BSBMGT608C

Assessment task 1

Alfred Carlton Gilbert was an inventor and a toy manufacturer who

invented the Erector engineering set. His original company, The Mysto

Manufacturing Company, was founded in 1909 to manufacture the

Erector set. In 1916, Mysto become the A.C.Gillbert Company and

gained a reputation for producing quality toys. By the 1950s, A.C.Gilbert

was one of the leading toymakers in the United States with annual sales

regularly topping $17 million. In 1961, the company was established as a

traditional, reliable and profitable manufacturer of educational toys.

A.C.Gilbert produced train sets but their most popular lines were

chemistry sets, microscopes and their best seller, the Meccano-like

Erector engineering sets that had been popular with children for more

than 50 years.

Q1.c. Product/service delivery:

Train sets, chemistry sets, microscopes, and the Meccano-like Erector

engineering sets.

Q1.b. Operational systems:

Design: A small group of designers to designed the concepts for toys.

Planning ： Operational planning is the process of planning strategic

goals and objectives to tactical goals and objectives. It describes

milestones, conditions for success and explains how, or what portion of, a

strategic plan will be put into operation during a given operational period,

in the case of commercial application, a fiscal year or another given

budgetary term. An operational plan is the basis for, and justification of

an annual operating budget request. Therefore, a five-year strategic plan

would typically require five operational plans funded by five operating

budgets.

Operational plans should establish the activities and budgets for each part

of the organization for the next 1 – 3 years. They link the strategic plan

with the activities the organization will deliver and the resources required

to deliver them.

An operational plan draws directly from agency and program strategic

plans to describe agency and program missions and goals, program

objectives, and program activities. Like a strategic plan, an operational

plan addresses four questions:

Where are we now?

Where do we want to be?

How do we get there?

How do we measure our progress?

The operations plan is both the first and the last step in preparing an

operating budget request. As the first step, the operations plan provides a

plan for resource allocation; as the last step, the OP may be modified to
reflect policy decisions or financial changes made during the budget

development process.

Operational plans should be prepared by the people who will be involved

in implementation. There is often a need for significant cross-

departmental dialogue as plans created by one part of the organization

inevitably have implications for other parts.

Operational plans should contain:clear objectives, activities to be

delivered, quality standards, desired outcomes, staffing and resource

requirements, implementation timetables, a process for monitoring

progress.

Purchasing:The everyday call-off and material planning routines,namely

the acquisition process, is carried out within the operational purchasing.

These buyers have a close contact with suppliers. Logistics working

methods and holistic thinking are common in this work. Knowledge of

logistics is therefore important for operational purchasers. Operational

purchasing is usually a decentralized function in the company

organization with placement near the flows of materials and services

within production and administration.

Manufacturing: A methodology for viewing an end-to-end

manufacturing process with a view to optimizing efficiency. That is

including for production management, performance analysis, quality and

compliance, and human machine interface. Production management

 software provides real-time information about jobs and orders, labor and

materials, machine status, and product shipments. Performance analysis

software displays metrics at the machine, line, and plant and enterprise

level for situational or historical analysis. Quality and compliance

software is used to promote compliance with standards and specifications

for operational processes and procedures.

Distribution: It is over a collection of independent, networked,

communicating, and physically separate computational nodes. Each

individual node holds a specific software subset of the global aggregate

operating system. Each subset is a composite of two distinct service

provisions.

Q1. a. Supply chain:

It is a system of organizations, people, activities, information, and

resources involved in the planning, moving, or storage of a product or

service from supplier to customer (actually more like a “web” than a

“chain”). Supply chain activities transform natural resources, raw

materials, and components into a finished product that is delivered to the

end customer. For example, I once heard a major paper goods

manufacturer describe their supply chain for toilet paper as ranging from

“stump to rump.” (like picture)

Q2. a. The key result areas (KRAs):

The key result areas or KRAs is a concept on which the individual

performance is measured and these are the activities which have an

impact on the bottom line of the business. In general it is very difficult

to measure. It is includes financial, customer, people, process.

b. The key performance indicators (KPIs) :

Key performance indicators are methods by which a company can

measure the proficiency of its workers, managementpersonnel and

determine the overall health of the business. Performance indicators

are often grouped together to create comprehensive reports that can be

used to develop better strategies for worker training, management

 delegation strategies and modify the existing business plan for better

streamlining. It is includes:

Productivity: a key performance indicator is the level of production from

employees over the course of a given work week or month.

Quality of Work: quality as a performance indicator measures the

worker's ability meet and exceed the expectations of the company and

its customers.

