BUS 210 Module 2 Planning Assignment example

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This complete BUS 210 Module 2 assignment applies the planning function of management to one store of a composite regional pet supply chain. It analyzes the store's internal strengths and weaknesses and its external opportunities and threats, chooses the three issues that matter most, and turns each into a SMART goal with an owner, a measure, a deadline and first actions. The paper closes by explaining how the plan will be monitored, which links planning to the controlling function later in the course. The store is composite; the frameworks are standard.

What this page holds

Written out in full: a BUS 210 Module 2 planning assignment with a SWOT table for a pet supply store, a rationale for choosing three priorities, three SMART goals with owners, measures and deadlines, action steps and a monitoring plan. Searches like "bus 210 module 2 assignment", "bus210 module 2 planning assignment" and "bus 210 module 2 example" land here.

The BUS 210 Module 2 example, in full

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Planning One Store's Year: A SWOT Analysis and Three SMART Goals for a Composite Pet Supply Store

[Student Name]

Southern New Hampshire University

BUS 210: Managing and Leading in Business

Module Two Assignment

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The organization, setting and figures below are a composite written as a model document. No real employer, client, colleague or patient is described.

What this page is doingThe title names the management function, the two planning tools and the unit being planned for, which tells the reader the assignment applies tools rather than describing them.
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Planning One Store's Year: A SWOT Analysis and Three SMART Goals for a Composite Pet Supply Store

The Store

Maple and Mutt Pet Supply is a composite regional chain of 18 stores selling pet food, supplies and grooming. Store 7, in a growing suburb, has 11 employees, including three groomers, and earned sales of about 2.4 million dollars last year, 8 percent of it from grooming. A new manager took over in January. Company policy asks each store manager to submit an annual plan with no more than three goals, on the principle that a plan with ten priorities has none. Planning, the first of the four management functions, means deciding in advance what the store will try to achieve and how, so that daily decisions have a direction (Robbins & Coulter, 2021).

SWOT Analysis

Table 1 summarizes the store's situation.

Table 1

SWOT Analysis, Maple and Mutt Store 7

Strengths (internal)Weaknesses (internal)
Experienced groomers with a loyal client baseStaff turnover of 27% last year, mostly sales associates
Location next to a busy grocery storeGrooming appointments booked by phone only
Strong inventory accuracy and in-stock ratesLittle cooperation between grooming and the sales floor
Opportunities (external)Threats (external)
New housing development adding about 900 households nearbyA national chain opening a store 3 miles away in the fall
Rising spending on pet health and groomingOnline retailers undercutting prices on pet food
Local veterinary clinic open to referral partnershipsTight local labor market for groomers

Note. Composite store data for illustration.

What this page is doingThe table keeps internal and external factors in separate quadrants and makes every entry specific, with a figure where one exists. Vague SWOT entries such as good service are the most common weakness in this assignment.
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Choosing Three Priorities

Not every entry deserves a goal. Pairing internal factors with external ones, the logic of the TOWS matrix (Weihrich, 1982), points to three connected issues. First, the national chain's arrival will pressure pet food prices, where online sellers already compete, so the store's advantage must come from services that cannot be bought online, especially grooming. Second, grooming cannot grow while appointments are booked only by phone during business hours, a weakness that also wastes groomers' time. Third, turnover among sales associates undermines everything else: new staff do not know products, cannot recommend grooming and leave before they learn. Inventory accuracy is already a strength and needs maintenance, not a goal, and price competition on food is better handled by the chain's buyers than by one store.

What this page is doingExplaining why some SWOT items do not become goals shows judgment. Planning is as much about deciding what not to pursue as about choosing priorities.
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Goal 1: Grow Grooming Revenue

Specific: increase grooming revenue at Store 7. Measurable: from about 192,000 dollars last year to 235,000 dollars. Achievable: the groomers currently work at about 70 percent of available appointment slots, so the increase can come largely from filling existing capacity. Relevant: grooming is the service the new competitor and online sellers cannot easily match. Time-bound: by December 31. Owner: the lead groomer, supported by the store manager. First actions include offering a rebooking discount at checkout for clients who schedule their next appointment before leaving, and a referral card program with the nearby veterinary clinic.

