In this assignment, you will focus on these sections of your business plan (SEE ATTACHED for TOPIC): Operations. Technology. Management and Organiz

Operations, Technology, and Management, and Social Responsibility Plan

First Name Last Name

Strayer University

BUS 599: Strategic Management

Professor

April 10, 2024

BUS599 – Strategic Management

© 2024 Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University. 2

Document Instructions

Delete the instructions in red before submitting the assignment!

Due: Week 8, worth 125 points

Length: The assignment should be 4 to 8 pages, excluding title page and reference page

Important:

· Review the description of this assignment under week 8 and use the tips provided along with this template to help you write.

· Be sure to review the guidelines provided: For-Profit Startup Company Guidelines

· Use the textbook and review the recommended pages. Note that your textbook has sample plans at the end of each paper.

· Review the grading rubric before writing. Know what you are graded for. Always look at the “exemplary” section.

Notes:

· Leave the text in black as it is. You are required to have a heading for each of the sections in your paper.

· Use SWS format. You will respond to each question using indented paragraphs. The preferred font is Times New Roman, size 12.

· The references must be on a separate page at the end of the paper.

· Check your paper for grammar, spelling, and organization in Microsoft Editor ( https://library.strayer.edu/editor) before submitting it.

· Check your paper in Turnitin Draft Review (located after the Week 11 Module) for plagiarism. You should have 100% original content, paraphrase, and cite all sources (in-text citations and sources at the end).

Operations, Technology, and Management, and Social Responsibility Plan

Operations Plan

· Remember to assign a dollar amount to each operational cost you find, as you will need these figures for the financials document.

· Follow the guidelines provided in the For-Profit Startup Company Guidelines

· Check out Chapter 11- Operations

· You have addressed operations in the week 5 discussion. Be sure to check the feedback provided by the instructor and make changes as needed. Check the suggestions made by other students as well.

Facilities

· Describe the facility, including its location.

· Specify whether it is rented or owned; include any associated costs.

· Estimate the cost of utilities, such as water/sewer, gas, electricity, and trash removal.

Production Process/ Description of Operations (if service company)

· Describe how your business will function to make the product or deliver the service.

· Identify the equipment needed to run your business (machines, refrigerators, vehicles, furniture, etc.) including the cost of each major item.

· Explain your approach to quality control.

· Discuss your approach to inventory (as applicable).

Personnel Needs in Operations

· Specify the number of employees you plan to have, including managers.

· Identify their roles, wages, and/or salary.

Technology Plan

· Remember to assign a dollar amount for each cost, as applicable.

· Check out Chapter 12- Technology Plan

· Consider the type of technology your selected company will use to conduct activities such as managing personnel, taking, fulfilling, and tracking orders, managing inventory, communicating with customers and providing customer service, producing your product or providing your service.

Software needs

· List and briefly describe the software you think you will need and the approximate cost. Examples: graphic software, customer relationship management, accounting, inventory, office, etc.

Hardware Needs

· List and briefly describe the hardware you think you will need and the approximate cost. Examples: computers, monitors, servers, routers, tablets, etc.

Telecommunication Needs

· List and briefly describe the telecommunication equipment, etc. you think you will need and the approximate cost. Examples: phone, internet, fax, etc.

Management and Organization Plan

· Remember to include the salary costs associated with the management personnel you plan to hire.

· Check out Chapter 13- Management and Organization

· You will create a management and organizational plan for your selected company, expanding on the topics below.

Key Management Employees

· List key management team members and provide a brief description of each person’s background (experience, skills, certifications, etc.) and job responsibilities. Includes the salary.

· Justify your selections. Explain how each manager can make a difference in your business.

Management Hierarchy

· Using the flow charts on p. 248 as a guide, outline your company’s management hierarchy.

· You must include a chart or diagram in this section!! In Word, click on the Insert option at the top of the document/ then Smart Art/ then Organizational Hierarchy to create your figure.

Social Responsibility Plan

· Check out Chapter 14- Social Responsibility and Sustainability

· You addressed this topic in the week 6 discussion. Be sure to check the feedback provided by the instructor and make appropriate changes. Check the suggestions made by other students as well.

· Create a social responsibility plan for your selected company, expanding on each of the topics below:

Impact on Stakeholders

· Describe how your company will impact each of the stakeholders: employees, customers, suppliers, and the community.

