| Course | BUS 400 Driving Business Opportunities |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 2 |
| Paper type | undergraduate assignment scanning the environment and screening business opportunities |
| Length | About 1,030 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Southern New Hampshire University |
| Program | BS Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BUS 400 Module 2
Opportunity Scan and Screening for the Greenhouse
[Student Name]
Southern New Hampshire University
BUS 400: Driving Business Opportunities
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.
Opportunity Scan and Screening for the Greenhouse
Introduction
The greenhouse sells about 95 percent of its output to three regional grocery chains. Over the past three years, two of those chains merged, and the combined buyer has pushed prices down about 8 percent while asking for more promotional discounts. Revenue has held near $3.4 million only because volume rose. The family's second generation wants a growth path that does not depend on a few grocery buyers. This paper scans the forces affecting the business, identifies three options, screens them with criteria the family agreed and recommends which to study further.
The Environmental Scan
Six forces stand out. First, grocery consolidation gives a few large buyers more power over price and terms. Second, demand for local produce in the Northeast remains strong, especially in winter, when most leafy greens come from California and Arizona. Third, Boston-area restaurants report difficulty finding consistent, high-quality fresh herbs and microgreens in winter, according to the two chefs and one produce distributor the family spoke with. Fourth, Vermont commercial electricity rates are among the higher in the country, which raises the cost of supplemental lighting. Fifth, the rural labor market is tight, and the greenhouse already struggles to fill its harvest shifts. Sixth, federal and state farm-to-school programs offer grants that help districts buy local food, which has increased schools' interest in local greens.
Kotler and Keller (2016) describe the environmental scan as the step that keeps opportunity hunting grounded in what is actually changing, and these six forces point in different directions: some favor higher-value products sold to buyers who pay for consistency, others favor expanding volume.
The Business's Strengths and Limits
The greenhouse's strengths are year-round growing in a cold climate, a strong food safety record and the third-party certification grocers require, a skilled head grower, and three weekly truck runs toward southern New England. Its limits are dependence on grocery buyers, a small management team, high energy costs and limited cash: the business has about $400,000 available for investment without borrowing. Barney (1991) argues that opportunities are most promising when they use resources a firm has that rivals cannot easily copy, and year-round growing with certified food safety close to Boston is such a resource.
Three Options
The first option is herbs and microgreens for Boston restaurants and specialty grocers: basil, cilantro, mint, pea shoots and a mix of microgreens, grown in a converted section of the greenhouse with vertical racks and delivered on existing truck runs. The second is salad greens for school districts in Vermont and New Hampshire, sold through bids and supported by farm-to-school grants. The third is a second lettuce greenhouse in New Hampshire, closer to Boston, to increase volume to existing grocery buyers and new ones.
Screening Criteria
In a meeting with the founders and their children, the family agreed five criteria and weights. Margin, the expected gross margin on the new revenue, received 30 percent because price pressure is the core problem. Fit with existing strengths received 25 percent. Investment required received 20 percent, given limited cash. Risk, including dependence on a few buyers, received 15 percent. Time to revenue received 10 percent. Sarasvathy (2001) notes that entrepreneurs often weigh what they can afford to lose as heavily as what they might gain, which is why investment and risk together carry 35 percent.
Scoring the Options
Weighted screening of growth options, scores 1 to 5
| Criterion | Weight | Restaurant herbs and microgreens | School greens | Second greenhouse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Margin | 30% | 5, restaurants pay about three times grocery prices | 2, bid prices below grocery | 2, same falling lettuce prices |
| Fit with strengths | 25% | 4, year-round growing, trucks to Boston | 4, same product, new buyer | 3, more of the same |
| Investment | 20% | 4, about $420,000 for racks and lighting | 4, little new equipment | 1, several million dollars |
| Risk | 15% | 3, new customers, perishable product | 3, bids each year, grant-dependent | 2, deepens grocery dependence |
| Time to revenue | 10% | 4, six months | 2, next school year's bids | 1, two to three years |
| Weighted score | 4.1 | 3.0 | 2.2 |
The restaurant option ranks first chiefly because of margin and fit. Its score would remain first even if margin were weighted at 20 percent instead of 30, which suggests the ranking is not fragile. The school option would rise to first only if the family weighted risk and mission far more heavily than margin, which they considered and rejected because price pressure is the problem they set out to solve. Schools are attractive for stability and mission but pay low prices and buy through annual bids. A second greenhouse would cost far more than the family can invest and would increase dependence on the grocery buyers whose pressure prompted the search.
Options Considered but Not Scored
Two other ideas came up and were set aside before scoring. Selling directly to consumers through a weekly box subscription was attractive for margin, but the greenhouse has no retail experience, and delivery to scattered households in rural Vermont would be costly. Growing strawberries hydroponically was raised by the head grower, but it would require new skills, new equipment and a crop with very different pest and pollination needs. Both could be reconsidered later, but neither fits the business's current strengths as well as the three options above, and screening them formally would have added effort without changing the ranking.