Workforce Efficiency: measuring workforce efficiency shows

anemployer how effectively streamlined his production facilities are

in terms of the steps workers need to perform in order to accomplish a

task.

Cost, Profit and Growth: measuring operational costs versus the

profits a company is bringing in can be a key performance indicator

of how fast a company is growing or how quickly it is contracting.

c. Performance review processes:

The Performance Review Process is a vital tool to improve performance

but is also useful for harnessing commitment from your employees.

So, if you don’t have a Performance Review Process your employees

are being held back and that could make the difference between the

success and failure of your business.

Effectively reviewing an employee’s performance involves looking

back at past job performance and then looking forward into the future
with a view to improving future performance. The overall objective

should be to help each employee to maximize their job performance

for the joint benefit of the employee and the business.

Managers also need to recognize that a performance review is not a

standalone entity to be dreaded as it approaches. Rather it should be

viewed as simply a part of an ongoing conversation and an entire

performance management system.

The performance review process should establish priorities and goals

that reflect not only the needs of the individual but also the wider

needs of the business.Integration is easy, performance reviews

become solid and employees really benefit from new learning

experiences. It takes the subjectivity out of the equation, and provides

managers with quantifiable and measurable data.

This picture is showing the performance review processes.

d. A sample service level agreement:

SLA is a part of a service formally defined particular aspects of the

service –scope. Quality, responsibilities are agreed between the

service provider and service user.

Approvers Role Signed Approval Date

Company name A.C.Gilbert 08-11-2015

Customer Customer 08-11-2015

1. Agreement Overview

This Agreement represents a Service Level Agreement ("SLA" or

"Agreement") between A.C.Gilbert and Customer for the provisioning

of toys services required to support and sustain the product or service.

This Agreement remains valid until superseded by a revised

agreement mutually endorsed by the stakeholders.

This Agreement outlines the parameters of all toys services covered

as they are mutually understood by the primary stakeholders. This

Agreement does not supersede current processes and procedures

unless explicitly stated herein.

2. Goals and objective:

a) Provide high quality toys and repair service

b) Delivery the product on time

c) Provide clear reference to service ownership, accountability, roles

and/or responsibilities.

d) Present a clear, concise and measurable description of service

provision to the customer.

e) Match perceptions of expected service provision with actual

service support & delivery.

3. Stakeholders:

Service provider: A.C. Gilbert

Customer: Jason

4. Service scope:

a) Provide quality toys

b) Provide support of maintenance and repair

c) Provide telephone support 24 hours emergency service

d) Arrange delivery service

5. Customer requirement:

a) Payment for all support costs at the agreed interval.

b) Reasonable availability of customer representative(s) when

resolving a service related incident or request.

6. Service provider requirement:

a) Meeting response times associated with service related incidents.

b) Appropriate notification to Customer for all scheduled

maintenance.
 Q4. a. quality – design/manufacturing:

1962

 Introduced 50 new toy lines, raising the line to 307

 Spent $1 million on changing the packaging for all lines to

brighter, more colorful boxes.

1963

 Decline in quality of toys –feedback indicated products poorly

made and designed (dolls did not even come with a change of

clothing).

 New range perceived by customers as poor quality and over-

priced- not value for money nor attractive to the target market.

1964

 Prior to Christmas, many of the previous year’s failed products

were deleted and 20 new items introduced.

 Reduced the price of core lines such as the Erector set from $75 to

$20 but quality also impacted – cardboard box instead of metal

boxes, and brittle parts instead of sturdy long – lasting parts.

1965

 Sought to capitalize on popular crazes such as James Bond and The

Man from Uncle by introducing action figures for Christmas.

b. sales

1962
  Sales is $11.5 million

1963

 Sales is $10.7 million

 Sales fell short of expectations

1964

 Sales is $11.4 million

 Sales increased and there was some degree of optimism

1965

 Sales is $14.9 million

1966

 Sales is $12.9 million

c. profit

1962

 Company recorded a loss of $281,000.00.

1963

 Sales and profits down on previous year, loss $5.7 million

1964

 Loss $2.6 million

1965

 Loss $2.9 million

1966

 Company made a loss of $12,872,000.00

 d. supply chain performance (delivery)

1964

 Isaacson makes huge cutbacks in spending

1965

 Due to internal strife and staff cutbacks, the new lines were not

delivered to the stores until after Christmas

 Due to lack of staff, A.C.Gilbert is unable to implement changes or

introduce new lines quickly enough to capitalize on trends.

