BMGT Week 8 Discussion

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Apr 3, 2024

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Case Discussion: Smithfield Custom Furniture (Part 4 Conclusion) This case discussion continues with the Smithfield Furniture Company. (You may desire to briefly review the facts provided to you in Discussions 1—3 to address this week's discussion.) It is now April 1, 2020. The 2015 purchase of You Figure it Out was culminated, and the planned integration of their manufacturing and sales, as described in Discussion 3, fully completed. The company now has 411 stores and 24,000 employees. 344 of the 411 retail outlets all sell the upscale and moderately priced lines; 51 retail outlets (Texas (6), California (13), New York (15), Nevada (4), Florida (9), and North Carolina (4) sell only the You Figure it Out brand. These 51 stores employ 2,000 of the 24,000 workers. There are 16 stores overseas, Spain (4), France (4), Germany (4), and England (4), that sell all 3 product lines. These stores employ 1,000 workers. Half of these employees work in retail stores. The other half work at various seaports in their countries, receiving furniture and delivering the furniture produced in the US to various stores and customers. In 2015, Margot Smithfield and the 12-member board of directors purchased You Figure it Out, a moderately profitable 51 store chain of ultra-modern furniture. The furniture and furniture- related accessories of You Figure it Out were all made in China. Still, with the 2015 acquisition, all furniture is manufactured at 1 of the 5 furniture manufacturing plants in the United States. Their retail stores are located in Texas (6), California (13), New York (15), Nevada (4), Florida (9), and North Carolina (4).

Financial Info:  2019 Gross Sales (all product lines) - $1.6 Billion US.  2019 Net Profit - $440 Million  April 30, 2020 (Cash Reserves) - $2.8 Billion  Sixty percent (60%) of sales, gross revenues, and expenses are associated with the upscale product line.  Twenty-five percent (25%) of sales, gross revenues, and expenses are associated with the You Figure it Out product line.  Fifteen percent (15%) of sales, gross revenues, and expenses are associated with overseas outlets. In other words, for this case activity, all 3 product lines are proportional in terms of revenue and expenses. The Management Issue: Presently, it is believed that as early as March 2020, the possibility exists for the company to be in the throes of a worldwide rapidly spreading, highly contagious, debilitating, and often fatal viral pandemic. The company must plan for this eventuality to occur. Your Task for Your Initial Post Margot Smithfield has requested you, based on the course materials you have studied the past seven weeks related to Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling, to briefly discuss (supported by course materials. in-text citations, and references) the major impact this pandemic will have on Smithfield Custom Furniture's Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling functions. You can assume a vaccine will be available and distributed worldwide 18 months from the start of the pandemic.

After you have discussed the major impact the pandemic will have on the company's Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling functions, you must indicate for each of those functions the most significant action the company will need to take to ensure its survival, assuming the pandemic's effects will last 18 months. Format for Your Initial Post You must use the exact numbers and their corresponding headings for your initial post. You are required to use when appropriate in-text citations and a reference list. 1. Pandemic: Major Effects on Planning for Smithfield Custom Furniture Company 1A: Pandemic: Most Significant Planning Action for Company 2. Pandemic: Major Effects on Organizing for Smithfield Custom Furniture Company 2A: Pandemic: Most Significant Organizing Action for Company 3. Pandemic: Major Effects on Leading for Smithfield Custom Furniture Company 3A: Pandemic: Most Significant Leading Action for Company 4. Pandemic: Major Effects on Controlling for Smithfield Custom Furniture Company 4A: Pandemic: Most Significant Controlling Action for Company Discussion Response 1: Pandemic: Most Significant Planning Action for Company

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Of the four management functions—planning, organizing, leading, and controlling—planning is usually the first step. If can be considered controversial since business environments are always changing. Planning is the process of setting goals and defining the actions required to achieve the goals, goals are derived from the vision and mission statements. Organizations are affected both by conditions in its external environment—competitors, laws, availability of resources, etc.—and its internal conditions—the skills and experience of its workforce, its equipment and resources, and the abilities of its management. (Bruton & Bruton, n.d.). Due to Covid, Smithfield can expect to have supply disruptions, changes in customer demands and covid regulations impacting plant operations. These operational changes will initiate a change of plans for Smithfield. Smithfield must plan to survive until there in a vaccine and a change in circumstances. Bruton, L., & Bruton, J. (n.d.). Mission, Vision, and Values . Lumen Learning. 1A: Pandemic: Most Significant Planning Action for Company Smithfield can diversify and modify its factories to aid in producing much needed PPE for commercial and residential use. Smithfield can also attempt to identify other suppliers that can meet what's left of the customer demand. Smithfield can also shift to a no contact model that includes a robust and comprehensive online experience with superior shipping times. 2. Pandemic: Major Effects on Organizing for Smithfield Custom Furniture Company

Organizing is the function of management that involves developing an organizational structure and allocating human resources to ensure the accomplishment of objectives. The organizing facet of the P-O-L-C framework typically includes subjects such as organization design, staffing, and organizational culture. Organization consists of common purpose, coordinated effort, division of labor, and hierarchy of authority (Thompson, n.d.). The pandemic due to illness and death will require Smithfield to constantly reevaluate structure and how the company is organized, particularly in terms of workforce management and logistics. Extreme flexibility is required in order to adapt to the volatile organizational changes. However, throughout all this chaos identifying a common purpose will help unite employees and will help them understand the organization’s direction amid uncertain times. Bruton, L., & Thompson, D. J. (n.d.). The Purpose of Organization . Lumen Learning. 4.4 Mission and Vision in the P-O-L-C Framework – Principles of Management (umn.edu) 2A: Pandemic: Most Significant Organizing Action for Company Smithfield can implement flexible work arrangements, allowing non essential employees the ability to work from home. Reorganize shifts to minimize contact within factories. Minimize redundancies without negatively impacting safety of employes and quality of products. 3. Pandemic: Major Effects on Leading for Smithfield Custom Furniture Company

Leadership is about establishing a direction and influencing others to follow. Leaders must be available to communicate transparently about the challenges and the company's plans to ensure safety and job security. With the pandemic and constant organizational changes this could cause leadership to be compromised. Many people fell ill, died or chose to stay home to protect their family. The organization as a result loses highly skilled talent and employees' loose mentors. The remaining leadership must understand how crucial their position is at this time and must know how to strategically motivate employees to perform. Leaders must also inspire those to embrace the new mission (Spencer, n.d.) Spencer, A. (n.d.). Leadership . Lumen Learning. 3A: Pandemic: Most Significant Leading Action for Company Smithfield should embrace an agility philosophy and empower managers at all levels to make decisions based on rapidly changing circumstances. 4. Pandemic: Major Effects on Controlling for Smithfield Custom Furniture Company One of the key functions of a manager is to ensure that all parts of the organization are working to achieve the overall strategic objectives of the company (Heflin, n.d.). The pandemic might negatively impact the standard top-down control and create a flatter structure. Smithfield might also have to implement controls to ensure it is meeting new regulations and health standards. Heflin, J. (n.d.). Why It Matters: Control . Lumen Learning. 4A: Pandemic: Most Significant Controlling Action for Company

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Smithfield can install software that integrates with the security system that alerts personnel and security of any violations to the health protocols put in place. This includes maintaining 6ft and wearing mask.

BMGT Week 8 Discussion

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