capella mba6123 all assessments latest 2017 april

Assessment 1 Preparation For this assessment locate a case study for one of the leading clothing retailers listed below and then search for additional information about the company’s international positioning strategies and challenges. Choose one of the following leading clothing retailers: Zara. The Gap. PVH Company which includes brands such as Calvin Klein Tommy Hilfiger and others. Select a case study for the retailer. You may use the Internet links provided in the Suggested Resources or another scholarly peerreviewed source such as a database in the Capella library. The case study must contain the following information in order for you to complete this assessment: Strategy for increasing market share in the global market (international positioning strategy). Information about how the company operates in a foreign market. Information about the business support systems for the strategy (technologies transport et cetera). Search current (within two years) professional and trade magazines and reputable business publications such as the Economist Forbes Bloomberg Businessweek and the Wall Street Journal for the following information: The retail company’s competitive edge or advantage. Information about laws and regulations that affect the operation of the company in foreign markets. Highlight two issues you think are most important. Information about challenges that might affect the competitive advantage or the implementation of the market share strategies. Highlight two issues you think are the most important. Scenario You are a business consultant with a firm that has been retained by a large national clothing retailer. Your client wants to expand into more global markets and increase market share. Your first task is to explain the strategies and problems of one of the top ten companies to your client as background information. Deliverable Write a succinct 2–3 page business report for your client. Begin the report with the title and URL of the case study you selected. Include in-text citations and a complete reference page to support your positions. There are many ways to create a business report to meet the criteria for this assessment. If you do not have experience writing business reports it would be beneficial to search and review examples on the Internet. The challenge in writing this report is to distill a wealth of information into a succinct easy-to-read business format for your client. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways: By creating subheadings to organize the information. By creating graphs or charts in addition to text to relay complex information. For example a simple chart could convey information about the legal or regulatory environment. By using bullets and phrases to convey pertinent information rather than writing long blocks of text. Address the following in your business report: Describe a clothing retailer’s international positioning strategy for increasing market share. Focus on one strategy you believe to be the most important. Summarize how the company’s business systems support the strategy. Explain legal and regulatory factors that contribute to the competitive advantage (labor supply health and safety regulations tariffs permits et cetera). Analyze the cultural factors that contribute to the company’s main competitive edge among retailers. Analyze the global challenges to maintaining and growing market share under the identified strategy. Additional Requirements Length: 2–3 pages including any charts graphs tables and references. References: Provide a minimum of nine reputable references integrated into the report where appropriate. When you compile data from multiple sources to create a table or graph cite your references at the bottom of the graphs or charts. Provide a minimum of three reputable references related to the legal environment including labor supply health and safety regulations tariffs permits et cetera. Provide a minimum of three reputable references related to the company’s competitive edge. Provide a minimum of three reputable references related to assessing the global challenges in the strategies for increasing market share. Communication: Write clearly and logically with correct use of spelling grammar punctuation and mechanics and correctly format citations using APA style. Assessment 2 Preparation For this assessment review the case of “Rapid-Fire Fulfillment” by Ferdows Lewis and Machuca linked in the Required Resources. Scenario As a business consultant in a large international organization your new client a large clothing retailer wants to understand and model its company according to the strategies used by the largest retailer Zara. Your task is to analyze Zara’s supply chain integration model and prepare a report for your client. Deliverable Write a 2–3 page supply chain design and optimization report for your client. Address the following in your report: Describe a global retail system designed for rapidly distributing products to stores worldwide. What system design has Zara implemented to guarantee a new garment to its 600-plus stores worldwide in a mere 15 days from the design production and delivery? Evaluate the implications of manufacturing and distributing products below capacity rather than operating at full capacity. What are the benefits of manufacturing and distributing products in small batches rather than pushing factories to maximize outputs? Analyze the social and economic effects of retaining nearly half of production in-house. Unlike so many of its peers which rush to outsource Zara keeps almost half of its production in-house. How does Zara do this? Assess the social and economic ramifications of operating a retail manufacturing facility for the day shift only. Would you run your factories just during the day shift as Zara did? Is