MBA404 Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Psychology Assignment Sample

Once your workshop facilitator has validated your product or service choice, you are required to prepare a 1200-word written analysis by providing the reader with an in-depth analysis of how you have moved through each of the consumer decision-making steps.

In preparing your written analysis, you will also need to identify any possible issues that may have occurred during this process. Please use ‘Workshop 2 Student Handout’ as a starting point for your analysis in online assignment help.

More specifically in your descriptive essay help online, you must:

1. Analyse the need and want that led you to purchase the chosen product or service.

2. Examine the internal and external sources of information you used to purchase the chosen product or service. Please include screenshots of external sources of information to support your analysis and indicate your awareness set at the end of this section.

3. Evaluate alternatives and narrow down the chosen product or service attributes that satisfy your need and want. Please provide a detailed evoked set diagram to present your findings.

4. Analyse available purchase methods to determine how these methods impacted your decision-making process.

5. Analyse your post-purchase behaviour by identifying the chosen product or service features that reduce your cognitive dissonance. Please note that in this step, the topic of customer satisfaction should not be considered.
The findings presented in the written analysis must be based on primary research and should be reinforced by examining relevant secondary data. You must also incorporate theories and concepts related to consumer behaviour discussed in weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4.

You are required to use at least 5 sources of information and reference. These may include websites, social media sites industry reports, census data, journal articles, and newspaper articles. These references should be presented as in-text citations and a reference list at the end of your written analysis (not included I the word limit). Wikipedia and other ‘popular’ sites are not to be used.

Consumer Decision Making Process

Present study is based on the recent purchase of the product on the basis of 5-step consumer decision making procedure. This assessment offers an opportunity to reflect understanding and capability to describe determinants of consumer behavior by evaluating the role of perception, motivation, and attitude of consumer behavior.

Consumer behavior is referred as mechanism used by customer for making purchasing decision and use and disposal of purchased goods or services. It also includes elements that create impact on decision of buy and product use. My chosen product for the present assignment is GUESS perfume (Guess Man 75ml Eau De Toilette Spray). At the initial time, this perfume has been used by me in my home country such as in India, and two weeks before I purchased same perfume from Chemist warehouse in Melbourne.

Figure 1: Consumer Decision Making Process
(Source: Stankevich, 2017)

Analysis of Requirement and Desire That Assisted To Purchase The Product

In the consumer decision making procedure, need stage initiates when a need is realized by the consumers. There are mainly two causes by which need occur such as internal stimuli and external stimuli. In this aspect, internal stimuli is generally emotional requirement like thirst, sadness, happiness, and others, while external stimuli such as advertisement, marketing, and others (Lamb et al., 2016). It can be said that, need takes place when imbalance is faced by customer between actual and desired states. In the present case, I need GUESS perfume because I am very much attached with its smell. Since, I shifted to Australia and therefore I miss my home country, but smell of this perfume connects me with my home nation. Therefore, it can be said that, it is the internal stimuli that assists need for GUESS perfume. Further, motivation is referred as procedure that assists individual to behave as they do. It takes place when a requirement is taken place that the customer wished to fulfill. My behavior of GUESS perfume is significantly pulled by expectancy theory as my expectation from this perfume is to gain positive incentives. Moreover, by application of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, my need falls within the love and belongingness.

Figure 2 Maslow's need of hierarchy
(Source:Pinterest, 2016)

Analysis of Internal and External Sources of Information for Support Analysis

As soon as need is recognized by the consumer, they initiates to search for an answer. In this stage, an individual who recognize a need would then probably be persuaded to search for information, whether it may from internal sources or from external sources (Saleh, Alhosseini, and Slambolchi, 2017). In this aspect, internal search is referred to a memory of consumers, recollection of goods, or directed by personal experience. This takes place when an individual tries to search their memories to observe whether or not they recall earlier experience with a goods, services, or brand. Further, external research is performed when the consumer do not possesses any previous knowledge with respect to product that assisted them to look for information from personal sources, public sources or marketer dominated sources (Thomas et al., 2018). In the present case, I already used GUESS perfume that has been firstly gifted by my friend and I like this perfume as it smell is not very strong and I could not to take too strong perfumes. Although, I am already familiar with GUESS perfume, but I also want to research on this product, which is conducted by me from personal sources as well as public sources. In the context of personal sources, I obtained information from my friend who is very fond of perfumes, and as per her perspective GUESS perfume is one of the best as compared to any others. Further, I also observed some feedbacks from consumers at online shopping website that reflects about several qualities of perfumes.

