Below is the email I received from Mr. Rasmussen and here is his evaluation (Score Sheet – April 30 2013).

Mr. Mac

Attached please find the score sheet.

I have not made comments per group but things that influence the evaluation is quite obvious from the 5 criteria I measure on.

There was quite some cases where one of the members did not participate – this pulls down the overall evaluation and the stronger members need to learn to coach the weaker members to a reasonable level of participation.

Some were very good in delivery, but a bit superficial or even smart about it, maybe an attitude that “if I present well then I have done fine”. If we had only had 4 groups I would have had time to ask more questions !!!!! I made a note of this especially for group 3.

Those who actually went to the shops scored additional points, not only by showing interest but also by delivering a better plan with more confidence.

None of the groups got the price structure right so if there is a next time then I will need to spend a bit more time on this and on the P&L calculation.

Group 1 did not do any of the calculations and this pulled an otherwise reasonable work down in the score.

Group 2 did very well, so did 3 and 4. I am not a trained and licensed evaluator, and it was only me so do not put too much importance on the score details.

regards

Per Rasmussen
Managing Director
Groupe SEB Japan Co., Ltd.

Profit and Loss Airforce 2013

BUSINESS CLASS YIS March 2013

Also, we have confirmed that the presentations will take place on April 30th.  This does not give us much time!

As mentioned, on Friday Mr. Rasmussen will be visiting and here is what he wrote to me:

” We put cordless stick type vacuum cleaners on the market in July last year – and we have mainly foreign competition in Dyson and Electrolux  – so it may make it a bit easier for the students to find related information. The task will, as usual, to build a business plan for the product family.  I will not hand out notes so please ask the students to be good it jotting down notes and asking questions.  I also recommend that they find 30 minutes to have a look at our local web-site, T-fal.co.jp and on our corporate site for Groupe SEB.”

I realize that many of you will be on another field trip that day, but no worries as those in attendance can take good notes and will share the assignment with their groups later.

Mr. Mac

We all agreed that each of the presentation would address each of the following points/questions.

1.What is your area of expertise and how do you define it?

2.Everything in a business is connected to other areas.  Give some examples of how decisions made in your area of expertise affect the finances and marketing efforts of a company.

3.How does your area of expertise effect the profitability of a company?

4.  Give a real world example of your area of expertise in action.

5.  Share one of the most interesting things your group has learned as a result of researching this topic.

Also, remember the following when preparing your lesson:

• Simple — find the core of any idea
• Unexpected — grab people’s attention by surprising them
• Concrete — make sure an idea can be grasped and remembered later
• Credible — give an idea believability
• Emotional — help people see the importance of an idea
• Stories — empower people to use an idea through narrative

Below are the different groups and topics for the Jigsaw Assignment.  If you missed Tuesday’s class, I will allow you to chose which group to join on Friday but there is a max. of 4 students per group.

Your first part of the assignment is to find information on your own about these topics.  You need to be wise in your review of the information and your information literacy skills – you will almost certainly find some information that is not relevant or, possibly, wrong.  (You started this on Tuesday, and can continue to do research throughout the assignment.)

The second part of the assignment requires that you read through the case study (click on the appropriate link below) and then you should answer all the questions at the end of the case study as a group.  Please use a googledoc to record your answers as I will want to see your answers.  Please share the file with me.

As a third part, I want you to discuss how you can teach to the rest of the class (in 10-15 minutes) what you have learned.  This should not simply be a presentation, but think about creative ways you help your classmates learn from you.

Merger and Acquisition – M&A_cadbury-schweppes-edition-1
Supply Chain -IKEA_Supply_Chain_Management
Recruitment and Selection – TESCO_Recruitment_and_Selection
Financial Risk and Decision making – CIMA_Financial_Data_and_Decision_Making
SWOT – SKODA_SWOT_Analysis
Product Portfolio – Portakabin-Product mix
Strategic Planning -Business Strategy_TNT
International Marketing -International Marketing_cadbury-schweppes-edition-2

Mr. Redlich will be here and each group will provide a short presentation outlining their business and marketing plans.  Mr. Redlich will conduct an assessment of your business, using the generic feedback form.  He will also provide you verbal feedback.

Finally, since Mr. Redlich will be in class he will also touch base with you regarding the stock assignment.

Now that your businesses are starting to take shape, we want to formalize some of your thinking and analysis.  One of the reasons we do this is because it compels you to really think through business and figure out what you know, what you know you don’t know and, maybe, identify some areas that previously you didn’t know that you didn’t know (remember the the lesson when we discussed these three stages of knowing).

So with this in mind, please see the business plan assignment.  This will be a group assignment and the due date is TBA.

Also, on Friday is the first big review of your business and each group will need to make a presentation to a special guest.  It is possible that, as the Trump might say, ‘Some of you may be fired’.

For class on Friday, you will have few different tasks.

1.  Finish your Wendy’s chili assignment and email it to me before the end of the period (macdonaldj@yis.ac.jp)

2.  In your small business groups, complete a 4P+C analysis of your small business

3.  Mr. Redlich with provide a short session on stocks.

Enjoy class and don’t miss me too much ok!

Mr. Mac

“What are you most interested in learning about in this course?”

“Why did you sign up for business studies?”

Welcome to Business Studies.  One of my aims is allow you to experience what a career in business might be like.  I hope that you will find this class interesting, fun and that by the end you will have learned a lot!  It is going to be a great year.

Mr. Mac

PS  Please be sure to bookmark this page as it will contain information you will need throughout the course.