Evil Interstellar Empire Trial Maxi Mission
Welcome to the trial maxi-mission #
This task will require you to assess a strategy proposal from five different candidates and select the best one.
As you know, the Evil Interstellar Empire invests in the most promising local businesses. Later, as they grow, this allows us to have a share in the most profitable corporations in the Sector.
We have decided to invest in a local civilian-class spaceship manufacturing company, Ozdika Ships. We will install our own CEO who will drive the business forward and make it a success for the glory of the EvIE.
We asked five candidates for the CEO position to summarize the strategy they proposed for the company. Below you will find the summary of each candidate and some supporting information.
The goal of this mission is to select the best candidate based on the best strategy proposal. The taskmaster AI predicted you might have questions, so we include the answers to those questions in this briefing.
Q: Define “the best strategy”.
A: You do not have to determine the best strategy for the company. Instead you will have to figure out who is the best strategist by analyzing their proposal.Q: I do not have enough data to make a definite conclusion.
A: This mission will require you to make a conclusion based on incomplete data. We intentionally do not share all details about the Ozdika Ships business and operations. Instead focus on the elements that you consider to be important for a good strategy and vice versa - the signs of a bad strategy. Imagine joining a new company and reading the company strategy document. Think about how a new employee can differentiate which strategy is better than the other.
Background information #
Here is some background information about the Sector and the company we intend to invest in.
Your recent emails #
Company presentation #
This deck contains a brief introduction to the Ozdika Ships company. You may find it useful.
Galaxy sector Beta information #
The Galaxy Sector Beta #
Sector Beta contains 54 habitable planets, of which 26 are controlled or heavily influenced by the Empire. The remaining 28 planets are still to be convinced.
In the past few years, we have successfully implemented a number of important development projects in the sector, which resulted in increased human immigration from other sectors of the galaxy and even beyond.
Usually colonists arrive with their families of 2-6 people.
Migrating colonists need work, accommodation, and means of personal transportation. The top three planets expecting the most colonists are listed below, in descending order:
Kepler M
Kepler M is a rural planet with a pleasant climate and plenty of water. While the main occupation of the planet’s inhabitants is agriculture, further development of the planet requires a wide range of professionals, such as engineers, doctors, and scientists.
2071 DR
2071 DR is a small planet on the edge of the Sector that hosts Byzantium mines. The conditions on the planet are harsh, and the colonists are attracted by the high pay that the Byzantium mining industry offers.
Theseus Prime
At the center of the Sector lies Theseus Prime, the capital planet. Theseus Prime is a hub of socio-economic, cultural, intellectual, and political activities in Sector Beta. Theseus Prime is an urban planet with large cities and all the necessary infrastructure required for these cities to function.
Theoretical input on strategy #
We are sure that you, as an experienced manager, will not need any hints to make your decision. However, as a reminder we sent you three envelopes that contain useful bits of theory on building a good strategy. Feel free to open them and consult the contents.
What is a strategy
Wrong strategies
The strategy paradox
Trial maxi-mission answers #
Alexandra’s proposal #
The proposal of Alexandra lacks specific goals and meaningful choices. “Becoming the market leader” is a too generic goal to provide guidance. Alexandra’s strategic pillars - “continuous technical innovation,” “growth,” and “brand loyalty” - can be applied to almost any technology company.
Ultimately, Alexandra’s proposal avoids answering tough questions and offers little more than empty slogans.
Balthazar’s proposal #
Balthazar’s proposal provides specific goals, but lacks ambition and cohesive design. The guidance is mainly focused on optimizing the status quo to achieve better performance.
Instead of making strategic choices that would cause performance improvement, Balthazar proposes to treat symptoms.
Cleo’s proposal #
Cleo’s proposal helps the team focus by making choices related to the market, geography, and product portfolio. It is not clear whether Cleo’s choices will lead to good outcomes, but they will provide a course of action for the OS team.
However, this proposal lacks measurable goals and guidance on specific management systems that would facilitate the progress.
Diane’s proposal #
Diane is reducing the strategy to the application of best practices. In a similar manner to Balthazar, Diane optimizes the status quo without any guidance on moving forward.
Diane’s attempts at focus (“what not to do”) are not very helpful since they aim to exclude negative side effects and not certain goals or activities. Avoiding negative side effects is plainly obvious and does not constitute a difficult choice.
The best candidate is Cleo. Her strategy provides a framework to make choices, and does not lead to rigidity. The strategy can be further improved by adding measurable goals.
What do I do next?
🎉 Congratulations on completing a trial mission! Here are a few things that you can do next:
- Complete another one. We have two trial missions - a short mini-mission and a bit longer maxi-mission. You can access both from the menu at the top of the page.
- Learn how the future missions will work (the full experience is going to be a bit more interactive, click to learn how exactly 😉)
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