Reference no: EM131175839
Free Range Foods Case -- Read This First
Free Range's roots go back to the mid-1980s, when local farms were disappearing all around the rural US. Euell Gibbons, a Free Range executive, convinced its founder there was a business opportunity in selling organic dairy products while paying attention to environmental concerns. Social responsibility has been at the core of the company from the start. In Gibbons' view, making sure that the planet and its resources would continue to be available, and even flourish, for future generations to enjoy was the main goal; profits were merely the means that would help further this goal.
Free Range is willing to pay more for organic ingredients and is strongly committed to eco-friendly operations. After calculating how much energy it needs to run its plant, for instance, Free Range made an equivalent investment in environmental projects like reforestation. The company no longer puts plastic lids on its cottage cheese, saving about a million pounds of plastic a year, and its packaging carries messages about global warming, farmland protection, and genetically modified foods...In fact, its sales continue to increase by roughly 20% every year, making it a major player among U.S. cottage cheese brands. Now the company is considering going international, bringing its products and values to France, the United Kingdom, and beyond.
There is an individual activity assignment for this case, as well as a team presentation project based on this case. See the main topic postings in this discussion for instructions on completing these two assignments. Note that for the team presentation assignment, there is an option for hybrid sections.
Organization Theory and Design Team Project Rubric (on-line sections)
Assignment: Read the Free Range Foods case posted by your professor in the Week 5 discussion area.
Objective 7: Analyze the challenges of managing and innovating organizations to adapt in a changing global and technological environment.
Competency: Problem-Solving
Teams should address the following questions in a Power Point Presentation of no more than 8 slides (not counting title page and references).
a) Analyze the pros and cons of how at least two globalization strategies might apply to
Free Range Foods
b) Identify the factors Free Range should review before deciding to go international.
c) Make a recommendation for Free Range on how it should restructure to take its operations global
d) How can Free Range manage to maintain its "eco-friendly operations" internationally?
In addition to your PowerPoint presentation, include a "script" of no more than 10 double-spaced pages. The script is a written version of what you would say in your presentation. You should key your talking points to your slides. Use graphics to illustrate your points, but do not use any animation, video, sound or fade-ins/outs in your PowerPoint. Be sure to provide references for all facts, including those you obtain from the case. You must format your references in accordance with APA Guidelines, as described in the Hacker text, and include a reference list. Teams should present their analysis on the designated class day and post their slides and scripts in their team group area entitled "Final Free Range Foods Project for Grading" on the date specified by your professor. Each team member is required to post his or her individual contribution to the team's project in the team group area. The actual contribution must be posted, so the faculty member can review it. If you do not post your individual contribution, you may not get credit for the assignment. Posting a narrative summary of what you contributed is not sufficient. You must post the actual contribution.