INSTRUCTIONS:

The objective of the integrated semester is to help you extend your knowledge of how the finance, operations, management, and marketing disciplines work and how they integrate their functioning in the real world of business.  This assignment is an assessment of how well you understand this integration.  It is worth 10% of your course grade.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT IS TO ANSWER ALL OF THE QUESTIONS, IN A SINGLE DOCUMENT:

·      The assignment should be prepared as a Word document, 12 -14 pages in length (approx. 3 pages for each discipline’s questions). 

·      The document should be double spaced, using Ariel font #12. 

·      Label each section (e.g., FINANCE) to indicate which discipline’s questions you are answering. 

·      Add any Appendices at the end of the Word document.

·      Upload the entire Word file through the link on Canvas to each of your Integrated Semester courses by the due date.

 

Note: Your reference sources, in addition to the base case and question sets, should be online sites and articles, Bloomberg terminals, your Integrated Semester textbooks and PowerPoint slides.  Also note, Turnitin, a software tool that improves writing and prevents plagiarism, will be used to assess your sourcing of information.  Do your own work.

 

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FINANCE ASSIGNMENT

Please answer the questions below. Use either the Bloomberg terminals located at the Feliciano School of Business or other reputable sources such as finance.yahoo.com, morningstar.com or Wall Street Journal etc. for the financial data you use in your answers. You need to provide the references regarding the financial data you use to support your answers at the end of the finance portion of the term paper.

Questions:  

1.    Starting service to a new market, such as Havana, Cuba, is a major capital budgeting project for Southwest Airlines (ticker symbol: LUV). A project of this scale requires coordinated planning across all functions of a business that you are studying in your Integrated Core classes. Choose and discuss three items on the income statement and balance sheet that you think will be impacted by this new undertaking (a total of six items). Explain why you chose those particular items, and how those items are impacted by the marketing, management and operations decisions of the company.

 

2.    Explain how the financial decisions regarding starting service to Cuba are related to management, marketing or operations decisions that the company must make (or has made)?

 

3.    Choose and calculate five ratios for this company for the last two years. Make sure to select ratios that you think would be impacted by starting new service to Cuba, and explain your reasoning. Identify two competitors of LUV and contrast the ratios. Explain why you selected those competitors. Describe how the decisions made by management, marketing and operations functions of the company can impact, and hopefully improve, these financial ratios.

 

4.    Calculate the annualized stock price return of LUV over the last 3, 5, and 10 years. How does it compare to the return of the competitors you selected in question 3 and the S&P 500 index over the same time periods?  What kind of steps can the company take regarding management strategy, operational efficiency and marketing policy to maintain the strong performance of this company going forward?

 

 

MARKETING ASSIGNMENT

This assignment will be dealing with Southwest Airlines.  It requires you demonstrate your level of understanding of Integration across the Integrated Core (Marketing, Finance, Management and Operations)

Below you will find 2 Weaknesses and 2 Threat statements from a Southwest Airlines SWOT analysis. Following the statements are questions that you need to answer to demonstrate your understanding of the implications that elements of a SWOT Analysis could have across the 4 disciplines of the Integrated Core.

Read the Weakness and Threats statements carefully then proceed to answer the questions noted below:

Ø A possible decrease in business travel demand due to technology.

MARKETING ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS (graded for 100 Points)

1)    1). Assume you are the Vice President of Southwest Airlines, select 1 Weakness and 1 Threat from the SWOT Analysis statements above and explain how you would recommend taking that selected weakness and turning it into a strength and the selected threat and turning it into an opportunity.

2)    Next provide 2 explanations as follows:

a.    Explain how the weakness turned into a new strength would impact the disciplines of Marketing, Finance, Management and Operations.

b.    Explain how the threat turned into a new opportunity would impact the disciplines of Marketing, Finance, Management and Operations.

 

 

 

 

MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT

Southwest Airlines is known for their organizational culture.  It is considered one of the key factors contributing to their success.  They are ranked 8^th in 2017 as “Most Admired Companies in the World” and ranked 13^th “Best Employer in 2016”.  

1.  Describe Southwest’s organizational culture.  How has the culture contributed to their success?

 

Southwest is also known for its proven business strategy.  They believe in a sustainable future where there is balance in their business model between shareholders, employees, customers and other stakeholders.  As a result and unique in the airline industry, they have maintained 44 years of consecutive profitability.  They ranked 1st in “Lowest Number of Complaints” in 2016.

 

2. The company developments as seen in the “Flash Forward” beginning in 2010 have been significant.  Review those accomplishments.  What are some of the key elements of their strategy as seen in these developments?  How has the original strategy been altered to achieve those results? 

 

3. Describe how Southwest’s planning process helped establish their organizational objectives, business model, address problems, adapt to changes in the environment and remain successful.

 

 

OPERATIONS ASSIGNMENT

As flying becomes a commodity and as airlines strive to offer the lowest fares possible, Southwest is finding it increasingly hard to distinguish itself from its competition.  A proposal has been made to offer a business class on its longer flights.  This class would have more comfortable seats, more legroom, and complimentary magazines, movies, meals, drinks, and Wi-Fi.  A toilet would be dedicated to this section.  These passengers would also get priority boarding and de-boarding of flights.  If the experiment is successful Southwest would consider rolling out business class on all its flights.

1.    What are the operational implications of this proposal?

2.    What role do the other functions (specifically, Finance, Marketing, and HR) have to play in examining the feasibility of this idea and successfully implementing it?