Strategic Solution Proposal

Wobble Corp Case study

Content

The following is a fictional organisation which will be used as the buyer for your assignment. Wobble Corp does not exist and any resemblance or similarities to any existing or previous organisations are entirely coincidental.?

Industry and Product

Wobble Corp manufactures and sells widgets to customers throughout Australia. They have two main factories, several warehouse distribution centres and regional admin offices. There are 350 staff in the company scattered around the nation and they have been in business for 15 years.

Company Structure

The organisational structure of Wobble Corp is typical of many medium enterprise businesses. The board of directors does not get actively involved in the day to day operation, leaving most decisions to line managers and senior executives. Key personal include:

Title	Name	Responsibility
CEO	Alice Brown	Future vision and strategy. Alice is ultimately in charge but leaves the running the day to day business to the GM.
General Mgr	Frank Jones	In charge of all business activity including profits. Very busy man. Most managers below this line report to him.
Operations Mgr	Tom Smith	Responsible for all manufacturing and service of widgets. Has been with the company since it opened (started as factory foreman). Tom is risk-adverse and favours quality and standards over profits.
Sales Mgr	Nick Rose	Sales revenue, both new business and existing clients. Has been with Wobble for only 3 months from a rival widget maker and is keen to make an impact on revenue.
IT Mgr	Sue Day	All information technology and communication. Sue is the youngest of the senior team and a keen advocate of computing and software.
CFO	Helen Black	Finance and HR. Helen believes that money should be earned, not spent. She has influence on all major expenses and is conservative.
Logistics	Joe White	Warehousing & distribution. Joe is always very stressed and struggling to get the right widgets in stock or to the customers on time. He uses outdated systems but outsources all freight services.
Product Mgr	John Button	Widget design and customisation. John knows everything there is to know about widgets and how his clients use them.
Plant Supervisor	Ted Waters	Brisbane factory manager. Ted has risen through the ranks and knows how to make his factory perform. Ted reports to Tom.
Office Mgr	Gloria Trump	Order processing and general admin. Gloria is due to retire next year. Her main objective is to make life easier for her hardworking staff.

Locations and Premises

Wobble operates an office in many states around Australia.? A full list of their locations is below:

Factory #1: Brisbane. Manufactures 80% of Wobble’s widgets and services all Eastern states.
Factory #2: Perth. Makes 20% of the product and services WA and SA.

Warehouses: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth.

Large sales and admin offices: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne (also services Tasmania).

Small sales and admin offices: Perth, Adelaide.

Site Issues

The Sydney warehouse is in a very expensive location (high rent).
The Brisbane warehouse is stretched to capacity and needs much more space, whilst all other warehouses are barely half full.
Many sites have different hours of operation and clients are often frustrated trying to reach Wobble early/late in the day for service or assistance.

Sales Issues

Sales are declining in SA due to delivery delays when shipping widgets interstate.
Tasmanian sales are booming and there has been discussion about opening a small office there with permanent sales staff. Sue suggests an online sales portal instead.
Sales staff in Perth are the lowest performers with the weakest supervision.
All client and prospect contact records are kept locally in each office.

Production Issues

The Perth factory was built and operated by a competitor that was acquired three years ago. Only 20% of the systems and procedures have been integrated or standardised between that and the main plant in Brisbane.
The Perth factory makes some unique widgets that have growing demand in the eastern states. The Brisbane factory needs extensive retooling to make these so they are currently shipped from Perth. They are either slow to arrive or expensive to ship fast.
Too many complete orders go to manufacturing just because some of the widgets are not in stock, without filling part of the order from the warehouse.
Widget customisation is increasing alarmingly as clients demand specialised products.

Technology Issues

The admin offices have grown organically around the country and have no standard IT deployment. Hardware, software and operating systems vary from site to site.
Phone systems are disparate and it is not possible to transfer calls between sites.
There is a national data network in place with very little bandwidth usable only for the legacy EDP software. Email is sent via local internet connections.