this any way to run an efficient supply chain? Why? Recommend ethical strategies for supply chain design and optimization. Ensure that the report is in a succinct easy-to-read business format for your client. Additional Requirements Length: 2–3 pages including any charts graphs tables and references. References: Provide a minimum of nine reputable references integrated into the report where appropriate. When you are compiling data from multiple sources to create a table or graph cite your references at the bottom of the graphs or charts. Provide a minimum of three reputable references related to the legal environment including labor supply health and safety regulations tariffs permits et cetera. Provide a minimum of three reputable references related to the company’s competitive edge. Provide a minimum of three reputable references related to assessing the global challenges related to the strategies for increasing market share. Communication: Write clearly and logically with correct use of spelling grammar punctuation and mechanics and correctly format citations using APA style. Assessment 3 Preparation For this assessment search for a case study about Walmart operations and growth in China. Use the Internet links provided in the Suggested Resources to locate a case study that encompasses the issues listed below. Search current (within two years) professional and trade magazines and reputable business publications such as the Economist Forbes Bloomberg Businessweek and the Wall Street Journal for additional information and references. There are many templates and examples of how to write an executive summary on the Internet that you may wish to examine as you complete this assessment. Scenario One of your retail clients is developing a strategic plan for expanding into Chinese markets and has requested your recommendations for their global sourcing strategy implementation plan. Walmart’s experience in China is the perfect case to analyze for the client. Your task is to make recommendations for your client in the form of an executive summary. Deliverable Write a succinct 3–4 page executive summary of a global sourcing strategy implementation plan. Clearly indicate the title of the case study selected and provide the URL. Create a subheading for each major issue to logically organize your report. Consider creating graphs or charts in addition to text. Use bullets and phrases to convey information in an easy-to-read format. Address the following in your executive summary: Analyze a retailer’s global expansion failures in order to promote future global expansion success. What has Walmart learned from its failures in China? Analyze a global market segment and its fit with a low-price strategy. With China’s middle and upper classes so brand-conscious how is an everyday low-pricing strategy received? Describe the sourcing and logistics retail strategies for operating in the Chinese market. What are Walmart’s sourcing and logistics strategies in China? Describe the political legal and cultural challenges Western businesses need to consider when conducting business in the Chinese market. How is the political and business environment in China both conducive and detrimental to large Western companies like Walmart? Recommend essential components of a global sourcing implementation plan for your client that adhere to ethical and legal principles. What lessons were learned from the Walmart experience? What cultural differences exist and how do they impact the design of a global supply chain management system? How could supply chain components be maximized for optimum stability? Additional Requirements Length: 3–4 pages including any charts graphs tables and references. References: Provide a minimum of five references from reputable sources to support your positions. Integrate the references into the report where appropriate. When you compile data from multiple sources to create a table or graph cite your references at the bottom of the graphs or charts. Communication: Write clearly and logically with correct use of spelling grammar punctuation and mechanics and correctly format citations using APA style. Assessment 4 Preparation Search current (within two years) professional and trade magazines and reputable business publications such as the Economist Forbes Bloomberg Businessweek and the Wall Street Journal for information to complete this assessment. Use the Internet links provided in the Suggested Resources to aid in your research. Scenario Less than two years after opening 133 stores in Canada Target abandoned its expansion plan into Canada and abruptly closed all the Canadian stores. In your role as Walmart’s executive vice president of logistics you must assess new opportunities and challenges for Walmart’s supply chain as a result of the demise of Target in Canada. In one Canadian community for example the loss of Target is projected to create a 20 percent increase in demand at the local Walmart store. Deliverable Create a PowerPoint presentation to the board titled “Analysis of Target Exit From Canada on Supply Chain Capabilities.” Create a subheading for each major issue to help organize your report logically. Use bullets and phrases to convey information in an easy-to-read format. Consider incorporating graphics graphs or charts into your presentation. Write speaker’s notes for each slide. This is the commentary for each slide that you would provide during a live presentation. Include the following in your presentation: Evaluate how a retailer’s global supply chain strategy can be a source of competitive advantage. Where do you see the opportunities for Walmart in its global supply chain? What are the potential challenges? How does the supply chain align with the marketing strategy? Assess the impact of cultural differences on the global supply chain management and design. How