Able Corporation and Business Plan Preparation
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In six months you are to present a complete business plan for Able Corporation to the Strategic Officers Steering Committee (SOS-C). Able Corporation is a US manufacturing company located in Tennessee that builds power tools, lawn mowers, lawn furniture, microwaves, and ranges. All products are manufactured locally and sold through large retailers like Sears, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart. They have sale papers inserted in every Wednesday and Sunday paper. Although they have a thriving business in the US and Canada, Able is trying to break into the global marketplace.
You are to provide a mission statement, operating principles, market analysis, company strengths and weaknesses analysis, one-year, five-year and ten-year strategic objectives, sales forecasts, financial and operational objectives, and pro forma financials.
As a preliminary step in the preparation of the business plan, brainstorm the major elements of the strategic management process. Using the questions below as a guide, provide several bullet points for each major step in the process. These can include insights, issues that need to be addressed, questions that need to be asked, etc.
How would you go about defining the identity of Able Corporation and creating its mission statement? Where would you look for the information? What do you already know about Able that can help?
What principle would you use in order to prioritize the implementation steps needed to accomplish the strategic objectives?
What post implementation and feedback mechanisms would you have in place to evaluate the effectiveness of the process? What measures would you use?
What legal or ethical issues, if any, need to be considered?
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Solution Summary
As a preliminary step in the preparation of the business plan, this solution explains how you would go about defining the identity of Able Corporation and creating its mission statement, including where to look for the information and what information is already known. It discusses what principle to use in order to prioritize the implementation steps needed to accomplish the strategic objectives, as well what types of post implementation and feedback mechanisms to have in place to evaluate the effectiveness of the process. Supplemented with two highly supporting articles on performance measures and an examples for illustrative purposes.
Solution Preview
Please see response attached for best formating (also presented below), including two highly relevant articles. I hope this helps and take care.
RESPONSE:
The place to begin is suggested in the assignment. It says that as a preliminary step in the preparation of the business plan, brainstorm the major elements of the strategic management process and lists the following questions. this is the place to start.
1. How would you go about defining the identity of Able Corporation and creating its mission Statement (see information below)? Where would you look for the information (i.e., basically, a mission statement should say who your company is, what you do, what you stand for and why you do it - so this information can come from the owner of the company and you can also make inferences--see attachment of a sample report)? What do you know about Able that can help? (All the information presented above in the assingment?read information below on Mission statement and you will understand how this information fits with the mission statement).
Writing a Mission Statement
One of the hardest things for people to write in a business plan is the mission statement. Mission statements can tell a lot about your business, so it's important to take time, look at some mission statement examples, and put effort into writing a good one.
What is a Mission Statement?
You should think of a mission statement as a cross between a slogan and an executive summary. Just as slogans and executive summaries can be used in many ways so too can a mission statement. An effective mission statement should be able to tell your company story and ideals in less than 30 seconds.
How should I write a Mission Statement?
Here are some basic guidelines in writing a mission statement for Able Corporation:
? A mission statement should say who your company is, what you do, what you stand for and why you do it.
? An effective mission statement is best developed with input by all the members of an organization.
? The best mission statements tend to be 3-4 sentences long.
? Avoid saying how great you are, what great quality and what great service you provide.
? Examine other company's mission statements, but make certain your statement is you and not some other company.
That is why you should not copy a statement.
? Make sure you actually believe in your mission statement, if you don't, it's a lie, and your customers will soon realize it.
For more information on mission statements, see sample mission statements at http://www.bplans.com/dp/missionstatement.cfm and one example below.
Example: Studio 67 Mission Statement
Studio67 is a medium-sized restaurant focusing on organic foods and an intriguing atmosphere, in a prime neighborhood of Portland.
Mission Statement: Studio67 is a great place to eat, combining an intriguing atmosphere with excellent, interesting food that is also very good for the people who eat there. We want fair profit for the owners, and a rewarding place to work for the employees.
Using this or other examples from this site, you are now in a position to write your mission statement for Able Corporation.
Mission Statement: Able Corporation is a ??
2. What principle would you use in order to prioritize the implementation steps needed to accomplish the strategic objectives?
The Mission Statement and the vision statement are the guiding principles needed to accomplish the strategic objectives of Able Corporation.
BUSINESS PLANNING - CREATING AND IMPLEMENTING BUSINESS PLANS
Marketing Planning
Finance Planning
People Planning
Product Planning
Supply Planning
The core of your business plan is your vision for the future. From this vision, you will be able to set objectives for various parts of the business and these objectives will need to be well communicated to all involved to ensure a coherent approach to the tasks in hand. Your business objectives are statements about what you want individual parts of the business to achieve. You may, for instance, have a series of objectives about the financial side of the business, or about its products and services, or about your marketing. The objectives you set create a 'strategy' for the business.
MARKETING PLANNING
From the analysis carried out, you will no doubt have set some objectives about marketing. 'Marketing' is a very broad area of the business - indeed there are likely to be marketing implications associated with almost all your objectives.
Your marketing plan will include detail about:
- your products and /or services
- the place in which you sell them and the way that you distribute them
- the price you charge for them
- the promotion you undertake
These are commonly described as the '4Ps' of marketing.
The plan will show your intention of how you will undertake the full range of marketing ...
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