Ma'am,
Thank you so much for all your assistance...you have been an extreme life saver. Was wondering if you was interested in doing this attached essay too.
It's kind of hard to read after cutting and pasting it but if you are interested I will attach it and send it to you as a word document.
Once again you have been awesome. Let me know what you decide...either ways I will understand... :)
Thanks a billion!
Angie
Critical
Thinking
Objective: Complete and submit Critical Thinking exercises as
defined in the
course Syllabus.
Requirements: Successful Strategic thinking Exercises will be three (3)
to five (5) pages in length and incorporate the information and knowledge
gained in the course. Use the sections shown in the Evaluation Criteria
(italics) to format your analysis.
Success Criteria: Think of yourself as a newly hired
executive or consultant to the firm.
Existing management is overwhelmed by the current situation and wants to
make changes that will address the issues.
They need an analysis of the situation, recommendations, and a plan to
improve which insures the viability and profitability of the organization.
Timing: Papers are due and should be submitted via
e-mail as defined in the class schedule.
Evaluation: Assignments will be evaluated
based on areas:
Category
|
|
|
Points
|
Presentation:
|
|
Name, Class, Title,
Organization
|
5
|
Content: (include the following sections)
|
|
Problem Description: identify
the issue(s) to be
addressed / establish credibility
|
10
|
Alternatives: Identify
and discuss at least three (3)
alternative solutions (10 points for
each alternative).
|
30
|
Recommended Solution:
describe the advantages
of recommended solution.
|
10
|
Conclusion:
(include the following sections)
|
|
Summary: Summarize your
recommended solution.
|
5
|
Implementation: prepare a summary of the main
points in implementing your plan or
recommendation.
|
10
|
Mechanics:
|
|
Spelling, Grammar,
Punctuation, Readability
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5
|
Total:
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75
|
Assignments must include a cover sheet
with your name, class, and title of the Critical Thinking exercise.
Central Engineering (How
management practices can hamper decision-making)
Henry and
Jami Wolfram, a husband and wife team, owned and operated Central Engineering,
a heating and air conditioning firm located in Huntsville, Alabama. The business prospered during the six years
that they owned it, and it served both residential and commercial accounts
Organizational Structure
The diagram
below is the simple organizational structure of the firm. Henry serves as general operations
manager. As the business grew, more and
more responsibility for owner shoulders.
Although Jami assumed some of the burden by acting as treasurer and
supervising the office work, Henry is personally involved in most of the key
decisions. Henry's son, Jeff Wolfram,
started at Central Engineering as a worker on an installation crew. Later he moved into a position of estimator-salesperson
and acted as manager whenever his father was out of town.
Estimator/Salesperson
Jeff Wolfram
|
General Manager
Henry Wolfram
|
Treasurer / Office Mgr
Jami Wolfram
|
The Bottleneck
An
unfortunate consequence of Henry's growing workload was the creation of a
bottleneck at the very top of the business.
Since he was a key person, his judge seemed indispensable to many
actions. As a result decisions are
sometimes delayed waiting for is attention.
Others in the organization sometimes found themselves waiting in line to
get a chance to talk with him. And Henry
found himself rushed with insufficient time to think carefully about some
aspects of the business. In addition he
would have liked to devote a little more time to family, church, and personal
interests.
Review of Customer Billing
One task that
required Henry's attention was his personal review of invoices before they were
sent to customers. When a management
consultant asked why this was necessary, the following dialog to place:
Henry:
I really need to take a last look before bills are sent out. For example on
construction jobs there may be additions or extras that were included after we
made the original bid.
Consultant:
On regular service calls is there a similar chance of an error?
Henry:
That's right. For instance, maybe the
worker left something off the work order.
The worker may say that he has done this and that, but, on the materials
list he has some items that don't match up or that are missing from what he
said he's done.
Consultant:
Can you tell me how many hours in a day or week are required for this activity?
Henry:
Well it cuts into a lot of time. This is part of another problem. The office is open with Jeff and his
customers in the same office with me. I
just don't have a place where I can concentrate on this type of work. I think that when we get that physical
arrangement changed it will help some.
Consultant:
So how many hours a week does this take?
Henry:
Sometimes we stay here at night or come in on Saturday to do this. But I suppose it might run eight to ten hours
a week.
Consultant:
Is there anybody else who could do this?
Henry:
Well on service calls Jami usually spots such discrepancies. She's getting enough experience that she can
recognize them.
Consultant:
What is Jeff's role? Could he do this?
Henry:
He is an estimator and does sales work.
He doesn't quite have the experience yet. He might be close to being capable. But he's pretty busy. Also, I have a service manager who could
catch a lot of these things when the orders are turned in. But he doesn't manage that carefully. I have a more aggressive manager in
installation who is better at catching things like this.
The general
theme in Henry's discussion with the management consultant was the difficulty
of resolving the time management problem.
Henry recognized the burden placed on him personally and on the
business, but there seemed to be no obvious answer at this stage in the life of
the firm.
Review of Accounts Payable
Henry also
took a look over all payments being made by accounts payable. His discussion
with a management consultant regarding this function follows:
Henry: these
payments need to be checked over because we may be charged too much on some
bills.
Consultant:
How does this happen?
Henry:
On particular jobs, we may get special pricing.
Say I'm working on a bid. I may
pick up the phone and say to the supplier, ‘We need some special pricing. Here's what we're up against, and we need
special pricing me get this job. ", and if they give us the special pricing we
should pay accordingly.
Consultant:
And you can't depend on them to bill you at that special price?
Henry:
I don't think its anything intentional.
But they give it to their clerks to bill and they may and may overlook a
special pricing that was promised. If we don't catch it, we lose it.
Henry's Dilemma
The
responsibilities relative to accounts receivable and accounts payable were
typical of the overall situation. In many aspects of the business, Henry felt
compelled to give his personal attention to the issues and the decisions that
need to be made. In a sense, he felt trapped by the very success and work that
accompanied the operations of business.
He enjoyed the work, every minute of it, but occasionally he wondered
why there was no obvious solution to his dilemma
The following ‘areas of concern' are provided
to help stimulate your thinking for this case.
They are not intended to provide a list of questions to answer:
Is
Henry Wolfram's personal involvement in the various specific aspects of the
business necessary? Has it become a
matter of habit or simply enjoying doing business that way? What changes would be necessary to extricate
Henry from the verifying customer's invoices and vendor's checks before they
are mailed?
If
you were the consultant, what changes would recommend? Write a proposal for Henry that identifies
the areas of concern and your recommended plan of action and controls to
monitor the plans success.