#2767. Developing a Business Strategy

Social Studies, level: Senior
Posted Thu Dec 12 13:30:23 PST 2002 by Damon Savage (damonramon@aol.com).
University of Tulsa,
Materials Required: News articles
Activity Time: 7 weeks
Concepts Taught: understanding of economic procedures in the U.S.

Developing a Business Strategy

My objective section of study is to provide the initial framework for students to understand the basic process of developing goods and or services for the United States economy.
Students will show an understanding of these principals by developing a corporate strategy that will demonstrate the enduring knowledge that is desired. Developing a strategy is the focus of this module because it will provide students with a concrete example of the several intangible business concepts they should understand.

Goals of Evaluation: I want students to be able to provide tangible evidence that they can comprehend abstract business theory and economic procedures of the United States economy.

Enduring Knowledge

1. The student will evaluate how societies answer the three basic economic questions: what goods and services to produce, how to produce them and for whom are they produced?
2. The student will evaluate how changes in the level of competition different market affect prices.

Essential Questions: there are reason for vague questions essential questions, I believe they inspire transfer, creative thinking, which will promote long term learning.) The main focus of these weeks of learning is so students gain a larger (perspective) and be able to relate the theories of developing a corporate strategy to decision-making skills (apply).

1. Are resources the most influential factor in US economy?
2. Does business size ensure stability?
3. Can any obstacle be overcome?
4. Does short-term profit ensure long-term success?
5. How can you measure a good strategy?

1) Essential Question
Are resources the most influential factor in US economy?
Duration of lesson 1 week

Unit Questions

1.How does scarcity play a major factor in the corporate world?

Scarcity- Students must understand that money does not grow on trees. In the same respect resources rather natural, manufactured, or human services are limited. They must be able to recognize that corporations are under certain physical restraints that are a hurdle for any and every company.

2. What is the limit of profit potential of an industry?

This concept goes along with profit potential in any industry. If there are no ways to steal make consumers or steal other business existing one's, there is no reason to start a business.

Unit 1 Assessment:

Students will be given the article Tapped Dry: How Do You Solve a Water Shortage?
They will be asked to summarize the article and give their solution they believe is the best solution to the problem in the article.

Purpose: The purpose behind this article is for students to understand the concept of supply and demand. The need to recognize that it takes resources to make resources. This will also allow students to see that when resources are limited they must figure out a way to supply the resource so it will be most profitable for a mass of people.

2) Essential Question
Does the size ensure stability?
Duration of lesson 1 week

Unit Questions

1. How do economies of scale effect new entrants into an industry?

Economies of scale in a simplistic form take place when a firm mass-produce goods: therefore, their cost per item produced drops. This gives large firms the opportunity to sell goods at a low cost. The company makes money from selling in large volume.

2.Can new firms compete with established firms that have brand identification?
Points that will be covered during this time
a. Product Differentiation
b. Capital Requirements
c. Switching Cost
d. Access to Distribution Channel

Unit 2 Assessment

Students will be given a short-answer quiz over different levels and variables of economies of scale

Students will do an in class group assignment about Ford in the 1920's. The shear size of this company introduced Americans to mass production. As people wants began to change Ford had difficulties changing because of being such a single-minded producer. Students will give a short group presentation of how this dilemma applies today and how could they change it.

3) Essential Question
Can any obstacle be overcome?
Duration of lesson 1 week

Unit Questions

1. Why are some main barriers to market entry so difficult to overcome?
a. Slow industry growth
b. High fixed cost
c. Lack of Differentiation
d. Diverse Competitors
e. High Strategic Stakes

2. What are Substitute Goods?
· How do they affect the industry?
· So they really decrease profitability in an industry?

3. Can you lower an existing product's production cost?
· New process technology
· Larger plant (greater economies of scale)
· More modern facilities
· Share with and existing business

Unit 3 Assessment

Students will be given a case study over a new technology company. The company is very innovative and has a highly superior product. The company fails. The students will be asked to write a 2-3 page paper using information about the most frequent lesson to describe a way the company might have had a better chance of survival.
Purpose: The reason for this paper is two-fold. First, student will apply business concepts that will help them understand the overview of the lesson. Second, this will help students when they begin their final assessment project.