is the supply chain design for Canadian stores impacted by cultural differences? Apply ethical and legal principles to the design of global supply chain strategies. How could changes in the supply chain affect supplier relationships? How could changes in the supply chain affect the origins of products? Recommend specific resource priorities to support the corporate supply chain strategy. How would you prioritize the analyses for the management and coordination of processes? Additional Requirements Slides: Create 8–10 slides with robust speaker’s notes for each slide. Use phrases and bullet points to covey your main points. The speaker’s notes should contain the explanation for each slide. References: Provide a minimum of 10 references from reputable sources to support your positions as the final slide. Communication: Write clearly and logically with correct use of spelling grammar punctuation and mechanics and correctly format citations using APA style. Assessment 5 Preparation For this assessment compare the supply chain systems of two large international retailers Target and Walmart. Use the Capella Library or the Internet links provided in the Suggested Resources to locate current information from reputable sources. Use the software of your choice to create charts and tables. Scenario According to recent newspaper articles Target had been experiencing serious problems with keeping stock on the shelves of some stores which cost the company customers and created bad publicity. As Walmart’s executive vice president of logistics the board wants you to prepare a comparison of the supply chains for Target and Walmart and to help Walmart think proactively about the future implications for Walmart’s supply chain. It is especially critical to examine the supply chain implications due to the anticipated 20 percent increase in demand within Canadian communities where Target has closed stores. Deliverables This assessment has two parts and a total of four deliverables. Clearly title each deliverable with the name of the retailer examined. Part 1 Deliverable: Create a supply chain flow chart for both companies: Identify the multichannel inventory strategies of Target and Walmart. Use bullet points and phrases to create an easy-to-read format. Part 2 Deliverable: Create a table or chart for both companies: Evaluate the key advantages of the retailers’ global supply chains. How does the one retailer’s global supply chain compare with the other retailer’s global supply chain? How are they different and how are they similar? What are the key advantages in how each company manages its global supply chain operations? Evaluate each company’s global supply chain challenges for the future. Additional Requirements Length: Four pages including the charts tables and references. References: Provide one final page of references from reputable sources—five references for each retailer—to support your positions. When you compile data from multiple sources to create a table or graph be sure to also cite your references at the bottom of the graphs or charts. Communication: Prepare professional graphs graphical reports and related materials using correct grammar mechanics and APA style and format. Assessment 6 Preparation Use the Internet links provided in the Suggested Resources to locate timely information about problems and proposed solutions in Target Corporation’s supply chain. Use the Capella Library or the Internet links provided in the Suggested Resources to locate additional current information from reputable sources. Scenario You are Target’s new vice president of supply chain and logistics following the Canadian expansion disaster. For the first phase in establishing a new strategic plan the board has asked you to prepare an executive summary of the supply chain disaster in Canada and to research supply chain trends for the future. Deliverables There are two parts to this assessment: an executive summary and a chart. Use bullet points and phrases to create an easy-to-read format for both the report and the chart. Part 1 Deliverable: Write a succinct 3–5 page executive summary for the board of directors. Explain the lessons learned from Target’s retail supply chain disaster in Canada. What were the problems with the supply chain? What inventory channels were affected? Evaluate the financial impact of reengineering a supply chain including the impact to an organization’s shareholders. What is Target’s plan to reengineer the supply chain? What will the change mean for suppliers and their roles? What will it mean for current employees and their roles? What does this mean for Target and its shareholders? Explain the legal and ethical obligations facing an organization during a reengineering effort as compared to Target’s actions following the Canadian store closures. How did Target apply legal and ethical principles in the closure of the Canadian stores? How did Target treat employees? How did Target work with suppliers? Part 2 Deliverable: Use the software of your choice to create a chart or diagram that illustrates retail supply chain trends for the next 10 years. Evaluate major trends for retail global supply chains for the next decade. Which components require the most resources? What will the change mean for suppliers and their roles? What will it mean for current employees and their roles? Additional Requirements Length: 3–5 page executive summary and a 1–2 page chart or diagram. References: Provide one final page of references from reputable sources to support your positions. Provide the URL for all Internet sources. When you are compiling data from multiple sources to create a chart or diagram be sure to also cite your references at the bottom of the graphics. Communication: Prepare professional reports graphics and related materials using correct grammar mechanics and APA style and format.