PROBLEM CASE: Blue Bear Berhad : Blue Bear Berhad is a relatively new sportswear manufacturing company located in PJ Industrial Park. The manufacturer runs it business on two main product divisions - the seasonal yoga apparels (YGA) and sports utility wear (SUW). The company began operation in late December 2020 and has seen its sales grow concurrently with the increase in demand for fitness and health over its past year in business. Its General Manager, Rafael Federer, aims to maintain a profit proposition in Blue Bear's strategy to increase its competitiveness and market share in a long run. Blue Bear is organised on a traditional hierarchical structure with a top-down management style. The organisation chart below maps out the current model in place at the company: General Manager Financial Controller Sales and Marketing Manager Operations Manager Human Resource Manager Technical Specialist Treasury Department Marketing Department SUW Production Recruitment Programming Department Accounting Department Sales Department YGA Production Compensation and Benefits Rafael Federer is planning to diversify the sports utility wear (SUW) division's product line into athleisure attires by mid-2022. SUW currently produces only sweatpants and sports-tops for its customers. The expansion plan would require Blue Bear to implement several advanced manufacturing processes changes and to upgrade its cost accounting system from the current traditional costing method to activity-based costing. Blue Bear has an existing in-house, stand-alone inventory planning system (BIPS) which tracks all of the existing stocks in its warehouse. In-line with the expansion plan, the company's Technical Specialist, Ing Bee Man, recommends to develop an add-in warehouse management software system (BWMS) to help manage the potentially larger volume of daily warehousing tasks. Such investment would allow the production department and the design department to use the computerised scheduling and drafting systems in a more integrated manner. Rafael notes on the importance of having a complete understanding of the company's current financial and resource standing before rushing the decision to introduce the athleisure attires into the sales mix. The following managers were called for a meeting in mid-January to discuss further on the proposed expansion plan: Responsible for: Operations Manager production managers Tanjiro Kamado SUW Production Manager Production Team Members Mathan Das Partners Design designers Planning production planners Procurement procurement executives Production Line line supervisors Quality Control QC inspectors Warehouse warehouse supervisors Maintenance technicians Accounting Manager costs analysts, financial analysts, bookkeepers Mazni Rusli Sales Manager SUW sales representatives Eugene Oh SUW Production Partner - Design new-product design teams Jackson Wang The managers will need to draw up relevant financial and production information for discussion at the meeting beforehand. The SUW Production Partner - Design has begun drafting the fashion design and requirements for the athleisure line last December. The portfolio is available to the relevant managers on the manufacturer's internal cloud storage system for direct access. Question 1 Why is information important to the managers of Blue Bear Berhad? (6 marks) Question 2 What are the primary information needs for each manager in view of the expansion plan? (5 marks) Question 3 Organisational structures and strategies are dependent elements in aligning the workforce to meet a common goal. (i) Discuss the effect of the top-down organisational structure on Blue Bear Berhad's strategies. (4 marks) (ii) Is the current management style appropriate for the General Manager's expansion plan? (2 marks) Question 4 A key objective of management is to add value to the business under its control. Is the General Manager's focus on a profit proposition enough to achieve its long-term goals? (4 marks) Question 5 Which of the managers or production partners will benefit from the integrated inventory planning system (BIPS) and warehouse management software system (BWMS)? How or why? (4 marks)