Stanley and Eric Clayton are on the verge of making a major decision about opening their dream bakery, Skeena Cupcakes. They're a couple that finished up their post- secondary degrees in business and culinary arts, respectively. They both have outside job offers but, after submitting a proposal for a small-business government grant, are considering taking the plunge into entrepreneurship. Eric has fond memories of baking with his mother. Ever since he was young, Eric and his mom would bake what felt like some new experiment every-day. Sure enough, Eric's skills and experiments developed into a great foundation for baking. He specialized in cakes of all sorts of shapes, sizes, designs, flavour profiles, and even novelty cakes (one shaped like a Rubik's cube with different flavours in each cube was a special challenge that he relished). All his friends and family would get him to bake wedding cakes for their special occasions. Eric just asked for the cost in materials because he loved doing it as a hobby, but of course he excelled at the job. Later on, he expanded into cupcakes with unique designs. He took a scientific approach with taste, and an artistic view on design. Eric's mom always joked to him that the best way to find a partner is to be able to bake and cook. He laughs now because, sure enough, he met Stanley during the first year of College when he tried some of the cupcakes that he created for a College Residence event. Three years later, and in their final year of school, they got married. Now, they're considering forming a team for opening a bakery. Stanley would handle the administrative tasks, hiring customer service clerks, and maintenance of the business. Eric would be responsible for the products, their quality, and the people that were to bake them. The bakery would be called Skeena Cupcakes and would be located in Prince George, British Columbia. Despite the bakery's name, it would sell an assortment of goods. Wedding cakes were a specialty item that required a lot of skill to prepare, but also had high per-unit profit. Cupcakes with specialty designs were alternatives that people had recently been taking up at weddings, and so would also be offered. Custom cupcakes are also excellent for other events, including workplace celebrations, birthdays, graduations, and anything else worth celebrating. Aside from that, there would be strudels, croissants, and a couple other goods baked fresh daily alongside coffee for those so inclined. There are other businesses in town that competed in the same categories, but none in the cross-section of baked goods that the couple wants. For example, there are specialty cake designers, and there are bakery / coffee shop combinations, but there aren't any combined categories. This would give Skeena Cupcakes one crucial advantage: They can build a reputation for fine quality on the regular baked goods, and follow-up with high-margin sales on weddings, birthdays, and other special events. At least, this is how it will work in theory. Should they decide to open the business, the next question is how they will hire and train their employees. It's obvious to Eric that the competitive advantage is built by creating the highest quality products that get people hooked, then following up with high-margin specialty orders. That means there will need to be some highly skilled (or highly trainable) people coming in the door. Further, the customer service clerks that Stanley hires need to be friendly. No one wants to make a big order for their special day if they think the service will be bad. Both of them are wondering a number of questione Wh day if they think the service will be bad. Both of them are wondering a number of questions: Who do they hire, how do they hire, and how do they know their employees are doing a good job? Eric would be involved in leading a lot of their specialty orders, but he would also want to make sure he has trained staff that could substitute in for him. The Claytons plan on adopting children in a few years' time after the business is settled in, and would need to plan for partially absentee owners at some point in the future. This puts even more pressure on making sure they get their hires right the first time. All of this is informed by the vision and mission statement, which in turn will inform their performance objectives. These objectives are an articulation of what the company is about, and this added layer of thought will help them secure further financing from the bank. Both Stanley and Eric have a seat at their table. They're planning on having a family which will be significantly easier if they simply take the job offers on the table. Both their job offers are each for $50,000 in their respective fields. It's a lot of safe money to give up, but they don't want to spend the rest of their lives wondering what could have been. That said, they need to make sure they've done their homework before to give up, but they don't want to spend the rest of their lives wondering what could have been. That said, they need to make sure they've done their homework before making any life-changing decisions. Questions 1. Conduct a SWOT analysis for the bakery. Give two points for each strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat. (8 marks) 2. Conduct an analysis of Porter's 5 Forces for the pastry industry. (5 marks) 3. Create a vision and a mission for Skeena Cupcakes. (2 marks) 4. Create one related strategic objective for the company. A strategic objective is a performance related goal which follows from a vision and mission. (1 mark) 5. Reframe the strategic objective using the SMART framework for goal setting. How does your objective meet this goal framework? (To do this ask yourself: What is your goal? How do you measure it? Why is it achievable? How is it relevant to your mission and vision? Is it timely?) (5 marks) 6. What process should the Claytons use to hire front-line and kitchen employees, and why? Note: Assume they've already found possible candidates 7. What training methods do you think will be most effective to use at Skeena Cupcakes for front-line employees, and why? (3 marks) 8. How should front-line and kitchen employees have their performance assessed, and why? 9. After having done this analysis in questions 1 and 2, do you think it's a good idea for Stanley and Eric to open Skeena Cupcakes? Why or why not? Justify your answer. Note: Each answer should be short and specific!! You should be able to complete this entire case in 1-1.5 pages. I will not be giving marks for answers that do not answer