4. Essential Question
Does short-term profit ensure long-term success?
Duration of lesson 1.5 weeks

Unit Questions

1. Should the product life cycle affect the short-term strategy of companies?
· Introduction of product
· Growth
· Maturity
· Decline

2. How do external factors have an effect on industry growth?
· Demographics
· Trends in Need (ex. Change in life-style, buyer population, 1970's leisure time)
· Relative position of substitutes (if sub's price falls or ability to satisfy consumer increases growth is affected)
· Product innovation
· Changes in Buyer Segments (small aircrafts sold to military, now sold to private companies or people or calculators made for scientist now sold to children)

Unit 4 Assessment

Students will choose 3-5 of the external factors on industry growth and write a 1-page journal entry about real life situation of how they have seen one of these factors cause a change in the industry.
Purpose: The purpose of these journal entries is that students will see that these factors do affect their lives.

5. Essential question
Are strategies important?
Duration 3 weeks

Unit Questions

1. What are the positives and negative factors for a firm being the overall cost leader?
2. What are the positives and negative factors in differentiation?
3. What is the upside and downside of focus?

Assessment

Student will be given a worksheet quiz over three generic corporate strategies that are used throughout this section. They will also watch a movie over 3M and write a 1-2 page paper about 3M's marketing niche.
Purpose: Students should understand the general concepts of learning how firms use the information they have been taught over the past 6 weeks to enable them to create a compelling product.

Final Assessment

Students will create a service or good; they will be able to be as creative as they want. They will then determine which industry they will compete in. Next, they will use one of the generic strategies for their product. They will be evaluated based on the rubric criterion.

This unit of class will be spent on developing a strategic business plan. Students will engage in developing a mock plan using past companies that have failed and try to develop a solution to their problems. It is important that students are able to evaluate the internal and external problems within a business industry as well as make educated implications that theoretically will enhance a firm's chance of survival. The final assessment for this unit will be a short presentation of the strategy that they decided was advantageous for subsistence.

Rubrics for Evaluation

Points Criteria

25 Formulate a method of strategic planning that is chronologically sound, practical, and understandable. The student is required to uses text and additional outside resources to provide support of the theory of their plan. Students must provide in depth evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the plan's implementation. Students must give reasons they believe their plan is best fit for the company.

20 Formulate a method of strategic planning that is somewhat chronologically sound, reasonable practical, and relatively understandable. The student uses text or additional outside resources to provide support of their theory of their plan. Student shows adequate evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the plan's implementation. Student gives a somewhat reasonable reason that their plan will be effective.

15 Formulate a method of strategic planning that may not be chronologically sound, practical, or understandable. The student uses poor examples from text or outside resources to support the theory of their plan. Student evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of their plan's implementation is partially justifiable. Student has little support to reason their plan can be implemented or can it be effective.

10 Formulate a method of strategic planning that is not chronologically sound, practical, or understandable. The student uses no examples from the text or outside resources to support the theory of their plan. Student evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of their plan's implementation is not justifiable. Student has no support to reason their plan can be implemented or can it be effective.

0 No work presented

Points Criteria

25 Presentation must uses paper as guideline for presentation. Students must be well organized during presentation. Must have fluent transitions throughout presentation. Must use visual aid during to enhance the presentation.

20 Presentation must use paper as a guideline for presentation. Students should be fairly well organized during presentation. Transitions of presentation should be somewhat fluent. Must use visual aid during the presentation.

15 Presentation may use segments of paper for the outline of the presentation. Students are not organized during the presentation. Transitions of the presentation are not fluent. Inaccurate or unedited visual aid is use in the presentation.

10 Presentation outline is completely off track of submitted paper. Student is not prepared to make a presentation. The entire presentation is choppy and unorganized. The presentation does not use visual aid.

0 No work presented