Bus 100W Week
IX Discussion
Agenda
- Grades
- Final Exam
- Assignment 4
- The Economist presentation
- The Economist Workshop
Grades
- Essay 2 grades are up.
- Class Average:
- Visit office hours for additional
questions or concerns.
Final Exam
Date: December 7th (Saturday)
Time: 11:30 AM
Location: Same as Lecture class
Assignment 4
-
th
Due: December 9 (Monday)
Where: ilearn through SafeAssign
No hard copy!
Word Count: 2,000-2,250
Grammar requirement: None
Format: MLA
Longest paper!
Assignment 4
- Literature paper
- Be cautious of- Margins, Font choices and
citation!
- Citation: Make sure that you’re citing the
correct version of your book.
- NO: Title Page, Executive Summary and Table
of Contents.
Assignment 4
Assume the prince refers to the company as a whole.
Pick 3-5 quotes
• Translate
• Apply
• Analyze
- In what ways does your company adhere to
or reject Machiavelli’s teachings?
- How does this adherence to or rejection of
Machiavellian ideas help or hurt your
company?
Assignment 4
-
Start by presenting the quote
Translate
1. What is Machiavelli actually talking about - Can be multiple translations
Ex: Fortifying the walls of his city
- Protect the company by shoring up the resources
- Protecting the company from competition
- Retaining employees
- Strong foundations, strong metrics
- Strengthening controls and processes
2. Now apply the translation to this company
- Company follows this pricincipe because of X, Y, Z
- This is how the company demonstrates this principle
3. Evaluation - how does it help or hurt the company
- Does it work out well?
- How do you know?
Assignment 4
-
Don’t have to stick with current events.
Can look at company history and analyze
how they reacted.
-
-
-
Can go as far back as 100+ years.
Umbrella features: Strong papers will find
something that will unify the quotes.
READ THE BOOK OVER READING
SUMMARY!
Assignment 4
-
Introduction
-
Short introduction on Machiavelli
Short introduction on the Prince
Brief sentence on company
Thesis on how your company reflects Machiavelli’s
teachings
Assignment 4 Outline
-
Introduction
-
-
Thesis - adhering/rejecting to certain Machiavellian
principles
First quote & discussion
Second quote & discussion
Third quote & discussion
Fourth quote & discussion (optional)
Fifth quote & discussion (optional)
Conclusion
-
Tie the quotes together
Concluding thoughts on
The Economist presentation
Due date: December 1st (Sunday)
Time: 11:59 PM
Submission: ilearn (Please submit your
slide deck)
Presentation: December 1st (Monday)
The Economist presentation
-
Length: 5-7 minutes long
Dress: Professionally
Visual: Yes!
Groups
The Economist Workshop
- Please read the following article.
Big Tech takes aim at the low-profit retail-banking
industry
- Link:https://www.economist.com/finance-and-e
conomics/2019/11/21/big-tech-takes-aim-at-the
-low-profit-retail-banking-industry
Business 100W
Assignment IV: Application of Machiavelli
Word Count: 2,000-2,250 (required)
Grammar Requirement: None—but make good use of your acquired knowledge
Format: MLA-formatted throughout
Due to SafeAssign by 11:59pm on Monday, December 9th—no hard copies
In brief: In this essay, you will apply Machiavellian teachings to your company and evaluate
the outcome of either following or rejecting those principles. Anticipate the possibility of doing
additional research to support your points, and be willing to work with the idea that no
company either fully follows or fully rejects Machiavelli’s concepts.
Scenario: You have succeeded beyond your wildest dreams because of the impressive
proposal you generated, along with many more successful documents. Now, from your perch
in the corner office, you find yourself with more time to think critically and creatively. As a
result, your thoughts turn towards a text you once read: The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli
(assigned to you by some long-forgotten but much-appreciated professor).
Your goal in paper four is to consider the company you have worked with for papers two and
three as you read and evaluate Machiavelli. While you have conducted a great deal of
research so far, anticipate the possibility of more as you work with The Prince.
