Paper 4

Week 3 Assignment: Case Analysis Abraham’s Grocery

Assignment: You will prepare a 4 page paper for your instructor to grade.  A page is considered 300 words. The paper will include a title page, research page and follow APA format.

Develop a response that includes examples and evidence to support your ideas, and which clearly communicates the required message to your audience. Organize your response in a clear and logical manner as appropriate for the genre of writing. Use well-structured sentences, audience-appropriate language, and correct conventions of standard American English.

Step 1:

Use the attached case scenario called Abraham’s Grocery. This will provide the background information necessary for the case analysis.

Step 2:

Read the case scenario located in the additional resources of this week.

Step 3:

The success of the Abraham’s Grocery was a result of the entrepreneurial sprit of Bill and Doris Abraham. The same passion to create a cutting edge and vibrant business model is present in small business owners of today. However, what comes with success is a disparity between exiting and desired performance levels and a resistance to change.  As documented in the case outline, there is a growing dissatisfaction among store managers as to the visibility of products related to their various departments. A consultant was hired and her plan resolved each of these conflicts in a cohesive manner. Due to the success of these changes, there has been a dramatic increase in profits and this has brought attention from the Holyn Grocery Conglomerate to merge the Abraham Grocery Chain in their own business.

After reading the case outline and the above information, answer the following:

1. The decision to merge the business will bring great profits and challenges to the personal convictions of the Abrahams of why they started the business in the first place.  Assume the decision has been made by the Abrahams to merge their business with that of the Holyn Grocery Conglomerate.

Identify 5 approaches that you would use as tactics for overcoming the resistance to change and when/how you would use them.

2. In support of the plan to merge with the Holyn Grocery Conglomerate, develop an implementation plan that includes a strategy for the change-over and documents  the costs/benefits in order to create a seamless transition of the Abraham business model to that of the Holyn Grocery for the following areas:

·         Organizational Development

·         Human Capital

·         Customer Relationships

·         Product/Service Innovation  

3. Considering where you either currently work or have worked, do you think a merger or acquisition would have or can be beneficial to the long-term success of the company. Why or why not?

Paper 11

Week 3 Assignment: The Newcomer

Assignment:You will prepare a 4 page paper for your instructor to grade.  A page is considered 300 words. The paper will include a title page, research page and follow APA format.

Develop a response that includes examples and evidence to support your ideas, and which clearly communicates the required message to your audience. Organize your response in a clear and logical manner as appropriate for the genre of writing. Use well-structured sentences, audience-appropriate language, and correct conventions of standard American English.

Step 1:

The small town of Loki, population of 2000, is the county seat for Williams County, population 4000. The county is governed by three elected commissioners, two males and one female all in their late 60’s. Each has served three consecutive terms of four years and all were elected at the same time. Their view of organizational democracy and decision making is based upon an authoritative management style. Decisions have been made regarding county operations without any public participation. As a result, conflicts have arisen between the elected department heads and especially the newly elected 30 year old female county auditor.  This young woman has grown up in the town of Loki and is very well known as her whole family still lives in Loki and generations have lived there for over 100 years. She was previously an auditor with the Department of Defense, has completed her MBA, and passed the CPA exam. Needless to say, she is well qualified for the job as auditor!  She is very ambitious in wanting to implement financial controls and take over the preparation of the county budget. This ambition has created many conflicts with the county commissioners in how to best serve the needs of the voters of Williams County.

Step 2:

Considering the above case outline, answer the following:

1: In the first days of being in office Karla came to realize the visibility of her position, the authority she possessed, and the expectations placed on her to perform her job as a female.  As a newcomer, it was important for her to accomplish the following items: learn the culture, feel recognized, become involved, and develop job competencies.  How should she solicit information for each tactic?  What do you see as the ultimate outcome of her inquiries?

2: During her campaign she promised to take back the duties of managing the county budget which stood at $29 million for the previous year. The budget had been prepared and managed by the county commissioners for the last 12 years; however the state law designates this to be the duty of the county auditor. The involvement of the previous auditor, sheriff, treasurer, and prosecutor was non-existent in creating their budgets. Karla decided it was best to set up a group of the sheriff, treasurer and prosecutor and herself to create the budget without the inclusion of the county commissioners.

In order for this group to be effective, what group model should be followed and why?

In the end, the auditor did not want the symptoms of groupthink to be an issue.  Using the document titled, “8 Main Symptoms of Groupthink” located in the additional resources, what would you utilize as a remedy for each symptom and why?

3: Have you ever been involved in a work group needing to make a decision?   What was your experience like and was the desired outcome achieved? Why or Why not?