C A S E S T U DY 5-1 Accountabilities, Objectives, and StandardsBelow is an actual job description for a sourcing and procurementinternship position that was available at Disney ConsumerProducts/Studios. Based on the information in the job description,create accountabilities, objectives, and standards for thisposition. TITLE Graduate Associate, Sourcing, & Procurement(Disney Consumer Products/Studios) THE POSITION • Provideanalytical support for sourcing projects impacting business units,specifically targeting Disney Consumer Products & Studios. •Benchmark current pricing models and develop new approaches topricing/buying various products and services that yield creativeand business advantage. • Support the continuing efforts toincrease the percentage of spend influenced, specifically as itrelates to business units where we have had only a minor impact. •Assist in the development of spend profiles, key stakeholder lists,savings opportunities where existing contracts are leveraged,savings opportunities in commodity areas that have not beensourced. • Assist in developing overall Sourcing & Procurementstrategy for partnering with business units, specifically targetingDisney Consumer Products & Studios. THE COMPANY The Walt DisneyCompany is a diversified, international family entertainment andmedia company with 2003 annual revenues of $27.1 billion. Itsoperations include theme parks and resorts, filmed entertainment,including motion pictures and television shows, home video and DVDproducts, records, broadcast and cable networks, Internet anddirect marketing, consumer products, radio and television stations,theatrical productions, publishing activities, and professionalsports enterprises. THE IDEAL CANDIDATE • Ability to conceptualizeissues and problems and develop hypotheses around appropriateresponses. • Intellectual curiosity and professional commitment toexcellence. • Superior analytical skills defined by an ability toidentify and rearticulate critical aspects of a business situationfrom a large data pool (both qualitative and quantitative). •Superior Microsoft Excel modeling skills. • Strong written andverbal communication skills with the ability to buildrelationships. • Ability to work independently. • Demonstratedability to manage multiple tasks, meanwhile retaining focus onproject deliverables and strategic priorities. THE OPPORTUNITY Thiswill be an opportunity for an MBA intern to utilize projectmanagement skills he or she has learned in the classroom. Theintern will be faced with difficult and/or skeptical clients andwill learn how to work with them. They will have an opportunity toexecute portions of the sourcing methodology and work in teams.This will also be an opportunity for those individuals who have notexperienced working in Corporate America, and for those that havehad some experience, to further their learnings. The intern willgain experience from working in the Media and Entertainmentindustry. Through these various experiences, we hope the internwill find value in the internship we are offering.
Evaluating Objectives and Standards Using the results from CaseStudy 5.1, use the accompanying checklist to evaluate eachobjective and standard you produced. For each objective andstandard, use the first column in the checklist, and place a checkmark next to each of the ideal characteristics if thecharacteristic is present. Then, use the Comments column to providea description of why or why each objective and standard meets ordoes not meet the ideal. Finally, review your tables, and providean overall assessment of the quality of the objectives andstandards you created.
Objectives must have the following characteristics: CommentsSpecific and clear Challenging Agreed upon Significant PrioritizedBound by time Achievable Fully communicated Flexible Limited innumber Performance standards must have the followingcharacteristics: Comments Related to the position Concrete,specific, and measurable Practical to measure Meaningful Realisticand achievable Reviewed regularly
