You should begin working on the Stand-Alone Project early in the course. Each lesson provides a benchmark for completing the Stand-Alone Project in a timely manner while working through the course. You will find this information in the “Stand-Alone Project Benchmark” section of each lesson. (200 points) (A 10-page response is required for the combination of Parts A, B, and C.)

Instructions: For the Stand Alone Project, you will use the concepts you have learned to analyze a CEO’s leadership abilities. Select a current or former CEO of your choosing. The CEO you choose does not necessarily have to be a successful or popular CEO. The person you choose may be, or have been, very unsuccessful or unpopular. However, you should find him or her to be interesting and a good example of many of the concepts you have studied in this course.  You will want to choose someone fairly well known or, more specifically, someone well documented in order to have ample material for your analysis.  You are required to review a minimum of (6) sources of information about the CEO in order to form your own conclusions and to obtain significant data relating to all the required concepts.

Part A Introduction: Provide a 1-2 paragraph synopsis of your entire paper, similar to the abstract of a journal article. In the introduction, you should summarize the topic and your conclusions.

Part B Career Overview: This portion of your paper should provide a comprehensive overview of the CEO’s career, highlights, achievements, and significant events. You must have a minimum of six (6) sources.  These sources may be newspaper or magazine articles, books, or corporate press releases. The Ashworth College Proquest library also may provide articles for your review.

In your search, do not focus simply on articles about the CEO. You should also attempt to find articles and/or books about the organization during the time the CEO was in charge. In addition, you should search for any written works by the CEO, which may provide excellent insight into him or her. Review as many sources as necessary to develop an in-depth understanding of the leader and his or her style of leadership.

 

Part C Conclusions and Examples: In this section, draw conclusions regarding the CEO’s leadership, focusing on the topics covered in the text. In addition to drawing conclusions, you must support your evaluation with specific behavioral examples drawn from your research. For example, if you were to state that Mr. Smith was clearly a highly extroverted individual; you would need to provide some evidence for that conclusion. You might state, “It is clear that Mr. Smith was highly extroverted based on numerous examples of his desire to be in the limelight. At an early age,

Mr. Smith joined drama and debate teams and ran for class offices. Once he joined the corporate arena, Mr. Smith’s colleagues consistently described him as ‘the life of the party.’” You must address the following concepts, or topics, in your Conclusions section.

1. Personality and Leadership Style

2. Courage and Moral Leadership

3. Culture and Values

4. Communication

5. Motivation and Empowerment

6. Power and Influence

7. Vision and Strategic Direction

Please keep in mind that the objective of this section is to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the required concepts, or topics. These topics are fairly broad and require a significant amount of discussion to demonstrate full knowledge. As a rule of thumb, you should cover no fewer than two (2) subtopics to sufficiently cover any given topic. For example, to discuss personality and leadership style fully, I might choose to discuss the Big-Five model: locus of control, authoritarianism, Theory X and Y, and charisma. I would choose these concepts both because they give a good overview of the topic I am required to cover and because the information I have gathered on the CEO I have chosen includes several examples I can use to illustrate these concepts. As I mentioned above, the CEO you choose does not necessarily need to demonstrate superior performance or glowing examples of the concepts. You may cite examples that demonstrate a lack of charisma.

Introduction

Today’s business environment is characterized by competitive intensity that requires innovative thinking and strategic decision-making competencies. As a business professional, it is essential that you apply the principles of design thinking and strategic decision-making to positively influence the effectiveness of a business in its markets. In this task, you will provide a market entry overview, using the following scenario.

