Management Analysis

Description

Read the following case scenario: Alan’s Ales is a small microbrewery located in Baltimore, Maryland. Alan has been thinking of expanding abroad where markets for ale are open, and there seems to be room for market entry. Alan has been looking at trends in the market place and is concerned about beer drinking trends in the US. Recently, Alan read a Forbes article about beer sales declining in the US which made him think (Does the Declining Beer Trend Spell Doom for Brewers?) https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2015/06/29/does-the-declining-u-s-beer-trendspell-doom-for-brewers/2/#1079408c69e9 Although his business seems to be doing well despite the growing trend in micro-beer, Alan thought he might consider expanding abroad where the market place is still strong. At a recent U.S. beer convention, Alan met a representative of Thornbridge Brewery. Thornbridge Brewery is a boutique brewery in Bakewell, England. Alan likes their products and thought maybe it would be worth looking at the company since it is up for sale. Alan likes Thornbridge products and thought maybe it would be worth looking at the company since it is up for sale. Before entertaining the idea of expansion, Alan wants to put together information that will give him a “quick glance” into Alan Ale’s current operations. Alan is quite aware of the fact that many small businesses fail because of growing too fast, too large, or are underfunded. Before even spending the time to go forward with a business plan, Alan tasks you, his Operations Manager, to create a memo as to what information he should collect to get the best “quick glance” of his current operations in the areas of marketing, finance and operations management. *ONLY* use scenario and sources loaded in additional materials below. Write a memo to Alan that outlines the information that Alan has requested you to collect about the business. Use will use this format: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/professional_technical_writing/memos/format.html https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/professional_technical_writing/memos/sample_memo.html Here are the topics to discuss: Identify and evaluate the specific information Alan needs to know about marketing his ales. Why is this information critical to the success of his business?  Explain what Alan needs to know about the financial statements and the components that make up the statements that would provide a complete picture of the financial position and health of Alan’s Ales? Identify and discuss the major challenges Alan faces with operations management? How could incorrectly handling these challenges affect Alan’s expansion plans and wh