Strategy Project.DS_Store__MACOSXStrategy Project._.DS_St.docx

Strategy Project/.DS_Store
__MACOSX/Strategy Project/._.DS_Store
Strategy Project/EXAMPLECompleted Strategy Team
Project.docx
Issue: Given the success of being one of the world’s largest
global payments technology companies, MasterCard has an
opportunity to enter into the country of North Korea to expand
its technology basis and help build the North Korean economy.
Recommendation: MasterCard should research and investigate
the costs and benefits of expanding itself into North Korea.
Justification: In its current state, MasterCard is the second
largest global payments technology organization and could use
this strength to enter into North Korea to help build their
economy not only by introducing its products and services into
the country, but to help a weak economy become stronger with
the proper use of a global payment technology.
Issue: Attempting to expand into other third world countries
increases the security threat. The security at MasterCard needs
an update to prevent their customers from becoming targets of

credit card breaches and fraud.
Recommendation: MasterCard should design a new digital
debit/credit card that uses a thumbprint to authorize the use of
the card.
Justification: Fingerprints are a unique feature that can provide
great security assurance when dealing with theft. The fact that
no two fingerprints are identical will make it hard for fraud to
take place.
Task 1: A Research and Development (R & D) team will be
established for a 12 month period beginning May 2014 and
continuing through May 2015 to determine what areas within
North Korea would be in the best interest for MasterCard to
locate. The team would consist of accountants, lawyers,
management, and several other individuals who would work
solely on this project for the year. The estimated cost for this
project could reach up to $2 million. The current budget is
listed at $2.5 million. All correspondence and findings will be
reported to the current CEO, CFO, and COO as well as the
Board of Directors.
Throughout the year, the R & D team will spend ample time
traveling and speaking with the delegates of North Korea to get
a good feel of the acceptance of a large corporation entering
into their country. Travel expenses during the complete project
are estimated to be a total of $150,000 of the expected budget.
The initial expense per visit to North Korea is a $1000 required
tour that does not include any other amenities such as airfare,
hotel, or food. The estimated complete “tour” expense for the
year is $5,000. The flight expense during the year for the R & D
team estimates the cost of $18,150 during the year. It is
estimated that each ticket would cost $726 and no more than 5
team members would travel at a time, with an estimated 5 trips
per year. A budget of $25,000 has been allotted for flight
expenses alone due to the current trips per year estimation. As
the end of the research gets closer, there may need to be an
additional trip or two that needs to be taken in order to ensure
that everything is in place for the expansion into North Korea.

In addition to the flight expenses, there will be a budget set
aside of $10,000 per visit for lodging expenses. An estimate of
a $250 room per person, per trip to North Korea is around
$6,250. The added food expense is budgeted to $6,000
estimating $200 per person, per day during their business trip.
In addition to traveling time, the R & D team will be constantly
researching the local North Korean government, economic
status, and areas of interest to determine what areas would be
the most marketable for MasterCard and its global payment
organization. In preparation for this expansion, MasterCard has
included training individuals on how to run the new
organization. The training would consist of learning how
MasterCard benefits the country and how the country could
potentially benefit MasterCard. Such benefits could include
more income for the country itself as well as the use of
technology for faster processing of payments for governmental
imports and exports as well as local businesses. The R & D
team will prepare and present presentations to the North Korean
Government to show how the location and development of
MasterCard within their country will create more jobs for the
citizens of North Korea as well as help their local businesses
earn more profits.
The responses that the R & D team receive from the local
delegates of North Korea will be presented to the Chief
Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, the Board of
Directors, as well as other key employees such as the Treasurer
of the organization so that there can be well organized and
informed financial decisions in regards to locating in North
Korea. Such discussions would include the cost of locating to a
new country which would also include the discussions of the
possibilities of merging or acquiring an existing company or to
decide solely own property in North Korea. Each decision
would be discussed as what the cost versus the benefit is to the
MasterCard organization to locate within North Korea.
Task 2: When talking about if MasterCard would merge, acquire
an existing company or own property out right, the R & D team