Figure 3 Ratings and reviews of GUESS perfumes
(Source:GUESS Man Eau de Toilette - 75 ml (For Men), 2021)

Alternatives of the product

Table 1 Comparison of GUESS and GUCCI perfume

Analysis of the alternatives of product is considered as third stage of the consumer decision making procedure. In this stage, all alternatives are evaluated by the consumer as well as brand options on a range of features that have the capability to provide the advantage that the consumer is looking for (Stankevich, 2017). In specified phase consumer does compares the product with the characteristic which are expected in product chosen. The characteristic of perfume which enforced me to purchase it was its refreshing smell and reasonability of price. As I stated that after I moved to Australia, I started using other perfume i.e. Gucci y Gucci EDT for men which were comparatively strong from Guess Man perfume. Even though the fragrance was mesmerizing but it didn’t give the comfort or the way I feel while I use Guess Man perfume. Moreover, it was expensive in comparison to Guess Man perfume and didn’t provide satisfaction due to which I always think about some alternative.

Figure 4: Evoked Set for chosen product: Guess Man Perfume

Above Evoked set asserts the option chosen by me along with alternatives which I considered and which I ignored. As I cannot deal with strong fragrance for long period, thus when I found that Guess Man perfume is available I stopped using Guess Man perfume and switched back to same. Lastly, as I am emotionally attached with Guess Man perfume as I feel like being in home with its fragrance; thus I do prefer using it only. It is difficult to explain connection with the product as I have used same for long time and its fragrance is not too strong, due to which I does have to deal with other issues like allergy etc and can use it easily in the way I want. Thus, I would prefer using Guess Man perfume only.

Analysis of Purchase Methods for Purchasing Product

It is the fourth stage of consumer decision making process and in this stage purchase actually takes place. In this stage, an individual may form an intention to purchase the most preferred brand as evaluation of all alternatives has been done by them and they also ascertained the value that it would bring them (Wang, and Yu, 2017). It can be said that, making purchase decisions is the final decision in consumer decision making process. There are distinct considerations with respect to the manner in which customer purchase goods or services such as –

Use of individual income
Use of credit card
Home loans
Lease or rent agreement
Lay-by/Afterpay
Secured and unsecured personal loan

I used individual income for purchasing the GUESS perfume. In other way, it can be said that, I purchased perfume in cash from the Chemist warehouse.
Analysis of post-purchase behavior by identification of selected product features that decrease cognitive dissonance

In this phase of consumer decision making process, consumer demonstrates on their recent purchases. At this, consumer may face cognitive dissonance, which is meant as inner tension that is felt by consumer subsequent to recognition an inconsistency between behavior and opinion (Rybaczewska, Sparks, and Su?kowski, 2020). However, companies can decrease the cognitive dissonance through effective communication, providing guarantees, follow-up, and warranties. Since, it is the decision related to perfume only and therefore I am not facing any cognitive dissonance. The reason behind the same is that, GUESS is one of the leading and popular companies in all over world, which is known for its best quality of goods and services. Therefore, I am very much sure that this product would definitely as per my standards.

