Write a paper about ?Planning Reports and Proposals?

Let's consider the "Yardstick Approach" -. Before you decided to acquire the new business, you prepared an (imaginary) analytical report comparing two potential acquisitions. Answer the following questions in one or two sentences about how you might have prepared for this report. Keep it simple, be creative.

• Why were you looking to acquire another business?
• What industry or economic trends did you consider?
• What 2 companies were you evaluating as possible acquisitions?

What criteria did you use to evaluate (and compare) your potential acquisitions?

The yardstick approach is useful when you need to use a number of criteria to decide which option to select from two or more possibilities. With this approach, you begin by discussing the problem or opportunity, and then you list the criteria that will guide the decision. The body of the report then evaluates the alternatives against those criteria. Figure 11.13 is an outline of a feasibility report that uses the yardstick approach, listing five criteria to evaluate two alternative courses of action.

Figure 11.13 Outline of an Analytical Report Using the Yardstick Approach

This report was drafted by a market analyst for a company that makes irrigation equipment for farms and ranches. The company has been so successful in the agricultural market that it is starting to run out of potential customers. To keep growing, it needs to find another market. Two obvious choices to consider were commercial buildings and residences, but management needed to evaluate both carefully before making a decision.

The yardstick approach has two potential drawbacks. First, your audience needs to agree with the criteria you?re using in your analysis. If they don?t, they won?t agree with the results of the evaluation. If you have any doubt about their agreement, build consensus before you start your report, if possible, or take extra care to explain why the criteria you?re using are the best ones in this particular case. Second, the yardstick approach can get a little boring when you have many options to consider or many criteria to compare them against. One way to minimize the repetition is to compare the options in tables and then highlight the most unusual or important aspects of each alternative in the text so that you get the best of both worlds. This approach allows you to compare all the alternatives against the same yardstick while calling attention to the most significant differences among them.

These five critori (standards or rules) that will be used in the evaluation make up the "yardstick in the yardstick approach She will evaluat the two abernatives by judging them according to the five critoria Main Idea We should move into the commercial irrigation equip ment market but not into the residential market. 1. Introduction II. Criteria for entering new markets A Sze and growth B. Profit potential C. Ability to compete D Distribution costs and opportunities E. Fit with current capabilities III. Irrigation equipment trends A. Water shortages leading to demand for more efficient B. Labor costs encouraging automation C. More homeowners attempting do-it-yourself projects IV. Comparison of new market opportunities A Commercial landscapers and building owners 1. Size and growth 2. Profit potential 3. Ability to compete 4. Distribution costs and opportunities 5. Fit with current capabilities B. Residential landscapers and homeowners 1. Size and growth 2. Profit potential 3. Ability to compete 4. Distribution costs and opportunities 5. At with current capabilities V. Recommendations A Enter the commercial segment 1. Select a test market 2. Learn from the test and refine our approach 3. Roll out product marketing nationwide B. Do not attempt to enter the residential market at this point Here she will give readers important background information about current trends in the marketplace. She will recommend in favor of one alternative and against the other, based on how each fared in the "yardstok" measurement.