One potential class client on my list of contacts is someone who bought a building in the vicinity of downtown Texarkana.  The building owner already has some general ideas for using the building and is in the early stages of building renovation.  We have talked a few times about using my classes to conduct a rough break-even analysis for these business ideas, but we haven't had a chance to work out some of the details for this semester's class.  What I am asking you to do for this exam, then, is to write a report that would act as a guideline for questions that we need to ask and information that we need to gather in order to conduct a situation analysis for this building and the uses that the owner is proposing.

The building is not on Broad Street, but is within close walking distance of and visible from what we expect to eventually be a high entertainment area of downtown.  Unlike Broad Street buildings, there is plenty of parking in the vicinity of this building.  It has about 12,500 square feet on each of two floors and a basement that covers about half of the building.  The second floor was originally used as a warehouse, so the building was built with an abundance of large second story windows to provide a lot of natural light and ventilation. 

The owner currently plans to put nine loft apartments on the second floor, some being one bedroom and some being two bedroom units.  These would not be built to target families, but would be targeted to singles, couples, or a pair of room mates.  (In current times, warehouse uses on anything but a ground floor are generally not worthy of consideration.) 

Current rough plans for the first floor include a restaurant and brewery.  The owner also wants a small coffee shop to be visible as patrons walk in the door.  There is also some thought to using the basement, with its cool, constant temperature and beautiful brick walls, as a winery.

Those of us who are enthusiastic about downtown revitalization very much like this vision for the building, and that gives the owner some confidence that this product portfolio is a good idea.  As you have hopefully learned from this course, however, that is a false kind of confidence; reliance on mere emotion and hopeful thinking carries a high risk of failure.  The owner has actually done some assessment of this product portfolio and is indeed relying on more than the moral support of friends and acquaintances.  Nonetheless, interest has been expressed in using our business school classes to conduct formal, systematic analyses that would be helpful in confirming (or not) the viability of the owner's portfolio strategy.

Write a report that includes a list of the ten (10) most important questions that I should ask whenever I meet again with the building owner.  Justify each question: provide a rationale for each question as to why this is an important question.  Justify the entire set of questions by explaining why your list is a complete set for meeting my objectives of conducting a situation analysis that results in the recommendation of a general strategy.

You do not have a page limit, but longer isn't necessarily better; a longer report is often more confusing.  Note that issues of spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, and such are important considerations at the MBA level. 

Include a cover page as the LAST page of your submission.  This cover page must list your name and section (afternoon or evening).  Do not put your name anywhere else on the report - this is to assist me in "blind" assessment of student submissions.

This is not a research project; you are being asked to advise on information collection, not to collect any information.  You should be able to write this report in the normal amount of time that is allotted to a single class period using only our class discussions and materials that have been used in this course (including readings assigned on the syllabus).  Importantly, you are expected to base your report on issues that have been discussed in class; "shooting from the hip" is likely to result in a failing grade.  You are writing this report as a professional proposal to me; quoting or citing a textbook, a website, or me is inappropriate.

The exam is due by 10:00 AM, Thursday, 20 JUL 06.  You may e-mail your report as a word-processed attachment, submit it personally, or leave it with the staff support people in the business school office.  Note that the doors to enter the building are often locked prior to closing.  If you give it to me personally or leave it with the staff support people, be sure to ask for a receipt as proof that you submitted your exam.  If you e-mail, you will get a reply saying that the attachment has been received and successfully opened; re-send or call if you do not get a reply within about 24 hours.  Send to:

robert(dot)owen(at)tamut(dot)edu

phone: 903-223-3010