needs to think about the time it would take to set up MasterCard
in North Korea. The R & D team has estimated that it would
take MasterCard approximately one year to become established.
Then once it is set up in this country the businesses have to be
able to switch over and/or set up their business to be able to
accept MasterCard as a form of payment. This process could
take up to another year after MasterCard has been initially set
up.
MasterCard is not well known in North Korea. The information
researched by the R & D team during the year will represent a
major decision process on how to locate within North Korea. In
response to the information researched, MasterCard has made a
decision to solely own property in North Korea rather than
merging or acquiring with existing corporations. In view of the
fact that, North Korea will develop more as a country if they
solely own property since MasterCard is well known all over the
world.
North Korea will benefit with having MasterCard in its country
due to the growing travel and students studying abroad from the
United States and other countries. Since the U.S. and many
other countries use MasterCard as a major form of payment
when traveling and shopping North Korea will grow as a
country in more promising ways, and when MasterCard expands
to North Korea more people will be wanting to travel and study
abroad to this country. While students are traveling abroad with
their career path they do not want the hassle of keeping up with
currency. It is easier to carry around their credit card. With this
being said, having a more versatile form of payment businesses
and people traveling to a foreign county will be more able to
pay for needs and wants with their card instead of having to
only pay in cash. Especially since more and more countries are
going towards a cashless society.
Since the decision has been made for MasterCard to solely own
property in North Korea, this will expand the businesses more
and let MasterCard grow within this country. While more of the
economies in all countries are relying more on the electronic

technology instead of cash and coins, the more MasterCard
expands to other countries like North Korea the more of a profit
MasterCard will receive. Also, North Korea will grow and gain
a profit as MasterCard grows and becomes better known and
used more in this country. North Korea is still a developing
economy and once MasterCard grows in this poverty level
country the card spending by customers will continue to jump
just as it has in the European countries.
In year one, the costs of start-up to the anticipated profit are
estimated to be $750,000. With MasterCard still being really
new to North Korea the profit is not to be a drastic change from
pre-MasterCard, but it is still expected to be a profit. In year
two, it is estimated to grow by 4.3% from year one. This 4.3%
increase is of the almost 25% estimate of profit increase within
MasterCard. In year three, the growth of the anticipated profit
from year two is estimated be increased by 8.4%.
Task 3: A special design team from R & D will create a new
card design for MasterCard, planned by top management, with a
budget of 1% of company revenues. The team will include staff
from accounting, finance, marketing, and human resources,
essentially all departments in the company. The R & D team
will be required to meet every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,
in three hour increments for a month. Each meeting the team
will discuss many factors of the card including its technology,
target markets, financial implications, etc. Each week the data
will be recorded from the meetings and reviewed by top
management, in order to become final.
The new and improved card will incorporate features that will
eliminate fraudulent activities from occurring. Card size will
remain the same in order to fit conveniently into current wallet
designs. The only major difference with these cards will be the
thumbprint square at the top left hand corner of the card. When
swiping a credit card, the consumer will have to hold their
thumb in the designated solar powered square in order for the
transaction to be processed. By using forensic technology, theft
will decrease significantly due to the inability to recreate

inimitable prints.
It is important to implement a design that will not be costly to
integrate into stores all around the world which is why these
cards will be made compatible with current card swiping
systems. All stores that currently accept MasterCard debit and
credit cards will be able to accept the new thumbprint card
without any technology changes. ExemplarCard will be the new
name of this card innovation. Exemplar is a name given to
fingerprints that are deliberately collected from a subject. Add
the word “card” to the end of exemplar and you create
MasterCard’s new masterpiece. For a customer to activate the
new ExemplarCard, they will have to go to their nearest bank
and provide a scanned digital print of their thumb. By doing so,
client profiles will be easily updated within a matter of seconds.
Task 4: A sales force team of ten employees will be created.
These new hires will have the responsibility of traveling to the
top ten banks’ headquarters in the United States to inform their
top management of the new card system that will be
implemented. Each sales force employee will receive a $30,000
salary, as well as, reimbursed travel expenses of about $1,500
each for plane tickets and hotel expenses for three days.
Presentations given by the sales force members will be thirty
minutes long. Each presentation will include a PowerPoint
explanation of the card benefits, followed by an actual
demonstration of how the card is used at banks, as well as,
retail stores. These demonstrations will be given on the
company laptop carried around by the salesforce employee. The
main focus of the sales force team is to present to banks how
this system will be highly advantageous to them, considering
they lose almost ten billion dollars annually because of credit
card fraud. Each bank will have to buy a thumbprint
scanner and new computer software in order for the new cards
to work at the bank. A scanner and software update for one
computer will come in a bundle for $950. It is the sales force’s
job to sell these bundles to banks. It is important for the
sustainability element of the product to be emphasized when