In this paper, you will discuss Machiavelli in the context of your company through the use,
analysis, and application of 3-5 quotes from The Prince. Consider the following as part of
preparing for your paper:
In what ways does your company adhere to or reject Machiavelli’s teachings? How does
this adherence to or rejection of Machiavellian ideas help or hurt your company?
Be specific in your argument and analysis, unpacking Machiavelli thoroughly and using strong
research to demonstrate how The Prince manifests in your company. Rely heavily on
Machiavelli, quoting where appropriate and comprehensively explaining/interpreting the
quotes.
In this paper, remember that you cannot assume that your company or its leadership have
read The Prince or are consciously applying it. You can only rely on observations: the
company reflects these teachings through a given action or attribute.
Also avoid the temptation to equate the prince with the company’s CEO or other top
leadership. In the context of this paper, the prince, as Machiavelli uses the term, is the
company. The CEO or other leadership can demonstrate an adherence to (or rejection of)
Machiavellian ideas and can be representatives of the company, but they are not specifically
the prince.
Visuals will likely be helpful and are strongly encouraged in the construction of this paper.
Citations and formatting are MLA-standard throughout.
1
THE PROPOSAL
Problem Statement: Address and Remedy a Specific Company Weakness
Purpose Statement: Determine if inadequate
adoption of new technology is a significant
weakness of the company
DAVID ABDHIR
862069680
Table of Contents
Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 3
Company Weaknesses .................................................................................................................................. 4
Budget and Timeline ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................... 6
Appendix ....................................................................................................................................................... 7
Executive Summary
The contemporary food industry has demonstrated, through recent researches, that it has
been profoundly affected by unhealthy foods that cause significant health concerns to most
customers across the world. However, the Kraft Heinz Company, frequently referred to as Kraft
Heinz, changes this conception through the emphasis on quality healthy foods to its customers.
With its co-headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Chicago, Illinois, the food company is
currently considered among the top three companies in North America’s Food and Beverage
Company. This is demonstrated in the company’s annual sales, which totals slightly more than
$26.2 billion as of 2018. The company has more than 38,000 employees in all its locations
around the world that serve a variety of food products, including snack foods, convenience
foods, beverages, dairy foods, and cheese. The company has placed much emphasis on healthconscious foods and takes pride in innovating healthy food products that are in line with the
preferences and demands of the customers. The company faces significant competition from
companies such as McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Dunking Donuts, among others. To address this
competition, Kraft Heinz needs to remedy specific weaknesses and this proposal will serve to
provide practical remedies to enhance productivity, increase revenues, and provide the
organization with a robust competitive advantage.
Company Weaknesses
In 2015, the food industry witnessed a notable merger through the alliance between H.J.
Heinz and Kraft foods. This provided Kraft Heinz with a significant competitive advantage in the
industry that saw the expansion of the company to other locations both within the U.S. and
overseas markets, as well. However, the company still faces specific weaknesses that need to be
addressed and remedied. A SWOT analysis of Kraft Heinz Company shows the significant
weaknesses that it faces, especially in the contemporary business environment. An organization’s
vulnerabilities primarily involve the crucial areas where the company needs to improve in order
to establish a strategic positioning and competitive advantage (Leigh 21).
Even though the company merged, the stock price has still been dropping over the past
few years. The price change can be seen below:
Due to this steady decrease in the stock price, some changes in the company must be
made. The weakness of the company will be discussed later, and the possible benefits from
investing in the sector of this weakness will be addressed.
One significant weakness of Kraft Heinz is the inadequate adoption of new technologies
in all the company’s practices. The general practices of the company have demonstrated that the
company has not effectively adopted modern technology, thus causing the company to
experience significant lapses in its operations, which tends to affect productivity. Considering the
scale of expansion that the company has set to different locations both locally within the U.S.
and overseas, it is crucial for the company to place more emphasis and finances to modern
technology. Technology is an indispensable factor in the contemporary business environment
since it effects almost all business operations of an organization. According to Duncan (11),
recent data on Kraft Heinz Company has demonstrated that the technological infrastructure of
the company in the past has affected the relationship, efficiency, and culture of the organization’s
operations. Addressing the issue of technology use in the company will have significant
advantages to the company.
