The Coolburst Case with Assignment Fall 2015

The first thing you need to do is get an idea of just what is The
Strategic Management Process. In order to do this quickly and
efficiently, go to http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/strategic-planning/. Read the
short description of the various steps of the process. Then do the same
with the S/M process diagram at
http://www.netmba.com/strategy/process/. Note the similarities and
any of the differences between the two. Pay particular attention to the
section below the latter (netmba) diagram entitled Drawbacks of the
process. Next, print out the comprehensive planning process
diagram found in Documents in our course BB BA4101 GBP FALL 2015KLEIN. It fleshes out the specific tasks/activities that businesses
actually perform in creating (or reevaluating) and implementing
strategic decisions. Again, note the major difference in how strategy
formation is represented in the latter planning process diagram as
opposed to the former two depictions. Under what circumstances
would you employ the comprehensive planning process strategy
formation step (as found in course Documents)? [Hint: See Drawbacks
of under the strategic planning process diagram at the netmba.com
site.]
Assignment:
See if you can match up where S/M process components (listed below) are
relevant to segments of the case narrative, identified by number in brackets
(e.g.[1. ...]). More than one S/M component may appear to apply to any one
segment; however, one is more appropriate. So read each italicized statement
very carefully. Pay attention to tenses (for example, is Luisa looking backwards
or forwards?). See where it best fits within the S/M process below.
Assume the S/M components are as follows:
A. Setting (or reassessing) business objectives (i.e., what business should
we be in? Should we change our business (product/market) objectives?)
B. Setting/reassessing performance goals in our existing business
C. Assessing the relevant current and prospective external environment
(i.e., competitive structure, market characteristics, buying habits, etc.)
D. Assessing current and prospective internal environment (i.e,, viability of
core competencies and competitive strengths, financial resources and attributes,
market position, intellectual property, physical plant and equipment, etc.)
E. Viability assessment of current strategy; alternative strategy evaluation
and selection

F. Implementation of new (or reevaluated) business strategy (i.e., change

in organization structure, MIS, resource allocation, organization culture, etc.)
G. Installation and operation of a performance control system (i.e.,
monitoring key functions and/or activities against desired performance
standards/goals, taking action to return ongoing business functions/activities
H. Evaluation of performance/results (i.e., comparison of performance
results with expectations, diagnosis of performance problems/issues)

What's Stifling Creativity at CoolBurst? HBR, Sept-Oct, 1997, 36-40.

Luisa Reboredo had never been one to count her hours in the office, let alone take all the
vacation days she had accumulated in her 15 years with CoolBurst, a Miami-based fruitjuice company. Now, as the newly appointed CEO, she seemed to live to work. The job
exhilarated her, and [1. she had big plans for the company's future] - if she could just get
performance on track first.
It took a great deal of pleading, therefore, for her son, Alfonse, to get her to attend
Miami's popular outdoor art festival with him one Saturday in May.[2. She had been
regularly working weekends, using the time to pore over CoolBurst's books in an effort to
figure out why annual revenues were stuck at $30 million and profits hadn't risen for four
years straight.]
Finally, the two struck a deal: Luisa would attend the art festival in the morning and
spend the rest of the day in the office.
They arrived at 10, and already the sun was baking the festival grounds. Alfonse, almost
a foot taller than Luisa and a basketball star at Southwest Miami High, put his arm
around his mother, "Mom, this is great - you've got to get out more often," he practically
sang. "You're missing the action stuck inside that office."
Luisa sighed. Raising Alfonse by herself hadn't been easy, and now that she had reached
the top of her career and could comfortably afford his college tuition, the last thing she
wanted was to have the company she'd helped to build collapse beneath her. Just the
thought of CoolBurst's stagnant performance suddenly made her tense. [3. Why was it,
she wondered, that CoolBurst wasn't growing anymore?] [4. For over a decade, it had
been the most successful juice maker in the Southeast.]
"Mom, stop thinking about work!" Alfonse shouted, interrupting Luisa's thoughts.
[5. Alfonse dashed over to a man selling drinks from a cart. The cart was topped by a
large red umbrella emblazoned with the words Destroy Your Thirst! Drink a Thirst
Smasher. A moment later, he was back, unscrewing the cap of a red glass bottle shaped
like a rocket.]
"Alfonse!" Luisa practically gasped. "How could you!"
"How could I what?" Alfonse replied, somewhat irritated. [6. "I couldn't get a CoolBurst
around here if I tried, Mom. I suppose I could sprint over to the high school, but that
wouldn't exactly be convenient."]
[7. "Besides," Alfonse added, everyone knows CoolBurst is for kids. These Thirst
Smashers are something new. Get a load of this flavor - Mango Tango. It tastes
fabulous."]

She knew all about Mango Tango. [8. In fact it had been invented in CoolBurst's own
labs, a collaboration between chief scientist Carol Velez and CoolBurst's then marketing
director, Sam Jenkins. The two had concocted Mango Tango and four other exotic drinks
on the sly about a year earlier.] [9. But when they presented them to then CEO, Garth
LaRoue, he had been so angry about their unauthorized use of time that he practically
fired them both. Velez hadn't had her heart in the job since then and Jenkins had left.]
[10. Most employees had considered Jenkins a troublemaker - a transplanted New
Yorker and business school graduate who did nothing but harangue people to "think
outside the box."
"What box is he talking about?" was the refrain from most of CoolBurst's 200 employees,
who were predominately native Miamians who joined the company after high school or
college.]
[11. CoolBurst had been an independent company until 1975, and it still retained much
of its old organizational culture, which reflected the traditional, family-oriented
background of its Cuban-born founder.]
So far, Luisa reminded herself, [12. none of CoolBurst's rivals had yet put a dent in
their market share.] [13. The reason, she figured, was the company's established
distribution system.]
[14. Was there a way, Luisa wondered, to make CoolBurst a more welcoming, nurturing
place for people like Velez and Jenkins?]