Scenario

A U.S. fishing boat manufacturer is known throughout the United States for its innovative approach to product design, lean manufacturing, and responsive customer service since its start three years ago. The mission statement of the company is “We will provide the most innovative customer-driven design and growth in the industry.” The founders’ ideals for the company are described in the vision statement: “We will be the most sustainable company in the industry.” The company’s ethical statement that guides all conduct and decision-making is “We will make decisions that are sustainable for customers and the environment.” The company’s founders have created an organizational culture of innovation. They have provided incentives for employees’ creative ideas and created testing laboratories where customers use the products and provide design feedback. The founders have also invited innovators in other industries, such as gaming and information technology, to improve on the designs. The founders have cultivated a company culture in which employees and founders are considered equal partners. The company structure is decentralized, and all employees can access the founders at any time for collaboration, shared decision-making, or relationship building. All company decisions are evaluated by all employees to ensure that everyone is committed to the decisions. The company has identified an emerging global market opportunity in India for its products. Successful sales in India could represent a critical moment for the company if the company establishes strategic partnerships that will increase the likelihood of product success. The founders hope to capture profits and market share and expand into other parts of Asia within the first year of selling products in India. Research indicates market potential for the company’s sales in India because of the importance of the fishing industry in the country. Fishing and aquaculture are primary industries in the coastal regions of India. Economic zones have been established to support the over 14 million people who are an important part of the fishing industry. This industry makes up 1% of the nation’s gross domestic product and 7% of global fish exports (Hanko Hackberry Group, n.d.). The company’s goal of the market expansion into India is to be the first foldable fishing boat manufacturer reaching the country. An origami-inspired foldable fishing boat is the company’s most popular product. This boat comes designed as a plastic carrying case that unfolds into the water like an origami paper boat. This boat is suitable for uses in calm water, and the boat can be recycled. The product retails for U.S.$200. Traditional fishers use nonmechanized boats, which would be ideal for the foldable boat’s entry into the market. Laws and regulations surrounding the use of nonmechanized boats favor importing foldable boats, which would be easy for fishers to carry from home to the water. The business climate in India is open to new partnerships to improve the fishing experience for those who preserve the natural ecosystem with nonmotorized boats. The National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) promotes the use of natural fishing equipment to reduce disruption to the fishing ecosystem in India (National Fisheries Development Board, n.d.). The U.S. boat manufacturer’s founders met with the NFDB to request an endorsement for their foldable boats because of the product’s sustainable design and net-zero environmental impact. The founders discovered that the NFDB would only endorse the boat if it was made of plastics used in India, in order to reduce the waste products in the nation’s landfills. This endeavor would require the U.S. company to make a significant investment in India. The company would need to purchase or build a manufacturing facility, or it would need to contract with a facility owner to secure a manufacturing location. It would need to employ Indian workers. Lastly, the company would have to manufacture a new foldable boat made from used plastics in India with an environmentally friendly waterproof coating. The new foldable boat could be designed in several ways, and the company would need to test a series of paper products and waterproof coatings to determine which would be suitable for fishers in India. The fishers range in age from 13 to 70, so the design would need to be comfortable and portable enough for all fishers in this target group. The company decides to hire Indian fishers to help design the product to reach this market. These fishers will provide qualitative, open-ended conversations and data that will be valuable in communicating the product’s features and benefits to other fishers. The product will be tested by a variety of fishers that represent different sectors of the fishing industry, different regions, and different cultural segments. Testing will provide generalizable, qualitative data about the product use and effectiveness.

Requirements

Your submission must be your original work. No more than a combined total of 30% of the submission and no more than a 10% match to any one individual source can be directly quoted or closely paraphrased from sources, even if cited correctly. The originality report that is provided when you submit your task can be used as a guide.

 

A.  Discuss aspects of the company from the provided scenario by doing the following:

1.  Describe in detail how each of the following aspects from the scenario affect the company’s decision-making process:

•  company culture

•  organizational structure

•  strategic direction, including mission and vision statements

2.  Describe in detail how the company’s culture could affect the market entry strategy.

3.  Discuss in detail whether the organizational structure is an advantage or disadvantage to the company and explain why.

 

B.  Discuss the company’s product from the provided scenario by doing the following:

1.  Describe specific characteristics of the emerging market that affect the company’s product.

2.  Discuss in detail how either a new product or an improvement to the company’s existing product would meet the market characteristics identified in part B1.

a.  Include details of each of the steps the company would take in the design thinking process for the new or improved product from part B2.

b.  Choose three of the following aspects from the scenario, and provide a detailed discussion of their effect on the design thinking process for the new or improved product from part B2:

•  company culture

•  emerging market culture

•  company ethics

•  emerging market ethics

•  organizational structure

•  global legal systems

3.  Discuss in detail how the company’s ethical statement from the scenario influences the market entry strategy.

 

C.  Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.

D.  Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.

Reference List

Hanko Hackberry Group. (n.d.). Fisheries industry. Retrieved from http://investinindia.com/industry/fisheries/fisheries-industry

 