Employees

Customers

Suppliers

Community

· Consider the benefits you plan to offer to your employees (healthcare, flexible hours, development opportunities), support to your community (sponsored events, classes, charities, etc.), suppliers (fair prices, support, loyalty), and customers (how do you plan to interact with them, consider your core values; offer quality products, etc.)

Environmental Impact

· Explain your approach to minimizing your company’s impact on the environment, considering all aspects of your operations.

· For example, your company might develop a process to minimize waste or reduce energy usage, such as using recycled materials in its production process.

Sources

· Cite all your sources (in-text citations and references).

· Use SWS to format all the references.

· Wikipedia and other similar websites (blogs, opinions) do not qualify as academic resources.

· You can use websites as long as the source is reliable (company websites, forbes.com, fda.com, census.com, etc.)

· For each reference you must have a corresponding in-text citation.

Below are examples of references (please delete and replace them with yours).

1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2016. Causes of Climate Change. https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climate-change-science/causes-climate-change_.html

2. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 2008. Graphic: The Relentless Rise of Carbon Dioxide. https://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/24/graphic-the-relentless-rise-of-carbon-dioxide/

3. Ellie Zolfagharifard. 2014. Tree Roots Act as ‘Earth’s Thermostat’: Mountain Forest Growth Has Stabilized the Earth’s Climate for Millions of Years. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2552933/Tree-roots-act-Earths- thermostat-Mountain-forest-growth-stabilised-Earths-climate-millions-years.html

4. Ronnie Cummins. 2013. How Factory Farming Contributes to Global Warming. https://www.ecowatch.com/how-factory-farming-contributes-to-global-warming-1881690535.html

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Operations

Brief Overview

Earthly Elegance is a luxury self-care business based on sustainability, providing organic shampoos, conditioners, face and body wash, deodorants, and makeup removers at the same time affordable. We offer a line of products that incorporates natural elements together with scientific advancements for health and eco-friendliness.

Facilities

In order to have easier access to the distribution and major consumer areas, we currently operate out of a rented commercial space in one of California’s industrial areas. It costs roughly $3,000 a month. Utility costs are estimated to be $75 for water and sewer, $50 for gas, $200 for electricity, and $75 for waste disposal each month. The location is suitable for operations because it is easily accessible to suppliers and other transportation networks, which minimizes the cost of obtaining raw materials and diluting production costs (Cristini et al., 2022).

Production Process/Description of Business Operations

Purchasing basic organic ingredients, making mixtures, packing goods in containers, and conducting inspections are all part of Earthly Elegance’s production process. Small-scale blending and filling equipment is available, and its installation costs roughly $15,000. Our environmentally friendly and recyclable packaging costs about $800 a month. Additionally, we test batches and follow quality standards throughout the production process to ensure that the end product is of the highest quality and consistency (Alevizou, 2022The company only purchases raw materials for its operations in advance of demand, so it won’t buy more than it will use in a given month. Stock control means JIT adopted, which involves avoiding the holding of excess inventories.

Personnel Needs

Eight people work for the small, low-rise company: a production manager ($5,000), a quality control specialist ($4,000), three production workers ($3,000 each), and two packers ($2,000). Additionally, we have a $4500 monthly marketing and customer service specialist who manages online orders, customer inquiries, and the company’s social media accounts. The team’s organizational structure is adaptable and effective for handling daily tasks and client interactions, guaranteeing that we offer our clients excellent services and high-quality products.

Earthly Elegance wants to satisfy the rising demand for environmentally friendly self-care products while keeping a small, customer-focused business by emphasizing sustainable practices and effective procedures.

References

Alevizou, P. J. (2022). Sustainability claims in the luxury beauty industry: An exploratory study of consumers’ perceptions and behavior. In Sustainable Luxury: An International Perspective (pp. 173-196). Cham: Springer International Publishing.  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06928-4_9 Links to an external site.

Cristini, H., Kauppinen-Räisänen, H., & Woodside, A. G. (2022). Broadening the concept of luxury: transformations and contributions to well-being. Journal of Macromarketing, 42(4), 673-685.  https://doi.org/10.1177/02761467221116779 Links to an external site.