References

GUESS Man Eau de Toilette - 75 ml (For Men), 2021. (Online). Available through<https://www.flipkart.com/guess-man-eau-de-toilette-75-ml/p/itmf3wgvhwvhjerq>[Accessed on 10th December 2021]

Lamb WC, et all 2016, Consumer decision-making, MKTG3, Asia-Pacific Edition, Cengage Learning, pp 46 – 56.
Pinterest, 2016, Explore Maslow's Hierarchy, retrieved 23November 2016https://in.pinterest.com/pin/199354720981938641/

Rybaczewska, M, Sparks, L and Su?kowski, ? 2020,‘Consumers’ purchase decisions and employer image,’ Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, vol. 25, p.102123.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102123

Saleh, M, Alhosseini, S E and Slambolchi, A 2017,‘A Review of Consumer Decision-Making Styles: Existing Styles and Proposed Additional Styles’ InternationalJournal of Research in IT, Management and Engineering, vol. 7, no. 1, pp.33-44.http://indusedu.org/pdfs/IJRIME/IJRIME_1048_44055.pdf

Stankevich, A 2017,‘Explaining the consumer decision-making process: Critical literature review,’ Journal of International Business Research and Marketing, vol 2, no., 6, http://dx.doi.org/10.18775/jibrm.1849- 8558.2015.26.300

Thomas, V L, Magnotta, S ., Chang, H and Steffes, E, 2018,‘Role-playing in a consumption context: An experiential learning activity focused on the consumer decision-making process,’ Marketing Education Review, vol 28, no. 2, pp.89-97.https://doi.org/10.1080/10528008.2018.1431051

Wang, Y and Yu, C 2017,‘Social interaction-based consumer decision-making model in social commerce: The role of word of mouth and observational learning,’ International Journal of Information Management, vol. 37, no.3, pp.179-189.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2015.11.005

BUACC5931 Research and Statistical Methods for Business Assignment Sample

Topic : Associations between quantitative, qualitative job insecurity and well-being

Marking Criteria

Depending on the breath, in depth, relevance and correctness of the answer. Within four academic English sources, at least three peer reviewed, in correct APA. Well structured, with few or no errors in spelling and grammar.

SOLUTION

Job security is a sense of belief that a job is secure and the concerned person will keep it for long. Yet this is just a mere probability. It’s a sense of being informed that an individual’s job is secure. It builds a sense of protection against materialistic things and other responsibilities in life both economic as well as social. A person when steps into his professional life, desires a very basic requirement or is concerned about just one simple thing, i.e., a job for life. If things do not go as planned, job insecurity could become one of the major reasons for stress and anxiety. This is the reason why this topic has attracted researchers globally to research and write on such topics. Since the beginning of the 21st century, there have been major threats to job security. They are globalization, outsourcing of resources, downsizing of the firms, economic recession, and the involvement of advancement and new technologies in the work culture of the organizations worldwide. The new technologies lead to a reduction in manpower and an innumerable decrease in the cost of production for various organizations. 

Job insecurity is divided into two categories i.e., qualitative and quantitative job insecurity. Quantitative job insecurity deals with the situation where a person is concerned about the availability or existence of his current job in the future. Whereas qualitative job insecurity is the situation when employees are concerned about the unfavourable changes that take place while working in an organization that may impact their current position of responsibility (Witte et al., 2010). This mostly happens because of deterioration in the working conditions and a decrease in the structure of salary which results in a lack of career options.Both these categories of job insecurity led to outcomes that negatively impact the well-being of an individual.

Qualitative job insecurity is a situation where an individual is stuck between being employed or unemployed since the existence of his current job is highly threatened (Niesen et al., 2018). The employee lives in a dilemma wherein he is unsure of the uncertainty that is going to happen. This leaves a detrimental impact on the individual’s behaviour and attitude, which ultimately result in psychological distress and the urge to quit or reduce his/her commitment to work. The individual in order to compensate for the impact of stress then starts on to distance themselves from the organization (Niesen et al., 2018). The energy that should have been utilized in improving their performance is now diverted to regulating their emotions. Hence this outcome of qualitative job insecurity will lead negatively impact the individual’s ability to work on new ideas and develop creativity.

Moreover, qualitative job insecurity might not seem very concerning to all the individuals but this too leaves a great impact on the well-being of an individual. The threat of being at a constant level in a job with no advancement in the position of responsibility, being at a salary that isn’t increasing yearly instead starts to depreciate, might also be considered threatening to employees (Cuyper etal., 2010). The current way how organizations work is very unpredictable. The forms of qualitative job insecurity result in more or less the same outcome to the individual’s well-being as in quantitative insecurity. Qualitative job insecurities have been more prevalent these days, considering the aspects of liberalization, globalization, and privatization. The constant restructuring of economies around the world, and the transfer of powers affect the organizations as well which leads to the evolvement of uncertainties in the work-life of an individual (Cuyper et al., 2010).