explaining the benefits of the product. Although the cost of the
bundles seems high, the benefits defiantly outweigh the costs.
For every bundle sold, the sales representative will receive $1
in commission. Once this product hits the market, word of
mouth will play an important part in spreading the awareness of
ExemplarCard. To aid in spreading awareness, MasterCard’s
current marketing team will be in charge of creating a strategic
marketing plan. Their duties will be to update the website and
send out informational flyers and emails about the new cards to
current MasterCard holders. The budget for flyers will be set at
$2 million.
Task 5: A trial run will be established at certain locations for a
twelve month period to get feedback from customers and to fix
any technical problems before making the new card available to
all customers. An overall customer survey will be conducted at
the end of the trial and adjustments will be made according to
the feedback received. The budget for the trial and survey will
be $750,000. The trial will take place in the United States and
begin January 15, 2015 and conclude January 15, 2016. The two
largest bank providers in the Unites States will be used for the
trial. JPMorgan Chase was ranked the number one bank in 2013
and has approximately 5,400 branches. Bank of America was
ranked the number two bank in the United States with
approximately 5,600 branches. The first fifty customers to
volunteer from each branch will participate in the trail, making
the total participants being 550,000 people.
MasterCard will set up a technical support, customer service,
and research group to conduct the trial run. The research group
will keep track of who is participating in the trial and what
kinds of transactions are being used on the cards. A customer
service call center will be set up for the volunteers to be able to
contact someone specifically about the trial when they are
having trouble or have a comment. A technical support team
will be standing by to take care of any technical problems that
may arise for the customers. Representatives from each group
will meet once a month to consolidate data and address any

issues that have not been taken care of. The research team will
then conduct a detailed survey at the end of the trial. The
results of the survey will be passed on to the technical support
group to address any problems that have not already been
resolved.
Task 6: The marketing department will have the large task of
letting all current MasterCard debit and credit card users aware
of the new ExemplarCard. A budget of $1.5 million will be
allocated for reaching out to all users and for general
advertisement. General advertisement will consist of posters
and ads located at the bank branches that offer ExemplarCard.
General advertisement will also consist of creating two different
television commercials to advertise and convince non
MasterCard users to switch to their new safe and secure card.
Developing the commercials and inquiring the air time needed
will use up $1 million of the advertising budget. The
commercials will only air during the most watched national
events such as the The Academy Awards, The Grammy’s, The
Golden Globe Awards, etc.
The remaining $500,000 of advertising will be allocated to
reaching out to every current MasterCard user. A letter will be
sent out to each user explaining the details about how the card
works and the advantages of using the card. The goal set by
MasterCard is to have all MasterCard users swapped over to the
new ExemplarCard within three years. The letter will give the
customers two options to choose from. For the customer’s eager
to receive the new card and immediately increase their security,
they can go to their local bank and get the new card for a
onetime fee of $15. This fee is in place to help cover the cost of
creating and implementing the new card. For each card that is
activated through the bank $10 will be sent to MasterCard and
the bank keeps the remaining $5 to cover the expenses of having
to buy the new card and fingerprint software. The second option
mentioned in the letter will be for the customers that do not
want to pay to get the new card. As the customers’ current card
expires they will automatically be sent an ExemplarCard as

their replacement to ensure that all MasterCard users will
eventually be carrying the new ExemplarCard.
__MACOSX/Strategy Project/._EXAMPLECompleted Strategy
Team Project.docx
Strategy Project/RCL group issues.docx
Issue: RCL is one of the world’s largest cruise lines and has an
opportunity to enter the Chinese cruise market.
Recommendation: RCL should research the costs and benefits of
increasing capacity in China.
Justification: RCL is the second largest cruise line and could
use its strength to enter the Chinese tourism market.
Issue: Trying to expand into a developing country is
challenging. In the U.S., Royal Caribbean relies on booking
from travel agents, but this type of network doesn’t exist in
China.
Recommendation: RCL should partner with Chinese travel
companies to build up its business in China.
Justification: The majority of passengers book their cruises
through travel agents, rather than online.
__MACOSX/Strategy Project/._RCL group issues.docx

