This assignment includes two principal parts:

1. Two versions of a detailed outline which will become the framework for a fully written, documented and cited paper due in Topic 7.
2. A researched and cited recent case which summarizes the implications stemming from the lack of ethical leadership or the failure of effective corporate governance.

Reflect upon the extended and multifaceted process of your team’s journey throughout this semester to identify and organize content in a detailed outline format which will become the framework for the fully written paper in Topic 7. Your submission for this first part will include all three of these components:

1. Completed, detailed outline covering the prompts below in Part 1: Detailed Outline.
2. An AI prompt that explains the purpose of the outline and seeks ideas to improve your organization. Submit your completed outline and the prompt to an open-source AI platform to obtain feedback with suggestions on how to improve your outline.
3. The results of the improved, AI-generated outline based on your AI prompt.

Part 1: Detailed Outline
Corporate governance is the system by which companies are directed and controlled in conformity with laws, regulations, stakeholder expectations, values, mission, etc. Your MEGA executive team had access to the rules of the simulation/competition as established through MEGA documentation provided. You also had the opportunity to set your values, mission, and vision. Finally, you were asked to analyze the competitive market and establish business and corporate level strategies with the intention of establishing a sustainable competitive advantage. Governance, in this case, refers to your ability to direct and control your MEGA business in conformance with all of these factors.

Review all previous decisions in the simulation and consider your original vision, mission, and values established with your team as well as your entries on your “Team Learning Logbook Annexes 1-3.” Create a researched, detailed outline addressing the following questions:
1. How did you leverage your team’s stated vision, mission, and values and your initial corporate strategy from “Logbook Annex 2” when assigning team roles in the simulation? Did this team structure contribute to your competitive success? Be specific.
2. Once established, how did you use these documents (i.e., vision, mission, and values, plus the “Logbook Annex 2”) to inform your team’s decision-making during the simulation? Provide specific examples of where doing so helped and also hindered decision-making.
3. How did the competitive pressure experienced in the simulation challenge your allegiance to your stated intentions? Be specific.
4. If given the chance to modify your team’s vision, mission, and values statements, what changes would you make and why? If you would not change them, please defend that position. Consider your response from the perspective of one internal and one external stakeholder.

Part 2: Misalignment Summary
Produce a summary with citations from a real example of a publicly traded company where decisions were made that did not align with the organization’s published vision, mission, and values statements. What were the consequences of behaving contrary to these published statements?

General Requirements:
Organize your information from all parts of this assignment (i.e., three parts from Part 1 and one part from Part 2) into a single, professionally formatted document you will submit to the digital classroom.

While the use of an AI tool is permitted to complete this assignment, adherence to the guidance on acceptable use and citation of AI-generated content from your instructor and the University Policy Handbook is expected. Access the AI Resource Center, located in the Student Success Center, via Classroom Policies in the digital classroom for information on usage of AI tools.

Prepare this assignment using effective business writing style. Refer to the resource, “Effective Business Writing,” located in the Class Resources, for specific guidelines and formatting requirements.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Values Alignment Review Outline

Student’s Name

Professor’s Name

Course Title

Submission Date

Values Alignment Review Outline

In past assignments, the MEGA executive team's vision, shared values, and mission were developed to improve corporate governance. Developing these elements was also intended to ensure conformance with regulations, values, missions, stakeholder expectations, and laws. An analysis of the competitive market, corporate creation, and business-level strategies for achieving competitive advantage was also undertaken (Case scenario, 2024). Hence, this paper is subdivided into two parts. Part 1, titled Detailed outline, addresses how the team’s mission, values, or vision were leveraged when assigning team roles and if it contributed to competitive success. Part 1 also reveals how the documents were used to inform the team’s decision-making, how competitive pressures challenged allegiance to the stated intentions, and what changes would be made to the vision, values, and mission adhered to during the simulation. Part 2, titled Misalignment summary, provides a summary of a publicly traded organization where the organization did not align with its published value, mission, and vision statements and the consequences of exhibiting behaviors that contradicted the statements posted.

Part 1: Detailed Outline

1.     How the team’s mission, values, vision, and corporate strategy were leveraged in assigning team roles during the simulation

The vision statement developed for the MEGA executive team aimed at targeting all American states and assisting customers in securing auto loans with banking institutions for people who could not afford to buy the vehicles in cash (Grand Canyon University, 2024). The MEGA executive team used the growth strategy as its corporate strategy. The growth strategy was used to help achieve business growth in areas like market share, revenue, and market penetration (Furrer, 2016). The growth strategy was employed in line with the MEGA executive team’s vision, mission, and values to assign roles to build the core business and ensure diversification was attained through concentration in the U.S. markets. For example, the MEGA executive’s vision fostered concentration in the U.S. markets by providing all customer personnel assisting customers in securing auto loans to increase sales and revenues. The MEGA executive team’s mission entailed empowering families with affordable, safe, or family-sized vehicles. Ensuring team members learned how to empower American families to acquire alternative capital sources was essential. In playing these roles, the MEGA executive team exercised teamwork, trustworthiness, reliability, empathy, growth, responsibility, and respect to ensure transparency, customer satisfaction, and reliability in the U.S. markets.

How the documents were used to inform the team’s decision-making in the simulation

The vision, values, mission, and logbook annex 2 were vital for informing decision-making in the simulation. The vision statement informed decision-making by ensuring the MEGA executive team’s operations focused on serving the U.S. market by helping people who lacked cash to purchase automobiles secure loans from banks. On the other hand, the values established for the MEGA executive team informed the decision-making during the simulations by ensuring the team members exhibited appropriate behavior. In this case, the team members were required to exhibit behavior that aligned with the team’s values. Failure to adhere to the team’s values in assigned roles led to disciplinary measures being implemented against the team members. Lastly, the logbook annex 2 and the team’s mission informed decision-making by ensuring decisions that fostered the safety, affordability, and acquisition of family-sized vehicles were made during simulations. For example, the mission statement ensured the focus on delivering the U.S. markets with transparency and reliability was made and implemented to ensure high customer satisfaction levels.

How competitive pressure during simulation challenged allegiance to the stated intentions

Competitive pressures during the simulation challenged the MEGA executive team’s allegiance to its stated intentions in various ways. Competitive pressures challenged the team’s allegiance by changing their focus from securing bank loans to aiding auto customers in acquiring affordable vehicles. For example, the team’s allegiance to bank loans was challenged by the tendencies of competitor teams to secure easier loans from other financial institutions like credit unions and savings or loan associations. Securing faster loans prompted the customers to opt for competitor teams. It challenged the MEGA team to try and seek alternative sources of finance to push sales and revenues to match competitors. By shifting the source of finance guaranteed to the customers, allegiance to banks was threatened as the team attempted to move away from its stated intentions. However, the decision to continue guaranteeing banks ensured the team achieved its mission or vision by adhering to its values.     

What changes would be made to the team’s mission, values, and vision statements, given a chance to modify them

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Given an opportunity, various changes would be made to the MEGA executive team’s vision. For example, the vision statement would be changed to ensure the MEGA executive team focuses on different markets beyond the U.S. to align its operations to its corporate strategy and increase customer financing options. Adopting a growth strategy, the team’s vision should be expanded to cover other nations or regions and match their competitors' profits, revenues, and growth, leading to sustainable competitive advantage. Changing the team’s vision would also ensure that alternative finance sources are provided to customers at more favorable interest rates than those banks offer. 

Part 2: Misalignment Summary

A suitable example of a publicly traded organization that made decisions that did not align with its published mission, value, and vision statements is Southwest Airlines. Southwest Airlines' published mission entailed providing genuine hospitality by making a difference in its customers and other stakeholders' lives. However, Southwest Airlines failed to adhere to its mission through its inappropriate handling of flight schedules, destroying its customers’ holiday plans. Many flights were cancelled, and extended customer lines were experienced in different airports. In turn, customers were frustrated at the Airline’s failure and cancelled their flights, leading the company to experience a financial meltdown (Goldman, 2022).

In conclusion, this paper was subdivided into two parts. Part 1, titled Detailed outline, addressed how the team’s mission, values, or vision were leveraged when assigning team roles and if it contributed to competitive success. Part 1 also revealed how the documents were used to inform the team’s decision-making, how competitive pressures challenged allegiance to the stated intentions, and what changes would be made to the vision, values, and mission adhered to during the simulation. Part 2, titled Misalignment summary, provided a summary of a publicly traded organization where the organization did not align with its published value, mission, and vision statements and the consequences of exhibiting behaviors that contradicted the statements posted. Therefore, it is essential for companies to adhere to their published vision, mission, or values to maintain profitability, ensure high sales, and improve their overall performance.

References

.(2024). Case scenario.

Furrer, O. (2016). Corporate level strategy: Theory and applications. Taylor & Francis.

Goldman, D. (2022). Why Southwest is melting down. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/12/27/business/southwest-airlines-service- meltdown/index.html

Grand Canyon University. (2024). BUS-485: CLC-Team MEGA values, mission, and vision.