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Business Description

Earthly Elegance is a progressive brand that specializes in selling quality beauty products for environmentally conscious clients who prefer natural beauty items with biodegradable ingredients. The company’s mission is to be a leading provider of sustainable, plant-based, and eco-friendly products, reducing the negativity of conventional cosmetics and promoting the use of natural materials in the beauty industry (SeventhQueen & Chomsky, 2024).

Applying the TBL Model at Earthly Elegance

The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) is an approach to business that requires a focus on five Pillars: people, planet, profit, partnership, and purpose to enhance social, environmental, and economic value (Mind Tools Content Team, 2022). Producing plant beauty at Earthly elegances is consistent with our sustainable strategy as it involves the people and the planet, and generates profits.

Profit The goal of Earthly Elegances’ revenue generation is to benefit both the community’s members and the company’s stockholders. Reaching customers online is a crucial distribution strategy since it lowers overhead costs and allows for the offering of low pricing, which in turn generates revenues for the development of sustainable business models. In order to further the environmental conservation of the Earthly Elegance brand, we also provide a product exchange where customers may replace their used clothing for new items at a reduced cost. As a reminder of the significance of the planet overall, a portion of Earthly Elegance’s income is given to projects centered around agricultural and plant-based activities.

Profit Strategies Direct-to-Consumer strategy: This strategy helps attain sustainable funding levels for sustainable practices and healthy margins while guaranteeing cost reduction. Community Investment: Plant-based product awareness and local resilience are enhanced by profitable farming and inventiveness.

People

Customers: Being open and transparent with the Earthly Elegance audience about sustainable products is part of customer focus. Therefore, Earthly Elegance gives clients useful information about the production process and the source of raw materials so they may make informed, environmentally friendly decisions. In collaboration with governmental and environmental groups, we share information on the company’s website on how the use of plant-based raw materials contributes to a more sustainable product industry.

Workers: Employee training, fair pay, and some medical benefits are all provided by Earthly Elegances since it values its staff. Companies encourage people to create environmentally friendly innovative product ideas or methods. We are able to keep our personnel informed about our goals by providing them with environmental training.

Community: Since Earthly Elegance actively promotes selling commodities through fair trade techniques to local farmers and groups, buyers can feel secure knowing that they are also supporting ecologically sound solutions and needy farmers when they purchase Earthly Elegance products at retailers. These are social events, educational workshops, and organizing events aimed at building networks, raising awareness, and promoting sustainable plant-based material culture. Suppliers: Earthly Elegances collaborates with regional, small-scale growers to get ethical raw materials like peppermint and aloe vera. Establishing enduring relationships with suppliers who uphold labor rights and demonstrate environmental sensitivity toward the community is the cornerstone of Earthly Elegance’s supply chain management concept.

Planet

Reducing the environmental impact of Earthly Elegances’ operations is a corporate policy. An even older method that significantly reduces environmental dangers is the manufacture of raw ingredients, which simply uses water for preparatory procedures and doesn’t use harmful chemicals. Reducing waste creation is the aim of the Earthly Elegance manufacturing process, and any leftover plant material is either wrapped in biodegradable material or used to make other products.

Environmental Strategie

Sustainable Materials: Compared to conventional beauty, raw ingredients offer a number of benefits. Aloe vera requires little water to grow, and it doesn’t require pesticides.

Waste Reduction: Plant materials that aren’t used as decorations for accessories, shelves, or even packaging cut down on waste.

EcoFriendly Packaging: Biodegradable packaging choices further lessen their impact on  the environment and support the sustainability goals of the brand.

Conclusion

Earthly Elegances is transforming products by adjusting profits to support ethical and sustainable practices. By encouraging product sustainability and dependability, Earthly Elegance is dedicated to people, the environment, and financial gain. Customers guarantee social and environmental advantages when choosing raw materials, paving the way for a luxury brand in the contemporary product sector.

References

Mind Tools Content Team. (2022). The Triple Bottom Line. Www.mindtools.com. https://www.mindtools.com/awbh8iv/the-triple-bottom-line

SeventhQueen, & Chomsky, R. (2024, March 30). What is Raw ingredients: The Rise of The Sustainable, Vegan Alternative Transforming the Product Industry. Sustainable Review. https://sustainablereview.com/what-is-cactus-beauty-the-rise-of-the-sustainable-vegan-alternative-transforming-the-product-industry/

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