Reference no: EM133029745

TASK 1

1. Identify and discuss in detail five quality management and continuous improvement theories (150 - 200 words each theory).

2. What does Kotter's 8-Step change model tell us about transformational change for businesses? Discuss your answer in a paragraph.
(150 - 200 words).

3. What is the diffusion of innovation theory and why might a manager implementing an innovation be particularly interested in this theory? (250 - 300 words).

4. What is the purpose of the ISO 9000 Standards for Quality Management and what standards are included? (50 - 100 words).

5. What is cost-benefit analysis and what is it best used for? In your response outline how you complete a cost-benefit analysis (100 - 150 words).

6. Discuss the concept of a learning organisation in one paragraph (100 -150 words).

7. Why is the concept of shared vision an essential component of a learning organisation? (100 - 150 words).

8. Discuss the concept of team learning in relation to a learning organisation (50 - 100 words).

9. Identify and outline three different sustainability practices that are now common in Australian workplaces (50 - 100 words).

10. Provide a definition of risk as identified in the Australia/New Zealand Standard for Risk Management (AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009) (50 - 100 words).

11. Discuss the concept of risk management. Outline the factors that make a risk management system successful and the factors that may inhibit effective risk management (200 - 250 words).

12. In your own words, describe the seven steps in the risk management process as outlined in AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009(200-250 words).

TASK 2 - Review Project (report) and Role- play

Task summary

Part A - Students are required to review systems and processes of a fictional business, or utilise a simulated business (if provided by the trainer/assessor), or an actual work workplace/environment to develop options for continuous improvement and prepare a report based on their findings.

Part B - Students are required to present their report to the management team (assessor and three other participants).

Instructions:

o Please use the "Template for a Report" (given by your trainer) to complete this assessment.

Read the following case study / scenario, or a simulated business (if provided by the trainer/assessor), or an actual work workplace/environment and complete the activities that follow.

Case study / Scenario

Woodhouse Recruitment is based in central Melbourne and is a recruitment agency offering recruitment services, including sourcing, screening and selecting candidates to meet clients' requirements. The company was established in 2010 by Simon and Petra James, a husband and wife team who are the Directors of the company.

The company also employs a receptionist, five recruitment consultants and an Administration Manager. The agency plans to recruit a further two new consultants to start with the company in early 2016.

The company specialises in the following areas of recruitment for both permanent and temporary staff:
- Administration and office support, Accounting, IT, Sales and Marketing.
The company sees its point of difference as being an owner operated, boutique recruitment agency. The company currently has approximately 30 clients who regularly use their services.
At a recent management team meeting, the management team (the Directors, Administration Manager, the Accountant and the Senior Recruitment Consultant), discussed the need to implement systems and processes for continuous improvement and innovation into the company. This is in part based on the need to stand out from the competitors in an industry where there are a large number of recruitment agencies.
A number of issues were discussed at the management meeting, which the management team feel need further exploration as part of introducing continuous improvement systems and innovations.
- Services Standards
The company states on its website that it has the following delivery service standards:
- Service Promise - we are clear in what we offer and the benefits it brings to you
- Service Delivery - we offer consistent and reliable service to you
- Customer Relationships - we are open and honest with all of our customers
- Compliance - we ensure we adhere to all ethical and legal requirements.
However, service standards have not been clearly defined and there are no performance indicators in place to measure performance.
- Key performance indicators
No formal performance indicators are in place to measure key service standards including how quickly candidates are recruited to fill jobs or how many of the candidates pass the trial period effectively.
- Social Media
There is no social media strategy in place. Currently the company is not using social media to market positions or to source candidates but recognises this is an area for development. Currently most candidates are usually found through the existing database (60%) or through advertising on job search websites.
- Staff professional development

While all recruitment consultants are expected to have minimum qualifications and experience, there is no process in place to ensure that recruitment consultants continue to participate in professional development activities to keep their skills up to date. There is also no performance appraisal system in place.

- Sustainability
The business currently does not have any formal sustainability initiatives in place and is conscious of moving towards a green office environment both to be an environmentally friendly business, as well as to reduce costs.

- Stationery
All company stationery purchased is of the highest quality non-recycled and bleached paper that comes wrapped in non-biodegradable packaging and is sourced from overseas. The Accountant has identified that the cost of the stationery is astronomical and we should be reducing costs and sourcing Australian products.

- Recruitment Database
The database that the company was purchased off the shelf and keeps crashing because it is not able to cope with the amount of data that it contains. The recruitment consultants say that they are not able to customise the fields to include the data they need nor does it provide accurate reports. The Directors disagree with this feedback and have so far refused to spend money on investigating a new system.
Key business performance statistics are as follows:

- Annual sales revenue for financial year 2014 - 2015 is $1,350,000, an increase of 10% from the previous year. The target sales revenue was 12%
- Increase in profits for this financial year compared to the last one is 9%. The target was 10%
- 16% of placements are in the IT area, 18% in accounting, 20% in sales and marketing and the remainder in administration and office support.
- 60% of revenue is from repeat client business, the target was 70%
- Fill rate is 40% (where fill rate is the number of job orders filled by the number of job orders received multiplied by 100).
- Average time to fill contracts for 2014 were as follows:
- Temporary contracts was 8 days
- Contract work is 20 days
- Permanent search 23 days
- Executive search 33 days
Key performance indicators currently used to measure business performance focus on financial indicators, including net operating profit and sales revenue. The company also tracks its fill rate and is seeking to improve this to the industry average of 47% over the next year.

Part A: - Prepare report

Based on the information provided in the scenario (above), simulated business (if provided), or actual workplace, select two topics or areas that you can research and review, develop continuous improvement options and plan to implement innovative processes for. One of these topics must be a sustainability program.

Prepare a report to your manager (your assessor) that outlines the following for both topics:
The report must be between three and five pages (2000 -3000 words) with clear headings (use "Template for a Report").

- Your topics or areas for improvement that you will plan a continuous improvement and innovative processes for, one being a sustainability program
- Identify and discuss a range of strategies that you can implement to monitor and evaluate the current performance and sustainability of your topics/areas for improvement.
- Analyse and provide a detailed account of the current supply chain and the (operational, product or service) systems the business is using to deliver their service. What is working well and what could be improved?
- Identify how the topics/areas for improvement performance could be measured, including an outline of the assessment tools or techniques that could be used. Evaluate the effectiveness of each tool/technique.
- Identify at least two specialists that could help Woodhouse Recruitment, or the simulated business (if provided), or your actual workplace. This may be to identify technology and electronic commerce opportunities or to implement your ideas. Provide their contact details, the services they offer and your rationale as to why it may be beneficial to use their services.
- Conduct research and analyse and report on trends and opportunities relevant to Woodhouse Recruitment, or the simulated business (if provided), or your actual workplace in relation to your topics/areas for improvement. Use the resources provided by the assessor plus other external resources for this research.
- Compare Woodhouse Recruitment's, or the simulated business (if provided), or your actual workplace's business performance statistics to industry benchmarks and speculate as to why they may not have met their targets.

At the end of your report, introduce and briefly discuss three examples of other innovative business ideas that Woodhouse Recruitment, or the simulated business (if provided), or your actual workplace could adapt and implement.
Your report should be written in clear and concise English and contain relevant headings to identify the information.

Part B: - Attend a meeting (Role-play) - use role-play template below.

1. Complete your report and send via email to your assessor at least three days prior to the meeting to discuss and present the report. Your assessor will advise you of the date of the meeting.
Your assessor will organise a number of fellow students to attend your presentation. These students will be playing the role of the management team.

2. At the meeting, you should discuss the key findings of your report, as well as your ideas for continuous improvement and innovation in the business.

3. During the meeting, you will need to demonstrate your interpersonal skills, as well as your ability to build trust and confidence and encourage creativity in the management team. To do this you will need to demonstrate throughout your presentation your ability to clearly and confidently present information, encouraging questions from the team and discussion and active listening techniques.

4. At the end of the meeting, you will need to take on board feedback provided and agree with the management team on the best way forward with your continuous improvement and innovation initiatives.

TASK 3 - Action plan

This task requires you to develop action plans for implementing the continuous improvement and innovation changes agreed to.

Please use the "Template for a Report" (given by your trainer) to complete this assessment.

1. Develop action plans for implementing the continuous improvement and innovation initiatives agreed to in Assessment Task 2.
» The plans should be developed using a relevant project management tool such as a GANTT chart that sets out all of the actions required to implement the initiatives including timing, responsibilities, required resources, communication and key performance indicators for assessing the introduction of the initiative
» Include a risk assessment for each initiative, identifying the possible risks and how they can be managed
» Document a cost-benefit analysis for each initiative. You may make some assumptions in your analysis
» Document the impact of the change and the consequences for staff for each initiative
» Document a brief contingency plan for non-conformance for each initiative
2. As an introduction to your action plans, discuss the importance of continuous improvement and sustainability as an essential element of business and competition.
3. Send an email and your action plans to your assessor and fellow students (from Assessment Task 2). Your email should indicate that you are seeking input and final approval for the action plan.
You will be assessed as to whether your plan and email have been written in clear and concise English and whether your email and plan addresses all of the content as specified in the assessment instructions above.

TASK 4 - Analysis report

This assessment task requires you to develop an analysis and memo/report for the management team to report on customer service provision.

Instructions

Read the following case study / scenario, or a simulated business (if provided by the trainer/assessor), or an actual work workplace/environment and complete the activities that follow.

As part of the continuous improvement and innovation review and implementation, Woodhouse Recruitment implemented a formal survey to assess candidate's satisfaction with the company's services. The survey included 15 questions and is focused on the
company's services and desire to improve these. Of the 100 surveys that were sent out by
post, only 12 were returned.
Customer survey findings are as follows:
Overall satisfaction with Woodhouse Recruitment:
» 7 totally satisfied
» 2 somewhat satisfied
» 0 dissatisfied
» 1 totally dissatisfied No comments provided
Ease of doing business with Woodhouse Recruitment:
» 5 totally satisfied
» 4 somewhat satisfied
» 2 dissatisfied
» 1 totally dissatisfied Comments from candidates:
» Got the job I wanted, thanks so much
» Consultants friendly
» Hard to contact consultants
» Didn't keep us up to date with progress of applications
Customers who said they would recommend Woodhouse Recruitment to others: 5 very much so
4 most likely
2 no, I would not recommend
1 definitely would not recommend Comments from candidates:
» Would definitely recommend
» I would not recommend as I was not happy about the lack of information throughout the process
I wouldn't recommend - I kept being sent for jobs that just weren't right for me.

Prepare a report that covers the following:

1. Read the article below and develop an analysis based on your review of this article as to why the survey sent out by Woodhouse Recruitment, or the simulated business (if provided), or your actual workplace might have not been effective.

2. Discuss the successors from this type of continuous improvement initiative. What could Woodhouse Recruitment, or the simulated business (if provided), or your actual workplace take from this experience into future efforts to improve performance?

3. Review and analyse the results of the 12 surveys received outlining the results of the customer survey, as well as potential reasons for the low return.

Present the results of the survey in bar charts that include the percentages and provide an analysis of the overall customer satisfaction, ease of doing business and customer loyalty.
You should also comment on the validity of the findings given the low return.

4. Make recommendations for future customer surveys, including the frequency

Attachment:- Manage innovation and continuous.rar