Planning the Future at Galaxy Dissertation Essay Help

The toy industry is very fickle and innovation is critical. Sales for January 2017 showed only a 3% rise over January 2016 leaving the company managers concerned about meeting projected sales
targets for 2017. In a 30-month plan, George Jepson, Jr., as CEO, together with Edward Mercury, CFO, set long-term goals for the company to include the following:
increase sales unrelated to NASA toys by 22 percent; reduce company-wide costs by 5 percent within 15 months and 11.2 percent by the end of the plan; create new technology based action toys; use
innovative technology in production to increase efficiency; reduce carbon footprint by 5 percent. In November 2016, the long term planning team began to select the newest Galaxy product line. The
choice of the right product design will hopefully stop the slump in sales and jump start growth. Tomorrow, February 4, 2017 is the final meeting of the planning team. The team will choose between
three options:
produce 1 million Payload Nine toys or MMTJE1 for Christmas 2017; produce 1 million Payload Nine toys for Christmas 2017 and 1 million MMTJE1 for Christmas 2018; produce 1.5 million MMTJE1 toys for
Christmas 2018. The products have different production requirements. Payload Nine is designed to complement the International NASA Space Station series. Payload Nine is geared to the 7-10 age
groups and contains building blocks to make the space shuttle with emphasis on the cargo hold and its loading arm.
Focus group results suggest that Payload Nine will sell well but it is not a “wow” product in the eyes of the group. It is not a trendsetting toy. The introduction of Payload Nine is estimated to
jump NASA sales by 6.8%. Payload Nine requires little change on the production floor and supplies are easily obtainable. Production could begin May 1, 2016 and completed in time for the Christmas
toy market. No additional personnel would be needed and existing production would not be delayed. Production costs would fit within the current year’s budget.
The other project “Moon Mission to Jupiter’s Europa” (MMTJE1) is a 3D engineered of the Curiosity vehicle used to. explore Mars. The toy is operated remotely allowing a child and parent to launch
the capsule “Juno 1” craft, 500 ft. in the air, unload the rover called Galileo and move it along all terrain surfaces. Galileo takes pictures remotely and sends them to a cell phone. The toy is
geared for the age 11-15 market but can be used with younger children as long as there is adult supervision. The toy is made from a 3D printer and consists of a plastic capsule and rover base with
electronics added separately in production. [Not sure what 3D printing is, view http://3dprinting.com/what-is-3d-printing/]
Focus group results suggest that it is a “wow’ product and would also encourage sales of related toys and books as Jupiter’s Moon Europa has been deemed by scientists as the most accessible and
likely place to support habitable life as we know it to be. Children can view pictures and imagine a Moon currently covered in ice as a new space frontier adventure. An interactive video game is
also envisioned. It will be the first intergalactic action toy that Galaxy Toys has ever produced. MMTJE1 is estimated to bring a 15% increase in unrelated NASA sales if rolled out in 2017 and
21.6% increase if rolled out in 2018. However, MMTJE1 is not production-friendly at this point.
The new production equipment, electronics, computer programming and trained personnel would not see production beginning before November of 2017. Anticipated budget costs of $450,000 necessitating
a budget increase of $300,000 over all five plants would be needed. In order to meet the October deadline for Christmas 2017 sales additional labor would be needed with a cost increase of 20% over
the projected $450,000 budget costs. In addition, the push would necessitate significant rescheduling of current production and likely require factory workers to put in overtime. Finally, the rush
would be predicated on the assumption that production problems would not occur.
Keith Wisternick, VP of Production, has the job of aligning all the production teams for Galaxy Toys, and more specifically, he is the person that ensures that each of the plants are capable of
producing toys that meet the quality standards of Galaxy Toys in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Also, part of Keith’s job is to provide valuable input into the long-term planning process
of the company. Every two years, Keith and his counterparts in the other departments meet to determine the new product line for the upcoming two years. They are presented with new ideas that have
been developed by the Design and Engineering Department.
After soliciting input for recommendations on the toys that would most likely meet the company’s future objectives, the Board of Directors narrowed the choices to Payload Nine and Moon Mission to
Jupiter’s Europa 1 (MMTJE1).
As VP of Production, Keith is very aware that his recommendation and vote lends great influence to the outcome. Lucky for Keith, he is not expected to provide his recommendation without first
delegating some researching responsibilities to others. One person that he relies upon for research and analysis is Itza Yu who is a Production Manager. Yu has been tasked with creating a SWOT
analysis for Keith’s review. However, Yu has not had any prior experience with creating this type of information. Keith has provided the following source to help him:
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm
Step 4: Create the introductory paragraph. Within this paragraph, provide a brief overview of the scenario. Then, provide a thesis statement and tell the reader the main topics covered in the
paper. The introductory paragraph is the first paragraph of the paper but is typically written after writing the body of the paper (Questions students responded to above). View this website to
learn how to write an introductory paragraph: http://www.writing.ucsb.edullaculty/donelan/intro.html
Step 5: SWOT Analysis
Task 1: Assume the role of Itza Yu. Create a SWOT analysis table for Keith. If you need to know how to create a table, view: How to Insert a Table in a Microsoft Word Document.
Task 2: Using the facts that have been provided in the case scenario and company profile as well as your own research on the toy industry. Note: it is necessary to do the research on the toy
industry to create the SWOT correctly so here is where you can use the external sources. Choose your source documents wisely!
Step 6: Strengths & Weaknesses
Task 1: To assist further Keith, Itza Yu must also provide a detailed explanation as to what considerations led to the determination that certain facts should be classified as “strengths” while
others were classified as “weaknesses.” In other words, it’s not enough to list various strengths and weaknesses, but instead, Itza Yu must explain “why” these facts were included in the analysis.
Step 7: Recommendation
Task 1: Lastly, Itza Yu must recommend the best long-term planning decision for Keith’s approval. In this report, Yu must explain the analysis and factors used in evaluating the vision, mission,
long-term goals and SWOT analysis of the company that led to the conclusions that formed the basis of the decision. Remember, what Yu presents has to be accurate and well supported since Keith will
make this recommendation to the Long-term Planning Committee.
Step 8: Part Two: Short Term Production Goals and Objectives
Read critically and analyze the following scenario:
The Board of Directors has decided to accept the recommendation to roll out the “Moon Mission to Jupiter’s Europa 1” for the holiday season of 2017. In a virtual meeting, led by Itza Yu, the
production managers have had a “brainstorming” session and have created a list of short-term goals and objectives.
In reviewing the list, Itza Yu noted that some of the items on the list are sound short-term goals and objectives while others are not and therefore, should be removed. He also noted that some of
the items do not fit well with the company’s vision and mission and will need to be eliminated.