Read critically and analyze the following scenario:
The toy industry is very fickle and innovation is critical. Sales for January 2017 showed only a 3% rise over January 2016 leaving the company managers concerned about meeting projected sales targets for 2017. In a 30-month plan, George Jepson, Jr., as CEO, together with Edward Mercury, CFO, set long-term goals for the company to include the following:
increase sales unrelated to NASA toys by 22 percent;
reduce company-wide costs by 5 percent within 15 months and 11.2 percent by the end of the plan;
create new technology based action toys;
use innovative technology in production to increase efficiency;
reduce carbon footprint by 5 percent.
The project "Moon Mission to Jupiter's Europa" (MMTJE1) is a 3D engineered of the Curiosity vehicle used to. explore Mars. The toy is operated remotely allowing a child and parent to launch the capsule "Juno 1" craft, 500 ft. in the air, unload the rover called Galileo and move it along all terrain surfaces. Galileo takes pictures remotely and sends them to a cell phone.
The toy is geared for the age 11-15 market but can be used with younger children as long as there is adult supervision. The toy is made from a 3D printer and consists of a plastic capsule and rover base with electronics added separately in production.
Focus group results suggest that it is a "wow" product and would also encourage sales of related toys and books as Jupiter's Moon Europa has been deemed by scientists as the most accessible and likely place to support habitable life as we know it to be.
Children can view pictures and imagine a Moon currently covered in ice as a new space frontier adventure. An interactive video game is also envisioned. It will be the first intergalactic action toy that Galaxy Toys has ever produced. MMTJE1 is estimated to bring a 15% increase in unrelated NASA sales if rolled out in 2017 and 21.6% increase if rolled out in 2018. However, MMTJE1 is not production-friendly at this point.
After soliciting input for recommendations on the toys that would most likely meet the company's future objectives, the Board of Directors narrowed the choices to Payload Nine and Moon Mission to Jupiter's Europa 1 (MMTJE1).
The Board of Directors has decided to accept the recommendation to roll out the "Moon Mission to Jupiter's Europa 1" for the holiday season of 2018. In a virtual meeting, led by Itza Yu, the production managers have had a "brainstorming" session and have created a list of short-term goals and objectives.
In reviewing the list below, Itza Yu noted that some of the items on the list are sound short-term goals and objectives while others are not and therefore, should be removed. He also noted that some of the items do not fit well with the company's vision and mission and will need to be eliminated.
Assuming the role of Itza Yu, students must determine whether the items on the list are "goals" or "objectives" and whether they should be adopted or abandoned. The list is as follows:
Short Term Goals and Objectives List
*Production of quality MMTJE1 toys must start February 20th, 2018.
*Production of quality MMTJE1 toys must start by July 1, 2018.
*Dates for starting production set.
*Completion dates for new personnel hire set.
*MMTJE1 quality toys production.
*Additional personnel must be hired by February 20th 2018.
*Materials must be state of the art.
*Completion dates for material purchase and delivery set.
*3D printers must be purchased by February 20th, 2018.
*3D printers must be purchased and installed by November 1, 2018.
*The first MMTJE1 toys should be produced by December 1, 2017.
*QC should evaluate first toys by December 31, 2017.
*Completion dates for QC standards will be determined by QC.
*Safety standards should be determined by QC by May 1, 2017.
*Materials must be purchased by and delivered by July 1, 2017.
*New packages should be palletized by May 1, 2018.
*Personnel for all production functions must be organized by March 31, 2017.
*Shipping should begin immediately upon the nod from Quality Control.
*Shipping should begin July 1, 2018.
*Shipping start dates should be determined.
*IT must confirm programming for 3D printers is complete by June 1, 2017.
*3D machine operators must be trained by October 31, 2017.
*Completion dates for 3D programming, training and installation set.
*Maintenance for 3D printers must be done daily.
*Personnel must be cross trained on the 3D printers.
*Training on new equipment must be done by October 31, 2017.
*Marketing will determine shipping start date.
*Dates for personnel hire set.
(G) A goal is defined as being a broad aim and spells out what needs to be done generally.
(O) An objective is defined as a specific and measurable action needed to meet the goal.
An abandoned item is neither a goal nor objective, or does not fit with the time line of the project. Hint look at the pattern of the tasks and dates to achieve them.