1. Statement of issues/problems/opportunities (10%): Very briefly describe the organisation‟s situation. Be sure to focus on the underlying issues / problems / opportunities and not symptoms. Do not just reiterate organisational facts.
2. Recommendations (40%): What should the organisation do? Provide a detailed description of the actions necessary for the organisation to deal with the identified problems and opportunities. Be specific enough that a organisation could pick up your recommendations and act on them.
3. Justifications and analysis (50-60%): Provide a set of carefully considered arguments for why your recommendations are likely to be effective. Perform any type of analysis you like on facts obtained in developing your justifications. You can also draw on logic and experiences from materials in other sessions or courses. The bottom line, however, is you must be logical, convincing, and exhaustively thorough.
Case Study One: Gillette
Gillette stock price is falling from $64 in early 1999 to $24 in 2001. Market share for the profitable disposable razor sector declined about 5 percent while its competitor picked up. The sales declined three percent in 2000.
The new CEO James Kilts joined Gillette in February 2001 and realized that the market share of this high profit margin brand is dropping while debt increasing. There are underutilized production capacity which can help the company to save $350 million; management looking at short-term success where they “stuff” products to distribution channels where the supply is higher than demand and caused aged stocks; to further reduce the relevant cost and solve “stuck stocks” – he is considering brand advertising and promotions – (something that Gillette seldom do to maintain leadership status). He felt that support for the brand globally got sidelined in the rush for short term results.
Better forecast should be impleted to control the budget and costing better based on the market size and