1. Kaylee.
As the year ended there were several aspects in which were a success, but as with anything else there were also some failures. A business should examine their progress after each year and determine changes that need to be made in future quarters. According to Mosca (2017), “I believe you should always start working on your next year strategy about four months in advance of the new year. It awards you enough time to make an impact on your final quarter, and lay the groundwork for making sure your next fiscal year starts off on a solid footing” (p.1). If i were tasked to continue working so Hisco I would ensure I don’t make the same mistake that I did in Q2.
In Q2 I made a deal with the vendor to keep a min quantity of raw materials purchased throughout the year for a discounted rate. I made the mistake of not maintaining that minimum quantity therefore I received a penalty expense and my per price unit went up. If I were to do the quarter over I would not make the negotiation with the vendor. It put Hisco in a bind to meet a min when we weren’t in a position to do so. We were not able to keep up with production with the resources and labor that we currently have therefore we couldn’t afford to keep excess raw material inventory either. So therefore Q2 wouldn’t have been my biggest adjustment if I were to redo the simulation again.
Mosca, L. (2017, October 18). Buisness planning for 2018, and how to cash in on the new year (Links to an external site.). Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/louismosca/2017/10/18/business-planning-for-2018/#6f5b12f6692d
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2. Carson.
I would replay Q1 without a doubt. I was shaky in my decision making as I learned how the simulation functioned and I did not do a great job truly leveraging all of my resources to have an effective quarter. Ultimately, I led HISCO to victory but I had to play catch up to repair damage I did in Q1. Fotsch & Case (2017) explain that step #2 of Six tips for planning a great year is to do your homework and that a good plan requires different kinds of data such as sales, costs, and other financial figures. The way I took in and processed the information was all over the place, and by Q4 I had built a more methodical approach where I would review the previous quarter’s results & BID, read emails, conduct the role plays, then begin to carefully model my plan and track impact to pre-tax NI and cash flow along the way.
In Q1 I also led too much with my heart and based on real world experience and I did not spend enough time reviewing all of my data to truly understand how each of the levers interconnected. Mosca (2017) adds that you should approach the new year as if you are going to war and for that you should develop a strategic plan with your key people. I wanted to rebuild infrastructure and support my team and I heavily over-funded many aspects of the business that did not provide a solid return. This forced me to cut costs significantly and it wasn’t until Q3 that I eroded debt and started seeing a proper cash flow. I also did terrible in Q1 on selecting and leveraging my role plays and did not gain much quantitatively or qualitatively. I called Mr. Sloane to check in and he just reminded me about not adjusting price greater than 20% which I already knew and my phone calls to the sales team and hospital buyers did not yield anything of value either. It wasn’t until follow on Role Plays where I started to better understand how I could negotiate a cash infusion, enhance throughout, and improve employee training and effectiveness all under the key learning that again I had heavily over-funded advertising and marketing and under-funded R&D. Overall I learned a lot of valuable skills in this simulation and I’m very thankful AU wraps up the MBA this way. I wish we could have done something similar more frequently throughout the curriculum because it was absolutely value added to learn this way. Thoroughly enjoyed it!
References:
Fotsch, B., & Case, J. (2017, September 5). Six tips for planning a great 2018 (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.). Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/fotschcase/2017/09/05/six-tips-for-planning-a-great-2018/2/#634dece01060
Mosca, L. (2017, October 18). Buisness planning for 2018, and how to cash in on the new year (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.). Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/louismosca/2017/10/18/business-planning-for-2018/#6f5b12f6692d
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Reflections Discussion-
Prior to beginning this discussion thread, read Business planning for 2018, and how to cash in on the New Year and Six Tips for Planning a great 2018. Now that you have made it through four quarters of running HISCO, you have learned a tremendous amount of information regarding production planning, staffing, negotiations, budgeting, variances, and more. If you had the opportunity to replay any one quarter, which quarter would it be, what decisions would you change, and why? In 150 words or more, discuss what changes you would make.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your fellow students’ posts in a substantive manner and provide information or concepts that they may not have considered. Support your position by using information from the week’s readings. You are encouraged to post your required replies earlier in the week to promote more meaningful and interactive discourse in this discussion forum.
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Could you please respond to 2 classmates’s discussions. 1. Kaylee and 2. Carson.
You may start : “ Hi Kaylee , I agree with you because ….”. ( for example). 1 page should be enough for 2 replies:
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