Mba - 590 Friar Tucker Benchmarking

Running head: FRIAR TUCKER BENCHMARKING

Friar Tucker Benchmarking

University of Phoenix

Strategic Implementation and Alignment

MBA-590

John Pucciano

February 20, 2008

Friar Tucker Benchmarking

To survive in this highly competitive business market, companies have to be alert, constantly on watch and come up with new plans. Development of a project implementation plan is crucial to the success of any business venture and Friar Tucker International (FTI) is no exception. Companies not only have to be selective in the projects they acquire but they have to ensure the projects are in line with the strategic plans of the company. Since no strategy is perfect and without risk, companies need to be aware of this. The ability to manage risks allows companies to remain competitive, retain and acquire new customers. Outlining the requirements prior to starting a project can eliminate confusion. Ensuring that time, resources, and issues are all taken into account, planned for, and addressed is a significant part of making sure that the project will meet the measurement of success. In order to obtain goals and objectives FTI will need to examine the selection and implementation of these projects if they are to remain a competitive, expanding company. This paper brings to light a study of 10 companies and their strategic implementation and alignment of their core competencies. The document covers an overview of Friar Tucker International (FTI), problem definition, 10 benchmarked companies, problems and approach to find a solution, and synopses of the analysis and learning’s from those companies.

Overview

Friar Tucker International (FTI) is a growing company in the hospitality business whose core business revolves around fine cuisine and entertainment. Over the years Friar Tucker has entered into agreements to manage several fine food restaurants, sports bars, hotel chains and other family and corporate entertainment establishments. As the business has increased the number of projects that have come to the doors of Friar Tucker has increased significantly. Therefore, the company needed to have a strategy in order to decide which projects the company should accept and which one’s the company should let go. In order to achieve that the Chief Executive Officer of Friar Tucker, Ricardo Bellini formed a Project Selection Committee consisting of several upper management members and a consultant. These members were assigned to research all the potential projects and align them with overall strategy and experience of Friar Tucker. As seen from the result of the simulation, this exercise was of tremendous help to Friar Tucker in selecting the right project. Next, the problem definition for FTI was defined.

Problem Definition

Friar Tucker International needs to incorporate successfully the implementation of the Galleria and projects with stakeholders’ support to increase the company’s shareholder value.

Analysis

The learning team benchmarked 10 companies, its study is presented in the following section and this section presents an analysis of those findings. “A project is defined as a non routine, one-time effort limited by time, resources, and performance specifications designed to meet customer needs” (Gray & Larson, 2006, p. 15). Friar Tucker senior executives have the responsibility of taking their business strategy and implementing a plan to make their company profitable. Like Fluor corp. Friar Tucker executives can use project portfolio management to realize their potential. According to the simulation FTI has implemented a Project Selection Committee that will identify the type of projects the company should accept, this committee ensured that once they have completed their work FTI projects will be aligned with the company’s overall strategies and goals. Both Fluor and FTI companies developed strategies to achieve their goals; they both analyzed the external environment to identify opportunities and risks, and; they both used a project management approach where they focused on the mission and goals of their organization, in so doing, they were able to use their resources better.

G.E had a bold strategic move to expand horizontally and vertically in the value chain. GE was successful in implementing their strategic moves of going global by having joint ventures in the foreign countries. GE not only understood the markets but also expanded in newer markets. GE executives constantly reminded themselves that each company needs to be number one or number two in the value chain as they expanded. Like GE, Friar Tucker could also collaborate and join hands with few local companies so they understand newer markets. Keep the bigger picture in mind and aim for being the number one or the number two in the hospitality industry. Once they have understood the business and the markets they could reduce their risks.

Nissan merged with Renault, a French automobile company, to survive the global competition and get back to its diminishing market share. Even though Carlos has previous knowledge of auto industry, he was brought from another company and he still managed to turn around Nissan fortunes with clear vision, strategy and commitment. Similarly, FTI should also join hands with other companies to take advantage of their existing resources. FTI already comprises of 35 entertainment and cuisine establishments. Its core business is the hospitality industry. Deciding which project to develop means taking into consideration the current company structure, whether or not the project will fall in line with the company’s mission statement, how much the investment and return going to be, will the project improve its customer base and the fact that the company will have to depend on outside manufacturers to ensure that the project stays on track.

A comparative perspective to Friar Tuck International’s projects could be in shared risks in partnering with another organization. FTI can learn from Sprint Nextel experiences of finding a partnership with another organization. Working with a similarly compatible partner can be providential for attracting investors as well. Partnerships also provided Sprint Nextel with a collaborative style and a low cost and timely result which is what FTI requires for the completion of their desired projects. Like Sprint Nextel, FTI needs to create