You have learned what managers do and how ideas about management have evolved over time. You've also considered the fundamentals of planning, strategic management and decision-making. It is now time to apply your insights. You have been asked to lead a special project for the senior management of regional airline NORTHEASTERN.

Here's the scenario:

When Frank Molino, COO of NORTHEASTERN, receivedMcKinsey's latest insights into the aerospace industry

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, he was delighted to read that "passenger travel demand ... is developing more significantly within regions" (p. 5). NORTHEASTERN is a regional airline and therefore likely to benefit from the predicted increase in demand. After 20 successful years, the company is currently celebrating its anniversary and a great return to business after the difficult years during COVID. The COO shared the good new with Maria McDonald, the CEO.

But while Molino was highlighting the good news in the report, McDonald was more concerned about the uncertainties the report mentions.

The CEO thinks that now is the right time to revisit the vision, mission and values of the company to plan for the next five years. This will then allow the company to develop strategic plans that can address the uncertainties in travel demand that the report is highlighting. She knows that not everyone is convinced that the company needs to spend time evaluating where it is going. Some members of management think that everything seems to be just fine.

McDonald decides that a small project group dedicated to this effort can boost engagement from everyone. You have been asked to lead the effort. Take some of the concepts that are explained in the textbook regarding strategic planning and that we have discussed in class and apply them to the situation at hand. Using the frameworks and theories, clarify what senior management should focus on.

Use the following questions to guide your analysis and report:

Introduction

1. What is senior management's job when it comes to the future of the company? Who should be on the project team?
2. What challenges is the company facing?

Main body of the paper

1. What framework should the company use to develop its strategic plan for the next five years?
2. What tools can help with the analysis of the current situation? What insights can be gained?
3. Can a systems view help address some of the challenges? If so, how?
4. How can the insights gained through analysis help with developing the strategic plan for the next five years?
5. As senior management meets to discuss options, how should they go about deciding what to do? Is there anything they should be worried about in their decision-making process? If so, how can they mitigate the risks?

Conclusion and outlook

1. Once the plan has been developed, what are the next steps?
2. How can the senior management team ensure that the plan is implemented successfully?

Make assumptions where you think they are needed, and be explicit about them in your text. Use our textbook to ground your report. Use additional sources where you want to go into detail. Remember, you arenotsolving the company's issues. (You are not an expert in the airline industry.) Instead, you are setting them up for success by helping them think through the planning process. Your report explains what needs to happen, why and how. Type your report professionally, using professional language. Use in-text citations to refer to the textbook and other sources, and include a list of references at the end.

Rubric

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

INTRODUCTION

Introduction of industry, topic, challenges

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

EXPLANATION

of applicable frameworks and theories regarding planning and decision-making

ANALYSIS and APPLICATION

of frameworks and theories regarding planning and decision-making

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

RECOMMENDATIONS

for next steps

PROFESSIONAL STYLE

including language, citations, references, originality, organization of the paper