Directions

Initial Posting

The St. Sixtus monastery last expanded its production capacity in 1946; however, due to an increase in the cost of maintaining their modest lifestyle and expanding demand for specialty brews, they are now considering four (4) business options: maintain the status quo, same product and same production capacity; expand existing production capacity and maintain the existing product; create custom micro-brews, but maintain the same product capacity, and create custom micro-brews, and expand existing production capacity. The monks are aware that there is a growing demand for specialty beers, but dont know if this the correct direction they should take their enterprise. Realizing that they need outside assistance to examine their opportunities, they have hired the student, who is functioning as an external consultant. The student (consultant) will be expected to prepare a formal recommendation as to which business options makes the most sense for St. Sixtus monastery. In preparing this recommendation for the client, the students will need to consider the current and future demand, production cost implications, the costing approach, sales revenue, and any other relevant information given the different business scenarios (options). Ensure that your recommendation is well supported, properly vetted, and logically presented. It is important that management carefully consider any potential ethical implications associated with their stated position. If there are any potential ethical concerns associated with your position, they should be identified and discussed.

If you prepare your initial response as a Word document, please cut and paste it into your response, so that the class doesn't have to take the extra time needed to download it and then open it to read it.There is no minimum or maximum in terms of the word count; however, the response should explicitly address all required components of this discussion assignment. The document should be prepared consistent with the APA writing style (6th edition) and reflect higher level cognitive processing (analysis, synthesis, and or evaluation).

Peer Response

a) Point out what you perceived to be the strengths of the initial posting along with supporting rationale. b) Identify specific opportunities for improvement with regard to the content in the initial posting. Furthermore, you should provide

supporting rationale for your stated position, as well as concrete suggestions and guidance intended to strengthen the effectiveness of the content.