Case Study

OTTO’S WEINER WORLD is one of the best-known and most loved haute dog concessions in town. In business for about five years, he sells sandwiches and other lunch items made from locally produced food from his mobile food trailer. Otto’s passion and talent for creating reliably fresh, tasty lunch fare popular among a business clientele (largely employees and shoppers) has made his small enterprise a booming success.

In the last year, Otto added three bicycle-towed concessions that travel to different strategic locations in town, selling his popular sandwiches to customers who work beyond walking distance of OTTO’S WEINER WORLD. He now has six employees, part-time, working the concessions.  Because he caters to urban customers, the concessions operate on weekdays from 10 am to 2 pm.  To promote word-of-mouth advertising, Otto uses Facebook to publish his daily menus and the locations of the bicycle concession.

A sole proprietor, Otto has been pleased with his lunch business success.  Now it is time to get serious about the future of his business.  In the short and medium term, he wants to see the business grow into a potentially more lucrative enterprise, implementing a greater variety of food products and services, and increasing his competitive edge in the region.  Ever the ardent entrepreneur, Otto’s long-term dream is to develop his creative, health-conscious culinary skills and services into a wider clientele outside the immediate region.

An opportunity has arisen to lease restaurant space about 25 miles from his trailer concession location, close to a mall and the suburbs and nearer to his local food producers.  Otto has jumped at the chance to own a restaurant and plans to expand his current business and will be changing the business form to an LLC.  Although he has hired professional business consultants to help set up the space, design the menu, and implement the opening of the restaurant, he must also consider the short- and long-term financing, human resources, and management needs of the an expansion.  Otto is particularly sensitive to his relationship with his customers, employees, and the community.

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Purpose:

Throughout the course, you have learned a wide array of business concepts and theories.  This assignment is designed to have you demonstrate knowledge of the material learned in the course applying concepts and theories to a case scenario.

Assignment Instructions:

In this paper, you will analyze and discuss small business growth in terms of growth strategy, financing assistance, organizational structure and staffing needs, customers and promotion, and ethics and social responsibility. You will apply business and management concepts learned throughout the course to the case scenario provided.

Step 1:  Preparation for Writing the Assignment

Before you begin writing the paper, you will read the following requirements that will help you meet the writing and APA requirements.  Not reading this information will lead to a lower grade;

• Review “How to Analyze a Case Study”.  You are expected to use the facts from the case scenario focusing on using this information to determine opportunities and solve problems. 
• Read the grading rubric for the assignment.  Use the grading rubric while writing the paper to ensure all requirements are met that will lead to the highest possible grade.
• In writing this assignment, you will read and following these tasks:
• Third person writing is required.  Third person means that there are no words such as “I, me, my, we, or us” (first person writing), nor is there use of “you or your” (second person writing).  If uncertain how to write in the third person, view this link:  http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/first-second-and-third-person.
• Contractions are not used in business writing, so you are expected NOT to use contractions in writing this assignment. 
• You are expected to paraphrase and NOT use direct quotes.  You are expected to paraphrase, which can be learned by reviewing this link:   https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_paraphrase2.html.
• You are responsible for APA only for in-text citations and a reference list. 
• You are expected to use the facts from the case scenario paired with the weekly courses readings to develop the analysis and support the reasoning.  No more than two (2) external resources can be used in completing the assignment.  The expectation is that you provide a robust use of the course readings.  No other books besides the course eBook can be used.   When using a source document, the expectation is that the information is cited and referenced with page or paragraph numbers.   Note that a reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated in-text citation and vice versa.   

Step 2:  How to Set Up the Paper

Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) document that is double-spaced, 12-point font.  The final product will be between 7-8 pages in length excluding the title page and reference page.  You may not exceed eight (8) pages so it is important to write clearly and concisely.

Follow this format.  Consider making an outline to ensure the correct headings are in place and to keep you organize the paper. 

• Title page with the title, your name, course number and name; date, and the instructor’s name;
• Introduction (no abstract)
• Body, in paragraph form. Use the following section headings: 

• Growth Strategy (one paragraph only)
• Financing Assistance
• Organizational Structure and Staffing Needs
• Customers and Promotion
• Ethical Issues and Social Responsibility
• Summary paragraph (does not have a heading)

Step 3:  Read the Case Scenario provided ABOVE

Step 4: Write the Introduction

Create the introductory paragraph.  The introductory paragraph is the first paragraph of the paper and tells a reader the main points covered in the paper.  To help you know how to write an introduction, view this website to learn how to write an introductory paragraph:  http://www.writing.ucsb.edu/faculty/donelan/intro.html

Step 5: Growth Strategy

Otto has to have a plan to grow his business.  Read the course readings on Entrepreneurship as well as other chapters in the eBook. Then:

• In one or two paragraphs, discuss what tool Otto should use to organize and prioritize his business growth strategy.   

Step 6: Financing Assistance

Otto has to ensure he has the resources to handle the expected growth.  For Otto to have the resources needed to manage the expected growth, he must have financing in place.

• Discuss the types of financing assistance available to Otto.  
• Select the best financing option for Otto’s business and explain why the financing assistance was selected.
• Explain why the other options would not fit Otto’s situation. 

Step 7: Staffing Needs/Organizational Structure

Otto knows that the expansion will require changes to staffing.  Think about what the expanded business needs in terms of human capital and how the business can best be organized so that every employee has a job that fits within the organizational structure.

• How might the staffing needs change?
• Discuss how Otto can best organize, orient, and train his restaurant staff. 
• What is the best organizational structure that would work best for Otto’s expanded business?  [e.g., vertical hierarchy, functional, teams, flat (horizontal), or matrix].

Step 8: Customers/Promoting the Business

Otto has limited funds.  Two of his main concerns are: what to do to promote the business to current customers and how to promote the business to new customers.  Use the course readings to:

• Explain how Otto can approach his current customers about the change?
• What kind of promotion should Otto consider to attract new customers to the new location?

Step 9: Ethics and Social Responsibility

With having only a few employees, Otto has never thought much about how he can ensure the business is ran ethically.  At the same time, Otto has not put much thought into being socially responsible although he believes strongly in supporting the community and does so by purchasing products locally.

• What can Otto do to ensure the business is ran ethically? 
• What can Otto do to demonstrate that he is socially responsible?  (Consider customers, employees, the current and new communities, and other stakeholders.)

Step 10:  Write the summary paragraph

Write the summary paragraph. A summary paragraph restates the main topics of the paper.  Make sure to leave a reader with a sense that the paper is complete.  The summary paragraph is the last paragraph of a paper and does not need a heading.

Step 11: Review the Paper

Read the paper to ensure all required elements are present.  Use the grading rubric to ensure that you gain the most points possible for this assignment.

Proofread the paper for spelling and grammatical issues, and third person writing. 

• Read the paper aloud as a first measure;
• Use the spell and grammar check in Word as a second measure;
• Have someone who has excellent English skills to proof the paper;
• Consider submitting the paper to the Effective Writing Center (EWC).  The EWC will provide 4-6 areas that may need improvement.