and Lucy and Bill. The third case explored how Lester could improve the quality of a product and maintain a constant supply. Also, the case sought to evaluate the best way that Lester could use social media to market her product. The fourth case involved exploring how Green organization could undertake the training process and the approach that could be used to facilitate a minimum of a 15% increase in profitability. All the cases explored majored on entrepreneurship and other aspects which help in gaining insights on how to develop appropriate problem-solving techniques. This essay seeks to compare, contrast, and investigate various descriptive cases, and how the solutions that they offered could be applicable in other real-life situations.
Differences and comparisons of perspectives across the descriptive case studies
The case studies introduce the aspects of the challenge experienced in those cases and the possible means of addressing those challenges. Linton in his case wanted to help the environment but was having a difficult time to maintain a suitable profit margin, so he was faced with the dilemma to change his business model or go bankrupt. Rosshandler’s case is the second one where he is seeking to work with a contract manufacturer to develop a unique breath-freshening product. However, having learned that the business would be profitable, Jacquii LLC would wish to source funds to finance the business so that she could acquire ownership by having shares or entirely establishing her company that would undertake services related to the freshness of breath. Some potential sources that could be applied for this purpose include the following (Grossmann, 2013): personal investment, venture capital, government grants, and loans from banks or friends. The introduction of this case would help in identifying the possible solutions in the entirety of the case study.
The third case study involving Roman, Maria, Lucy and Bill seek to evaluate whether a family-owned restaurant ought to open a second location to accommodate many customers who endeavor to have its services upon being featured on the food network. Ramon and Maria left their jobs working in the restaurant in San Francisco and explored a new working environment in Salt Lake City based in Utah. However, upon migration, the two parties continued with a restaurant which they named as case Grande. Being in a new place, the kind of food that they prepared did not suit the customer needs as presented by Lucy Cardenas who is currently running a family business with her husband. Despite the initial challenges in the restaurant, Ramon and Maria later had the customers preferring the type of food served in their restaurant making them extend their business downtown.
The business continued to grow to an excellent point before Maria passed on leaving Ramon to get unable to work on the company after a decision, he decided to sell the business to Lucy, his daughter and her husband, Bill. The debatable issue arising from this case is whether the couples could consider changing the entity types based on the challenges that later developed or not and the formal business planning that they can establish to keep the business growing. Like the initial one, this case is helpful in exploring the means in which such challenges could be addressed even in other real-world situations.
In the fourth case’ introduction, the Green Organization seeks to improve its performance and effectiveness. The Real Estate Group supports this organization by at least 10% of its gross revenues or an amount equivalent to $500 million. However, as a profit-making enterprise, the green organization endeavors to have plans in which the progress in key performance objectives concerning customer services is analyzed, synthesized and evaluated as one approach of improving performance. Lester in another case is an entrepreneur who faces a lot of challenge in her business of selling easy Lunchboxes since she depends on a company in China to produce the lunchboxes. The company delayed delivering the boxes sometimes.
Furthermore, the quality of the easy lunchboxes cannot meet the food and drug policies. The changing e-commerce has also made it difficult for her to use Web as the primary marketing tool for her product. The introduction of these cases establishes an insight for both readers and the organizations’ management concerning the way such incidences could occur, and how reviewing them at their initial occurrences helps address them in their entirety.
The vital thematic concerns presented by the cases
The central theme presented by Rosshandler’s case comprise of the possible challenges experienced when commencing the business. According to this case, starting a given business requires that one first contribute on their levels, either using the cash that they own or using the collateral of their assets. Rosshandler has her cash which she wishes to provide based on Shorin’s advice. Personal investment is advantageous since it proves to other investors like Shorin and bankers who might be later be sought to finance the business that there is a long-term commitment for the project and that the investors are ready to take appropriate risks to achieve their goals.
Also, based on this case, Rosshandler can use venture capital especially since their project is meant to be technologically-driven. The aspect of being technological is proven from the point that the two are seeking a website hosting companies which would offer them web services. Rosshandler, the venture capitalist, shall be required to take an equity position in their company to aid in undertaking a promising project which involves many risks (Scarborough, 2012). Venture capital may imply introducing a third party who will take a share in the business and fund the project with the rest of the investors.
