Understand the nature of business communication and how to plan for it
Project Instructions:
Part 1 of your assignment for is to create four pyramids of ideas, one for meetings with IT, one for
Manufacturing, one for Distribution, and one for Marketing, based on the case study discussed in Unit 8. In
each pyramid, the ‘big idea’ should be “Acquire the soft-candy company,” but the subsequent boxes for
“means of achievement,” “logic,” and “evidence” are to be filled in by you. For example, the “means of
achievement” boxes could be filled in with strategic options such as “merge nothing – operate as separate
businesses,” “merge some functionality,” or “merge all functionality.” You may choose other strategic
options, these are meant only as examples. For the “logic” boxes, fill them in with brief descriptions of the
rationale for choosing the possible strategic option. For the “evidence” boxes, identify what type(s) of
information and research will needed in order to support each strategic option.
Part 2 of the assignment is to provide a paper in which you
explain your rationale for how you filled in the boxes.
Project Instructions:
Part 1 of your assignment for is to create four pyramids of ideas, one for meetings with IT, one for
Manufacturing, one for Distribution, and one for Marketing, based on the case study discussed in Unit 8. In
each pyramid, the ‘big idea’ should be “Acquire the soft-candy company,” but the subsequent boxes for
“means of achievement,” “logic,” and “evidence” are to be filled in by you. For example, the “means of
achievement” boxes could be filled in with strategic options such as “merge nothing – operate as separate
businesses,” “merge some functionality,” or “merge all functionality.” You may choose other strategic
options, these are meant only as examples. For the “logic” boxes, fill them in with brief descriptions of the
rationale for choosing the possible strategic option. For the “evidence” boxes, identify what type(s) of
information and research will needed in order to support each strategic option.
Part 2 of the assignment is to provide a paper in which you
explain your rationale for how you filled in the boxes.
For easy reference, here is the Unit 8 case study:
Your client, a leading manufacturer of chocolates, cookies, and hard candies, has acquired a company
which manufactures all sorts of soft candies, such as gummy bears, candy corn, circus peanuts, etc.
Initially, this was thought to be an ideal acquisition, as the products of both companies were sold in the
same channels, and the merger/acquisition was expected to lead to economies of scale in the storage and
distribution of the combined product line, as well as opening additional markets for the soft candies, which
were not currently available in all the stores which sold the products of the larger, acquiring manufacturer.
Initially, you were called in to perform an analysis of the IT systems of the acquired company, to
determine how to migrate them most efficiently into the IT systems of the acquiring company. You had
planned to review such things as data record layouts (to see how to convert product numbers and
employee numbers, consolidate customer numbers and addresses, etc.) and analyze functionality.
However, in recent days, some issues have cropped up which challenge the initial assumptions regarding
how good of a fit the soft candy product line would be and whether the anticipated operational efficiencies
could be achieved.
Your client, a leading manufacturer of chocolates, cookies, and hard candies, has acquired a company
which manufactures all sorts of soft candies, such as gummy bears, candy corn, circus peanuts, etc.
Initially, this was thought to be an ideal acquisition, as the products of both companies were sold in the
same channels, and the merger/acquisition was expected to lead to economies of scale in the storage and
distribution of the combined product line, as well as opening additional markets for the soft candies, which
were not currently available in all the stores which sold the products of the larger, acquiring manufacturer.
Initially, you were called in to perform an analysis of the IT systems of the acquired company, to
determine how to migrate them most efficiently into the IT systems of the acquiring company. You had
planned to review such things as data record layouts (to see how to convert product numbers and
employee numbers, consolidate customer numbers and addresses, etc.) and analyze functionality.
However, in recent days, some issues have cropped up which challenge the initial assumptions regarding
how good of a fit the soft candy product line would be and whether the anticipated operational efficiencies
could be achieved.
For example, it was recently determined that the fleet of trucks owned by the soft candy company were
not refrigerated, and therefore they could not be used during hot temperature months for distributing
candies and cookies which contained chocolate. This cast doubts on the practicality of storing the combined product lines in the same distribution centers and delivering them in one truck in one stop to
the same customers. Also, it has been determined that a significant portion of the sales of the soft candy
company had been to different customers than those of the acquiring company. Much of the soft candy
was sold to rebaggers who then sold the soft candy in bulk packages under a variety of brand names, or
to large supermarket chains, which then packaged and sold the candy under their private store brand
labels. Currently, these marketing channels are not used by the acquiring company, which has no plans to
use them, as this is contrary to their branding strategy. You are now wondering if the merger/acquisition
assumptions were valid, and if any other issues will be discovered soon.
Now, you have been asked to conduct a six-week consulting engagement to recommend how to proceed
with the merger/acquisition. You have decided that you will need meet with teams of IT, Manufacturing,
Distribution, and Marketing people from both companies, to get their input and to determine the
recommended next steps.
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