Goal 2: Add Online Booking

Specific: allow clients to book grooming online. Measurable: at least 40 percent of grooming appointments booked online. Achievable: the chain already licenses a scheduling system used by six other stores. Relevant: online booking removes the main barrier to filling capacity and frees groomers from answering the phone mid-groom. Time-bound: system live by March 31 and 40 percent share by September 30. Owner: the store manager. First actions are requesting the license from the district office, training all staff on the system and promoting it on receipts and in the store.

Goal 3: Reduce Sales Associate Turnover

Specific: reduce voluntary turnover among sales associates. Measurable: from 27 percent to 15 percent annualized. Achievable: exit interviews show most departures cite unpredictable schedules and lack of training, both within the manager's control. Relevant: stable staff are needed to recommend grooming and compete on service. Time-bound: measured over the twelve months ending December 31. Owner: the store manager, with the district human resources partner. First actions include posting schedules three weeks ahead instead of two, a structured two-week training plan for new hires with a named buddy, and a monthly one-on-one conversation with each associate.

Resources, Constraints and Involving the Team

Each goal draws on limited resources, and the plan should say so. The rebooking discount of 10 percent on the next groom will cost an estimated 9,000 dollars in the year if half of clients use it, which is well below the 43,000 dollars of added revenue the goal targets. The online booking license costs the chain about 1,200 dollars a year per store, and training will take about three hours of each employee's time. The turnover goal costs little in money but a great deal in the manager's attention, since monthly one-on-ones with eight associates will take roughly a day a month. The store's main constraint is groomer capacity: if demand exceeds the 30 percent of unused slots, the goal would require hiring a fourth groomer in a tight labor market, so the plan treats that as a decision for the second half of the year rather than an assumption.

The manager will also present the draft plan to the team before submitting it. Employees who help set goals understand them better and are more committed to them, and the groomers in particular know which clients are likely to rebook and which hours are hardest to fill. Their input may change the actions, though not the goals, which reflect the store's position in its market.

Monitoring the Plan

Progress has to be checked and the plan adjusted, which is where planning connects to controlling. Each goal has a single number that will be reviewed monthly, so problems appear in weeks rather than at year end. The store manager will review grooming revenue, the online booking share and turnover in a one-page report at the first staff meeting of each month, sharing results with the team so that employees can see how their work affects the goals. If grooming revenue is below 90 percent of the monthly target for two consecutive months, the manager and lead groomer will revise the actions, for example by adding evening appointments. The goals also reinforce one another: stable, trained associates are better able to recommend grooming, and online booking makes those recommendations easy to act on. Goal-setting research supports the approach, since specific and challenging goals with regular feedback tend to produce higher performance than vague intentions such as doing our best (Locke & Latham, 2002).

References

Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705-717. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.57.9.705

Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2021). Management (15th ed.). Pearson.

Weihrich, H. (1982). The TOWS matrix: A tool for situational analysis. Long Range Planning, 15(2), 54-66. https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-6301(82)90120-0

How this BUS 210 Module 2 example is structured

The assignment follows the logic of planning: understand the situation, choose priorities, set goals, then decide actions and how progress will be checked. The SWOT analysis appears as a table so the four quadrants can be compared at a glance. A section explains which issues were chosen and why others were left aside. Each SMART goal is written out with its components labeled, followed by actions and a monitoring schedule.

Get BUS 210 Module 2 written to your instructions

Send your BUS 210 Module 2 assignment prompt and rubric with the business or scenario you were given. A planning analysis with SWOT and SMART goals written to your case comes back within 24 to 48 hours; the first is free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Southern New Hampshire University document.

BUS 210 Module 2 questions, answered

What does BUS 210 Module 2 usually ask for?

Early modules of a managing and leading course often focus on the planning function: analyzing an organization's situation with tools such as SWOT, setting goals and choosing strategies. Assignments may ask students to write goals for a scenario business and explain how they would be achieved and measured.

What makes a goal SMART?

A SMART goal is specific about what will change, measurable with a defined indicator, achievable with available resources, relevant to the organization's priorities and time-bound with a deadline. Writing goals this way makes it possible to tell whether they were met.

What is the difference between strengths and opportunities in a SWOT analysis?

Strengths and weaknesses are internal: things the organization controls, such as its staff, services or location. Opportunities and threats are external: conditions in the market, competition or economy that the organization does not control but can respond to.