Introduction



Business Planning and Operations

Work Experience Activities

Work Experience Activities

Complete and submit the following Work Experience Activities for your Work Experience Kit.

Remember, all activities must be completed using this electronic file, then printed out in black and white and submitted. This is a "Read-Only" file and must be saved as a separate document before you begin. See the 'Read Me' file for "Save As" instructions.

Refer to the following guidelines when completing all activities.

• Use complete sentences to answer all activity questions

• Eliminate all spelling, grammatical and typographical errors

• Include all appropriate back up materials to substantiate your work

• Make sure all activities are computer generated or in type written form

• Make sure all required activities are included in your Work Experience Kit

• Make sure your Inventory Checklist and Sign Off Sheet are included in your Kit

Activity 2.1: Write/Revise a Mission Statement

This activity requires you to write or revise a mission statement for your own facility and to bring it to the seminar on an overhead transparency. Follow the directions below and use the worksheet on the next page to complete the assignment. Note that only the mission statement itself needs to be on the transparency.

Directions: Create a mission statement. Use the following points as a guideline.

1. Fill in the background information on the worksheet.

2. If your facility already has a mission statement, write it on the worksheet.

3. Check to see if the mission statement addresses the four key elements of a good mission statement described in this lesson: facility image, quality of customer service, profitability, and employee needs.

4. If any of these elements are missing, revise the mission statement to include them. Bring both the original mission statement and your revision to the seminar on an overhead.

5. If your facility does not currently have a mission statement, write one from scratch according to the guidelines in this lesson, and based on what you know about your facility type and customers.

6. Type the existing (if you have one) and final mission statements, copy them onto a transparency, and bring them to the Business Planning and Operations Seminar.

Worksheet for Activity 2.1

Background Information

|Name of Facility: | |

|Facility Type: | |

|Number of Holes and Average Rounds: | |

|Location: | |

|Customer/Member Profile: | |

Existing Facility Mission Statement

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Revised Facility Mission Statement

(or one you create from scratch)

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Activity 4.1: Conduct a SWOT Analysis

Directions: Fill the worksheets using the following as a guideline.

Part 1: Pinelake Case Study

1. Reread Section 2. Look at each area of the Pinelake golf operation as described in Section 2 of this manual. Identify the strengths and weaknesses you see within the facility and the opportunities and threats from outside.

2. Use the worksheet on the next page to record your comments. When doing your analysis, you might think about staffing, job responsibilities, total number of rounds, breakdown of rounds, revenues in each area, the facility’s market, customers, and competition, the operational procedures, or any other topic covered in the lessons contained in this manual. Also look at Figures 4 and 5 in Section 2, which contain a breakdown of rounds and past performance data for Pinelake.

Note that Pinelake appears to have many more weaknesses than strengths. This should be reflected in your SWOT analysis.

3. Record as many strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as you can identify.

4. Asterisk priorities. When you have completed your list of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, put an asterisk by the items you consider the most important—issues you would be likely to focus on when improving Pinelake’s performance.

|SWOT Analysis for Pinelake | |

|Strengths |

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|Weaknesses |

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|SWOT Analysis for Pinelake | |

|Opportunities |

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|Threats |

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Directions: Fill out the worksheet using the following as a guideline. As a companion piece to this activity, look at the strengths and weaknesses of your own facility.

Part 2: Comparison with Your Own Facility

1. Record what you consider your own facility’s four biggest strengths

2. Identify two areas where further improvements could be made to strengthen your facility’s position in the market or improve revenues, profits, or customer service

3. In looking at weaknesses, describe one weakness that was previously identified. What did the facility do to improve the situation? Did it work?

|Your Own Facility's Strengths and Weaknesses | |

|Biggest Strengths |

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|Potential Weaknesses or Threats |

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|One Past Weakness/Threat and its Remedy |

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|Past Weaknesses/Threats |

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|Remedy/Results |

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Activity 6.1: Identify Business Objectives and Strategies for Pinelake

Directions: Fill out the worksheets using the following as a guideline.

