AFM131 write 3 discussion posts with reliable sources according to the sample

AFM 131 Online – Introduction to Business in North AmericaFall 2023
DISCUSSION TOPIC 3
Growing Big Mountain Foods
Unit 8 Marketing touched on how a company can generate interest and influence customers to
buy their products/services by managing a “marketing mix”, also known as the 4Ps (Product,
Price, Place, and Promotion). Big Mountain Foods is a family-owned Canadian business that
produces plant-based products, competing with giants like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.
In your discussion posts, find and share professional sources that help you discuss the
following:
1) Scanning the business environment, what trends do we currently see in the plant-based
food market?
2) What has Big Mountain Foods done well or could do better with their 4Ps to grow their
customer base to drive interest and sales in their products? Share an example of one of
the 4Ps.
Make sure to share website links or sources referred to in each of your posts.
Posting tips:
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Remember to make your first post by Tuesday at 11:55PM to get the discussion started,
and to have at least 3 posts by the end of the discussion
Create a separate post for each question. To enhance the quality of each post, integrate
knowledge from assigned readings and online sources to support your analyses
Plan to acknowledge/respond to posts from your teammates (to add new perspectives
and sources), and drive discussion by asking open-ended questions to encourage a wellrounded discussion throughout the week
See a sample post on the next page (purposely based on different discussion questions)
to better understand the content/length expectations of posts
Details on discussion etiquette and grading can be found in the “Discussions” activity
description on LEARN
A SAMPLE DISCUSSION PROCESS
(Purposely based on different discussion questions)
Sample discussion questions:
• 1) How are businesses working towards being sustainable today? Find and describe an
example of business practices or products and their impact on achieving sustainability.
• 2) How can businesses better develop their employees and leaders to keep sustainability at
the top of mind in everything they do?
Sample first discussion post (where the student chose to address Q1 with one post by Tuesday at
11:55PM):
Q1
We examined sustainability in the last unit, and it opened my mind to how companies can and
should do better. The unit explored the idea of a circular economy, which looks at how we can go
beyond the traditional process of “take, make, and dispose” that we see in a lot of business models.
In my research, I discovered a unique business model through a company called Loop. My review of
https://loopstore.com/the-idea acknowledged the issue of one-time use packaging with many
products we buy today, leading to their unique business model to support companies in using
refillable packaging. Loop can partner with companies like Häagen-Dazs, and it was neat to see how
we can live in a world where we can return ice cream packaging to the store that can then be
returned to Häagen-Dazs to be cleaned and used again. This demonstrates how a business can
support sustainability by investing more in the design of durable packaging, perhaps through
dedicated funds to support sustainable efforts as suggested in the Unit. And while some may see
added costs with these efforts, consider how they could save money in the long run the more they
can reuse the packaging. There is also the added benefit of offering a product that would be
appealing for environmentally conscious consumers. What other types of businesses do you think
could find success in partnering with Loop?
Next steps after making this first discussion post?
• Before Friday at 11:55PM, this student would:
o Make a second post to address Q2
o Make a third post addressing a question they want to explore further (either Q1 or
Q2) as each question has now been addressed at least once
• Note that the posts you make to share additional perspectives can be replies to a
teammate’s open-ended question if relevant to the original questions posed in the
discussion topic – You are not marked on how each post was made in LEARN (“Start a new
thread” vs. “Reply to Thread”), but rather on how the content in all of your posts meet the
quality and integration expectations found in the “Discussions” activity description on
LEARN