Reference no: EM133157533
Case Study - WORLDUCATION
Worlducation is a social startup that manufactures tablet computers for primary school students. They not only focus on the hardware, but they also have a competitive team creating software, content and activities to better engage and educate the students.
Worlducation aims to change the way children learn at school by implementing artificial intelligence technology that can follow up on each child's progress and adjust to their needs as they learn, creating the optimal path learning experience.
So far, Worlducation only sells their tablet computers business to business (B2B) as they realised that their content and hardware proved most effective when a whole classroom was using it, and a teacher was coordinating the activities. Also, this helped the sales team focus on larger sales, and minimised the potential number of problems that could arise from individual customers. However, the long-term plan is to also tackle a business to consumer strategy (B2C).
What makes Worlducation completely different from their competition is that they envision a world in which every child learns how to read and write - a world without illiteracy. Given this vision, for every classroom that buys their products, they donate and train a classroom somewhere around the world that can't afford the same technology. Furthermore, they connect the two classrooms (those who bought the products and services and those who received the donation) so that they can grow together and collaborate throughout their learning cycle.
Worlducation was founded in 2016, and by the end of 2019 they had sold over 35,000 tablets to over 550 schools in 23 countries, generating revenue in hardware sales and software subscriptions.
Worlducation headquarters are in Sydney's CBD but they have a development team in Bulgaria, a manufacturing team in Hong Kong, and operation and marketing staff in Colombia, Egypt, Iceland, Russia and the Philippines.
The following company documents are available:
- Strategic plan (2021 - 2023)
- Operational Plan (2022)
- Organisational Structure
- Internal and External Communication policies and procedures
Information relevant to Section 1 of the Project Portfolio
You are the General Manager at Worlducation. All senior managers report to you, and you have a direct influence over the business outcomes.
It is now 2021.
Recently, the CEO has asked you to facilitate continuous improvement and innovation within Worlducation. In particular, he would likethe current business model to adapt to changing circumstances.Furthermore, he would like all staff to make incremental changes to the way they do things so that physical, human and financial resources are used efficiently and effectively. He would also like all internal processes and systems to be optimised and reflect best practices.
As a start, he would like a dedicated continuous improvement team established. You are to manage that team and plan for changes, opportunities, and new ideas to be implemented. The CEO has given you the freedom to select a team of three to five people from any of the staff (described in the organisational chart). He would like the team to meet at least once a month and contribute towards a Continuous Improvement Plan.
Information relevant to Section 2 of the Project Portfolio
The CEO approved your Continuous Improvement Plan and asked you to implement the changes/opportunities/new ideas and to manage the impact.
Assume that one of the new ideas in your plan is to developa cloud-based solution where customers can access the software remotely on their own devices:
• To implement this new idea, you are required to notify sales staff of the new product and schedule their training. This should be done by creating a bulletin notice for the staff bulletin as well as a calendar invite for staff to attend training.
• To manage the impact of the new idea, you are required to create a social media post advertising the new product to existing and new customers.
Information relevant to Section 3 of the Project Portfolio
One year has passed and you have been asked to evaluate the continuous improvement systems and processes as well as the changes/opportunitiesnew ideas implemented.
Staff survey results regarding the continuous improvement and innovation systems and processes were documented (see Staff Survey Comments in the Simulation Pack).
Your assessor will have provided you with simulated outcomes to evaluate your implemented changes/opportunities new ideas implemented to evaluate. Assume that one of the outcomes was the non-performance of one or more staff members. Develop a fact sheet that can be used as training to help the relevant staff members perform as required.