Modern technology will allow the company to connect with more customers through its
capability to reach out to millions of people. The company has not utilized modern technology to
communicate with as many individuals as other advanced organizations in the U.S. According to
the annual financial statements of the company in recent years, the company could guarantee the
growth of its sales by more than 10%. The adoption of technology on various aspects of the
company, including advertisements, data management, and processes, warranties the growth of
its annual revenues from the current $26.5 billion by approximately $9 billion over a 5-year
timeline (David 2). This financial data illustrates the importance of addressing the issue of
investing in new technology by the company.
Kraft Heinz Company could put more funding into technology to incorporate the
essential process. Currently, the funds that the company has allocated to technologies is not in
line with the company’s vision.
Budget and Timeline
Item
Laptops and Computers
Servers
Software
Service and software renewals
Firewall
Total
Estimated Cost
$2,000,000
$1,000,000
$400,000
$300,000
$400,000
$4,100,000
Timeline
Change
Enabling remote networking
2 months
Estimated Timeline
Systems upgrade and Testing
5 months
Firewall installation
1 month 2 weeks
Server installation and upgrade
3 months
Implementation of cloud computing solutions
2 months
The budget for technology costs in the company will be considerably high. This is
because it will involve purchases of laptops and computers, inclusion of servers and software,
and service and software renewals. This accumulates to roughly $4,100,000, including the initial
system upgrade. The complete transition to the adoption of this technology will take place over a
nine-month time frame.’
A significant recommendation for this concern is the company to utilize technology as a
fundamental tool of productivity. This is effective, especially to the new locations in
international markets. This is because these new locations are often given the condition that
Kraft Heinz will have to invest in diverse roles. Therefore, proper funding in technology will
enable the use of appropriate cutting-edge technology in different segments, such as the
marketing department, human resource department, media managers as well as others.
Investment in technology could also be an essential means of security for the company to
minimize financial loss and data breaches. Since Kraft Heinz Company is a large company, more
funding in technology will allow it to adopt advanced technological measures that could be
utilized to prevent data breaches, such as hacking. According to Stallings et al. (33), many
organizations across the world lose close to one billion dollars as a result of ransomware attacks.
Proper technology security measures will, therefore, enable the company to save a part of this
amount, thus increasing annual revenues to $27 billion to $28 billion. This approach will also
prevent issues of copyright infringement. In this case, Kraft Heinz will be able to adapt the right
encrypted passwords, as well as, active firewalls, thus protecting valuable information of the
company.
The company could address the concern of the need of the company to increase its
investment in modern technology through implementing technology that enables team dynamics.
This technology strategy will address the technology weakness and proper funding in technology
since it will ensure that all personnel in all the locations that the company hopes to expand to
have good relations and interactions. For example, if Kraft Heinz’s factory managers in all
locations can effectively communicate with shipment coordinators in other locations of the
company’s stores, it can address the issues of mistrust and tensions. Social tensions and other
forms of cliques could be an issue that incurs losses due to reduced productivity. However,
technology could play an essential role in enabling the employees to put aside their differences
and focus on quality service delivery and quality products to the customers.
Conclusion
Investment in modern technology will play an essential role in allowing Kraft Heinz to
realize most of its objectives. Data from the company illustrates that it has invested in
technology; however, the weakness is demonstrated in the idea that the company’s investment in
technology does not meet the vision of expansion that the company holds currently. Besides the
need for more investment in technology as a significant weakness of Kraft Heinz Company, it
also has other weaknesses that cost the company a considerable amount of money. Other
weaknesses of the company include the company having reduced accomplishments outside the
core business. The company can address this by adjusting its present culture to engage in
different product segments.
