One of the primary purposes of this course is to allow students who are about to complete their programs of study at the Malcolm Baldrige School of Business to demonstrate their familiarity with the Baldrige Core Values. For this assignment, you will write a reflective paper summarizing your experience and discussing how these core values were exhibited in your work, both in this course and throughout your program of study.Assignment Organization and Clarifications:Please note this is a reflective paper. It is NOT a summary or explanation of each core value. It is your own personal inflection on which cores values you are currently utilizing, have experience with, have seen demonstrated, will be using in the future, etc. You do not need to select every core value. Select only the ones that are relevant to your reflection. Please do not summarize the unit topics. Discuss unit topics in direct relation to your reflection of your selected core values. Include a heading for EACH core value and include a heading for the Introduction and Conclusion. For example, you can reflect by stating “One core value that I have been using at work is focusing on the future. I have been using this core value to motivate my employees/soldiers and provide information on the many opportunities that lie ahead for them.

Demand ForecastingOne of the products sold by PK Village is a general use lubricant sourced from a factory in Malaysia and packed under the PK Village private label.Ms. Patel has noticed that, over the past year, the company has experienced frequent shortages of this SKU, resulting in loss sales as well as periods of excess inventory.Ami places orders for this product every month and is considering implementing a methodology to estimate future demand for this product.The demand for this SKU during the last five years is shown in the table below.Your job, as a consultant to Ms. Patel, if to develop a suitable demand forecasting model in Excel capable of producing a dependable forecast figure for the following month.Deliverables:Develop a suitable demand forecasting model in Excel that allows Ms. Patel to estimate demand for the following month.Write a report for Ami with an introduction, analysis summary (including all appropriate stats, plots, etc.), and an recommended plan of action for Ami. Hint: You can use both monthly AND yearly trends to come up with a good estimate! A combination of models could give you a better estimate for the following month. Prepare a 1-3 page document describing the opportunity, listing any assumptions made, describing the process employed, and presenting your recommendation on the methodology to adopt, along with the justification of that choice. Include a graph showing the comparison of the output of the selected methodology if applied in prior periods against the observed actuals.

Nike: Spreading Out to Win the Race Nike is indisputably a giant in the athletics industry. The Portland, Oregon, company is known worldwide for its products, none of which it actually makes. It has thrived by knowing how to stay small, focusing on core competencies, and outsourcing manufacturing. But if you don’t make anything, what do you actually do? If you outsource everything, what’s left? A lot of brand recognition, as it turns out. Behind the Swoosh Nike continues to outpace the athletic shoe competition while spreading its brand through an ever-widening universe of sports equipment, apparel, and paraphernalia. The ever-present Swoosh graces everything from bumper stickers to sunglasses to high school sports uniforms. Nike products embody a love of sport, discipline, ambition, practice, and all other desirable traits of athleticism. The company has cleverly kept its advertising agency nestled close to home, but has relied extensively on outsourcing many non-executive and back office responsibilities to reduce overhead. Nike is structured around its core competency in product design—not manufacturing. It has taken outsourcing to a new level, with sub-contractors producing all of its shoes.WhoopsAlthough outsourcing production hasn’t hurt product quality, it has challenged Nike’s reputation for social responsibility, especially regarding work conditions and labor practices at some suppliers. In a move designed to turn critics into converts, Nike posts information on its website detailing every one of the hundreds of factories that it uses to make shoes, apparel, and other sporting goods. It released the data in conjunction with a comprehensive corporate responsibility report summarizing the environmental impact and the labor situations of its contract factories.Nike also encourages designers to develop environmentally sustainable designs like the Nike Free, a lightweight running shoe that boosted sales dramatically. Nike’s Sustainable Business & Innovation Lab funds outside startups focused on alternative energies, more efficient approaches to manufacturing, and the promotion of healthy lifestyles.Pesky CompetitionNike has so far balanced size and pressure to remain successful by leveraging a decentralized and networked organization structure. Individual business centers—such as research, production, and marketing—are free to focus on their core competencies without worrying about the effects of corporate bloat. This company has found continued marketplace success by positioning itself not simply as a sneaker company but as a brand that fulfills the evolving needs of today’s athletes and athletes-at-heart. Will Nike continue to profit from its organization structure, or will it spread itself so thin that its competition has a chance to overtake it? Source: Schermerhorn Jr., J.R., Bachrach, D.G. (2016) Nike: Spreading Out to Win the Race. In Exploring Management (Cases for Critical Thinking).Exploring Management (Cases for Critical Thinking).Case Analysis QuestionsAnswer the following in up to 350 words each.Describe the factors that drive Nike’s decision to stick with some form of network organizational structure rather than own its manufacturing operations.Assess why Nike’s choice of a decentralized and networked organization structure worked well for them.Summarize the current state of competition in this industry. Assess if Nike continuing to pull away from rivals, or if they are catching up.Assess whether Nike’s organizational structure is still a major strength that contributes to its success, or if it is creating problems that will call for organizational design changes in the future.Determine whether a matrix structure could improve performance for Nike.