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Sparky Consulting, Inc.

Innovation Nation

College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, Arizona State University

OGL 355: Leading Organizational Innovation and Change

Dr. B

March 17, 2021

Cecilia Rice
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Sparky Consulting, Inc.

The folks at Sparky Consulting, Inc. have requested that we suggest a pool of three

particular for profit organizations that they can choose to support. The company trusts that we

shall provide comprehensive reports so that their decision shall be an informed one. These

reports will include in depth analysis regarding the operational environment, SWOT, their

competitive advantage and the potential for going global.

Our Organizations

The organizations that we, the Innovation Nation, chose as potential candidates for

Sparky Consulting, Inc. to consider supporting are Carvana, Instacart, and Lockheed Martin. Our

nominations for these companies came from our collective experience, either having worked for

or worked closely with these companies. The selection process itself was expedient and the team

worked very well together to reach our decisions. We feel that these three companies are worthy

of consideration from Sparky Consulting, Inc. as they each have a business model that we feel

could benefit not only the parties directly involved, but the consumer clientele of the companies.

Organization 1: Carvana

Carvana, based in our own backyard in Tempe, AZ, has been in business since 2012. The

ever growing need for cars has never been greater and Carvana is the first up to bat in the online

car sales business. A pioneer in what is now known as the online car market; Carvana has made

itself appeal to the younger crowd with the invention of the Car Vending Machine and, with a

staggering $3.94 Billion revenue for 2019, and a $5.58 Billion revenue for 2020

(Macrotrends,2021), one can say that they are doing pretty well. Their business plan is easy, buy

used cars from private everyday citizens and big auctions, bring them to their facilities, have

their mechanics look at them and wash them and then finally resell at one of their 24 car vending
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machines or in an online marketplace with delivery being promised within 2-3 days. Reason for

our team wanting to study this company is due to the approach they have taken to the used car

market, which is mostly dominated by mom-and-pop owned dealerships. They are a company

that is growing tenfold year after year and it would be interesting to see how a brand new

innovation can bring a centuries old business new life.

Organization 2: Instacart

The second company the team chose is Instacart. Instacart is a startup company based in

San Francisco that allows users to get their groceries delivered to their door. We chose this

company as it is a start-up, which means that it is still in it’s growing years. In the past year,

Instacart just went public and has had to engage in a lot of strategic planning to ensure they stay

relevant against competitors such as Shipt and Uber Eats. Just recently, Instacart “raised $265

million as part of a new financing round from existing investors” (Instacart, 2021). Additionally,

Instacart was one of the few companies whose demand grew as a result of COVID-19. As a

team, we think it would be very interesting to see how the company adapted to this change and

were able to supply a service in an unprecedented environment.

Organization 3: Lockheed Martin

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is amongst the largest

aerospace technology companies in the world. Their annual revenue is fifty percent derived from

U.S. Department of Defense contracts, along with additional revenue contributions from

contracts from the U.S. Department of Energy and NASA (Wikimedia Foundation, 2021). They

are typically contracted to design and maintain the satellite systems that house the various

payloads for the divergent missions of Space Force and the various weapons systems and aircraft

for the Air Force. Lockheed Martin is the result of a merger between the Lockheed Corporation
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and Martin Marietta in 1994, the former known for the P-3 Orion, and the latter regarded for the

development of the F22 Raptor. Today, the company reports an annual revenue of $59.8 billion

and employs 110,00 people around the globe (2021). Lockheed Martin is the largest holder of

US government contracts, which makes it an excellent choice to study in the context of

organizational leadership. This company has had to use innovation to remain relevant as the

largest provider of aerospace technology to the most powerful military in the world for over 30

years.

Team Expectations and Project Plan

Our team believes that communication and delegation are keys in our success. In order to

work together and ensure our deadlines are met, we have created a set of team guidelines. First,

the team agreed on communicating on an ongoing basis. Using Zoom and group chats, we have

been able to make decisions and support each other. Second, we agree on taking initiative. Every

member continuously looks at the calendar, works on our Google document and reaches out to

the team with questions or pending items. Lastly, we expect that every member will work

equally and ensure that the workload is balanced for all its members.

Communication Methods

We have already established a group text chat via MMS for quick communication that

everyone can see when available. We have also established a Zoom server so we can convene via

voice and video chat for more discussion based contributions and active collaboration. The list

below has everyone’s contact information below for reference if we need to contact each other

via direct messaging.