Strategy Project/Tasks for Strategy.docx
Task 1: A Research and Development team will be created to
research building sites for additional terminal complexes.
Task 2: Research areas to use as ports of call.
Task 3: Create a timetable for developing the infrastructure in
China.
Task 4: Research and Development should research various
travel agencies in China that would be willing to partner with
RCL to book their cruises.
Task 5: Establish a test period with travel agencies to determine
how successful the partnerships are.
Task 6: A sales and marketing team will develop strategies for
making cruises appealing to Chinese customers. There is a huge
Chinese population, but a very low awareness of what a cruise
is.
A. Who makes up the team?
B. How long will research last?
C. Cost – airfare, hotels, food
__MACOSX/Strategy Project/._Tasks for Strategy.docx

Strategy Project/Team Project Action Plan Spring 2015 (1).ppt
Strategy, Projects & ProgramsStrategy is implemented through
projects.A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create
a unique product, service or result. A program is a group of
related projects designed to accomplish a common goal over an
extended period of time.
Characteristics of a ProjectEstablished objective/sA defined life
span with a beginning and an endUsually, the involvement of
several departments and professionalsTypically, doing
something that has never been done beforeSpecific time, cost,
resource and performance requirements
Action Plan
Work/Process Breakdown Structure
Time Estimates
Cost Estimates
Organizational Resource Requirements
Performance Requirements, Deliverables & Assignment of
Responsibilities
*
Work/Process Breakdown Structure (WBS/PBS)

WBS: a hierarchical method that successively subdivides the
work of the project into discrete, smaller detail
PBS: a hierarchical method used when the outcome results from
a series of steps or phases
Work Breakdown Structure Example
Process Breakdown Structure
Example
Combined Work/Process Breakdown Structure Example
Level 1
Level 2
Issue, Recommendation & Objectives
Issue: How can Chipotle leverage its employee-friendly
compensation and reward practices to motivate empowered
employees and deliver a dining experience that is far better than
what fast food companies can offer?
Recommendation: Implement a customer-driven incentive
system that rewards employees who exceed customers’
expectations of fast food and fast-casual restaurants
Objectives:
1) Chipotle will receive a higher Consumer Reports dining

experience rating (currently at 83) than Rubio’s (at 84) and
Taco Bell (at 73) in 2016 & 2017.
2) Chipotle will meet Trefis forecasts for average number of
visits per restaurant per year of 208,000 in 2016 and 216,000 in
2017.
Work Breakdown Structure
Select 2 or 3 Level 1 Tasks
For each task selected…Develop time estimatesDevelop cost
estimatesHuman, physical, technological & organizational
resource requirementsPerformance requirements, deliverables &
assignment of responsibilities
Note: All of these must be covered for each task that you
choose to discuss and discussed separately for each task
For each task selected…Develop time estimates; you can
include:Start date/s, End date/s, Latest start & end dates,
etc.Contingency plans for delaysScheduling policies and
proceduresPenalties and rewards for early completion, meeting
and missing deadlinesEtc.
For each task selected…Develop cost estimates; you can
include:Planned costs and allowancesSpending, reporting and

auditing policies and proceduresSources of funds, cost of
fundsPenalties and rewards for savings, meeting budgets, cost
overrunsEtc.
For each task selected…Human, physical, technological &
organizational resource requirements; you can include:Staffing,
task assignmentsOrganizing mechanisms for coordination and
controlExternal stakeholder involvementInfrastructure/technical
supportEtc.
For each task selected…Performance requirements, deliverables
& assignment of responsibilities; you can include:Contribution
to strategic/financial objectivesOutput, reports, tracking best
practicesTask leader/s, project liaison/sPenalties & rewards for
quality of deliverablesEtc.
Other guidelines for the APPlace your WBS/PBS in the
AppendixJust state the tasks and details as listed; you do not
have to explain the how’s or the why’sMake sure that each task
selected is clearly identified and discussed separately from each
other; DO NOT COMBINE THEM
__MACOSX/Strategy Project/._Team Project Action Plan
Spring 2015 (1).ppt
Strategy Project/Team Project Guide Spring 2015 (1).ppt

