Case Study – The Miller Story
Sam and JenniferMiller live and work in Lafayette Indiana. They are in their mid-thirties with two school age children at home. Sam and Jennifer are both employed; one as an operations manager at a local automotive manufacturing company, and the other as an office manager for a local health care provider. Both have degrees from Purdue University; and met while working on a class project in Organizational Leadership and Supervision class for their minors. Sam received a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and Technology and later went back to school for a Master’s degree in business administration. Jennifer earned a bachelor’s degree in health care administration.
Sam grew up working on cars and trucks with his father, fueling a passion for the automotive industry, that later led to his degree and career choices in life. During his spare time Samusually had a project in the garage, sometimes an old muscle car or truck, even occasionally a motorcycle, tractor, or boat. At times Sam would assist his cousin in Anderson who owns an automotive repair business and restores classic cars. Sam is always looking for the next project.Jennifer is also passionate about cars and remembers helping her dad in the garage when she was young and shares Sam’s passion. Both share a life-long dream to develop their own business involving their skills and passion for automobiles.
Jennifer’s family lives in Lafayette, her grandfather Kevin was an early settler of Lafayette, and was part of the local effort to establish a strong downtown business district renewal. Many years ago Kevin purchased an entire city block about 3 blocks away from the center of town. The property is basically an empty lot except for a 15,000 square foot warehouse like structure. In his will Kevinleft the property to Jennifer with the stipulation that it could not be sold for 20 years. He also provided Jennifer with $300,000 dollars in a trust fund that is professionally managed. The trust allows $15,000 a yearin spending money along with expenses for Jennifer’s children to attend college in the future. An additional $50,000 was provided by the will for unconditional and immediate use.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller have considered their options and have decided to seek assistance towards developing a plan that will lead to a sustainable business that can be run by Sam and Jennifer. Using the facts provided along with research and an understanding of current events in Lafayette, Indiana develop a plan that will help the Miller family reach their goal.
This project is designed to give you first hand experience in setting up the operations, human resources, marketing, and finances of a company. The worksheets will be used as building blocks of anExecutive Summary.
You will be charged with setting up a business from the beginning. The first three worksheets will focus on the operations of the business. What type of business are you going to open How will you incorporate the business What do you foresee as strengths, weaknesses, and challenges of the business
The next three worksheets will cover human resources. You will identify the positions within the company, how many people you will need, develop an organizational chart, determine recruiting strategies, develop job descriptions, pay structures and a benefits package.
The next three worksheets will cover the four P’s of marketing; Product, Price, Placement, and Promotion. You will start by developing a company name, logo and slogan. You will identify your target markets, how you will differentiate your product/service, advertising channels, promotional opportunities, and ways to incorporate technology into marketing your company.
Finally, you will identify sources to fund your new business and prepare a brief financial summary to convince potential investors that you have a viable business opportunity.
You will be required to incorporate all aspects of the course into your Executive Summary. For example; what is your marketing plan, who is your target audience, what type of marketing research did you conduct, will you utilize social media, if so, how will you use it, what will your global marketing strategy be, what is your plan for new product development… These are just a few things to think about while you are working on your project.
What to include in your Executive Summary:
Things that should be included in your presentation:
• Identify and discuss all four topical areas: Operations, H.R., Marketing, & Finance
• Utilize the worksheets prepared in recitation to guide your summary
• Incorporate concepts and terminology from class and the textbook
• Executive Summary is a summary—two or three pages maximum
• Focus on the critical stages/steps needed to start your business