Appendix
“A Platform for Performance.” The Kraft Heinz Company.
David, Abdir. Evaluation of Investment in the Kraft Heinz Company (2019).
Duncan, Eric. “Topic: The Kraft Heinz Company.” Www.statista.com, 11 Sept. 2018,
Leigh, Doug. "SWOT analysis." Handbook of Improving Performance in the Workplace:
Volumes 1‐3 (2009): 115-140.
Stallings, William, et al. Computer security: principles and practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ,
USA: Pearson Education, 2012.
0
EVALUATION OF INVESTMENT
IN THE KRAFT HEINZ COMPANY
Problem Statement: Evaluate a company for Investment
Purpose Statement: Determine if the Kraft Heinz
Company demonstrates a positive return on our
investment
DAVID ABDHIR
862069680
Table of Content
Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. 2
Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 3
Financial Data........................................................................................................................... 3
Financial Overview .................................................................................................................. 3
Market Share ............................................................................................................................ 4
Business Ethics ....................................................................................................................... 6
Community Involvement ......................................................................................................... 6
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 7
Appendix .................................................................................................................................. 8
Executive Summary
The popular Kraft Heinz Company (KHC) is considered a staple among many American
households. Although recent trends have shifted towards a more health conscious
demographic of young consumers, the food giant remains a dominant brand in the global
food market. In the climate of health consciousness today, Kraft has repeatedly innovated
its product development to stay in line with customer demands and preferences, while
working with local nonprofits and communities to create sustainable environmental
policies. The merger between Kraft and Heinz pushed the company to build and expand
upon their unparalleled portfolio of leading brands. With a strong foothold in the North
American market and expansion into a diversified market segment, Kraft Heinz is able to
highly decrease business risks because they don’t have to be overly dependent on a few
specific markets. KHC’s product portfolio features 26 popular brands, including Kraft,
Heinz, Philadelphia, Lunchables, Oscar Meyers, etc. Each brand is valued at an
astounding amount of $1 billion or more. As one the world’s leading food and beverage
companies, Kraft Heinz is committed to making a significant difference in ending global
hunger. The company aspires to improve its relationships with communities and lead the
path for positive change, evident through its partnerships with nonprofit organizations,
such as Rise Against Hunger and Feeding America. KHC demonstrates a feasible
potential for return on our investment due to its exceptional performance in the financial
growth data and high presence in developed markets. The combination of adaptability in
marketing strategies, awareness for consumer preferences, and global initiative all
solidify KHC as a top contender in the industry.
Introduction
In a food industry saturated with a variety of unhealthy processed goods, the demographic
shift in the market towards increasingly health conscious consumers is undoubtedly
diminishing the profits of the industry, particularly companies that rely heavily on food
processing. However, the popular Kraft Heinz Company (KHC) demonstrates a feasible
potential for return on our investment because of its status as a globally dominant food
brand, its high presence in developed markets where other companies are seeing decline,
and its relationships with local communities which are instrumental to their mission of
sustainable environmental policies and elimination of global hunger.
Financial Data
KHC’s quarterly reports display a progressive increase of net sales. Despite the increase
in young consumers becoming more conscious about what they are eating, KHC
continues to exhibit stable growth. In the third quarter of 2018, KHC reported net sales of
$6.4 billion, which is a 1.6 percent increase from the previous year. KHC CEO Bernardo
Hees stated, “We believe that our Q3 results are strong evidence that our commercial
investments are working, with solid top line performance in the quarter”
(kraftheinzcompany). This reflects their prodigious marketing pipeline, ushered by
partnerships with capital business channels and thus far, effective product innovation. In
turn, the increase in sales in an otherwise decreasing competitive market demonstrates
KHC’s ability to adapt and develop effective strategies to cope with the ever-changing
landscape of the food industry. The evolving personal choices of consumers and their
preferences influence and redefine prevailing food culture. Nevertheless, KHC continues
to perpetuate a sustainable and profitable growth going into the future.