Assignment Solutions

The following are three possible solutions you can use in your assignment. You should read the case study information about Wobble Corp (the buyer) before making your choice.

These solutions are generic and theoretical and are not intended to represent specific brands, technologies or solutions. It is recommended that you select the type of solution you would be most comfortable or familiar with as this is the intention of providing you these options

Solution 1 – CRM Software

You plan to provide Wobble Corp with a detailed CRM software solution to centrally manage their client and sales information. Your solution may include the following components:

Hardware computer systems to store the new database.
Server software and licensing for the CRM core databse.
Client software and licensing for all relevant desktop computers.
Improved national virtual private network connections between offices to facilitate access to the central CRM database 24/7.
Training and implementation assistance.
Ongoing support and maintenance.
Website interface for online sales and client order management.

Any other elements of this solution that you wish to include may be fictional but should be realistic and feasible for such a solution. Please remember that you are not being assessed on the cleverness of the solution itself but on how you present its benefits to the stakeholders.

Key Stakeholders

General Manager – main decision maker

CFO – financial stake and debt control interest.

Sales Manager – user stake and solution champion.

IT Manager – implementation and support stake.

Office Manager – user stake and workflow interest.

Solution 2 – Manufacturing Plant Upgrade

You intend to supply Wobble Corp with upgraded plant equipment in their factories to enable them to more easily and cheaply build cutting edge widgets. This new equipment can manufacture all the widgets they currently sell and can easy create many customised variations. Your solution may include the following components:

Replacement of out-dated equipment with more efficient machinery in main factory.
Standardisation of machinery to simplify operation and maintenance.
Re-tooling of the newer equipment to meet the same standards.
Smaller machinery for the Perth factory to reduce shipping needs from the main factory.
Design and installation of all equipment.
Full training on all new equipment plus temporary workforce addition for the transition.
Ongoing maintenance and support.

Key Stakeholders

General Manager – main decision maker

CFO – financial stake and ROI interest.

Operations Manager – efficiency stake and solution champion.

Product Manager – functionality and future-proofing stake.

Plant Supervisor – user stake and factory staff job security interest.

Solution 3 – Outsourced Logistics

You will provide a total logistics solution to Wobble Corp to replace the majority of their current warehouse needs and all of their transport and shipping. This will allow more efficient storage and faster/cheaper distribution than the existing warehouses and trucks used by Wobble. Your solution may include the following components:

Flexible storage space to replace existing dedicated warehouses, especially in high rent locations.
Taking over the lease for the Perth warehouse to minimise exit costs.
Offering small leased warehouse space in Tasmania with a single adjunct office area to create a local office with minimal start-up costs.
Bulk shipping arrangements by rail and road from the main factory to the eastern states.
Dedicated transport and storage arrangement for Perth to supply South Australia more cheaply.
High-speed priority shipping arrangements for urgent delivery from the Perth factory around the country.
Workforce transfer and retraining programs for the existing Wobble warehouse staff to avoid redundancies and retrenchments.

Key Stakeholders

CEO – main decision maker

CFO – financial stake and cost control interest.

General Manager – profitability stake and solution champion.

Sales Manager – reliability stake and client satisfaction interest.

Logistics Manager – user stake and transport staff job security interest.

Length: 3500 words

Submission method options

Task

Read the study guide information (posted under Resources on Interact) on the fictional company Tangle Corp to understand the problems and needs of the business and its stakeholders.

Choose one (1) of the three assignment solutions and prepare your sales proposal to Tangle Corp. Address the theoretical needs of ALL Tangle Corp stakeholders and discuss the theoretical advantages & benefits of the proposed solution.

The aims of the assignment are:

to demonstrate an understanding of the consulting and investigation methodology for solution sales, identifying needs of each stakeholder and the consequences of each need or benefit on other stakeholders and their departments;
to tailor the discussion to the specific needs and concerns of the different stakeholders and the unique benefits of each party;
to present a proposal written in an appropriate style and format; and
to provide a clear and relevant summary of the solution to the case study.

