MGT 425 ass

Classification: JHAH: Company General Use‫المملكة العربية السعودية‬
‫وزارة التعليم‬
‫الجامعة السعودية اإللكترونية‬
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Ministry of Education
Saudi Electronic University
College of Administrative and Financial Sciences
Assignment-1
MGT425-Spreadsheet Decision Modelling
Due Date: 13/07/2024 @ 23:59
Course Name: Spreadsheet Decision
Modelling
Course Code: MGT425
Student’s Name:
Semester: Summer
CRN:
Student’s ID Number:
Academic Year: 2023-2024 (1445 H)
For Instructor’s Use only
Instructor’s Name:
Students’ Grade: /15
Level of Marks: High/Middle/Low
General Instructions – PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY
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The Assignment must be submitted on Blackboard (WORD format only) via
allocated folder.
Assignments submitted through email will not be accepted.
Students are advised to make their work clear and well presented; marks may be
reduced for poor presentation. This includes filling your information on the cover
page.
Students must mention question number clearly in their answer.
Late submission will NOT be accepted.
Avoid plagiarism, the work should be in your own words, copying from students
or other resources without proper referencing will result in ZERO marks. No
exceptions.
All answered must be typed using Times New Roman (size 12, double-spaced)
font. No pictures containing text will be accepted and will be considered
plagiarism).
Submissions without this cover page will NOT be accepted.
Classification: JHAH: Company General Use
Course Learning Outcomes-Covered
Aligned (PLOs)
MGT.K.1
(1.1)
MGT.K.3
(1.2)
MGT.S.1
(2.1)
Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)
Find some structured ways of dealing with complex managerial
decision problems.
Explain simple decision models and management science ideas
that provide powerful and (often surprising) qualitative insight
about large spectrum of managerial problems.
Demonstrate the tools for deciding when and which decision
models to use for specific problems.
Pinnacle Machine Tool Company
Don Anglos had to decide whether to trust his gut or his head, and he had to make that
decision by next week’s board meeting. Either way, he knew he was bound to make at least
a member or two of his senior management team unhappy.
The question at hand was whether Pinnacle Company, the small, publicly held Indianabased machine tool company he led as CEO, should attempt to acquire Hoilman Inc.
Hoilman was a company known for the cutting-edge sensor technology and
communications software it had developed to monitor robotics equipment. Anglos had just
heard a credible rumor that one of Pinnacle’s chief competitors was planning a hostile
takeover of the company. Coincidentally, Don Anglos knew Hoilman well because he had
recently held exploratory talks about the possibility of a joint venture designed to develop
similar technology capable of monitoring a broad range of manufacturing equipment. The
joint venture did not work out. But now, by acquiring Hoilman, Pinnacle could develop
software that transmitted real-time information on its customers’ equipment, enabling it to
set itself apart by providing top-notch service far more sophisticated than its current
standard maintenance and service contracts.
Don, a hard-charging 48-year-old, firmly believed that bigger was better. It was a premise
that had served his Greek immigrant father well as he built a multi- million-dollar business
from nothing by acquiring one commercial laundry after another. The CEO had to admit,
however, that getting bigger in the machine tool industry, currently a slow-growing sector
facing increasing competition from low-priced foreign manufacturers, was going to be a
Classification: JHAH: Company General Use
challenge. Still, he had been convinced to sign on as Pinnacle’s CEO four years ago not
only because the company had relatively healthy earnings, but also because his sixth sense
told him the company had growth potential. He hadn’t been entirely sure where that
potential lay, but he was a problem-solver with a proven track record of success- fully
spotting new market opportunities. In the past, he acted on hunches, which had paid off
handsomely.
So far, Anglos had managed to modestly nudge Pinnacle’s revenue growth and increase its
market share through aggressive pricing that successfully kept customers from switching
to several potential foreign rivals. But those moves inevitably chipped away at the
company’s healthy profit margins. In any case, he recognized he’d taken the company
down that road as far as he could. It was time for a real change in strategy. Instead of
concentrating on manufacturing, he wanted to transform Pinnacle into a high-tech service
company. Such a drastic metamorphosis was going to require a new, service-oriented
corporate culture, he admitted, but it was the only way he could see achieving the growth
and profit- ability he envisioned. Acquiring Hoilman looked like a good place to start, but
this option would be gone if Hoilman sold out to another firm.
Jennifer Banks, services division head, was enthusiastic about both the acquisition and the
new strategy. “Acquiring Hoilman is the chance of a lifetime,” she crowed. Not all the
senior managers agreed. In particular, CFO Sam Lodge advanced arguments against the
acquisition that were hard to dismiss. The timing was wrong, he insisted. Pinnacle’s recent
drop in profitability hadn’t escaped Wall Street’s attention, and the further negative impact
on earnings that would result from the Hoilman acquisition wasn’t likely to make already
wary investors feel any better. But then Sam shocked Don by offering an even more
fundamental critique. “Getting into the service business is a mistake, Don. It’s what
everybody’s doing right now. Just look at the number of our competitors who’ve already
taken steps to break into the services market. What makes you think we’ll come out on top?
And when I look at our customers, I just don’t see any evidence that even if they wanted
to, they could afford to buy any add-on services any time soon.”
Classification: JHAH: Company General Use
With such a big decision, Don’s head had to agree with Lodge’s position that was based
on his usual CFO thoroughness with number-crunching. But his gut wasn’t so sure.
Sometimes, he thought, you just have to go with your instincts. And his instincts were
champing at the bit to go after Hoilman.
SOURCE: Based on Paul Hemp, “Growing for Broke,” Harvard Business Review
(September 2002): 27–37.
Read the above case study and answer the following Questions
Assignment Questions: (Marks 15)
Question 1: What steps in the decision-making process have Don Anglos and Pinnacle
taken? Which ones have they not completed? (250-300 words) (4 Marks).
Question 2: Which decision-making style best describes Don’s approach: directive,
analytical, conceptual, or behavioral? Which style best describes Sam Lodge’s approach?
(250-300 words). (4 Marks).
Question 3: Would you recommend that Pinnacle attempt to acquire Hoilman? If so, why?
If not, what alternatives would you suggest? (150-200 words). (3 Marks).
Question 4: Discuss the paucity of management theories in relation to problems faced by
management practitioners in the decision-making process. (250-300 words) (4 Marks).
Answers:
1
2
3
4
Classification: JHAH: Company General Use