Assignment:
The general manager (GM) of the Marshall Biscuit Division of Lancaster Colony Corporation has just named you as chairperson of the first annual blood drive, to be conducted at the plant site. A strong believer in the company's participation in community affairs and himself a member of the local Red Cross board of directors, the GM has committed the division's employees to the blood drive. Your committee will set the exact dates for the drive, which is to be held in three or four months. As chairperson, you have been assigned a team of four other company employees to plan and implement the project. All members are highly respected, competent people, representing a true cross-section of the employees: One is a production worker who is responsible for operating the ovens; another, an engineer, represents the professional segment; the human resources manager represents the management group; and a payroll clerk represents the administrative office group. The GM was given your name by your boss, who expressed confidence in your ability to lead a successful donor campaign at the plant. At 27, you are the youngest person on the committee and anxious to do a good job. You have called the first committee meeting, which you have advertised as a "preliminary planning meeting," to identify key factors that must be planned for if the committee is to meet its objective of having a successful blood drive at Marshall Biscuit.
1. Considering what you have read in the text, make a list of what you consider to be the key planning issues that should be identified by the committee at this meeting.
2. Out of the items on your list, which two or three do you believe to be the most crucial? Why? Be specific in your reasoning
3. Identify major problems that could prevent your accomplishment of your objective? What contingency planning could be done to avert or minimize their impact?