Part 1: Pinelake Case Study

In this activity, you will identify at least three potential business objectives for Pinelake (things you would like to achieve as head professional), and some strategies for accomplishing them (how you would do it). Put your results on a transparency and bring them to the seminar.

Objectives

The objectives you decide on might relate to financial goals, customers service, increased rounds, staff development, technology acquisition, course design improvement, or any other issue you think might improve success of the course. Make sure each objective is:

• Specific, in terms of what you intend to accomplish by a certain date

• Measurable, with specific numbers, percentages, dollar figures, or service goals attached

• Realistic and achievable based on your SWOT analysis and your assessment of the potential market

Strategies

Strategies to achieve your objectives might include higher prices, more targeted promotion, expansion of the golf shop, additional staff or additional staff training, community outreach, etc.

Part 2: Comparison with Your Own Facility

As you have in other activities, look at your own facility to explore a real-life situation you can compare with Pinelake.

|Pinelake Business Objectives and Strategies | |

|Objective 1: | |

|Strategy for accomplishing this: |

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|Objective 2: | |

|Strategy for accomplishing this: |

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|Objective 3: | |

|Strategy for accomplishing this: |

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|Your Own Facility's Objectives and Strategies | |

|Objective 1: | |

|Strategy for accomplishing this: |

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|Objective 2: | |

|Strategy for accomplishing this: |

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|Objective 3: | |

|Strategy for accomplishing this: |

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Activity 7.1: Analyze Past Data at Pinelake—Forecast Rounds and Revenues

Directions: In preparation for planning a new financial forecast for Pinelake, look at data from the past 5 years and analyze the trends in rounds and revenues using linear trend analysis. Use the formulas and examples provided in this lesson to arrive at your answers. Write your answers onto the worksheet provided on the next page. As you can see, some of the computations have already been filled in.

Calculate

1. Calculate the percent change for the last 3 years, 1997 through 1999, and fill in the blank boxes opposite the words “% change from year to year” for:

a) Total rounds

b) Tournament rounds

c) Merchandise revenues

d) Cost of goods sold

e) Gross margin

f) Greens fees

As a reminder, the formula for calculating linear trend is:

Later Year – Previous Year = % Change

Previous Year

2. Calculate the average trend for the 5-year period for each of these line items. (You do this by adding together the percentage change for each year and dividing by 4.) Put these numbers in the boxes marked “Avg %.”

3. Calculate a forecast for the Year 2000 based on the average percentage change over the five years. (You do this by multiplying the average percent change by the previous year’s rounds or revenues and adding that result onto the previous year’s numbers.) Write these numbers into the forecast column.

Worksheet for Activity 7.1

|Format Category |1995 |1996 |1997 |1998 |1999 |Forecast 2000 |

|Total rounds of golf | 23,020 | 24,221 | 25,734 | 26,763 |26,250 | |

|% change from year to year | | 5% | | 4% | | Avg % |

|Tournament rounds | 4,120 | 3,050 | 1,598 | 1,200 | 950 | |

|% change from year to year | | -26% | | -25% | | Avg % |

|Merchandise revenues | $84,010 | $86,530 | $90,857 | $94,491 | $96,380 | $ |

|% change from year to year | | 3% | | | | Avg % |

|Cost of goods sold | $63,848 | $67,493 | $76,320 | $82,207 | $81,923 | $ |

|% change from year to year | | 6% | | | | Avg % |

|Gross margin | $20,162 | $19,037 | $14,537 | $12,284 | $14,457 | $ |

|% change from year to year | | -6% | | | | Avg % |

|Greens fees | $621,540 | $660,020 | $707,595 | $737,585 | $722,610 | $ |

|% change from year to year | | 6% | |4% | | Avg % |

Activity 7.2: Assess Effects of Inside and Outside Factors on the Pinelake Forecast

As stated in the text, forecasts based on past trends assume that things will continue much the same as they have in the past. Conditions seldom remain the same, or management may not want them to remain the same. In the case of Pinelake, the new head professional is expected to improve performance.

In this activity, you must describe how certain inside and outside factors would lead you, as the new head professional, to revise the trend-forecasted numbers for the Year 2000 (the forecast you just created in Activity 7a).

On the next page, indicate how you would revise several key line items in the trend-forecasted numbers, and describe the factors or observations on which you based your revised numbers.

One example from Pinelake on the number of rounds:

Trend-forecasted number: 27,037 (up 3% over 1999)

My revised forecast: 28,350 (up 8% over 1999)

Factors/observations on which my forecast is based:

Our main competitor in the area does 45,000 rounds a year, and the industry average for daily fee facilities in our region is 52,500 rounds. In the last few years, Pinelake hasn’t done much marketing or public relations. With more effort in that area, I think rounds could go up more than the historical trend at Pinelake.

Worksheet for Activity 7.2

Directions: Revise the following keyline items and write your observations.

1. Rounds

Trend-forecasted number: 27,037 (up 3% over 1999)

My revised forecast: (up _% over 1999)

Factors/observations on which my forecast is based:

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2. Tournament Rounds

Trend-forecasted number: 665 (down 30% over 1999)

My revised forecast: (up/down _% over 1999)

Factors/observations on which my forecast is based:

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3. Merchandise Revenues

Trend-forecasted number: $99,753 (up 3.5% over 1999)

My revised forecast: (up _% over 1999)

Factors/observations on which my forecast is based:

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4. Cost of Goods Sold

Trend-forecasted number: $87,658 (up 7% over 1999)

My revised forecast: (up/down _% over 1999)

Factors/observations on which my forecast is based:

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5. Greens Fee Revenues

Trend-forecasted number: $755,127 (up 4.5% over 1999)

My revised forecast: (up _% over 1999)

Factors/observations on which my forecast is based:

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Activity 8.1: Become More Familiar with the Budget Process

You may already be involved in the budgeting process at your facility. If so, you will already be familiar with what formats are used, what line items are included, the monitoring and reporting intervals, and what particular performance measurements are tracked.

If this is not the case, meet with your supervising professional and see if you can gain some familiarity with the budget formats used, even if the facility is not willing to share the actual numbers with you. Ask them to help you provide answers to the questions below.

Answer

1. How many revenue and expense items are tracked in the budget? Obtain a blank copy of the budget categories (similar to the examples shown in Lesson 8 of this manual) and attach it to this activity.

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2. Who is involved in formulating the budget projections?

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List

3. What are two key performance ratios or indicators that the facility tracks?

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Answer

4. How often is the budget reviewed? By whom?

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5. Are any numbers tracked more frequently than monthly? Which ones? How often are they tracked?

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6. Is there a cash flow budget as well as an operating budget?

| |Yes | | No |

7. Is there a capital budget?

| |Yes | | No |

8. If possible, ask to see a copy (past or current) of an operating budget, cash flow budget, and capital budget.

Activity 11.1: Document Your Facility’s Organizational Setup

Directions: Attach to this page a copy of the organization chart for your golf facility. It should include all levels of staff, including line employees, supervisors, department managers, general manager (if there is one), and owners or board of directors.

If your organization chart does not go below the manager level, create a new chart and add these positions to the chart. Make sure that reporting relationships are clear. If not evident on the chart, indicate who is responsible for different golf functions, including tournaments, golf cars, teaching, and merchandise sales.

Write

At the top of your organization chart, write in:

• The type of facility (private, daily fee, resort, municipal, etc.)

• The number of rounds played per year

• The total number of people employed by the facility (full-time and part-time)

Activity 11.2: Write a Job Description

Directions: In this activity, you are being asked to examine a job description for someone who reports to you. This may be a salesperson in the golf shop, a golf car attendant, bag room attendant, locker room attendant, or other position.

Write

The assignment has two parts:

1. The Employee Point of View. Ask them to write a description for their job, representing how they see the job, the tasks they are responsible for, and performance expectations for that position.

2. Your Point of View. Write a job description for the same job, but from your point of view, as the supervisor (whether formal or informal).

Compare and Discuss

Attach both job descriptions to this activity and compare them. Explain any differences you find and how those differences might affect (or have affected) job performance.

Consider the following questions in your comparison:

• Does each job description outline all the recurring and special tasks required by the job?

• Does each job description discuss performance expectations relative to dress, punctuality, or attitude?

• Does each job description state to whom the person reports?

• Does each job description state what other people the person interacts with regularly?

• Are job tasks listed clearly in bulleted form?

• Did you identify any job tasks that the employee doesn’t agree are his or her responsibility?

• Was the employee unclear about what the job’s responsibilities were?

• What kind of problems have arisen because of any differences you uncovered

Activity 12.1 Critique Your Procedures Manual

Directions: Make a photocopy of the Table of Contents of the procedures or operations manual for your facility and attach them to this activity. If you have more than one manual—say, one for employment policies or one for golf shop procedures—copy the Table of Contents from each of them. Then answer the following questions about the operations manual

Answer

1. Does your manual contain:

Facility history and mission statement?

| |Yes | | No |

Facility and/or golf operations organization charts?

| |Yes | | No |

Describe

2. When you compare your manual to the sample contents in Figure 29 in this lesson, what differences do you see in terms of topics covered? Describe the three most important differences:

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Answer

3. Does every staff member at your facility have a copy of the procedures manual?

| |Yes | | No |

4. What is the date of your manual?

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5. Does it require any updating?

| |Yes | | No |

6. How often do you refer to the manual in carrying out your job?

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Note: If your facility does not have a procedures manual, fulfill this activity requirement by carrying out the following tasks:

1. Draft a detailed Table of Contents for a manual that would be appropriate for your facility.

2. Write one procedure for some aspect of golf operations, such as an opening or closing procedure for the shop, taking a reservation, or renting a golf car.

Activity 14.1: Conduct a Technology Audit of Your Facility

Directions: Use the table on the next page to help you in researching technology usage at your facility. Indicate which technology options are currently being used at your facility and which are being contemplated. Be sure to look at all areas of facility operation, not just the golf operation. Fill in any additional computer or high technology tools you are using that are not mentioned in the table.

Also indicate which of these technologies you are involved in using yourself.

|Technology/Computer Application |Not used |Currently used |Contemplated |Used by me |

|In the Golf Shop | | | | |

| Integrated point-of-sale system | | | | |

| Interactive touch screen merchandise display unit | | | | |

| Customer database with demographics, play patterns, and | | | | |

|merchandise purchases | | | | |

| Electronic data interchange for inventory ordering | | | | |

| In-house video monitor for promotions | | | | |

|Teaching, Tournaments, and Managing Plan | | | | |

| Tournament software (pairings, scoring, etc.) | | | | |

| Handicapping software | | | | |

| Video/computer technology for teaching | | | | |

| Computerized reservation system | | | | |

| Satellite-based golf car system for distance measuring | | | | |

|and course monitoring | | | | |

| Weather tracking/lightning detection system | | | | |

| Mobile radios, cellular phones, pagers | | | | |

| Public address system | | | | |

|Administration and Business Planning | | | | |

| Spreadsheet software | | | | |

|Customer/member database software | | | | |

|Accounting software | | | | |

|Staff-management software (labor forecasting, payroll, | | | | |

|etc.) | | | | |

|Communications and Marketing | | | | |

| Desktop publishing | | | | |

| Facility email system | | | | |

| Facility web site | | | | |

|Course Maintenance | | | | |

| Computerized irrigation system | | | | |

| Equipment and supplies management software | | | | |

| Software to manage maintenance and operation of golf car| | | | |

|fleet | | | | |

|Other Technology Tools Not Covered Above |

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