12.2: Assignment- New Operational Plans at Sun City Boards
Scenario
Since you first met Sun City Boards owner Tom Wilson, he has made lots of changes and plans for his business. Sun City Boards has continued to expand and extend to markets via an Internet presence and e-commerce. The company is now taking advantage of the “branded” sports promotion surfboards market, offering customers completely customized surfboard designs.
The new offering includes the promise to “communicate directly with an in-house designer, to draft the design and branding of the board.” Sun City promises full customization of the design, size, and shape of the product, incorporating client-specific logos, colors and other design elements. The offer also guarantees positive results for the customer’s brand.
The basic production process Tom Wilson envisions follows these steps:
Customized Surfboard Production Process
Design
Customer collaborates with a Sun City designer to draft the design and branding of the board, as well as the positioning of brand logos or information.
Board Production
Once the customer has approved the design, the production team creates the surfboard following these steps:
- Shaping the blank: dense foam is cut to shape using a CNC machine.
- Glassing: laminating resin is spread over fiberglass cloth.
- Placing the design inlays: printing onto polymer mesh fabric and placed on to the board according to customer design specifications.
- Sanding and finishing
- Quality control
You have been hired as the Director of Manufacturing and charged by Tom Wilson to “make this happen.” Here’s a roster of the current Sun City staff members:
- Owner/CEO: Tom Wilson (Designs the boards, sets their selling price, and establishes sales channels with local surf shops)
- Bookkeeper: Verónica Ramírez (Verónica also doubles as order-taking clerk, cash register attendant, and customer support)
- Board Maker: Lloyd Greene (If Tom invents it, Lloyd can make it!)
- Board Making Assistants: Mariann Lee, Sam Kahele, and Romy Philliips (Assignments change almost daily as Lloyd decides what needs to be done next)
- Sales Associate: Kelly Pace (Named after famed surfer Kelly Slater and a business icon for Sun City Boards; visits surf shops and occasionally closes a sale)
- Part-time Associates: Hired as needed for inventory management (cleanup), promotional events, etc.
Some of these staff members will be helping with the customized surfboard production process. To help you get started, Tom Wilson has provided the following production staff information, gathered from recent personality and values tests.
| Employee | OCEAN | Myers-Briggs | Schwartz basic values |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verónica | O=76, C=50, E=15, A=20, N=56 | INFP | Conformity, Security |
| Mariann | O-26, C=80, E=75, A=25, N=20 | ESTJ | Achievement, Benevolence |
| Sam | O=26, C=80, E=77, A=25, N=56 | ENTJ | Self-direction, Stimulation |
| Nathan | O=63, C=65, E=82, A=76, N=63 | ESFP | Benevolence, Security |
| New Hire | ??? | ??? | ??? |
| New Hire | ??? | ??? | ??? |
Preparation
In this assignment, you will develop your plan for staff hiring and job assignments based on the information you’ve been given and the information you studied in your readings. The following steps will help you prepare for your written assignment:
- Carefully consider the existing staff; new operational plans; and the studies, theories, and models presented in the module reading.
- Consider the profile information Tom Wilson provided. What conclusions (if any) can you draw about job suitability and satisfaction from this information?
Your Task
Write a three-paragraph essay describing your staffing plan to execute the customized surfboard production plan. Your essay must include three properly referenced and defined terms from the module reading. For example, if you believe that job satisfaction is important, how does your plan address the top job satisfaction factors as surveyed by the Society for Human Resources Management? Address the following questions:
- Who will you assign to each of the anticipated steps in the process? What factors went into your decision?
- What characteristics will you look for in the two planned new hires? How will the new employees fit in with the existing team?
- Does your initial reaction to the staff lineup indicate a potential bias? How will you deal with your bias?
- What additional resources or models will you use to guide your decisions? How will you handle the top job satisfaction factors at Sun City?
You are encouraged to use appropriate illustrations or charts to describe your plan. You may also reference reliable and properly cited Internet resources, as well as draw from your personal work experience with appropriate examples to support your references.
Contributors and Attributions
- Assignment: New Operational Plans at Sun City Boards. Authored by : Betty Fitte and Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution