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QUESTION
Title:
Big-Mart: Cheap Goods at What Price?
Paper Details
Read and analyze the case study titled “Big-Mart: Cheap Goods at What Price?” on pages 33 through 39 of the Public Policy Praxis textbook. You must address all six of the questions under the Questions to Consider section after the conclusion of the case study. Note that the first question requires you to complete a stakeholder analysis.
Your essay should go beyond the obvious and be written at a graduate level making sure to properly cite sources according to APA style guidelines. Your essay must be a minimum of 1,200 words (excluding the title and reference page), but may not exceed 2,500 words. Any resources including but not limited to journals, magazine, and/or books must be properly cited using the APA style. Make sure to incorporate at least three of the concepts from this week’s readings
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| Subject | Essay Writing | Pages | 12 | Style | APA |
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Answer
Case Study: Big-Mart: Cheap Goods at What Price
This paper identifies and prioritizes stakeholders for the Big-Mart project in the VanWood area. A brief description of the project is provided below:
Introduction
Please be professional. If your introduction begins here, so what is the part above?.
Again, your introduction for the case study should be very brief and succinct. Less than 100 words since, essentially, you are merely to answer the question from the case study. The above green sentence is suitable for your introduction if you would add one sentence of what the case study is about and your paper intends to achieve (your goal is to answer questions based on the Big Mart case study)
The yellow part below is not relevant and just a filler/distraction. Needs deleting.
The project is to be located in a wooded area, in the VanWood Heights. Strict land use laws apply in this area, considering the fact that zoning requirements are adhered top strictly. Notably, Big-Mart is attempting a come-back 10 years after a strategic blunder cost them the support of local community.
A number of controversies exist though, which could potentially derail the project. To start with, there is the apparent disdain for urbane large stores, as most community members prefer to keep their town rural. The local business owners who opposed the project 10 years ago, are at it again, citing threats to their business, as Big-Mart offers comparatively lower prices. Subtle, yet important opposition is also being felt from the local baseball and soccer teams who consider the proposed site as training ground. The local chamber of commerce supports the project, hoping to add Big-Mart into their membership roll. However, local trade union representatives oppose the project on the basis of Big-Mart’s past record on workers’ welfare and poor working conditions. One member of the public, a teacher, voiced support, citing the anticipated reduction in prices of goods at the store. From the varied responses to the Big-Mart proposal, it is apparent that each stakeholder defines the problem in purely parochial terms, offering no real alternatives – Hobson’s choice. The reasons for support of or rejection of Big-Mart proposal exposes a moral conundrum. All of the stakeholders’ positions are informed by selfish interests: desire for cheap goods by the locals, the desire to increase membership by the local chamber of commerce, improvement of wages and working conditions by the Worker’s Union and so on.
Stakeholder analysis remains critical in policy analysis. ?????? Misplaced or???
- Stakeholder Analysis:
Stakeholder analysis is a vital tool for assessing stakeholders to determine the interests to be prioritized.
Write seriously, after this statement, the diagram comes rather surprisingly. Let your paper flow and incorporate any diagrams in your sentences (with statements such as ... as shown in the diagram below… the diagram below is a…. ).
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LOCALS
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SMALL- SCALE FARMERS
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VANWOOD TREASURES |
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COALITION TO SAVE VANWOOD |
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AFL-CIO |
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LOCAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
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BANKS
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MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT
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LOCAL TRANSPORT COMPANIES
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BIG-MART STORES
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VANWOOD TOWN COUNCIL |
Stakeholder diagram for the Big-Mart Store
After identification, the stakeholders are categorised on a table connection to the issue at hand, their interest, capacity to influence the project, resources that could aid or affect the project, standpoint with regard to the project, and impact of the issue on stakeholders (Crane & Ruebottom, 2011). This is useful for ascertaining the extent to which the new project will impact stakeholders, according to Crane & Ruebottom (2011). A leading sentence to the table required. Also add a title for your table
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Stakeholders |
Involvement in issue |
Interest in issue |
Influence/ Power |
Resources |
Position |
Impact of issue |
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Local transport
Which view of power and democracy shaped your stakeholder analysis? For example, what groups did you include or exclude? At this stage of the analysis, these are not stages. Please just answer the question as asked the working group obtains an objective view of stakeholders’ interests, from the perspective of the projects future success (Eskerod, Huemann & Savage, 2015). One possible scenario in the analysis is that some stakeholders’ interests may not be considered. It is prudent on the part of the working group to analyse such groups’ capacity to derail the project. The foregoing prioritization of stakeholder importance and degree of influence effectively lumps similar interest stakeholders together, a necessary for securing the success of the policy. You could begin….My stakeholder analysis was shaped by (then proceed to state, justify/explain which view of power and democracy)… try to be direct to the question asked. Also directly state what groups you included or excluded The small business community, and Coalition to save VanWood Heights Pressure group command a large membership due to high representation, and are thus extremely important to the success of the project. Local town councils remain influential due to political power and capacity to mobilize the community. They score lower on importance as they lack the technical capabilities to significantly affect execution. The VanWood town council has political power and the capacity to mobilize citizens, hence very influential. However, competency is limited, hence Big-Mart may not gain much in terms of expertise. Local transport companies are small in terms of membership, hence less influential, but score highly on importance. Coalition to save VanWood Heights Pressure group enjoys large representation and ability to mobilize, hence highly influential and important. The local authorities, chamber of commerce, and ministry of environment all aim at achieving compliance to policy directives and laws. They are thus important and influential as negative comments from them could deny Big-Mart registration.
