Strategy Needs

1.           Imagine that you are on vacation and trying to determine what to do. You go to the hotel lobby and look through the brochure rack. You pick up a brochure about the local zoo. In reading the brochure, you learn what the zoo’s highlights are, including the mission statement. You should create a brochure – just like you might pick up in the hotel lobby – featuring the zoo of your choice. It must be a zoo that actually exists so the instructor can compare your work to that of the zoo’s website. It might be one you have visited on a number of occasions or one that you would like to visit.

You are the graphic artist for the brochure and should use technology to develop the brochure that would include the mission of the zoo and other pertinent information that would help customers make the decision to visit the zoo. You may determine that the zoo’s mission statement needs revision and it is acceptable for you to rewrite the mission for your brochure. The overall design and size are your decision. Special consideration should be given to the font size (use 12 please), are the pictures clear, what info do you have in the folds of the brochure, and would you be persuaded to visit if you picked up this brochure when you were on vacation. Once completed, submit your work.  Note that your brochure will be reviewed by graphic artists and printers who create brochures daily for their feedback. The total amount of writing needed for this should not be more than a page single spaced. If adding the picture and the format would be considered extra work, please just provide the writing needed and I can do the rest. But let me know please J

See the following website regarding How to Create an Effective Brochure for tips to effectively create yours! http://extensionpublications.unl.edu/assets/pdf/g2028.pdf (How to Create and Effective Brochure)

Pennisi, L., & Major, A. How to Create an Effective Brochure. Retrieved July 14, 2015.

2.           Write a one page single spaced article that could be included in a business journal or, perhaps, a website such as Linked In. It needs to be focused and concise, draw the reader in to gain the readers interest and attention, and free of grammar and spelling errors. You will be provided a scenario or statement on which to title and base your article. For this week’s article: From an employee’s perspective, what is one piece of advice you would give a new manager? What one quality is crucial for their success? The topic I would use is transparency – why it’s crucial in order to get maximum effort out of your team. But you can choose whatever you’d like J

3.           Complete an IFE and EFE to evaluate your personal life. Complete the numerical IFE and EFE Matrix and submit it along with a typed article that discusses what you have learned from the exercise.  Your article should illustrate how you could use the concepts of the IFE and EFE into planning and evaluating your personal life. (2 pages double spaced)

4.           AMTRAK has faced financial challenges through the years. The organization provides service to many passengers throughout the United States as well as employment to thousands. Review the articles, their website and other research and provide your insight as to the four main strengths and four main weaknesses of AMTRAK using IFE and EFE, don’t forget to site the given articles.  You should clarify why you selected the four strengths and weaknesses as the key areas of focus. Don’t just supply facts. Your paper should include why YOU believe these are the key areas. You should review the website www.amtrak.com in addition to the assigned reading and any other internet research you conduct in order to complete the assignment. Should be 3 pages double spaced.

The following articles should be used for further research in further research:

• Privatizing Amtrak. Retrieved July 14, 2015, from http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/transportation/privatizing-amtrak
• Amtrak For The Railroad Industry Professional (n.d.).  Progressive Railroading  https://www.progressiverailroading.com/amtrak/#

The following should be used in the research paper and the highlighted for the #3 assignment.

• The EFE matrix is developed based on the understanding of the external forces impacting an organization. The following two articles identify components to consider when developing an EFE matrix:
• Gupta, A. (2009, December 20). Organization’s External Environment. Organization’s External Environment. Retrieved from http://www.practical-management.com/Organization-Development/Organization-s-External-Environment.html
• Root, G. N. Five Components of an Organization’s External Environment. Small Business. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-components-organizations-external-environment-17634.html
• The following article identifies the steps necessary to complete an External Factor Evaluation (EFE) matrix: The EFE Matrix (External Factor Evaluation Matrix). MBA Tutorials RSS. Retrieved from http://www.mba-tutorials.com/strategy/76-the-efe-matrix-external-factor-evaluation-matrix.html
• The following article discusses the overall environment of the organization and how managers can either control, or simply react to, the external environment and internal environment:https://twproject.com/blog/internal-external-corporate-environmental-factors-project-environment/
• The following article identifies the steps necessary to complete an Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) matrix: IFE (Internal factor evaluation) Matrix. MBA Tutorials RSS. Retrieved from http://www.mba-tutorials.com/strategy/57-ife-internal-factor-evaluation-matrix.html