Government grants may also be a useful potential source for the two parties. This source implies that the two parties shall seek grants and subsidies upon satisfying the given regulations for a business to be funded by the government (Scarborough, 2012). Rosshandler’s potential business dealing with fresh-breath should have a detailed description and an explanation of its benefits as per Australian provisions to be able to get grants. Since the project involves much profit and meeting the legal and other government provisions, then Rosshandler is likely to win a government grant to finance her project. Bank loans also can be used by the parties to finance the project. These lean usually commonly used to fund the upcoming projects and medium-sized business such as Jacquii LLC (Scarborough, 2012). However, Rosshandler should seek whether she requires personalized or customized repayment before choosing the right bank to fund the project.
On the other hand, the case study involving Lucy, Bill, Maria, and Ramon has the choice of the appropriate business entity as its primary theme. According to the case, changing the business entity types can be deemed to be based on personal opinions and those determined by the business environment. The former can be a factor when the business’ owner is either unwilling to continue with the current business entity or when their financial status does not guarantee continuity in business. On the other hand, the business environment determines the business entity if the new provisions do not favor the current one.
For instance, involving the sole proprietorship enabled Ramon and Maria to undertake their preferable roles concerning the restaurant making them able to enhance growth through customer satisfaction. Lucy and Bill were also able to share roles according to their willingness and preference even though Bill found it challenging to cope with the position given to him (Scarborough & Cornwall, 2015). The decisions concerning changes in the way customers would be served lied solely on the two parties and no more formalities were required to implement those changes. This aspect marks the reason why customers used to wait for over one hour to be served during winter off-season because they were assured to quality foods and services.
Another case involving the Green Organization has the cultural challenges and how to address them as its central themes. This case provided that the three main cultural problems of the offices in the countries mentioned above include the determining the right level of respite and politeness, observing the local etiquette concerning giving and receiving gifts, and observing the religious values of the respective countries (Schein, 2015). Different countries view the act of politeness differently. For example, one cannot work politely in China, but can in the US. Also, religious values differ from one country to another. Hence, The Green organization must consider the values in a state where they would wish to open an office.
Lastly, the case’ primary theme was the improvement of various quality issues in Lester’s Business. Some provisions according to its analysis include the social media marketing which was noted as an essential channel for business marketing which Lester might use to promote her product (Opresnik, 2018). However, Lester needs to create an effective social media marketing strategy for it to pay. The first step to doing effective media marketing is to evaluate the network that might bring the most value and comparing your profile to that of competitors. The second step is identifying the idle customers. In Lester’s case, her customers are mostly students and parents. Therefore, the best platform to use is Facebook or Twitter which is the commonly used social networks by the students and parents.
Creating social media mission statement is the other steps after identifying the idle customers. The report should include the plan on social media and should define the brand (Opresnik, 2018). To educate the public on the importance of having a healthy diet and an efficient way to carry your meal wherever you go will be can be used by Lester as her social statement. The statement is important since it guides on what to share and create.
The next step is to identify if the efficiency of the social media used, that is if the social media being used is working. The followers have shared the matrixes like a conversation, time spent on the website, how many times as the brand been mention, and how many posts are used to measure the success of the media used; The fifth step is posting the product in the platform you have created. The post should contain the product details that are the efficiency of the product, the product price and how one can acquire it. Images of the product, a video tutorial on how to use it, a blog post, and details of the company should be included in the post.
The post should be made on a weekly basis, every Sunday of the week to maintain customer awareness of the product. After posting the final step is to track performance and analyze. This step is important because it guides on what platform that should be used more often. For instance, after examining and it is found out that Facebook is the most efficient channel then more post should be made on Facebook. Most of Lester’s customers are young. Therefore, it is likely that most of them are Facebook and Twitter users (Scarborough & Cornwall, 2015). Thus, she will be able to reach many people hence promoting her product. It is also cheap to use Facebook compared to other platforms. Twitter is also another platform that the young people like to get access.
The main questions addressed in the case studies
Rosshandler’s case addressed various questions concerning its thematic provisions. For example, one of the key issues explored was whether Jacqui Rosshandler should accept the investment offer from Arthur Shorin. According to the case, starting up a business may involve many challenges which can be addressed by seeking more investors. There is a need for Rosshandler to consider the financial implications that Shorin would bring on the business. Allowing her to invest in the business would have many advantages. For example, having just sold his business, the Troops Company implies that he has customers who will keep track of her future businesses.
