Reference no: EM133668944 , Length: word count:1200

Managing People and Organisations

Assessment Overview:
The purpose of this assessment is to identify the key external and internal factors that impact on the practical management of people and organisations, explain the impact on managing your organisation, and generate recommendations relevant to management functions.

Context
A common form of communication used in a business is the memorandum (memo). Memos are written by everyone from junior managers to CEOs. It is important that you learn to master this basic communication form. Memos are generally written to solve problems by informing the reader about new information or by persuading the reader to take action. The most important feature of a memo is that it be concise yet complete and informative.
One format for presenting your business ideas is to write a memo and attach additional information for further reading. In this case, the audience is your CEO, who has asked you to research the external and internal business environment of your company. Your CEO wants you to make "recommendations". Remember-all CEOs are skeptics-they won't believe your recommendations unless you back it up by carefully explaining potential business problems and presenting your business plans. However, your CEO doesn't want to read 10 pages! Your challenge is to present the important and relevant information in a 400-word memo with attached 800-word research evidence for your CEO to follow up.

Instructions
This individual assessment requires you to choose one topic from a given article, identify and analyse the key external and internal factors that impact the practical management of people and organisations, explain the impact on managing your organisation, and generate relevant recommendations to management functions.
Remember, you need to use this memo to inform your CEO that some changes need to be made in your company in order to adapt to the changing business environment. Your business memo is a brief presentation of your research evidence. Remind your CEO to read your attached research evidence where he/she can find more details.

Assignment Step 1:
Read the provided article (Future Proofing) and choose ONE topic you are particularly interested in.
See the Director's Playbook: The Future of Work research report and read the pages that are relevant to your chosen topic from the list below:

Topics
AI and Outsourcing (p.8-9)
Human Capital (p.18-19)
Purpose (p.12-13)
Wellbeing at work (p.24-25)
Move to Metrics (p.32-33, p.13)

Step 2:
Refer to Week 1 slides and concepts to find the common internal and external factors that impact on the practical management of people and organisations. Note that not all these factors are relevant to your chosen topic

Refer to Week 2 slides and concepts to review how to write the business memo.

Step 3:
Identify internal and external factors that are closely relevant to your chosen topic.

Step 4:
Conduct research and analyse how these factors impact your chosen topic in relation to management functions. You can use research journals or quality business sources.

Step 5:
Generate recommendations relevant to at least one management function based on your analysis conducted in Step 4. Explain if your company should improve on planning, organising, leading or controlling and how you recommend to implement them. Remember, the more specific your action plans are, the more likely your CEO will be convinced.

Step 6:
Drawing on literature, evaluate the risks and benefits of your recommendations. This can include costs, benefits and ethical implications of your recommendations.

Step 7:
Keep record of the collection of resources and screen shots of key processes that you completed for this assignment (e.g. screen dump of my search and retrieval of journal articles, etc.)

Step 8:
Double-check your assignment to make sure you do not have paragraphs directly copied from other sources.

Structure
This assessment has two internally integrated parts: A) Business Memo and B) Research Evidence.
Business Memo is a brief presentation of your Research Evidence. Just like you are sending an important email to your CEO, you want to briefly present your findings in a short and concise memo, but refer to the attached full document for the CEO to get more details.

Body
Your memo should be concise and informative. To achieve this, it needs to be organised (refer to week 2 communications concepts). You can direct your CEO to read your attachment (research evidence) for more details (e.g., "please see the attached research document for more details...").
The following are elements generally found in the body of the memo. You may include headings, but only include those that provide useful information to the reader.
Please keep in mind your audience and relationship as you write. You should ensure your vocabulary, organisation and tone are appropriate to ensuring clear communication and developing good relations with your CEO.
Background (50 words):
Start the memo by stating the main purpose of the correspondence. Include the context and problem, the specific assignment or task, and the purpose of the memo. This section should be short (2-3 sentences) and used to tell the reader why you are writing the memo. An example opening statement might start with "The purpose of this memo is to inform you about the current business environment and its impact on our company..."
Detail (300 words):
Note: in this section, you should guide your CEO to read the corresponding part in your attached research evidence document (e.g., Please refer to Section "Factors" in the attachment for more details).
Analysis & Findings (150 words): This section is where you include all the major information that you have gathered to support your recommendations/results. Start with the most important information. Use meaningful highlighted headings to direct your CEO. Try to write headings that are short but clarify section content. Include the following subsections:
External and internal factors: Briefly identify any relevant external and internal factors that may impact the management of your chosen topic (e.g., globalisation, technology, social expectations). Guide your CEO to read more details about these factors in your attached research evidence.
Impact on your company: Critically explain the positive and negative impact on your company based on evidence (e.g., research results, quality business reports). Guide your CEO to read more details about the impact in your attached research evidence.
Commentary: Briefly discuss your findings! What do they mean to your company?
Recommendations (150 words): This section provides key recommendations or key results you have reached and an evaluation of your recommendations to help the CEO make an informed decision. For example, you might include a statement like: "I recommend that an increase our technology staff number by 30% by year 2022".
Recommendations: Briefly summarise your recommendations derived from your investigation of the external and internal environment, positive and negative impact on your company. Especially, connect your recommendations to one of the four management functions (planning, organising, leading and controlling) and propose how you recommend the CEO to implement them. Guide your CEO to read more details about your recommendations in your attached research evidence.
Evaluation of recommendations: Briefly evaluate your recommendations using management models (e.g., SWOT analysis) to inform the CEO the potential benefits and costs/risks of the recommendations. Guide your CEO to read more details about your evaluation in your attached research evidence.

Action (150 words):
After the reader has absorbed all of your information, you want to reiterate your main findings and state what action you want your reader to take.
Goodwill (50 words):
Close with a courteous ending (e.g. an offer of further assistance).
Sign off:

Sign your name (a signature). You can use an electronic signature.
Other details:
Indicate additional information included using the word ‘Encs', which indicates enclosures.

Structure for attached research evidence (800 words)
The research evidence attachment is a document for your CEO to understand why you reach your conclusions and propose your recommendations. He/she may read your attachment if he/she is particularly interested in any points you make in your memo. Therefore, your research evidence should detail your research and findings in the following sections:

Factor and impact analysis (400 words):
External and internal factors: identify any relevant external and internal factors that may impact the topic you choose (e.g., globalisation, technology, social expectations).
Impact on your company: Critically explain the positive and negative impact on your company based on evidence (e.g., research results, quality business reports)

Recommendations (400 words):
Recommendations: Generate recommendations derived from your investigation of the external and internal environment, positive and negative impact on your company. Especially, connect your recommendations to one of the four management functions (planning, organising, leading and controlling) and propose how you recommend the CEO to implement them.
Evaluation of recommendations: Evaluate your recommendations using management models (e.g., SWOT analysis) to inform the CEO the potential benefits and costs/risks of the recommendations.