National Fisheries Development Board. (n.d.). About Indian fisheries. Retrieved from http://nfdb.gov.in/about-indian-fisheries.htm

Read:

• Required
  • Cooper, T. L. (2012). The responsible administrator: An approach to ethics for the administrative role(6th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
    • Chapter 3: Public Administration in Modern and Postmodern Society: The Context of Administrative Ethics
    • Chapter 4: Administrative Responsibility: The Key to Administrative Ethics
  • Module notes

View:

• Required
  • Online videos:
    • Films Media Group. (Producer). (2013). Disaster investigation(Links to an external site.) [Films On Demand video file] [4 min 12 sec]. In The space shuttle: A horizon guide. Retrieved from http://vlib.excelsior.edu/login?url=http://digital.films.
      vlib.excelsior.edu/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=8496&xtid=52582&loid=197605

 

• Columbia Shuttle Clip. Triumph and Tragedy(Links to an external site.).  British Broadcasting Corporation. 40:09-52:02 Retrieved from: https://vlib.excelsior.edu/login?url=https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/2305510/clip/144075 (Links to an external site.)

 

• (2013). Case study: NASA Columbia accident investigation board(Links to an external site.) [Video file] [4 min 13 sec]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X15n6DuP8qU

Module 2: Module Notes: Administrative Context in a Postmodern World

Cooper (2012) emphasizes the importance of understanding one’s role in public administration within the social, cultural, and political context in which the administrator functions. This understanding aids the administrator in identifying ethical dilemmas and developing realistic responses to these dilemmas within that administrative context.

In this scenario, we will examine the social, cultural, and political factors in which The Pedestrian Advocates of Excelsiorville (PAE) operates. Also, we will consider the impact on PAE of operating in a postmodern world.

Reference

Cooper, T. L. (2012). The responsible administrator: An approach to ethics for the administrative role (6th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

 

Key Considerations for PAE

 

Considering Excelsiorville’s size (approximately 50,000 in population), PAE must account for the culture of the town as well as its social strata. PAE’s key focus is on advocating for pedestrians and cyclists; hence, it must have detailed knowledge of the town’s governance structure as well as the relevant ordinances and proposals that could impact its constituents. Knowing the political leanings and key policy concerns of the city council members could aid PAEin achieving its advocacy goals, or at least make the organization more nimble in trying to navigate the politics involved. When determining where to most effectively channel its limited resources, PAE should consider what policy initiatives and activities will most likely receive buy-in from the citizens of Excelsiorville, from the city council members, and from the City Manager.

 

Administrative Context for PAE

 

These, and other, social, cultural, and political aspects make up the administrative context for PAE. It is within this context that PAE must compete for resources and make decisions; for instance, about how it can fulfill its mission. As the Executive Director, Amber should consider that it is quite difficult for a public administrator in a postmodern society to escape the politics involved both inside and outside of a public organization. Further, she should consider how difficult it can be to separate her public administrator role from her role as a citizen, particularly in a community the size of Excelsiorville.

 

Ethical Dilemmas for PAE

 

It is within this administrative context and postmodern society that ethical dilemmas arise. These might be due to conflicts of interest, conflicting administrative responsibilities, or the complexity involved when operating in a political environment. In resolving these dilemmas, public administrators refine their own ethical codes and develop their personal leadership style.

 

 

Module 2: Module Notes: Identifying Responsibilities

Now that we have considered PAE’s administrative context, it is instructive to identify Amber’s subjective and objective responsibilities in her role as PAE’s Executive Director. We will also consider how conflicts can generally arise within these responsibilities.

Cooper (2012) defines objective responsibilities as “expectations imposed from outside ourselves” and these include responsibility to supervisors, subordinates, the law, elected officials, and the citizenry. Cooper (2012) defines subjective responsibilities as internal feelings of responsibility, which are expressions of one’s beliefs and character traits.

We can identify Amber’s objective and subjective responsibilities as follows.