Hence, those customers would be the prospect ones for their new business. Secondly, Shori is financially stable since he just closed his business. Thus, Rosshandler is assured of financial security when establishing a business. However, since Rosshandler has her cash which would enable her to contribute over 50% in the business, she needs to refuse Shorin’s offer of 75%, but go for a lesser percentage since her contribution would be proportional to the returns on investment that she would receive from the business.
In the case involving Lucy, Bill, Maria, and Ramon, one key question addressed was whether Lucy and Bill should consider changing business entity types. This question was also based on the thematic concerns of the case. The case’ analysis provided that all the new conditions would make it more considerable for Lucy and Bill to change the business entity to the partnership (Gordon, Akins, & The Business Professor, 2018). This change would be more beneficial considering the immediate changes from Red Iguana to the new location. First, the change would ensure that all the liabilities by the couples could not be transferred to the new business. Thus, the business could be undertaken freely with free terms such as legal terms and commercial ones. Secondly, the couples bought the business against their wish that Lucy would have ownership from her father upon the death of her mother Maria and based on the fact that he was unable to continue thriving the business. Lucy’s wish was overturned by her father’s social provisions which required that only a man would gain ownership of a family’s property when the time reaches.
The case involving the green organization addressed the question concerning the potential threats or challenges of the plan in line with the central theme of the situation. The evaluation of this question provided that the potential threats involved with the procedure include having poorly defined objectives where the initial goals are just stated without considering the possible outcomes when striving to achieve them (Proofhub.com, 2018). Secondly, there is a scope creep which involves changing the process from the pre-established ones when changing needs are noticed. Improper communication and insufficient team skills can threaten the plan.
Another case which sought to address the question, ‘whether possible tactics are using Facebook and whether they could pay out.’ The lawsuit noted that using Facebook as a marketing strategy requires tactics for it to pay out. One of the policies she should use is employing videos in the post instead of using blogs since most people prefer watching videos than reading long written blocks (Opresnik, 2018). Furthermore, most people quickly understand the concept easily when they watch than when they read. This video is one of the best ways of engaging customers were Facebook has provided its platform hence nourishing and shaping business. Going live on Facebook is a feature from Facebook that provides direct communication with the client. When one is online, their followers will get a notice to connect with them thus getting the customers attention when needed.
Another tactic is paying Facebook users who have many followers to advertise the product. Paid advertisement is cheaper than other advertisement channels and will enable one to get attention from the targeted customers. Asking your clients to promote your product in their timeline for pay will also trigger a discussion of your product thus becoming popular. Also, you can see great desiccation on your brand by using questions, pools, and reviews. This tactic also applies on Twitter since the two platforms have almost same platform.
Some cases explored included the following: firstly, there was the United by Blue case that challenged Linton to decide whether he was going to help the environment or turn a profit. In the Rosshandler’s Case which involved establishing a Jacquii LLC plant for manufacturing breath-freshening products. Then there was a case which sought to evaluate whether a family-owned restaurant ought to open a second location to accommodate many customers who endeavor to have its services upon being featured on the food network. This case involved parties including Ramon and Maria, and Lucy and Bill. The third case explored how Lester could improve the quality of a product and maintain a constant supply. The fourth case involved investigating how Green organization could undertake training process and the approach that could be used to facilitate a minimum of a 15% increase in profitability. All the cases explored majored on entrepreneurship and other aspects which help in gaining insights on how to develop appropriate problem-solving techniques.
Gordon, J. M., Akins, B. W., & The Business Professor. (2018). Understanding business entities for entrepreneurs & managers. Middletown, DE.
Grossmann, J. (2013, January 2). A Start-Up's Dilemma: A Lack of Capital, or Lack of Control. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/03/business/smallbusiness/a-start-ups-dilemma-a-lack-of-capital-or-lack-of-control.html?_r=0
Grossmann, J. (2013, January 9). Why the Founder of a Start-Up Chose to Give Up Control. Retrieved from http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/why-the-founder-of-a-start-up-chose-to-give-up-control
Opresnik, M. O. (2018). Effective Social Media Marketing Planning – How to Develop a Digital Marketing Plan. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 333-341.
Proofhub.com. (2018, September 6). 9 Common Challenges in Project Management & Their Solutions. Retrieved from https://www.proofhub.com/articles/project-management-challenges
Scarborough, N. M., & Cornwall, J. (2015). Entrepreneurship and effective small business management (11th ed.). Pearson: Boston, MA.
Schein, E. (2015). Taking Culture Seriously in Organization Development. Practicing Organization Development, 233-244. doi:10.1002/9781119176626.ch14
