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Welcome!Click on the button below to learn more…
Table of ContentsClick on a topic to begin
Mission Statement & Vision
History of Venture
Founder Backgrounds
Current Operations
Progress Report
Plans For Growth
Group Decision Making
Course Concept 1
Course Concept 2
Course Concept 3
Strategic Intuition Concept 1
Strategic Intuition Concept 2
Overall Assessment
Works Cited
Contact Us
Mission Statement & Group Contract
Mission StatementBuy-Sell-Explore, Meet New Friends, and give Renewed Purpose to goods you’ve used, loved and want to sell.
Group ContractMEMBERS OF GROUP 7 vow honesty, reliability, dependability, timeliness, trust, respect, and cooperation. We will be collegial in our work, and we promise to communicate regularly. Finally, we will strive to be creative as we
achieve our goals.
History of Our Venture
How It All StartedAll of our founders joined eSynergy, an online connection/matching system for entrepreneurial individuals. Over the course of a few months, the five of them found each other and new that they had a solid group of people from varied backgrounds, with similar interests. Through hard work and group decision making, the Swap-Shop came to be. Every member now has an aligned
vision for the business venture and is 100% dedicated to the cause. Bringing you a platform to reduce, reuse, recycle, and relove.
Goals/ObjectivesTo create a business with relatively low start up costs that will create public interest and generate profit
Strategic Action Plan• Market analysis performed to find location and assess competition• Find store front location at affordable price• Buy store fixtures• Obtain necessary insurances• Open bank account, obtain tax ID, for LLC• Online – web design and maintenance fee; create Facebook account• Place online and newspaper ads• Interview and hire personnel
• Establish store hours of operation• Discuss and agree to pricing strategies• Establish inventory
History of Our Venture
EnvironmentGoal was to create a positive and friendly atmosphere in which customers feel at home and relaxed while shopping. Our indoor
café with free wi-fi also adds to the customer experience.
Target MarketBuyers and sellers alike. Our wide variety of inventory aims to target all customers looking for a deal or looking to get cash for
their items.
IndustrySwap Shop falls under the retail industry with our café catering to the food service industry
Visit Us…Come on down to one of our locations or visit us on the web! Here is what you’ll find:• Friends! This isn’t just a shop. It’s a place to meet new people and be social!• Great Food! We have an amazing café corner for you to indulge in, and free high-speed Wi-Fi, too! • Amazing Products! Buy them, sell them, and enjoy the experience while you’re at it. • Staff that cares. You’ll find a clean, bright environment, and a staff that is there to help you, no matter your need.
Founder Backgrounds
Margaux Willefert
Margaux lives in France. She studies through the WNEU Masters program
in hopes to one day open her own restaurant. She’s
23 years old and also currently enrolled in a masters program at
France’s Iéseg school of management.
Dawn Ezold
Dawn lives in Enfield, CT. She is a Customer
Planning and Replenishment Manager
at LEGO Systems, Inc. Her undergraduate studies
were in Mathematics for Elementary Education,
graduating from Central Connecticut State
University. Her hobbies include softball, volleyball,
and her black Lab, Lexi.
Michael Craig
Michael lives in Western Mass. He is developing a business which supports IT in physicians offices.
He hopes to apply learnings from this WNEU MBA program to expand his business locally and nationally. His hobbies include kayaking, hiking,
and biking.
Ian Altman
Ian resides in Longmeadow, MA. He
graduated from the University of Albany with a degree in Accounting. Along with the WNEU
MBA courses, he is also studying for the CPA
exam. He looks forward to working at PwC in the Fall of 2015. His hobbies
are wrestling and coaching & will be head
wrestling coach at Western MA High School.
Lindsey Brudvig
Lindsey lives in Plattsburgh, NY. She is a
2014 WNEU graduate, majored in Accounting
and minored in Enterprise Resource Planning. She is
pursuing her MSA and working toward becoming a CPA. She looks forward
to being an auditor at Pricewaterhouse Coopers
in Hartford.
Current Operations
Current Operations-Consignment Shop-Allow customers to purchase items from us cheaper than retail value-Provide customers with the opportunity to sell items to us-Dedicated to satisfying customers-Help one another-Providing excellent customer service-Online and in store business-Flexible-Provide fair prices-Environmentally Friendly-Maximize profit, cover costs, and provide competitive prices
Progress Report
How The Business Is Currently Doing-Currently, the business is excelling-Grown a substantial amount-All of the founders effectively and efficiently work with one another-Resolve conflicts as a group-We use a well-thought out and fair decision making process for all group decisions-Understanding each others thought processes-Always look for growth opportunities and improvements-Already Expanded to an online business-Staying true to the core of the business-Keeping our passion-Everybody has been enjoying their roles and responsibilities-Communication is at an all-time high-A- Grade as a business
Plans for Growth
Growth = Innovation-Differentiate ourselves from competitors-Attract investors for more capital and resources-Customer Loyalty Programs-Increased Marketing-In-Store Events-Diversifying -Recruiting New Customers & Expanding our target market-Repeat Customers-Store Expansions-Specific Assortments per store-Café Introduction-True-Swap Program-Expert Pricing Analyst-Expanding the goods we acquire-Claiming Lost Goods after a period of time-Group Decision Making
Group Decision Making
Avoid Groupthink! Use Step Ladder!