 Operating on a skeleton workforce

1966

 Introduced point of purchase display products supplied to dealers

free of charge

e. business growth – staff and management performance and/or turnover

1962

 Increased sales staff by 50%

1964

 Jack Wrather fired most of the top management team he hired two

years previously

 Jack Wrather hires new CEO – Isaacson

 Isaacson fires the entire sales team

 A.C.Gilbert Junior dies and is replaced as Chairman by Jack

Wrather. Isaacson assumes the role of President

 1966

 Increased advertising spending to $3 million

 Borrowed $6.25 million, granted on the event that the company

made a profit in 1966

Q5. The trend for AC Gilbert fail in the late 1950s

As the 1950s moved into the 1960s, there were huge cultural changes

across the world. The fifties were a very traditional era of family values

and morals, conservative and staid. Then came the ‘swinging sixties’. The

sixties were a time of rapid change both technologically and culturally.

Old fashioned values gave way to new moral freedoms. Where the fifties

represented solidarity and familiarity, the sixties embraced change.

Everything was bolder, brighter and more daring. A new young president

and rising social activism by youth saw changes in clothing, music and

interests. Young people rebelled against the values of their parents and

embraced a more fast paced, exciting and riskier lifestyle.

Girls moved away from baby dolls and cots and wanted dolls that were

more grown up, modern and trendy. They wanted dolls they could dress

in the latest fashions and who had exciting ‘careers’, boyfriends and cars

of their own. Boys were moving away from the traditional train sets

towards exciting new slot-car racing sets and action figures from popular

movies and television shows. Traditionally, toy advertising had been done
via magazine promotions but the sixties brought in a new phenomenon:

television advertising. A hugely powerful medium, TV advertising

became increasingly ‘hard sell’, with toys heavily promoted, especially in

the lead up to Christmas. Children wanted the latest and greatest toys that

they saw in these advertisements and put pressure on their parents to buy,

which they did.

The strengths and weaknesses of the AC Gilbert Company prior to

1960.

a. Market share:

By the 1950s, A. C. Gilbert was one of the leading toymakers in the

United States with annual sales regularly topping $17 million.

b. Reputation:

In 1916, Mysto became the A. C. Gilbert Company and gained a

reputation for producing quality toys.

A. C. Gilbert toys were not cheap. They were high quality, solidly

crafted and made to endure. Parts and packaging were designed to last

for many years, with the Erector set packaged in long-lasting metal

boxes. The focus was on educational toys, primarily aimed at boys

rather than girls. The company had a limited range but what they did

manufacture was top quality and highly regarded.

c. Stability:

A. C. Gilbert produced train sets but their most popular lines were
 chemistry sets, microscopes and their best seller, the Meccano-like

Erector engineering sets that had been popular with children for more

than 50 years.

d. Profit:

High profit

e. Sales:

Annual sales $17 million.

f. Ability to adapt to change

As a small, traditional company, A. C. Gilbert was slow to react to

these changes. It may have been that they were not aware of the

changes or were overly confident that their good name and reputation

was sufficient to continue trading as before. The consequences of this

short sightedness soon became apparent.

g. Customer service standards:

They were high quality, solidly crafted and made to endure. Parts and

packaging were designed to last for many years, with the Erector set

packaged in long-lasting metal boxes. The focus was on educational

toys, primarily aimed at boys rather than girls. The company had a

limited range but what they did manufacture was top quality and

highly regarded.

h. Innovation:

Have the low innovation for the product.

 i. Employee performance

Good employee and have the high efficiency.

j. Production and manufacturing

The production and manufacturing is high and very quality.

Identify missed opportunities to improve business performance. At

least one missed opportunity in detail.

As a small, traditional company, A.C. Gilbert was slow to react to these

changes. It may have been that they were not aware of the changes or

were overly confident that their good name and reputation was sufficient

to continue trading as before. The consequences of this short sightedness

soon became apparent.

Q6.a .internal - engineers, production staff, manufacturing staff, sales

personnel, human resources personnel.

b. external – marketing consultants, advertising experts, IT

consultants.

a. internal

Engineers: they can provide advice of toys design

Production staff: how to increase the productivity

Manufacturing staff: the suggestion of how to reduce the raw- materials

cost

Sales personnel: the suggestion of provide the various sales approaches

Human resources personnel: salary standard

b. external

Marketing consultants: marketing ensuring that your company receives

the right advice and marketing strategy to achieve your company goals

Advertising experts: provide advertising tips and bring maximum

influences and minimum cost

IT consultants: build up intranet that allows you to share the information

internally, helps you record the preference of customers.