Ashford University Quarterly Business Planning Paper

Part I: Decisions for Quarter Three. Prior to beginning work on the Decisions for Quarter Three, carefully review the content found in the “Suggestions for Quarter 3” pop-up screen and read any Quarter Three Internal Emails and/or Memos available through your Growing Your Business simulation. The pop-up will be available at the lower left (Blue Guidelines) of the Executive Summary Decisions Tab and the video, emails, and memos can be re-accessed through the Help section.

In your Growing Your Business simulation,

• Evaluate quantitative and qualitative techniques for business analysis and decision-making.
• Utilize tools from finance, marketing, information technology and human resources management to manage the profitability of overall business operations specific to Quarter 3.
• Create specific business tactics to achieve organizational survival and growth.]

The Decisions for Quarter Three Assignment

• Must be completed through the Growing Your Business simulation.
• Consider the following questions as you prepare your annual budget/plan (if the answer is “No” to any of the questions, you may be at a Competitive Disadvantage and lack critical information to draw inference from):
  • Did you
    • Request/purchase the Marketing Report and Business Intelligence Dashboard (BID)?
    • Utilize the three available role plays for Qtr.3?
    • Consider in the R&D Projects?
• Must use the Role Play
  • You must read the details of the role play very carefully, and any questions should immediately be referred to the Help Desk.
  • You can gain a differentiated competitive advantage through the effective use of role-play.
  • Some role players only provide qualitative information, while others provide the ability to negotiate quantitatively.
  • Role play is a scarce resource because of the limited number of calls per quarter.
• Must submit your Quarter Three Budget Plan.
  • Must not have a short-range outlook over the credit limit.
  • Periodically, as you modify inputs, use the “Model My Plan” at the lower right to see the impact of your decisions on the Financial Metrics.
  • Input your financial decision and then click on the blue Submit My SRO button on the bottom right of the Quarterly Decisions screen.
• You must submit your Quarter Three Decisions before moving on to this week’s Quarterly Business Review assignment.

Part II: Third Quarter Quarterly Business Review (QBR). Due by Day 7. You must submit your Quarter Three Decisions prior to moving on to this week’s Quarterly Business Review assignment. Prior to beginning work on the Third Quarter Quarterly Business Review, review the following content from the Growing Your Business Simulation, the Suggestions for Quarter Three Decisions pop-up, and your Business Intelligence Dashboard. The graphics in the dashboard should provide you with the trends (that is, the time series data is growing) in data to critically analyze your competitors for the first two quarters and their positions for the longer term.

With the completion of Quarter Three, you are responsible for completing your third Quarterly Business Review (QBR). This is a qualitative and quantitative summary of your competitive performance for Quarter Three. Business reviews (or Operational Reviews) are a routine part of annual corporate activities and are very cross-functional. A major component of a QBR is around meeting commitments embedded in your budgetary planning process. Meeting commitments are seen explicitly in your Variances. These learnings are designed to enhance your performance in future Quarters.

In your Growing Your Business simulation,

• Evaluate quantitative and qualitative techniques for business analysis and decision-making.
• Assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with the corporate strategy & policy process.
• Utilize tools from finance, marketing, information technology, and human resources management to manage the profitability of overall business operations.
• Create specific business tactics to achieve organizational survival and growth.