Rationale

This assessment is intended to:

help you apply theories of business culture to specific customer needs based on your research. This is not a classical “sales proposal” and should not include information about you or your ability to deliver the solution.
develop your skills in identifying, articulating and linking the benefits and needs on a per-stakeholder basis. You should be able to make it clear to each stakeholder why they should favourably consider the solution you are proposing.

Marking criteria

Marking Criteria	Marks
Understanding of the SPIN questions and the solution selling methodology with regards to: a. your investigations applied or used to identify the needs b. linking the benefits with those needs c. creating sufficient motivation for the stakeholders to invest in a solution.	/40
Tailoring of the message to each stakeholder, a. showing understanding of the unique benefits relevant to each party. b. Showing benefits to those stakeholders who may be less affected.	/30
Presentation & ease of understanding of the ideas and message being proposed, a. appropriate layout and use of language, clarity and readability of your views. b. how compelling and relevant is the solution to the needs uncovered	/30
Total	/100

Rubric

Criteria	HD	DI	CR	PS	FL	Marks
Understanding of the SPIN questions and the solution selling methodology with regards to;a. your investigations applied or used to identify the needs b. linking the benefits with those needs c. creating sufficient motivation for the stakeholders to invest in a solution.	Student has demonstrated a clear and comprehensive understanding of both SPIN Selling and the Solution Selling methodology. Benefits have been clearly and articulately linked between the problems and proposed solutions and solution suggested is beneficial enough so as to create a high level of motivation.	Student has demonstrated a clear understanding of SPIN Selling and the Solution Selling methodology. Benefits have been clearly linked between the problems and proposed solutions and solution suggested is beneficial enough so as to create a high level of motivation.	Student has demonstrated a good understanding of SPIN Selling and the Solution Selling methodology. Benefits have been linked between the problems and proposed solutions and solution suggested is beneficial enough so as to create motivation.	Student has demonstrated understanding of SPIN Selling and the Solution Selling methodology. Benefits have been briefly linked between the problems and proposed solutions and solution suggested is beneficial enough so as to create some motivation.	Student’s understanding of SPIN Selling is weak or unclear. Needs have been only vaguely identified and linked to the benefits and motivation has not been created with the stakeholders.	/40
Tailoring of the message to each stakeholder,a. showing understanding of the unique benefits relevant to each party. b. Showing benefits to those stakeholders who may be less affected.	Student has shown a clear understanding of the needs and requirements of each stakeholder and the unique benefits they receive from the solution, and has clearly demonstrated how stakeholders who are less affected benefit.	Student has shown a good understanding of the needs and requirements of each stakeholder and how they benefit from the solution, and has demonstrated how stakeholders who are less affected benefit.	Student has shown a good understanding of the needs and requirements of each stakeholder and how they benefit from the solution, and has demonstrated how stakeholders who are less affected benefit.	Student has shown some understanding of the needs and requirements of each stakeholder and how they benefit from the solution, and has briefly discussed how stakeholders who are less affected benefit.	Student has not clearly tailored the message to each stakeholder and has not demonstrated an understanding of the benefits relevant to each party.	/30
Presentation & ease of understanding of the ideas and message being proposed,a. appropriate layout and use of language, clarity and readability of your views. b. how compelling and relevant is the solution to the needs uncovered	Has used a clear and effective format and layout. Has used clear and professional language. Has given a very persuasive and relevant solution.	Has used an effective format and layout. Has used effective language. Has given a persuasive and relevant solution.	Has used a good format and layout. Has used clear and understandable language. Has given a persuasive solution.	Has used some kind of format and layout. Has used understandable language. Has given a partially persuasive and relevant solution.	Has used an unclear or inconsistent format and layout. Has used some confusing language. Has not been persuasive in their choice of solution.	/30

Presentation

Use a report format, with correct grammatical protocols and accurate spelling, punctuation and word count.

Feel free to use headings and bullet-lists where you think this is appropriate.

Refer to the Presentation section of this Subject Outline.

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Strategic Solution Proposal

Strategic Solution Proposal

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