Assignment 1: Crafting and Executing Strategy
1. Develop an argument supporting the importance of a strategic plan for the success of the defined business. The business I chose is a bakery, not currently operational as this would be my own company. I believe the most important strategy in business is to have high employee morale. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of you and your business. Even if they are a good worker (on time for their shift, stays on task, willing to work extended hours, etc.), but they have a poor attitude, it can negatively impact your business. By having happy and energetic employees, their attitudes will carry over to how they treat your customers, making the customer’s experience a memorable one. A happy customer is a repeat customer. My strategic plan would be to have high employee morale, high quality products, focus on the special needs and tastes of customers, and have competitive pricing and specials (Thompson, Strickland, & Gamble, 2009).
It is very important to have a strategic plan in business so that you and your employees know what the goals of the company are. Starting a business blind, with no plan, ideals, goals, or foresight can almost guarantee the business will fail.
Peter Drucker stated there are four main strategies and implemented them in his life.
• “Being fustest with the mostest” – creating something new and different.
• “Hitting them where they ain’t” – use another’s idea and improve it.
• “Finding and occupying a specialized ‘ecological niche’- specialize in a product or knowledge no other company has.
• “Changing the economic characteristics of a product” – create new customers for an existing market. (Drucker, 1985)
2. Create a mission statement for the company explaining how the mission will be essential to the company’s success.
The purpose of a mission statement is to describe what the values of the company are, what they do and who they serve (Thompson, Strickland, & Gamble, 2009).
The mission statement for the bakery would be: ‘To ensure that each customer receives prompt, professional, friendly and courteous service. To maintain a clean, comfortable and well maintained premises for our customers and staff. To provide, at a fair price, bakery goods using only quality ingredients and to deliver a product that speaks of integrity and worth to our customers’
Customer satisfaction is a very important part of any business. Without customer loyalty the business will collapse. Guaranteeing quality ingredients, a clean and friendly atmosphere and respectful service will draw in more customers and keep the ones the business already has returning.

3. Create a vision statement for the company explaining how the vision statement supports the company’s mission.
A vision statement is different from a mission statement. “A vision is meant to evoke powerful and compelling mental images of the desired future states of their organizations.” (Darbi, 2012). Vision statements traditionally look to the future of where the owners want the business to go, in what time frame as well as tying in the mission statement.
‘Five years from now, this business will be rated a “five star” bakery in the Greater Orlando area by consistently providing the combination of superb customer satisfaction and perfectly prepared goods made from the freshest ingredients.’
A ‘Vision statement should be formulated to strengthen the culture of the organization and unity and loyalty among members, and to increase employee motivation.’ (Ozdem, 2011).

4. Establish five (5) key objectives for the company encompassing operational, financial, and human resource aspects of the business and justify why each of these objectives is essential to the success of the business.
There are many departments inside a business, whether that business is a multimillion dollar company, a global company or a small ‘mom and pop’ company, all just different in scale. Three major departments in any company are operational, financial and human resources. Though they may be separate departments, they flow together, and sometimes overlap, to build a successful company. The five key objectives are: product quality, maintenance of the building, marketing, fair yet competitive pricing and hiring and training friendly associates.
As stated above, an employee’s attitude at work determines the customer’s experience. Explaining to Human Resources (or the hiring manager) what exactly the company is looking for in an employee and what the company expects of an employee (mission statement) will be beneficial to expanding the customer base and increase profits.
Offering fair and competitive pricing, as well as specials, would be the responsibility of the finance department. This department knows, by looking at the daily, weekly and quarterly reports, what items sale best, what day’s sale the most items and so forth. They will also be aware of what the competitors are selling the same items for. It would be the financial departments decision to have specials, such as, Two-for-One Tuesdays or Free Fridays on specific items that do not normally sale as greatly on those specified days. The financial department would also control marketing in a small business. They will provide the budget for marketing by different venues: flyers, radio commercials, billboards, etc. as well as a new customer base to focus on.
It is my understanding that the Operations department handles the day-to-day operations and building maintenance. To ensure the buildings are up to code and are clean, inside and out, checklists will be provided to the location to be performed at different intervals throughout the day. These checklists are provided by the Operations department since they will work closely with the government to ensure regulations are met.

5. Justify how the five (5) key objections established support the mission and vision statements of the company as defined in the assignment
The main goal of any business is to get customers, make the customers happy, keep customers coming back and find more customers in a new customer base to raise profits and make the business a success.
The mission statement focuses on the customer’s experience. From their interaction with friendly and helpful staff, to the cleanliness and safety of the building to the quality and price of bakery goods they purchase. By excelling in each of those areas, the business will become a ‘five star’ establishment, by or before five years. Eventually word of mouth will be the best and cheapest form of marketing. Each happy customer will tell at least one person, but an unhappy customer will tell everyone they meet. Pleasing the customer is most important and will be the most beneficial to a successful company.

References

Darbi, W. (2012). Of Mission and Vision Statements and Their Potential Impact on Employee Behavior and Attitudes: The Case of A Public But Profit-Oriented Tertiary Institution. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 96.
Drucker, P. (1985). Entrepreneurial Strategies. California Management Review, 17.
Ozdem, G. (2011). An Analysis of the Mission and Vision Statements on the Strategic Plans of Higher Education Institutions. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 1889.
Thompson, A. A., Strickland, A. L., & Gamble, J. E. (2009). Crafting & Executing Strategy - The Quest for Competitive Advantaage: Concepts and Cases. Boston: McGraw-Hill.