Read the Case Study "Blake Electronics" at the end of chapter 3. Let's let the quantitative analysis stay at home for this exercise and use your qualitative skills instead. After reading the case study text, give me your best analysis of the decision making process at Blake Electronics. I don't need a "great work" or "terrible" reply from you. Don't rewrite what is in the case, and please do not quote from it. What I would like you to do is to think about the company and tell me your assessment of how they make decisions. Stock or pat answers will get you nowhere. I suggest that you first type your response in a Word document so that you can spell and grammar check it. Also, please don't copy someone else's thoughts on this subject. You are submitting this through a SimCheck check, and it will catch and plagiarism. Give me about 250 words (about half a page of text) about how you perceive the inner decision workings of Blake Electronics. No outside articles or journals or collaborations. Just plain old basic observation.

Case Study Blake Electronics In 1979, Steve Blake founded Blake Electronics in Long Beach, exceeded 200. Many of these employees were electronic spe- California, to manufacture resistors, capacitors, inductors, and cialists and graduates of electrical engineering programs from other electronic components. During the Vietnam War, Steve top colleges and universities. But Jim's tendency to stretch was a radio operator, and it was during this time that he became Blake Electronics to take on additional contracts continued as proficient at repairing radios and other communications equip- well, and by 2007, Blake Electronics had a reputation with gov- ment. Steve viewed his 4-year experience with the army with ernment agencies as a company that could not deliver what it mixed feelings. He hated army life, but this experience gave promised. Almost overnight, government contracts stopped, and him the confidence and the initiative to start his own electron- Blake Electronics was left with an idle workforce and unused ics firm. manufacturing equipment. This high overhead started to melt Over the years, Steve kept the business relatively un- away profits, and in 2009, Blake Electronics was faced with the changed. By 1992, total annual sales were in excess of $2 possibility of sustaining a loss for the first time in its history. million. In 1996, Steve's son, Jim, joined the company after In 2010, Steve decided to look at the possibility of manu- finishing high school and 2 years of courses in electronics at facturing electronic components for home use. Although this Long Beach Community College. Jim was always aggressive in was a totally new market for Blake Electronics, Steve was con- high school athletics, and he became even more aggressive as vinced that this was the only way to keep Blake Electronics general sales manager of Blake Electronics. This aggressiveness from dipping into the red. The research team at Blake Electron- bothered Steve, who was more conservative. Jim would make ics was given the task of developing new electronic devices for deals to supply companies with electronic components before home use. The first idea from the research team was the Mas- he bothered to find out if Blake Electronics had the ability or ter Control Center. The basic components for this system are capacity to produce the components. On several occasions, this shown in Figure 3.15. behavior caused the company some embarrassing moments The heart of the system is the master control box. This unit, when Blake Electronics was unable to produce the electronic which would have a retail price of $250, has two rows of five components for companies with which Jim had made deals. buttons. Each button controls one light or appliance and can be In 2000, Jim started to go after government contracts for set as either a switch or a rheostat. When set as a switch, a light electronic components. By 2002, total annual sales had in- finger touch on the button turns a light or appliance on or off. creased to more than $10 million, and the number of employees When set as a rheostat, a finger touching the button controls the