University of North Carolina Functional Level Strategies Business Report

Dear Andrews Associate,

Allow me to introduce myself, I am Robert Andrews, President of the Andrews Company. I am proud to have you running our local Andrews branch and hope that you have been given a warm welcome during your orientation process these past few weeks.

Let me get right to the point. As the manager of your Andrews branch, your goal is to maximize sales and profits for the betterment of our company, the world leader in electronic sensors. To help me understand your role as the branch manager, I would like you to present your business strategy using the outline below.

First, tell me what your overall strategy is. For example, are you a broad differentiator? Broad cost leader?

Second, describe how you will be approaching your decisions for EACH of your products. One to two sentences per product is all that is necessary.

Continue in this format for the following:

R&D – Performance – for each of your products.

R&D – Size – for each of your products.

R&D – MTBF – for each of your products.

Marketing – Price – for each of your products.

Marketing – Promotional Budget – for each of your products

Marketing – Sales Budget – same format as the promotional budget.

Marketing – Forecasting – describe how forecasting.

Production – Automation – describe your automation strategy for each of your products.

Human Resources – what will your strategies be for these two areas?

TQM – what will your strategies be for this area? (Cost reduction, R&D cycle time, etc.). Which TQM programs will you be using and why?

Financing – Cash needs – describe how you intend to raise cash to finance your company. Explain WHY you are taking this approach.

Financing – Dividends – describe what your dividend policy will be. Explain WHY you are following this policy.