nstructions

Project 2 Group Project Due Week 5

In this group project your team will begin to learn about the elements of strategic planning.  Specifically, students will complete an external environmental analysis and an internal environmental analysis.  For an organization to do a comprehensive analysis both the external and internal analysis must be completed.  The external environment consists of variables that an organization cannot control whereas the internal environment consists of controllable variable.  Assessing both the external and internal environments helps develop strategies that create a competitive advantage for an organization.  An organization wants to leverage its internal strengths and take advantage of external opportunities. 

In this project, your group will complete a SWOT analysis, a PESTLE analysis and a Porter’s Five Forces analysis for BIOTECH.  You will then discuss the relationship between these assessment tools and the company’s vision statement and mission statement in developing a strategic plan.   Lastly, you will provide a convincing argument as to why the new project meets the strategic plan and why Biotech is well positioned for the future in the nutraceuticals and supplements market.

The instructor will create teams of no more than four team members.  If your team has less than four member, it is still possible to complete the project.  If for some reason, the members of your group decide to drop the course and you are the only member, you will contact the instructor immediately so that you can be moved to an active group.  You may not move to another group because you are unhappy with your team members.  You may also not do the project as an individual.

You will act as a self-managed team, which means you are accountable for all of the requirements of the assignment.  You team may assign roles and responsibilities.  Each member is responsible to meet the requirements of timeline of the project.  If a team member does not complete his or her work, it is the responsibility of the other team members to complete that work.  If a team does not meet the deadlines for the project, the Late Assignment policy will apply. 

At the end of the project, each team member will complete a Peer Evaluation Form.  If you fail to complete the form, a zero will be assigned for the grade.  Each member should complete the Peer Evaluation Form accurately.

NOTE:  All submitted work is to be your original work. You may not use any work from another student, the Internet or an online clearinghouse.  You are expected to understand the Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy, and know that it is your responsibility to learn about instructor and general academic expectations with regard to proper citation of sources as specified in the APA Publication Manual, 6th Ed. (Students are held accountable for in-text citations and an associated reference list only). 

Read the following scenario:

Valerie Harper has often been responsible for the development of new products based on what marketing considers high target markets.  Valerie has recently been handed the research results on Biotech’s customer demographics.  Based on the research, the Marketing Department would like to see Biotech develop products geared toward the baby boomer market. 

From reviewing the research, Valerie noted that Biotech has done little development of the over 50 customer demographics.  The current Biotech line has a few joint supplement products and vitamins targeted toward this age group but nothing more.  Valerie researched the trends and found high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s/dementia were a few of the major health concerns for the over 50 customers.  Further research revealed clinically proven effects of hibiscus tea on reducing blood pressure.  This finding led Valerie to consider developing a product that was all-natural, good tasting, and competitive with existing teas.  The tea would be pre-made and packaged in paper cartons with coated sealant.  The plan is to promote the tea as natural products for green accountability.  The tea container would include a straw so potential tooth erosion from the acidic tea could be minimized.   

Valerie also thought about other products that might be appealing to baby boomers. She came across several ideas.  The first is a protein bar that was made with coconut, dark chocolate, almonds, and blueberries.  The bar would contains all-natural products that would increase the protection of brain function through protective antioxidants, thus protecting against dementia and Alzheimer’s.  A second bar would contain natural herbs and would be developed with help from a vendor located in India, which helps lower blood sugar in Type 2 diabetes.   

Valerie named the test line Boomers Best Bets for the purposes of development.  Having come up with samples of the products, costs and overall descriptions of the products, Valerie and the head of marketing were now ready to approach the Strategic Planning Committee with their new product ideas.  Valerie put together a team including a person from Marketing, Production, and Quality Control to review the products and decide how to position the products for acceptance by the Strategic Planning Committee. 

Instructions

Step 1:  Role as a Member of the Pitch Team

Your team is part of Valerie’s Pitch Team and has been tasked with creating PowerPoint presentation that Valerie will use to “pitch” the Boomers Best Bets to the Strategic Planning Committee.

Valerie has given detailed instructions for the PowerPoint presentation.  Make sure to follow the instructions.  To better prepare you for the tasks at hand, you will:

• Research the nutraceuticals and supplements industry to assess the external environment of the business;  
• Complete the internal environmental analysis by looking at the Company Profile; 
• Use of the Note Section of PowerPoint to provide the analysis. 

For the purpose of this project assume that budget and financial issues can be reasonably met.

Step 2:  The PowerPoint Presentation 

The PowerPoint presentation must include the following: 

• Introduction to the Strategic Planning Committee explaining the purpose of the presentation;
• A SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, and Porter’s Five Forces analysis;
• A discussion of the vision and mission statements with an explanation of how the vision and mission of the Biotech works in concert with the SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, and Porter’s Five Forces analysis to help develop a strategic plan for the company’s future;
• Convincing arguments as to why:
  • Boomer’s Best Bets meets the strategic plan suggested by the total analysis;
  •  Biotech has a strong position for a future in the nutraceuticals and supplements market.
• Use the Note section to provide a thorough analysis

Step 3:  Preparation for the Power Point Presentation

To prepare for creating the PowerPoint presentation, your team will: 

• Act as a self-managed group;
• Every member of the team will research the nutraceuticals and supplement market to gain a thorough understanding of what will need to be placed in the presentation;
• Collaborate with your team members to discuss the findings of each person’s research and determine what key information will be part of the presentation;
• Determine the role of each person in the presentation;
• All members of the team are responsible for signing off on the final presentation.

Step 4:  Review the Presentation

Read through the slides to ensure all required elements are present.  Use the grading rubric to ensure that you gain the most points possible for this assignment. 

Proofread the slides for spelling and grammatical issues, and third person writing. 

• Read the slides and notes aloud as a first measure;
• Use the spell and grammar check in Word as a second measure;
• Have someone who has excellent English skills to proof the paper;
• Consider submitting the paper to the Effective Writing Center (EWC).  The EWC will provide 4-6 areas that may need improvement.

Step 5:  Submit the Presentation in the Assignment Folder (The assignment submitted to the Assignment Folder will be considered the student’s final product and therefore ready for grading by the instructor.  It is incumbent upon the student to verify the assignment is the correct submission.  No exceptions will be considered by the instructor).

How to Set Up the Presentation

Create a PowerPoint Presentation with no more than 15 slides, which includes the title page and reference page.

Use the following resource to learn how to create a PowerPoint presentation:

How to Create a Winning PowerPoint Presentation

Completing the Presentation

• Read the grading rubric for the project.  Use the grading rubric while completing the project to ensure all requirements are met that will lead to the highest possible grade.  
• Third person writing is required.  Third person means that there are no words such as “I, me, my, we, or us” (first person writing), nor is there use of “you or your” (second person writing).  If uncertain how to write in the third person, view this link:  http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/first-second-and-third-person.  
• Contractions are not used in business writing, so do not use them.  
• Paraphrase and do not use direct quotation marks.  Paraphrase means you do not use more than four consecutive words from a source document, but put a passage from a source document into your own words and attribute the passage to the source document.  Not using direct quotation marks means that there should be no passages with quotation marks and instead the source material is paraphrased as stated above.  Provide the or when using in-text citations.  Note that a reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated in-text citation and vice versa.  
• You may not use books as source material.  
• You are expected to use the facts from the case scenario paired with the weekly courses readings to develop the analysis and support the reasoning.   The expectation is that you provide a robust use of the course readings.  If any material is used from a source document, it must be cited and referenced.