Primary Task Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write 800–1,000 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.
For this assignment, you will respond to the results of your team simulation round. What have you have identified as the key business issues that will impact your company? Respond to the results of your management area. What have you have identified as the key business issues that impacted your decisions in the simulation round? Prepare to discuss your decisions with the other members of your team.
As the Vice President of your product please address these questions for the decisions you made in R&D:
- How well did you establish the specification of the products to meet customer demand?
- What level of quality and reliability—mean time between failure (MTBF)—did you build into your products?
- How did you ensure that the perceived age of the product meets customer demand?
- What new products did you create to meet the changing marketplace?
As the Vice President of your product please address these questions for the decisions you made in Marketing:
- Explain your rationale for how you set the price of your products in the marketplace.
- What was your strategy around creating new products to meet the changing marketplace?
- How well did you build customer awareness through promotion?
- How effectively did you establish a sales force and distribution channels?
- What was your sales forecast strategy for your products?
- What was your rationale for your credit policies (accounts receivable and accounts payable)?
As the Vice President of your product please address these questions for the decisions you made in Production:
- Did you purchase machinery to automate your facilities? If so, what was your rationale?
- Did you buy or sell capacity of product lines?
- How did you establish you production schedule for each line?
- How well did you manage the majority of the company’s fixed assets?
- Did you establish your workforce complement?
In conjunction with the COO, the Vice President will address these questions for the decisions you made in Finance:
- Did you acquire capital to fund capital expansions?
- Did you issue stock, short-term debt, or long-term bonds? If so, why?
- Did you issue a dividend to your shareholders? Explain your rationale whether your answer was yes or no.
- How well did you balance your debt portfolio? What was your strategy regarding the management of the pro forma statements?