Team Project Outline
Issue
Recommendation
Objectives
Action Plan
Appendix and/or Exhibits
Team Project StructureWhat is a critical strategic issue facing
the company? [One statement issue. Do not explain it.]What
should the company do to address this issue? [State one
recommendation in one or two statements.]If you state your
issue in the form of a question, you simply answer the question
directly. You do not have to provide details.Make your
recommendation as specific as possible; it will make your
action plan easier to develop
Team Project StructureWhat objectives will be met with this
recommendation?Provide the strategic objective/s that will be
used to assess the recommendation’s success.Provide the
financial objective/s that will be used to assess the
recommendation’s success.Provide at least ONE financial
objective AND ONE strategic objectiveMake sure that these
objectives are specific and measurable (quantitative).Explain
HOW you derived these objectives in the Appendix
Example
What is a critical strategic issue facing the company? [One
statement issue. Do not explain it.]How can Chipotle leverage
its employee-friendly compensation and reward practices to

motivate empowered employees and deliver a dining experience
that is far better than what fast food companies can offer?
*
Example
What should the company do to address this issue? [State ONE
recommendation in one or two statements.]
1st Recommendation: Implement a customer-driven incentive
expectations of fast food and fast-casual restaurants
2nd Recommendation: Create company-wide on-line employee
Delphi Groups to share and forecast trends in the restaurant
industry
Note: Just choose ONE of the above.
*
Example
What objectives will be met with this recommendation?
expectations of fast food and fast-casual restaurantsProvide at
least one strategic objective that will be used to assess the
success of the recommendation.Provide at least one financial
objective that will be used to assess the success of the
recommendation.

*
ExampleWhat objectives will be met with this recommendation?
expectations of fast food and fast-casual restaurantsStrategic
objective: Chipotle will receive a higher Consumer Reports
dining experience rating (currently at 83) than Rubio’s (at 84)
and Taco Bell (at 73) in 2016 & 2017.Financial objective:
Chipotle will meet Trefis forecasts for average number of visits
per restaurant per year of 208,000 in 2016 and 216,000 in 2017.
e
*
ExampleExplain how you derived these objectives in the
Appendix section?Strategic objective: Chipotle will receive a
higher Consumer Reports dining experience rating (currently at
83) than Rubio’s (at 84) and Taco Bell (at 73) in 2016 &
2017.FranchiseHerald.com reported in January that 32,400
Consumer Reports subscribers chose fast-casual chain Rubio’s
as their #1 favorite in the Mexican restaurant dining category,
ahead of Chipotle (#2) and Qdoba (#3). Taco Bell was ranked
last.
(Source:
http://www.franchiseherald.com/articles/19507/20150105/rubios
-chipotle-consumer-reports-mexican-chain-restaurants-
franchise.htm)

e
*
Example
Explain how you derived these objectives in the Appendix
section?Financial objective: Chipotle will meet Trefis forecasts
for average number of visits per restaurant per year of 208,000
in 2016 and 216,000 in 2017.Trefis.com forecasts that a
Chipotle restaurant will average 206,000 customer visits in
2016 and 216,000 in 2017. Trefis.com was founded by MIT
engineers and Wall Street analysts who explain the fundamental
product/market drivers behind their stock price forecasts.
Source:
http://www.trefis.com/stock/cmg/model/trefis?freeAccessToken
=PROVIDER_f87fcb465dddb3117796fc9a36e48614d7b52ef3
e
*
Team Project StructureHow should the company execute this
recommendation? Strategy execution is detailed in an action
plan. Refer to the Action Plan slides for guidelines on how to
develop the action plan.Your action plan will be graded in two
ways:its own merit based on guidelines andrelative to those of
the other team action plans in class.
__MACOSX/Strategy Project/._Team Project Guide Spring 2015
(1).ppt

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