What linking mechanisms are utilized by each group? Can you identify backward loops in the process? The adoption of a policy is usually preceded by activities by different interest groups that remind you of political deal making. In may involve all or some actions such as bargaining, compromise, reward, and coercion. Consequently, policy analysis is more of a political undertaking than a strategic decision. In the proposal by Big-Mart, two main interests have sprung up to influence its policy. There are individuals and groups on both sides of the divide. The views of individuals, though important, may not have the same political consequences as those of a group. The unions, and interest groups are referred to as linking mechanisms. Unions have been used to influence policy decisions far more effectively than individuals. Linking mechanisms in this case include the Coalition to save VanWood Heights Pressure group, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the local chamber of commerce, all angling to influence policy one way or the other. While majority of the groups oppose the proposal of Big-Mart, the local chamber of commerce supports its establishment, effectively providing a backward loop to the process.
What strategies (political means) will likely be utilized by the key players? Different groupings have adopted various strategies to influence the Big-mart policy. The Coalition to save VanWood Heights Pressure group, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is attempting to coerce Big-Mart into improving worker’s welfare by opposing the proposal. The Coalition to save VanWood Heights Pressure group is attempting to push the political leadership to oppose the project or face rejection at the polls. The local chamber of commerce are fronting their contribution to tax revenue as a counterweight to the opposing groups.
Can you create a win–win policy that would recognize the interests of all of those involved? So far we have identified the stakeholders, their interests, importance and influence on the project. Some stakeholders, such as the local transport companies, registered low scores on the both influence and importance scales. Whereas it may make economic sense to ignore them, prudence may call for their consideration in order to make the policy as water-tight as possible (Freeman, Harrison, Wicks, Parmar & De Colle, 2010). Among all stakeholders, it is imperative that assumptions and risks be established by reviewing impact studies that principally verifies unfavourable project impact on available resources. Freeman, Harrison, Wicks, Parmar & De Colle (2010) affirms the degree of information required by stakeholders to Big-Mart project, and the participation plan must be put in place,
What sort of policy process, if any, is needed next? What is your role, as a policy analyst, in that process?
As a final step in policy analysis, the working group should develop modalities for stakeholder participation (Thompson, 2012). Based on a careful consideration of technical abilities, influence, and importance, Thompson (2010) concurs that the working group must leverage on stakeholder strengths to underpin the success of the policy. What is your role, as a policy analyst, in that process? Conclusion From the foregoing considerations, Stakeholder analysis is gaining traction as a tool of engagement, as far as preparation of policy document is concerned. This document facilitates speedy identification of key stakeholders. Further, stakeholders who are likely to impact or threaten the project implementation process are grouped together, and their concerns are addressed. On the flipside, the interests of people in the informal sector, such as the young unemployed youth, and housewives may not be included.
companies |
Provides transport for construction materials, supplies, and workers |
Medium interest as they aim to bolster their businesses from the project |
Low Power as there are many transport companies to choose from. The companies also lack capacity to influence policy |
Organized transport agencies , staff, structures, and means of transport in place |
Low influence on policy outcome but high on determination of the cost of the project |
High because transport costs affect the cost of materials for the project |
References
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Crane, A., & Ruebottom, T. (2011). Stakeholder theory and social identity: Rethinking stakeholder identification. Journal of business ethics, 102(1), 77-87.
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