Each of the rest of the chapters in this text includes a “cookie company” case that shows how you could operate your own cookie business. In this chapter, you will express your company’s mission statement; set strategic, tactical, and operating objectives; decide on a name for your business; and identify management tools you might consider thing to run your business.

1. In researching how to start and run a cookie business, you found the following three examples of cookie company mission statements:

• To provide cheap cookies that taste great and fast courteous service!

• Our mission is to make the best chocolate chip cookies that you have ever tasted.

• Hand making the best in custom cookie creations.

a. Consider which of the mission statements most closely expresses what you want your company’s identity and unique character to be. Why?

b. Will your business focus on cost, quality, or satisfying a specific need?

c. Write your company’s mission statement.

2. Based on your mission statement, describe your broad long-term strategic objectives:

• What will be your main products?

• Who will be your primary customers?

• Where will you operate our business?

3. You made the following decisions about your business:

• To list expected expenses and revenues for the first six months of operations

• To keep expenses low and generate enough revenues during the first two months operations to have a positive cash flow by the third month

• To develop a complete list of goals, objectives, procedures, and polices relating to how to find, buy, store, sell, and ship goods and collect payment

• To rely solely on the Internet to market products

• To expand the ecommerce website to include 20 varieties of cookies over the next five years

Match each of the above to the following components of the planning framework: strategic objectives, tactical objectives, operating objectives, business plan, and budget.

4. What will be the name of your cookie company?

5. Which of the management tools listed in the chapter might you consider using to operate your business? Why?