Financial Overview
Financial statements dating back to 2011 illustrate a remarkable annual growth rate of
both revenue and NET income. KHC’s strong product portfolio of popular foods, arguably
considered to be staples of the American household, gives them a competitive advantage
over other companies. The company successfully established themselves as the 5
largest food and beverage company in the world with revenues over $26.5 billion. Over a
5-year period, the company’s net income has increased by nearly $9 billion. The following
graph represents their annual growth of revenue and net income dating back to 2011.
th
This graph illustrates an annual growth rate of 5.5% in revenue and 9.6% in net income
dating back to 2011. KHC has reached the maturity stage of the business cycle; the data
depicts a stagnant inflow of cash between the year 2017 and 2018. In a climate of plantbased proteins, Kraft has failed to address how they plan to strategize against the
newfound popularity of meat-alternative foods. Consumers are eating less meat and
demanding more plant proteins—many out of concern for the environment, animal
welfare, and/or their own health. Companies with limited exposure to sustainable protein
options may face several business risks including reputational damage due to changing
consumer expectations and a loss of market share to competitors who have more rapidly
adapted to an evolving market.
Market Share
The merger between Kraft and Heinz enabled the combined company to build and expand
upon their unparalleled portfolio of leading brands. Their products continue to stay in line
with evolving consumer preferences. This is evidenced by their standing as a global food
powerhouse, with a strong foothold in North America. For example, Kraft has a dominant
presence in 98% of homes in North America “which provides strong growth opportunities
for Heinz Brands”, according to the former CEO Bernard Hees (foodnavigator). Kraft
Heinz has taken advantage of these global-scale marketing opportunities, and increased
their presence in Europe, Canada, Asia Pacific, Latin America, etc. With a strong foothold
in the North American market and expansion into a diversified market segment, Kraft
Heinz is able to highly decrease business risks because they don’t have to be overly
dependent on a few specific markets.
KHC’s product portfolio features 26 popular brands, including Kraft, Heinz, Philadelphia,
Lunchables, Oscar Meyers, etc. Each brand is valued at an astounding amount of $1
billion or more. The company uses various business strategies to maintain its status as a
globally dominant food company. Among these techniques, KHC continues to expand its
consumer base through globalization and innovation. Earlier this year, KHC signed a deal
with the popular Japanese food company Indo Nissin Foods. “This partnership will provide
Kraft Heinz a platform to distribute and make its global product portfolio available to Indian
consumers," said Sankalp Potbhare, Managing Director of KHZ in South Asia. Kraft Heinz
holds 36% of the Consumer Processed Goods market (statista) and remains second only
to North American brands such as Nestle and PepsiCo. Kraft Heinz remains synonymous
with the American Household but maintains aggressive tactics to continue to penetrate
the global market, with the support of Indo Nissin Foods’ distribution channels.
Despite its overwhelming success, one reason to be careful about investing in Kraft Heinz
is its decrease in research and development. Given the scale of expansion and different
markets the company is pursuing, Kraft Heinz needs to put more in technology to integrate
their operations across the board efficiently. While Kraft Heinz has diversified itself
significantly in the past, the slowing pace of research may be indicative of a stagnation of
the company’s innovation in product variety and expansion, and the rapid growth of the
company could thus be jeopardized. With a slowing growth, competing companies may
be able to penetrate the dominance that KHC currently has, and Kraft Heinz may face
more competition in the future.
Therefore, we should invest in Kraft Heinz cautiously; although it is currently enjoying
status as a top producer, competing companies will eventually become more
conscientious of consumer needs and of the business practices that have allowed KHC
to succeed. This will likely hamper KHC’s dominance over the market, unless it does not
continue to research and evolve as a company.
