Essay Instructions: TOPIC: Prepare a five-year strategic plan for a fictional company discussed below (The Great Italian Food Company). The strategic plan must contain the following elements:
• Executive Summary (Abstract);
• Vision;
• Mission;
• Core Operating Values;
• Environmental Analysis;
o SWOT Analysis
o Five-Forces Industry Analysis
• Strategic Direction;
• Goals and Objectives; and,
• Strategic Action Plan Focus for years 1-5.
FORMAT: Your strategic plan must conform to the requirements set forth in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition (2nd printing, October 2009), also known as the APA Publications Manual. The paper should be double-spaced, Times New Roman12-point font, with one inch margins at the top, bottom, left, and right of each page. From a content standpoint, all that is required for this course is a title page, abstract, the body of the paper (16 pages), and references page(s). If you choose to include appendices or tables of information, these should also conform to the APA Publications Manual. Points will be deducted if these requirements are not met. APA requires that papers be written in third person. In writing the paper, you should assume that the reader knows nothing about strategic management in general or the specific concepts you will be applying in your paper.
GRAMMAR, SPELLING AND PUNCTUATION: Spelling and word usage will be verified using the current edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary (standard spelling reference of the APA [see paragraph 4.12]). Grammar and punctuation will be verified using the guidelines contained in Chapters Three and Four of the APA Manual.
ATTRIBUTION TO SOURCE: It is essential that in any research paper each piece of information presented be properly attributed to its source. If the information you are presenting in the paper is not your original thought, or is not common knowledge, it should be attributed to its source. No more than 10% of the paper should be in the form of direct quotes, and any such quotes must be indicated and properly cited (direct quotes require a page number in the citation).
REFERENCES: Your list of references should include, at a minimum, 15 secondary sources you have consulted in your research.
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The Great Italian Food Company
The Great Italian Food Company (GIFC) owns and operates four Italian restaurants (called Papa Joe's) in the Greater Chicago area. The original establishment was founded in the Italian Hill section in 1960 by Joe Marconi known in the community as Papa Joe. He came to Chicago as a teenager after World War II. He is now semi-retired and Chairman of the Board of the GIFC. His oldest son, Little Joe, has presided over the expansion of the company to include three other similar restaurants, two in Chicago proper (one on the north side [the original restaurant] and one on the south side), and two in suburban Chicago communities. The restaurants could be classified as family establishments. The decorations feature Italian scenes and the tables have checked tablecloths. Prices are reasonable, and the menu is basic Italian with various pasta dishes featured.
Papa Joe has three other children involved in the business:
• Johnny is responsible for marketing and advertising for the chain.
• Tony is in charge of purchasing, and
• Maria is the HR director. She is the only one of the children who went to college and has recently graduated with an MBA.
Each of the children has ideas about the future of GIFC. It has been fairly successful, but with now four adult children involved they may have to grow the company in order for it to produce enough profit for each of the children to live the kind of lifestyle they have experienced in recent years. Here are their thoughts:
Little Joe thinks they ought to have more Chicago-area locations.
Tony believes that the customers here and perhaps all across the Midwest would like to be able to buy frozen food such as the kind they have in the restaurant because some customers will take extra home with them after dining.
Papa Joe has always dreamed of having an upscale restaurant in partnership with a well-known personality, such as a Cubs baseball player or a Bears football player. He thinks such a place could make a good deal of money because they would charge much more for the meals.
Johnny thinks the family ought to think more broadly about the restaurant business and start other ethnic restaurants, such as Chinese or Greek.
Maria has suggested expanding the business to other parts of the Midwest, especially in other major cities. She has told her father that she took a course in Strategic Management in her MBA program, and that GIFC should engage in a strategic planning process to systematically determine their future.
One of the members of the Board of Directors, Jimmy, owns a barbershop. He has always said he thought from a business standpoint McDonald's is the greatest organization in the United States. He has told Papa Joe many times that McDonald's began as a small place selling burgers. He should develop an Italian fast-food menu, and become a McDonald's-like franchise across the country.
Assume you have been hired by the Board of Directors of GIFC to help them develop a five-year strategic plan. The Board consists of Papa Joe as Chair, the children, Mrs. Papa Joe, Jimmy the barber, and two other long-time friends of Papa Joe who own businesses on the north side of Chicago.