Uncertainties
The ranking rests on assumptions that must be tested, and the family agreed that if any of them proves badly wrong, the screen should be rerun rather than defended. How many Boston restaurants would buy, how much and at what price? Can the greenhouse grow herbs and microgreens to restaurant standards consistently, given its experience is in lettuce? Would delivering small orders to many kitchens fit on existing truck runs or require a new route? And would energy costs for lighting erase the margin advantage? The market analysis in Module Three will address the first question; Project One will assess the others.
Conclusion
The scan suggests three plausible paths to growth, and a weighted screen ranks herbs and microgreens for Boston restaurants first, mainly for margin and fit with the greenhouse's year-round growing and delivery routes. It is the option to study next, not yet the option to fund.
References
Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99-120. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639101700108
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management (15th ed.). Pearson.
Sarasvathy, S. D. (2001). Causation and effectuation: Toward a theoretical shift from economic inevitability to entrepreneurial contingency. The Academy of Management Review, 26(2), 243-263. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2001.4378020
What the BUS 400 Module 2 instructions ask for
The Module Two assignment in BUS 400 asks you to identify potential opportunities for a business and narrow them down. You typically scan the external environment for trends and changes, connect them to the business's internal strengths and weaknesses, generate several options and screen them against criteria. Strong submissions link each option to specific evidence from the scan, use criteria that reflect the business's goals and constraints, weight them openly and treat the result as a ranking for further testing rather than a final decision. They also identify the key uncertainties each option carries into the next stage. Many versions also ask you to describe how the criteria were chosen, which is where the owners' goals enter the analysis.
How this BUS 400 Module 2 opportunity identification assignment example is built
The paper scans six forces: grocery consolidation and price pressure, regional demand for local winter produce, restaurant difficulty finding consistent fresh herbs, high Vermont electricity rates, a tight rural labor market and federal grants that help schools buy local food. From these it draws three options: herbs and microgreens for Boston restaurants, salad greens for school districts and a second lettuce greenhouse in New Hampshire. The family agreed five weighted criteria: margin, fit with existing strengths, investment, risk and time to revenue. A scoring table ranks the restaurant option first at 4.1 out of 5, schools second at 3.0 and the second greenhouse last at 2.2, and the paper lists the questions the market analysis must answer.
Where the BUS 400 Module 2 rubric puts the points
The rubric for this assignment typically considers the quality of the environmental scan, the link between scan and options, the internal assessment, the screening criteria and weights, the scoring and reasoning, and the identification of uncertainties, along with writing. High-scoring papers draw options from evidence rather than imagination, explain why each criterion and weight matters to this business, apply scores consistently with brief justifications and avoid treating the top score as proof. Papers lose credit for generic trend lists, for options unconnected to the scan, for unexplained weights and for skipping uncertainties. A short internal assessment of strengths and limits, tied to the options, usually lifts a paper above a simple trend list. Instructors also look for honesty about uncertainty in the scores.
BUS 400 Module 2 help: the mistakes that cost points
Opportunity screening papers often pick a favorite idea first and build the scan around it. Reverse the order: scan honestly, then see what options the trends suggest, including ones you did not expect. Agree criteria before scoring and write down why each matters; weights are judgments, so state them openly. Give a one-line reason for each score. Treat the ranking as a guide to what to test next, and list the questions that could overturn it. If you consulted people inside or outside the business, say so; even a few conversations make a scan more credible. Keep the scoring table readable, with the reason for each score in a few words.
Get BUS 400 Module 2 written to your instructions
Send the BUS 400 Module 2 assignment and your business. You get an environmental scan tied to options, weighted screening criteria, a scored comparison and the questions still to answer. About two days; a first paper 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.
More BUS 400 papers and related BS Business Administration samples
- BUS 400 Module 1 Discussion: What Makes an Opportunity Worth Chasing
- ACC 427 Module 8 Digital Forensics Assignment: Imaging the Scale-House Computer and Building a Timeline
- BUS 210 Module 1 Managing Versus Leading Discussion
- ACC 330 Module 5 Business Deductions Assignment: Schedule C, Self-Employment Tax and QBI
- ACC 421 Module 1 Discussion: Skepticism and the Auditor's Job
BUS 400 Module 2 questions, answered
Where can I find a free BUS 400 Module 2 Opportunity Identification sample?
This page includes a complete BUS 400 Module 2 scan and screen of three growth options for a Vermont greenhouse.
What is an environmental scan?
A structured review of external forces such as customers, competitors, economics, technology, regulation and society that may create opportunities or threats for a business.
How do you screen business opportunities?
By agreeing criteria that reflect the business's goals, weighting them, scoring each option with brief reasons and using the ranking to decide what to investigate further.
Why weight screening criteria?
Because criteria matter unequally to a given business; weighting makes those judgments explicit so the ranking reflects the owners' priorities.
What should follow an opportunity screen?
Deeper testing of the leading options, starting with the assumptions most likely to overturn the ranking, such as market size or willingness to pay.