Name Preferred Email/Phone

Khrysta Beaird kbeaird@asu.edu

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(563) 639-2733

Diana Chinchilla dchinch@asu.edu

562-686-6310

Issa Lama Pichardo Issa_lama_pichardo@brown.edu

407-988-4143

Cecilia Rice crrice2@asu.edu

(951) 552-5446

Gabriel Romo giromo@asu.edu

(480) 242-2738

Samuel Tanner sam.tanner.86@gmail.com

(217)883-7887

Collaboration Methods

Each portion of the following reports shall be led by a different member of the team, with

the selected de facto leader delegating the appropriate roles, hopefully having each person rotate

into each possible role by the end of this session. We plan to successfully work together by

encouraging open communication and establishing team goals. We will determine roles and

responsibilities throughout the project as we help each other through problems that may arise.

Conflict Management

The Innovation Nation strives to provide comprehensive, digestible recommendations of

companies to clients so that they can make their decision to support said company with utmost

confidence. We understand that conflict is very natural when it comes to teamwork. We as a

team have decided the following two approaches for dealing with conflict. First, the team would

meet to discuss and identify the root cause. A team member will work as a mediator and if no

consensus is reached, the group will vote to reach an agreement. If the conflict does not get

resolved through compromise, the team will draft an email explaining the situation to Dr. B and
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ask him to mediate. The professor’s decision will be the final solution and all members agree to

move forward as a team.

Consequences of Non-Participation

If the team notices a lack of contribution from one or more members for a particular

module, they will first try to reach out to the said non contributor to try to resolve any potential

issues preventing the member from carrying their weight. If communication is unsuccessful, or if

the member responds and still does not contribute enough of their assigned part, the member will

only earn a percentage of the team’s score equal to their perceived participation; so if the

member does nothing, they get nothing for the assignment, if they did about about a third of what

was agreed upon that they should do, they shall receive about thirty three percent of the total

score. If a lack of participation is a recurring issue, for example it being the third time the

member did not contribute to the module, the team shall attempt to have a conversation with the

member to ascertain and resolve the issues. If there’s a successful conversation, the team shall

impose a twenty five percent reduction in score for that member from then on. If there’s no

response from the member, only then shall the team then consider a request for a removal of the

member from the team via the instructor.

Module 2 - Environmental Analysis

Team Lead Name Diana Chinchilla

Assignment Deliverable In this module the team will perform an

environmental analysis and assess the
company’s target market.
The team will use Porter’s Five Forces Model
of Competition to analyze the magnitude of
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threats (e.g. high vs. low) for each of the

forces.

The team will also work to identify the target

market and make recommendations on how to
maintain and grow this market. The team will
analyse demographics and how this impacts
decision making.

Assignment Due Date 3/24

Member Responsibilities ● Schedule kickoff Meeting - Team

Lead will schedule a kick-off meeting
to discuss objectives and deadlines
(due 3/17)
● Create Google Doc and add template -
Gabriel (due 3/18)
● Free writing session - Every team
member is able to write and add input
into any section that is available (from
3/18 - 3/21)
● Finalizing draft - Team Lead reviews
participation and if areas missing,
assigns a POC (3/21)
● Final review and format - Cecilia and
Diana
● Team Lead will collaborate with team
members to finalize the document and
review formatting. The team might
also meet to do a final read through.
● Submitting paper - Team Lead will
submit and communicate submission
on group chat.

Module 3 - SWOT Analysis

Team Lead Name Gabriel Romo

Assignment Deliverable For the module, we will provide a case study

of the selected organization that describes its
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats in the form of a matrix and associated
document that will elaborate on each
statement of the graphic.

Assignment Due Date 3/31

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Member Responsibilities ● Schedule meeting to discuss project

details and kickstart project (3/25)
● Google Doc creation and template
insertion (3/25)
● Group collaboration to complete
Introduction and SWOT Matrix (Each
section shall have 4 bullet pts) (3/26)
● One person (with team lead assistance)
each shall complete one section in
paragraph format further explaining 2
bullet pts from each section of the
matrix (3/29)
● Team Lead will double check the work
and ensure proper formatting before
submission (3/30)

Module 4 - Competitive Advantage

Team Lead Name Issa Lama

Assignment Deliverable In this Module our main topic will be all

about competitive advantage. We are to pick
one of our competitive advantages and really
dig into how we can leverage this to help us
be more successful and blow the competition
out of the water.

Assignment Due Date 4/7

Member Responsibilities 1) Discuss what our main competitive

advantage is and why.
2) Using Word we will create a log of all
advantages that the team came up with
and brainstorm with each one
3) Team lead will compile a final list and
share with the team for final approval
4) Team lead will submit the paper by the
due date.

