Management Simulation of a Bottling Company - Assignment Example

Learning Team Assignment: Thinking Critically Simulation Review Summary of Simulation In the simulation, you have been assigned to be manager of a company-owned bottling company. Linda James is playing mentor and guide throughout the simulation. The electronics store is plagued with numerous issues. Sales have been falling continuously for eight weeks and there is a threat of legal action from the city council for violating disability access laws. You must identify real problems facing the store and evaluate them in terms of urgency. The background of the company has been provided by Linda James’ office. Questions Benchmarking, brainstorming, importance weighing, intuition, and imagining were all problem evaluation tools and techniques that were encountered in one form or another somewhere in the simulation. I would have probably used the same techniques, only I would have added the following to the mix: cause-and-effect diagrams, check sheets, group think, multivoting, value analysis, and visualizing. Adding visuals such as diagrams and check sheets can help a wider audience to understand the plans that are to be implemented. They are also a better form of organization for a business to follow. They allowed managers to see the big picture before making any major decisions that could affect hundreds of peoples’ lives. The also let managers consider what could happen if they choose to go in a certain direction rather than in another. This step is a very important part of any strategic planning process. Growth necessitates change. If a company wishes to grow and become profitable, they have to learn to make plans and stick with them unless the risk outweighs the benefits. 1) The outcome reached in the simulation was not much more than to continue as usual, and this simply will not work for the long-term. Things are not going to get any better, and will in fact get much worse, if the store chooses to take this route. People in the company, especially management, simply cannot continue to be afraid of change. If they resist it too much, chances are that they will go under in a very short period of time. This is definitely not the goal of the company. The proposed changes would allow management to consider the benefits and risks in a much deeper light. When this is done, better strategic decisions can be made. It is difficult to make good judgment calls without hardcore and factual data written, drawn, or printed up where managers can physically look at it and evaluate the consequences of their actions. Worksheet University of Phoenix Material Decision-Making Worksheet Framing the Problem 1. Identify the problem. There are several major problems that are presented in the simulation. The junior associates have low morale which is believed to be the ultimate cause of the decrease in sales. The chosen product mix does not cater to customers’ complaints and demands. High employee attrition is a serious issue, although it is believed to be a symptom of a problem rather than a problem itself. The main problem in that regard is that the majority of the company’s junior employees have left in order to work for a new store that opened down the street. Legal action is a critical and urgent problem; however, it is not as urgent as some problems ahead of you. First of all, you need to contact your legal department about the strength of your legal position on the matter and time frame of 90 days of compliance. Filing a motion on your own might not be enough. Large and unsold inventory is a serious issue, not a problem. It is a symptom of a larger problem the store faces. The store’s product mix might be skewed and not reflective of market demands. The skewed market mix is both a critical and urgent problem. Improving the stores sales performance is central to your assignment since sales have been falling continuously. This has coincided with the new store opening down the block. The competing store has placed a good deal of emphasis on promoting Internet-related and multimedia products. The trend must be checked out immediately or the fall in sales will be continuous. The new store down the block is a critical and urgent problem that needs to be addressed. Improving the store’s sales performance was central to your assignment. The competitor store has critical impact on your future performance. Their variable pay scale has attracted your former employees. Market trends rather than an actual problem. Low variable pay is both critical and urgent. Your store lost many people to the newly opened store which has a higher variable pay package. The operation manager seems to be a fallacy more than an actual problem. She pushed the junior associates to meet goals being her own variable pay was linked to productivity. This is an incredibly selfish move. The junior associates were unhappy with their pay and venting their displeasure on her. Junior associated contact customers directly, but senior associates do not. A drop in motivation levels or losing them will greatly impact overall sales performance of your store. WAN is the non-critical problem, even though it is urgent. It is urgent in that it can update sales and inventory on a daily basis and help head quarters monitor performance. It is not critical in that the store has intranet back-up system and operations have not been affected. Six outages in one month cannot be allowed to reoccur. Therefore, an updating of the technology infrastructure is needed. 2. Define criteria, goals, and objectives. An urgent solution to improve sales on a limited budget is required. The goals and objectives also include increasing employee morale, improve customer service, get out of legal trouble, and become more competitive with the new store that has opened down the street. 3. Evaluate effects of the problem. Sales have decreased Customers are complaining Employees are leaving to work at the new store Large amount of unsold inventory Making the Decision 4. Identify causes of the problem. Low employee morale Poor product mix Better incentives for employees at new store, such as higher pay New store opened down the block New store promotes Internet-related and multimedia products Poor management Inadequate technology infrastructure 5. Frame Alternatives Increase employee morale through offering incentives such as rewards or bonuses. Increase employee pay to be competitive Improve range of products after performing market research Increase advertising Promote Internet-related and multimedia products Management training Improve technology infrastructure 6. Evaluate impacts of alternatives. Increased costs Improved employee morale Better range of products Improved sales Better management team Better technology 7. Make the decision. The following have been chosen for implementation: Increase employee morale through offering incentives such as rewards or bonuses. Increase employee pay to be competitive Improve range of products after performing market research Increase advertising Management training Improve technology infrastructure 8. Evaluating the Decision These items were chosen for various reasons. Happy employees are more productive employees. Fairly paid employees do not tend to run off to other companies and leave their current company understaffed and in a bad position. At this point, market research needs to be performed in order to gauge potential demand for additional products. Increased advertising with sales or special offers will allow them to be more competitive with the new store down the block. Management training never hurts, as it takes a good management team to pull a company out of a difficult situation like this one. Improving their technology infrastructure will allow them to keep track of their inventory better and serve customers quicker, not to mention make their paperwork a snap and offer the potential for online expansion. 9. Implement Decision The most important part of strategic planning is the actual implementation of the plan. If this does not take place, all of the time and money that went into the strategic planning process is just wasted and no benefits can be reaped. The management team needs to implement this decision as soon as they possibly can. 10. Measure Impacts People are naturally resistant to change, so this is undoubtedly going to cause some upheaval in the company. Younger people will probably be more accustomed to adapting to changing quickly while older individuals may need more training. Read More