Majority Vote Decides!
Group Voting Step Ladder Groupthink
Course Content - Step Ladder
Technique DefinedEach team member thinks about the problem individually and, one at a time, introduces new ideas to the group leader - without knowing what ideas have already been discussed. After the first two people present their ideas, they discuss them together. Then the leader adds a third person, who presents his or her ideas before hearing the previous input. This cycle of presentation and discussion continues until the whole team has a chance to add their opinion.
BenefitsEveryone feels heard and acknowledged. Once all ideas are presented a team can look at ways to
narrow the options down and make a decision
Example1. Before getting into a group, each team member brainstormed ideas individually about the current
decision, in this case the decision was to choose the store name.2. Form a meeting of 2 members (Dawn and Michael) and present ideas.3. Add another team member to the group (Margaux).4. Continued to add a new member to the group one at a time until all group members are able to
share their ideas.5. After everyone had presented their ideas for the shop name the group came to a decision for the
shop name based on majority vote of the ideas presented.
LimitationsThe stepladder technique is a great tool for group decision making, however, it was difficult to use to its full potential since our group was limited to only online communication and prone to timing
issues when communicating
Course Content – Group Think
What is group think?Groupthink is a mode of thinking that happens when people are deeply engaged in a group where cohesiveness is high. It requires that members want to preserve the group harmony at all costs. In this case, people often see their relationship as an asset.
It’s DangerousMain dangers are that people get their mental process stuck. They don’t see it like a danger and carry on thinking in the same way. They like the good atmosphere and don’t want to ruin it.
ExampleDue to timeline, we were all victims of Groupthinking. If you state against something and start to engage a conversation, it will take time and because we are a 100% online group, we tend to agree all the decisions that are made.
If we look deeper in our group methods, we used google doc format, and each of us contributed to the milestones. But if we analyze it, we can see that we didn’t really disputed our choices. That is Group Think.
Course Content – Group Voting
Technique DefinedGroup voting is the most common method in terms of decision making. The idea is to propose two or three options to people and they will express their opinion by voting for one of the options. If it happens that there are more than 3 options, then we will adapt the process to multi-voting. In this case, we will eliminate options than received the less votes and rounds after rounds arrive to the final decision.
BenefitsThis method is widely used because it’s simple to implement. Everybody has a vote and can give his opinion without being disturbed. But group voting also has some limits if there are several options.
ExampleLet’s take the example of the swap shop name. We had a lot of proposals. We eliminated some options thanks to a first round vote which looked like a global agreement. At the end, we chose Swap Shop between those who were the most adequate.
After that, we had to decide what would be the values we would stand for. We proposed values and after eliminating those who obtained the lesser number of votes, we finally agreed on three of them. This is another example of multi voting.
Strategic Intuition 1
STRATEGIC INTUITION
PRESENT PLANS FOR INNOVATION
• Business Expansion
• Attract New Customers
• Word of Mouth Marketing
• Strategic Intuition is Thinking, Not Feeling
Draws on past experiencesCreates a new idea on the blank canvas that is the present and the future
Strategic Intuition 2
INNOVATION CONCEPTS FOR THE SWAP SHOP
• Product specific stores… How the public shops now
• Direct Product Exchange… Bartering at a pawn shop for example
• Mobile store concept… On the road, again
• Alternative product acquisition
• Loyalty Cards
Overall Assessment
Strengths• Diligent group members• Understanding between group members• Understanding of course concepts• Ability to apply course concepts to decision making process• Timely submissions
• Agreeable group members
Weaknesses• Distance between group members geographically• Time zone differences would not have allowed for skype meetings• All communication was through email or the Kodiak discussion module; no real time of face to
face communication
Areas for ImprovementCommunicating strictly online was difficult at times, especially since technology can’t always be relied on. We could have improved our communication if we had brainstormed other communication alternatives
Group EffectivenessOverall the group was very effective in making decisions in a timely manner. In the very early stages of the project, each member presented their preferences and work styles which helped us eliminate clashing techniques and helped us adjust to each other’s preferences before the project even started. All group members had the same goal in mind for both Swap Shop and the project overall. The understanding established between group members regarding preferences as well as how we would address conflicts facilitated our understanding of each other as well as our expectations.
Works Cited
Western New England University College of Business, (2012). GIOADA:
A Formula for Problem Solving. Springfield, MA: WNEU.
Heath, Chip, and Heath, Dan. Decisive. New York: Crown Business,
2013. Print.
Duggan, William R. Strategic Intuition: The Creative Spark in Human
Achievement. Print.
Weick, Karl E. "Drop Your Tools: An Allegory for Organizational
Studies." Administrative Science Quarterly 41.2 (1996): 301. Web.
Cooper, Sheila and Rosemary Patton. Writing Logically, Thinking
Critically with Readings. New York: Longman, 2001 768 pages
“The Mind Tools Guide to Group Decision Making.” Mind Tools Limited.
2009.
Contact Us
Thank you for your time. Feel free to contact us with any questions, comments or concerns.
Margaux Willefert [email protected] Ezold [email protected] Craig [email protected] Altman [email protected] Brudvig [email protected]