Amber’s Objective Responsibility

 

• The PAE Board of Directors (although she is the top administrator for PAE, she still answers to the Board and they have the power to remove her)
• Her subordinates
• The law (this would include state statutes governing non-profit organizations, local ordinances that impact her organization, its employees, and its constituents, and any case law interpreting these statutes and ordinances)
• Elected officials
• The citizens of Excelsiorville

Amber’s Subjective Responsibility

Amber has subjective responsibility to:

• Her general attitude toward her constituents and employees
• Her beliefs about the role of non-profit organizations
• Her beliefs about following the law
• Her loyalty to the organization
• Her role in maintaining good morale and team spirit for her staff
• Her own sense of morality

 

Expert Talk

Cooper (2012) indicates that conflicting responsibilities can arise when we experience competing expectations, especially when the situation makes the administrator feel “damned if I do, damned if I don’t.” We will explore these conflicts in greater depth in Module 3 when we look at the material from Chapter 5. Also, in Module 3, we will specifically examine the conflicts Amber faces.

 

ASSIGNMENTS:

M2D1: Context of Administrative Ethics

This discussion provides an opportunity to examine a real-world example of an administrative context and its impact on a leader’s personal ethic and response to ethical dilemmas. In this discussion, you will also reflect on how the administrator could maintain responsibility to the public and other stakeholders in the given context.

Respond to the following:

• Select a public organization with which you are familiar. Briefly describe that organization, identifying the administrative context in which its leadership operates.
• How could or does the organization’s administrative context impact the way its leaders design responses to ethical dilemmas that arise in the organization?
• How can administrators effectively maintain their responsibility to the public and other stakeholders in the context you have described?

Post your primary response (approximately 500 words)

M2D2: Subjective & Objective Responsibility

Public administrators cannot separate themselves from the political role they play, and they have been given more discretion and more policymaking power than ever before. They face accountability in terms of their objective and subjective responsibilities. In this discussion, you will reflect on these responsibilities and decide how to make ethical decisions when these responsibilities are in conflict.

Respond to the following:

• Describe what objective and subjective responsibilities exist for your current or desired administrator role.
• Describe an incident where you faced, or could face, a conflict in meeting these responsibilities.
• Analyze how you did or could make ethical decisions in the face of these conflicting responsibilities, weighing your personal beliefs, attitudes, and values against your objective responsibilities.

Post your primary response (approximately 500 words)

M2A1: Case Study#1—NASA & Columbia

On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas as it was re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere. The seven astronauts on board were killed and NASA faced intense scrutiny in the wake of this tragedy. The day after the launch, NASA officials discovered that a piece of foam had broken off the external fuel tank, potentially impacting the shuttle’s left wing and damaging some of the heat-shield tiles. The ethical dilemma created by the foam strike incident meant NASA had several options it could take regarding the possibility that Columbia might not survive re-entry. These included:

1. Not finding out if the foam strike had damaged any tiles and not telling the Columbia crew.
2. Finding out if the foam had damaged tiles, but not telling the crew.
3. Finding out if the foam had damaged tiles, and telling the crew.
4. Not finding out whether tiles were damaged, but warning the crew it could be possible.

In the paper for this case study, you will put yourself in the shoes of the NASA administrator making the final decision on this ethical dilemma. This should include consideration of the relevant administrative context and of your objective and subjective responsibilities in your role. Note that you should maintain your focus on yourself as the individual administrator, not on the organization as a whole. This case study will be used to examine ethics at the organizational level in a later module.

For this assignment, review this week’s materials on NASA and the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and conduct your own research. In a 3-4 page paper:

• Describe the administrative context within which you as a NASA administrator would have been operating when making your decision about Columbia. Describe how this context impacted your decision.
• Comment on the objective and subjective responsibilities you would have had as that NASA administrator.
• Defend your decision using one of the ethical theories studied in Module 1.

 

 

 

Could someone answer several questions of the following? Just please answer what you make sure, don’t need all of them:

Too little, you may miss your milestone and next round will be costly, if available at all

Too much, current round is too costly. Too much dilution and tendency to waste it.

Like Goldilocks, it should be just right.

Market for capital is very cyclical.

Reached $100 billion is 1999, and dropped to $10 billion by 2009, and was not exceeded again until 2018 and 2019. This year? Who knows but it won’t be much.

How to determine needs?

TRADITIONAL – Build a cash flow statement projection. Generally out 4 to 5 years. Always do monthly or at least quarterly. Why?

Seasonality. Can kill companies. Think of a snowboard company that one of my students had. Received lots of money in winter. None in summer. But when did he need to buy materials? Yup, in the summer. Better have saved enough cash or was able to finance it.