Module 5 - Going Global

Team Lead Name Khrysta Beaird

Assignment Deliverable In this module the organization is Going

Global by expanding its Global Presence to
one new country. Choose one country that the
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organization is not currently serving. Using

the different Modes of Entry (Coulter, 2013,
p. 204) explain how you propose to expand
your organization into the chosen country by
addressing the following in the paper.

Assignment Due Date 4/14

Member Responsibilities Name and defend the targeted expansion

country.

Describe and defend mode of entry

Describe the political and economic issues the

company will face in the country.

Describe the key cultural differences between

the US and the expansion country.

The employees will need to observe/perform

actions so managers and employees in the
new host country will be/feel included, with
an emphasis on cultural differences and
similarities which need consideration before
entering the new market. Create and present a
table of “do’s and don’ts” (actions) -at least
four (4)for each side-, followed by a narrative
argument for the proposed actions.
Create and present a table of attitudes or
activities-at least three (3) for each side- ,
along with an argument for the ideas, that
employees will need to demonstrate (Have or
Have Not) in order to create trust with the
domestic workforce in the new host country.

Module 6 - Executive Presentation

Team Lead Name Cecilia Rice

Assignment Deliverable In this Module the organization will deliver an

update to the executives. We will take the
information created so far and use it to present
an executive presentation. This update will be
presented on powerpoint, will be kept short
and simple, with visuals, and the key
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takeaways from our organization's plan.

Additional information on our chosen client
and who they are in terms of organizational
structure and leadership will also be presented
along with our update.

Assignment Due Date 4/19

Member Responsibilities As a group we will take turns to present the

type of organizational structure graphically
and via the notes section in a PowerPoint
(3/24- 4/19)

Add additional information on our chosen

client organization who they are in an
organizational structure and leadership. (4/17)

create slides with corresponding notes and

explain organizations position on each topic
(3/24 - 4/19)
● Organizational Structure
● Leadership
● Environmental Analysis
● SWOT
● Competitive Advantage
● Going Global

Module 6 - Sector Env Analysis Comparison

Team Lead Name Samuel Tanner

Assignment Deliverable In this module, we will choose an outside

organization from each sector to review by
completing the Organizational Sector
Comparison Worksheet. The worksheet will
allow us to draw a comparison between
anything we have retained from the academic
material, or the presentations from other
teams. We will use that information to
determine what is different about each sector.
This type of analysis requires a sophisticated
perspective. In this case, the organizations
serve as examples to further examine the
sectors.

Assignment Due Date 4/22

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Member Responsibilities As a group, we’ll pick three organizations and

assign each person an equal number of
sectors. Together we will: Review the unique
aspects of each sector’s environment indicated
in the academic literature that are presented in
Row 1 of the Matrix.
1. Choose one Team Presentation from
each sector and type the Team name in
Row 2 of the Matrix.
2. Identify as many items as you can
from each sector’s Team Presentation
in Row 3 that match the unique
aspects of its environment shown in
Row 1, no explanation needed.
3. List any aspects from each Team
Presentation in Row 4 that do not
seem to match any of the unique
aspects of its environment shown in
Row 1, no explanation needed.*
4. Answer each of the questions in Rows
5 through 8 of the Matrix from a sector
perspective/lens, explanation and
support needed. Examples can be
taken from the organizations presented
by other peer teams, to extrapolate
what the sector is like and support
what is observed in each sector.

The goal will be to complete the worksheet

by 4/20 and have it finalized 4/22.

Conclusion

The Innovation Nation team feels all three companies are worth a study. Every company

is different, but has some of the same strengths in regards to growing and being dominant in a

competitive market. We are excited to start researching the market for the company and

identifying potential threats. We are confident that we will work as a team to provide Sparky

Consulting Inc. the best recommendations possible.

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**Please note I reserve the right to return this first paper to your team to provide more details, so

you will be successful in this course. **

APPROVAL:

(Issa Lama - IL) (Gabriel Romo - GIR) (Khrysta Beaird - KB)

(Cecilia Rice -CR) (Samuel Tanner - ST) (Diana Chinchilla-DC)

References

Carvana Revenue 2015-2020: CVNA. Macrotrends. (2021).

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/CVNA/carvana/revenue.

Coulter, M. (2013). Strategic Management in Action (6th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.

Instacart. (2021, March 2). Instacart Announces $265 Million in New Funding Led by Existing

Investor.

https://news.instacart.com/instacart-announces-265-million-in-new-funding-led-by-

existing-investor-e5656828bd8f.

Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, February 15). Lockheed Martin. Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin.