PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Public Administration: Final Report

Businesses rely heavily on intelligent decision-making when alternative options are available. Information processing and analyzing the market conditions are valuable steps that firms need to be efficient in. Defining alternatives and then signing their weights based on their importance is useful for maximizing the chances of selecting the right alternative. This paper aims to reflect Hannas Hats alternatives in the light of the business objectives with the help of unweighted and weighted matrices. Afterward, an evaluative report would be presented to fix the companys financial dilemma.

Part 1

In this section, the first step presents the unweighted matrix in which a scale of 0 to 3 is used. 0 denotes the alternative that does not meet the objective, while 3 denotes meeting the objectives well. Four alternatives and four objectives are aligned within the tables below.

Step 1: Creating Unweighted Matrix

Comparison for alternatives

Objective 1 rating

Objective 2 rating

Objective 3 rating

Objective 4 rating

Total

Continue selling hats in the same way as done before

1

1

0

0

2

Selling them through retailer

3

3

2

2

10

Selling online

3

3

3

3

12

Selling through subscription service

2

2

1

2

7

The reason for assigning the relevant ratings to the alternatives and objectives is to meet the business objectives previously designed. Continuing to sell hats is not a viable solution since the business is already facing problems, and continuing to work in the same manner would not produce effective results. Hence, adding a family deal would not be feasible for the first objective. The second objective, showing interest in having two investors, might not be feasible again since they would not fund for business practice that is already being conducted in the same old manner not showing positive results. The third objective of having more IT employees on board and the fourth objective of generating a separate inexpensive line would not be operative since they would require extra investment for the same traditional method, which is impossible if new investors are hard to acquire.

Selling hats through retail would be a good option; that is why it has a relatively higher total score. Adding family deals and gaining investors to open new retail scores would be beneficial under this alternative. Having more IT employees and separate inexpensive hats lines would also be good options for the new retail stores for IT sales management and attract customers for less expensive hats.

Selling online seems the best alternative as it has been assigned the highest ratings for all four objectives. Online presence for businesses these days is indispensable since a large part of the worldwide customers are online. Moreover, they look for online reviews and feedback from other customers, for which website testimonials would be an added advantage for the company. To further boost sales, targeted content should be displayed on the website and social media platforms to increase the brands visibility.

Selling through a subscription service is another great alternative that matches most business objectives. Objectives one, two, and four are given a rating of 2, which means these alternatives almost match the objectives. However, the third objective does not match with this alternative as the role of IT employees in working for a subscription does not seem to apply.

Step 2: Creating the Weighted Matrix

Comparison for alternatives

Weight

Objective 1

Objective 2

Objective 3

Objective 4

Rating

Score

Rating

Score

Rating

Score

Rating

Score

Continue selling hats in the same way as done before

0.10

1

0.10

1

0.10

0

0

0

0

Selling them through retailer

0.30

3

0.90

3

0.90

2

0.60

2

0.60

Selling online

0.45

3

1.35

3

1.35

3

1.35

3

1.35

Selling through subscription service

0.15

2

0.30

2

0.30

1

0.15

2

0.30

Total

1

2.65

2.65

2.1

2.25

The same ratings are also used for the weighted matrix; however, weight from a total of 100% is assigned to each alternative in decimals. It gives weightage to the decision matrix and each of the alternatives, as it is important to determine which alternative is deemed more significant than the other.

Continuing selling hats as was done previously is given the lowest weightage since it is not what is working well for the company currently. Selling them through a retailer is given a higher rating of 0.30 since retail and the next alternative, online selling, are the two most lucrative options for businesses...…it more connected with the consumers as the consumer-company identification (CCI) index would be high with a close bonding with the brand (Zanon et al., 2019). When consumers values match what the company is already offering, there is an amplified attachment and loyalty to the company. The same is expected for HH with online selling of family deals.

With this comes another advantage; when consumers engage with a family-oriented brand, as HH is planning to reveal itself through the introduction of family deals online, the consumers feel more inclined to share such online posts on other social media platforms. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter would form the foundational grounds of positive word-of-mouth (WOM) for HH. This alternative would help the company attract and retain more consumers globally. Evidence has corroborated that consumers more engaged with the brand are likely to spread positive eWOM (electronic word-of-mouth) and advocate for it (Srivastava et al., 2021). Higher and faster online engagement with improved brand presence is the best strategy mix that HH could opt for.

Conclusion

The final decision is to pursue online selling of hats to launch family deals and gain new investors for stronger business bonding. The purpose of selecting this decision is to take HH out of its financial turmoil and save her kids future. Before reaching this decision, certain perspectives have been considered and ignored, including an optimistic vision of online presence and creating a family-oriented brand image for increased customer engagement and positive eWOM over socialmedia.

The decision process has been evaluated in depth with a decision matrix, with and without weights, so scrutiny could lead to visualizing HHs objective fulfillment. Opportunities are aligned with the objectives, so biases cannot demotivate the companys owner in the right direction. After examining the current trends, especially those that have modified the way consumers now shop online and look for options through feedback and reviews, online selling is selected as the best alternative against the rest of…