Determine your key drivers/assumptions of cash flow growth.

STARTUP – Revenues and expenses highly variable and subjective, especially revenues.

 

Many factors are binary, as there are many ways to go.   Think of coming to a series of forks in the road.  Rather than a normal distribution like this: (See the picture -1)

It’s either a winner or loser, not much middle ground.

Some do 2 or 3 projections.

– most likely scenario

– worst case scenario

– best case (but why bother with this one?)

Be careful with spreadsheets, they may imply a fake sense of precision. That doesn’t mean don’t do one. Just understand the limitations and assumptions. Be flexible, not rigid. Use high level quick and dirty projections as a gut check.

What absorbs the most capital?

1) Obviously capital assets. Equipment, buildings, vehicles, but also patents. Lease if you can. You can even lease (license) a patent rather than reinvent the wheel. Lease rates may seem high but they’re cheaper than VCs. Also capital assets are less these days.

Use the cloud for computer hardware/software. Generally incurred up front first year, unless deferred thru leasing (preferred).

2) Product development. R&D. Cost of engineers and developers. Less upfront than capex but mostly in early years 1-3.

Least deferrable, must be paid. #1 priority. Without it you have no product.

3) Sales & marketing. Engineers often forget this or don’t think it’s important. “Build the best mousetrap and they will come.” Not!

Often the biggest component of expense. Comes later. Years 2-4. Can be deferred but revenue growth will suffer.

4) Working capital (inventory & receivables). Also often overlooked. Cash versus accrual problem when projecting. Also can be very seasonal. Think farmers, ski resorts, campgrounds, sports. Affects all growing businesses all years.

5) Lastly leadership and admin. Most discretionary as leaders & execs can take equity vs. cash. Often paid out greatest in exit strategy.

See working capital models on pages 86 & 87 in the book. Ex. 4.2 and 4.3. See how growth sucks up capital.

If you can, develop a business model with positive working capital cash flows:

1) Gift cards

2) Loyalty programs. Points paid up front.

3) Some grocery stores, retailers, Walmart, although generally only if you are big. small guys must pay cash.

4) Insurance companies

5) Amazon (over 100 days!)

How do investors view the 5 spending buckets?

1) Capital assets? Nay. They would rather you lease.

2) R&D. Essential. High returns. These are the creators.

3) Leadership & admin. Leaders yes. Admin no. Outsource your HR, IT, and accounting.

4) Working capital. No. Deadweight. They won’t invest in businesses with negative 180 days working capital.

5) Sales & marketing. Almost as essential as R&D.

Click into this topic to discuss the mini cases in the pictures.(See the picture -2,-3,-4)

For mini case questions: answer 2 or 3 of them?

1. Mini case: Loyalty Scheme

Would this business be attractive to VCs?   Why or why not?   

What’s the biggest component of spending?  

What are the risks here?   How is this company likely to perform in a downturn like today?

2. Mini-case: Software business

Why are software businesses so attractive to venture capitalists?   

Why are they capable of providing very high returns?

But what are the risks of software companies?

3. Mini case: Bicycle components manufacturer

Why is this business ugly to VCs?

Although margins are relatively high (on an accrual basis) why is this not attractive?   (Hint; think of what the margins are on a cash basis.)

What is likely to be they’re biggest cost spend category?   How could they finance this if VCs won’t?

4. Mini case: Wireless broadband rollout

Would VCs be interested in funding this?

What would be a likely exit for investors?   Who would buy a company like this?   And who is likely to be your competitor(s)?

Why is debt a necessary component of the capital mix?   Are margins of this business likely to be high or low?   Why?

What is likely to happen to marginal revenue over time?

5. Cash flow projections – why bother with a best case?

When companies are projecting 2 or 3 scenarios, they need to prepare and position the company for the potential landscape they’ll be competing in over the next 1 to 5 years. While most would be interested in the most likely and the worst scenarios so that they can hedge against risk and forecast actions that would optimize the company’s revenue, the best case scenario is also crucial in order to plan for actions that would be required at that point. If the best case scenario unfolds and the company did not prepare for it, dollars could be wasted due to lack of repositioning in the stronger environment, opportunity costs incurred, and dollars left sitting instead of being put to work. Additionally, if a startup does not consider a best case scenario, they may also miss the opportunity of attracting additional investors and VC.