2010 BA MOD 4 HW

 

BA 2010 Online
Module 4 Management Concepts Assessment
Chapters 8-11

For this MCA, you will be preparing a paper which responds to questions about this module’s topics. To assist you, we have prepared a template for you to use. This will help you to organize your paper. Follow the instructions below and please ask your professor if you have any questions.

Instructions

⦁ Download the Module 4 MCA Paper Template (in the Module 4 Management Concepts Assessment in Blackboard). You will use this document for your paper.
⦁ Open the document in Word, and click Save As to place your name in the beginning of the filename.
⦁ Type your name in the cover sheet.
⦁ Type the date submitted (example: October 1, 2021).
⦁ For each heading in the template (example: Chapter 8 – Strategic Analysis: Understanding a Firm’s Competitive Advantage), you will see an area to type the responses to questions on this instructions sheet.
⦁ Additional guidance:
⦁ Your paper should follow APA format, and should be in your own words. Any content you take from a source must be inside quotation marks and must be cited in-text (author, date).
⦁ In APA formatting, you are not permitted to use “I.” Instead, you must be an independent researcher. Say, “the organization” or “the salesperson,” not “I would.”
⦁ You should list the references you used to develop your paper.
⦁ Link to APA resources: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html (You may also look for APA Resources in the KEY INFORMATION menu tab in our Blackboard course).
⦁ The questions for this paper on the following page.

Complete the following question(s) and type your answers into the Module 4 MCA Paper Template:

Chapter 8 – Strategic Analysis: Understanding a Firm’s Competitive Advantage

Tesla Aims for the Mass Market
Elon Musk co-founded Tesla in 2003 with the vision of making electric cars that could rival, and even replace, traditional gas-engine cars in the consumer marketplace. At the start of the 21st century, the external environment was beginning to show favorable signs for the development of electric cars: people were becoming more concerned about the environment and their carbon footprints, and gas prices were beginning a steep climb that had already spurred the sales of hybrid gas-electric cars such as the Toyota Prius.

The automobile industry was not responding to these environmental trends, instead relying on the fact that trucks such as the Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado were still the two top-selling vehicles in America in 2003. Musk saw a different future for vehicles, and Tesla introduced the all-electric Roadster in 2008. Four years later, the more practical Model S was introduced, and Tesla sales began to climb.
As a new entrant in the automobile industry, though, Tesla faced several challenges. Manufacturing and distribution in this industry are extremely expensive, and Tesla had to develop the capability of efficiently manufacturing large quantities of cars. Tesla also had to establish dealerships for its cars, although it also decided to sell cars online, taking advantage of tech-savvy consumers’ comfort with online shopping. Perhaps Tesla’s greatest challenge was convincing consumers to trust the new technology of all-electric cars. Range anxiety became an actual term, describing people’s fear that their car batteries would run out before they reached their destinations. To combat this, Tesla developed an extensive network of charging stations so consumers could be confident that they could charge their cars conveniently.

Elon Musk has been a master of raising money to fund Tesla’s efforts to successfully enter the mainstream automobile manufacturing industry; so far, Tesla’s entry has cost billions of dollars. Tesla has also taken advantage of tax incentives to develop its charging stations and to sell its cars, because Tesla customers receive tax credits for the purchase of their cars. Tesla cars are not inexpensive, however, and that has limited their marketability. Most Americans cannot afford the Model S or more recent Model X’s high prices (up to and exceeding $100,000).

In 2017, Tesla launched the Model 3, designed to transform the car industry by being its first mass-market, affordable model. The company started taking “reservations” for the model in 2016, promising that it would arrive with a $35,000 price tag. By mid-2017, the reservations list had reached half a million customers, creating a new problem for Tesla.

Sources: Tesla company website: https://www.tesla.com/ and investor relations site: http://ir.tesla.com/ ; Edmunds, “Top 10 Best Selling Cars in 2003.” https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/top-10/top-10-best-selling-vehicles-in-2003.html (updated May 12, 2009); Bill Vlasic, “In Pivotal Moment, TeslaUnveils its First Mass Market Sedan.” New York Times, July 29, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/29/business/-teslamodel-3-elon-musk.html?ref=business.

⦁ What PESTEL factors supported Tesla’s success?

⦁ Which PESTEL factors posed challenges?

Chapter 9 – The Strategic Management Process: Achieving and Sustaining Competitive Advantage

⦁ What does a mission statement explain about a firm that a vision statement does not?

⦁ Choose a company in which you are a loyal customer. Locate the company’s mission statement and share your thoughts about whether or not their stated mission aligns with your perception of the company as a customer.

Chapter 10 – Organizational Structure and Change

⦁ Of the various change models presented in Chapter 10, which would you use if you were leading your organization through a major change? Why?

Chapter 11 – Human Resource Management and Chapter 14 – Work Motivation for Performance

In Chapter 11, your text introduced you to the concept of Total Rewards from World at Work – the components that can be used to reward employees. Visit the following website to view the World at Work Total Rewards Model brochure: https://www.worldatwork.org/media/pdf/2020_BRO_TRModel_J16197_FNL.pdf

In Chapter 14, we learned a variety of theories/models relating to motivating employees to perform. One of these is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

⦁ What does Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs say about what motivates employees?

⦁ How does Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs explain how one reward (such as a pay raise) might motivate one employee, while a different reward (such as the opportunity to lead a committee), might motivate a different employee?

⦁ After reviewing the concept of Total Rewards and considering Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, compare options available to managers related to improving employee performance.

Resources

⦁ APA Resources
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html

⦁ Free Grammar and Spelling Software that integrates into MS Word and other programs (highly recommended)
https://www.grammarly.com/