Reference no: EM133003517

Part A: Project Brief and Selection Criteria Read the scenario and then complete the activities that follow.

Complete the following activities:
1. Develop a project brief for the consultant that addresses the market research requirements. The project brief should include:
• A brief overview of the company
• An outline of the market research to be conducted
• Particular requirements as listed in Assessment Task 2.1
• Timelines
• Budget.
• Your project brief should also include your contact details for submission of the quote and the date by which the quote is to be submitted.
• The brief should be no more than one page, address all of the above points and should be written in clear and concise English.
2. Develop selection criteria
• You are required to develop suitable selection criteria against which to select the consultant. The ability to meet time and budget will be required along with at least two additional criteria which you require consultants to meet.
• Write a short memo or email to your assessor with your selection criteria and an explanation of the reasons why you choose them.
Submit your completed brief and selection criteria to your assessor with a covering memo or email as if you were inviting a company to quote on the work.

What to Submit
Task 3.1 The email should contain a memo of the Project brief and selection criteria (based on the information provided in your Task 2- Market Research Project Plan and provided Market Research Policy and Procedure

Part B: Select an External Consultant
1. Identify external consultants
• Conduct research to identify three providers of market research services who could be contracted to provide the services required.
• Record the names of each of the companies and the services they offer, as well as your reasons for considering that the company may be suitable.

2. Select external consultant

• Assume that quotes have been received from three external consultants as set out below. Review the scenario information and evaluate each consultant against the selection criteria. Select the one you think is best suited for the role.

You have received three quotes from the companies above as outlined below.
• Question and Answer Market Research
Quoted $25,000 plus GST for completion of the work. Can meet the timelines specified in the brief. Four staff will be assigned to the project including two senior members of the team. Suggest using focus groups and one-to-one interviews as the research methodology. Have access to a large database of possible market research respondents. Will conduct all the focus groups in Brisbane and interviews will be by phone and cover a range of respondents nationally.
Company has also provided information on the range of organic products market research it has conducted.
• ColinBryants
Quoted $26,000 plus GST for completion of the work. Can meet the timelines specified in the brief. Two senior members of staff will be assigned to the project. Suggest using focus groups and surveys for conducting market research. Have access to a large database of possible market research respondents. Will conduct one focus group in each capital city. Will email out survey to identify market research respondents.
The company is focussing on its nationwide reputation as a high-quality provider of market research services.
• HandPrints Market Research
Quoted $23,000 plus GST for completion of the work. Can meet the timelines specified in the brief. Four staff will be assigned to the project. Suggest using focus groups and surveys for conducting market research. Will conduct all of the research in Brisbane.
The company has focused on its credibility in terms of working with small to medium sized businesses.

• Submit a communication to your CEO (your assessor) seeking approval to proceed with offering a contract to the consultant. Your communication will need to list the three consultants that you identified in point 1, and will also need to identify the consultant you have selected in point 2 along with an explanation of how they have met the selection criteria.
3. Contract external consultant
• Assume you have received formal approval from the CEO to contract the external consultant. You will need to have a verbal conversation with them to let them know that they have been selected to complete the work. In this verbal conversation you will need to provide a summary of project requirements, timelines and agreed budget and let them know that a formal contract will be sent in the mail the following day.
• During this conversation you must demonstrate effective verbal and non- verbal communication skills, active listening skills and effective questioning techniques.

What to submit:
3.2.1. Identify external consultants

Conduct research to identify three providers of market research services (from three companies listed above) who could be contracted to provide the servicesrequired. Your research should include the services they offer, as well as your reasons for considering that the company may be suitable.

3.2.2. Select external consultant
- Submit a comparison table to review the scenario information of Part B and evaluate each consultant stated in the scenario against the selection criteria (i.e. Cost, timeline, Staff, Research method, Location).
- Select the one you think is best suited for the role

3.2.3 Email
Write an Email to your CEO (your assessor) seeking approval to proceed with offering a contract to the consultant. Your communication will need to list the three consultants that you identified in point 3.2.1 and 3.2.2 along with an explanation of for the selecting the external consultant in 3.2.2.

Part C: Monitor and Manage

1. Monitor work and manage external consultant
• The final part of the assessment task requires you to review the information and to identify appropriate action to be taken. This should include contacting the external consultant to discuss the delays and expected performance, as well as keeping your team up-to-date with variations.

You are required to develop an email to the external consultant with an appropriate response based on the information provided.
- You are also required to develop an email to send to your team with an appropriate response.

All parties will need to receive an updated market research project plan highlighting the variations. Update your action plan in the market research project plan and attach it to the emails
• Ensure that your emails and amended action plan are written in clear and concise English and are free from errors
• Submit your emails and updated plan to the market research team and external consultant (your assessor).