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Christine Nguyen 49799272

Professor Mclaughlin

Management 05

11 May 2010

Case Assignment #2 Planning a New Program Launch at LDC

1. Even though not many senior executives have decided to participate in the program, I would

still run the program at a loss because other then the Midwestern training company trying to

break even financially, they even had a choice in the beginning to run the program as a “loss

leader”, meaning they would lose money but it will pay for itself in the end. Because the original

program was designed at a financial consideration that it will break even with the expected

eighteen participants, the training within the program will be a lot more concentrated towards the

ten participants that will be attending, in other words quality over quantity. Nothing within the

programming process needs to be changed, but the administrators for the program can allocate

more resources and quality of the training towards those who are attending.

2.

X-axis = number of days

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The plan and its implementation have actually been running on time, if anything, ahead of time.

They planned the sequence and timing of each process, considering the general timing of each

steps. They then had an individual who is accountable for these actions and the implementation

of the plan; in this case it would be Tammy, since she’s helping Pam with contacting the

brochure design firm and printing company, and ensuring that the brochure would be ready on

time. She also secured the mailing list and arrange for an outside contractor to stuff the

envelopes. And lastly the outcome was ahead of what they expected, considering that the design

of the planning took two weeks instead of three weeks and the delivery of the brochures took two

days instead of a week.

3. Nothing necessarily went wrong within the program itself except that it is a new program that

hasn’t yet established credibility. Their strength was their planning process and the

implementation and monitor outcome of the program in a timely manner. Their weakness was

that hey hoped for at least eighteen participants in order to break even financially but they lacked

contingency plans, which are plans that identify key factors that could affect the desired results

and specify what actions will be taken if key events change. They didn’t underestimate or

overestimate the potential number of participants. In a way, it’s similar to the chapter that talks

about the environmental uncertainty that can happen, and the plans that are thought of should be

flexible according to the situation.

4. Yes, there are differences between senior executives and mid-level managers that might

explain why the plan didn’t work as it were anticipated to. Because the Midwestern training was

more focused on mid level managers, they probably didn’t consider the organizational levels

between the two at which plans are developed. Senior executives plan on a corporate level which

mid-level managers may plan on a business level. At the corporate level, they have to consider

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certain concerns such as what industries they should get into, which businesses should the

corporate invest, or what resources should be allocated to each of the businesses. At the business

level, they have to consider certain issues such as their direct competitors, their own strengths

and weaknesses and of their competitors, and what their customers value in the product and

service. These differences could have been anticipated considered the differences of levels, but it

was easily forgotten because this training program is usually for mid-level managers.