Business Ethics
Kraft Heinz demonstrates a commitment to responsible and sustainable business
practices. The company maintains high standards of quality controls in accordance to
relationships with their growers and suppliers. Their self-proclaimed vision is “To Be The
Best Food Company, Growing A Better World’ (kraftheinzcompany). This vision is
certainly reflected in the company’s dedication to improving the planet, people, and the
communities in which we operate, and is evident in the various business practices and
outreach efforts of KHC. Kraft Heinz's network focused supply chain establishes
responsible farm-to-market and material sourcing practices, which promotes consumer
health and environmental awareness. Kraft Heinz additionally prioritizes care for the Earth
by managing resources and minimizing carbon footprint to preserve natural reserves for
future generations.
Kraft Heinz has established a sustainable and environmentally conscious process to
achieve tangible goals by 2020, including:
•
•
•
•
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15%
Reduce energy consumption by 15%
Reduce water consumption by 15%
Reduce solid waste sent to landfill by 15%
As stated by KHC, “Reducing our environmental footprint, currently defined as reducing
greenhouse gas emissions, energy, water and waste-to-landfill by 15 percent by 2020
(vs. a 2015 baseline; per ton of product) across our global manufacturing network, is a
priority for Kraft Heinz” (kraftheinzcompany). The company shows an awareness of the
impact that climate changes presents in the food industry, and vice versa. These goals
are opportunities for KHC to innovate at nearly every stage of their business operations,
in order to improve its acceptance among consumers. For example, in 2016 Kraft Heinz
reported six of their facilities “achieved a zero-waste-to landfill status”
(kraftheinzcompany). Thus, it can be said with certainty that Kraft Heinz implements
sustainable policies and strategies; a continual cycle of identifying innovation for more
efficient business processes.
Community Involvement
As one the world’s leading food and beverage companies, Kraft Heinz is committed to
making a significant difference in ending global hunger. The company aspires to improve
its relationships with communities and lead the path for positive change, evident through
its partnerships with nonprofit organizations, such as Rise Against Hunger and Feeding
America. Through these partnerships, they have provided more than 2 billion servings of
food to malnourished kids across the world (kraftheinz). Kraft Heinz supports a nationwide
network of food banks through the hunger prevention initiatives of Feeding America.
Additionally, Kraft Heinz is known to work with the American Red Cross to provide support
for families in times of disaster. Clearly, Kraft Heinz takes a proactive approach,
supporting initiatives and long term partnerships to help end world hunger. Investing in a
company that has a high positive social impact with communities is an invaluable asset,
as the value of a company is contingent on its work culture and ability to have a proactive
impact on the world.
Conclusion
After careful evaluation, we should invest in the Kraft Heinz Company slowly and continue
to monitor shifts in the global market. Despite a display of stagnation in net sales since
the previous year, the company’s use of excellent business practices and environmental
policies facilitate a remarkable growth of gross income, meaning that the potential for
increasing returns is great. As a staple of the average American household, Kraft Heinz
continues to exhibit a resounding dominance in the North American market. Despite
limited marketing of the product in global markets thus far, the company’s implementation
of aggressive business tactics is beginning to provide impactful diversification of
distribution channels, namely through Indo Nissin Foods. Furthermore, their proactive
approach to working with communities on philanthropic initiatives will provide the
company with a trusted public reputation and will continue to ensure that the company is
relevant in an increasingly conscientious market.
Appendix
1. “A Platform for Performance.” The Kraft Heinz Company,
https://www.kraftheinzcompany.com/.
2. Duncan, Eric. “Topic: The Kraft Heinz Company.” Www.statista.com, 11 Sept. 2018,
www.statista.com/topics/1836/kraft-foods-group/.
3. Foodnavigator-Usa.com. “Kraft Heinz Venture Fund Invests in Startup Making Real
Cheese... without Cows.” Foodnavigator, www.foodnavigatorusa.com/Article/2019/09/11/Kraft-Heinz-venture-fund-invests-in-startup-making-realcheese-without-cows.
4. “Making A Difference.” The Kraft Heinz Company,
www.kraftheinzcompany.com/community-involvement.html.
Purchase answer to see full
attachment