Despite such great impacts on the well-being of an individual, qualitative job insecurity has always been an ignorant part. This form of job insecurity most commonly result in copying the responses of other individual working in the organisation instead of giving much attention to their mental health or desires themselves. They engage in coping with their own emotions and forget to search and work on ways to improve the performance of the organization.Both persistent types of job insecurity, the subject of quantitative insecurity, and esteemed elements of the job that are the subject of qualitative insecurity can be considered assets that an individual means to keep up with and secure. However, they address separate types of assets, which suggests that strain and precarity might include when they are compromised. Such circumstance requires considerably more work to adapt to and passes on less space to depend on other accessible assets to keep things in balance. For example, on account of qualitative work insecurity, one might in any case put resources into the fate of one's work, yet this is impractical if the two types of uncertainty are available. Hence, we need a superior comprehension of how the two parts of occupation instability might consolidate into an interesting individual encounter and what suggestions it bears for precarity and prosperity in the work-life balance.

Taking all these aspects into consideration, it can be stated that both these categories of job insecurity negatively impact the well-being of an individual and which lead to uncertain behaviour of the employees (Niesen et al., 2018). This ultimately is a loss for the organization as well. It can be stated that both these types of insecurities are unfavourable to the well-being of an individual in an equal manner. Yet, the quantitative job insecurity is a disaster as there is a possibility of losing the job itself which will lead to being in a state of unemployment. Nothing can be more disastrous for an individual than being in a state where they are unable to support their needs of themselves or in some cases their dependents as well.

The relationship between qualitative job insecurity, quantitative job insecurity, and well-being is fairly strong. Well-being can act as an order to control the sociodemographic effects of negativity and job characteristics within an individual (Griep et al., 2021). The sociodemographic of an individual also has a great impact on his well-being. It has been seen that they can cope with negativity more efficiently when a person has strong sociodemographic background i.e., a supportive family and stable socio-economic conditions.Whenaffected negatively, an individual starts negatively seeing every aspect and thus affects the wellbeing of both themselves as well as their dependents.

In the fierce universe of work, uncertainty in working conditions has turned into a significant stressor with indisputable proof of its extensive impending consequences well-being, and prosperity of the worker (Witte et al., 2010). A rising number of concentrates along these lines expect to comprehend the manners by which work frailty shows. In doing as such, it is important to represent the multi-faceted nature of the development as its various aspects might happen all the while and the commonness and possibly differential impacts of such designs remain understudied to a great extent.

Thus, it can be stated that cognitive appraisals in quantitative job insecurity hardly make any impact on the well-being association. Therefore, when an individual stresses his job insecurity, it becomes a hindrance to his career progression and gives birth to negative responses. In like manner, qualitative job insecurity also acts as a work stressor and has a great impact onthe psychological and behavioural attitudes of the individual. Mostly in the case of qualitative job insecurity individuals when losing their perks and benefits of jobs get affected more psychologically, than displaying a behavioural change. The psychological outcomes come with respect to job dissatisfaction or being exhausted emotionally.
 

References

Witte, H. D., Cuyper, N. D., Handaja, Y., Sverke, M., Naswall, K., &Hellgren, J. (2010, April). Associations Between Quantitative and Qualitative Job Insecurity and Well-Being: A Test in Belgian Banks. ResearchGate. Retrieved April 16, 2022, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247887030_Associations_Between_Quantitative_and_Qualitative_Job_Insecurity_and_Well-Being_A_Test_in_Belgian_Banks

Cuyper, N. D., Witte, H. D., Kinnunen, U., &Natti, J. (2010, April). The Relationship Between Job Insecurity and Employability and Well-Being Among Finnish Temporary and Permanent Employees. ResearchGate. Retrieved April 16, 2022, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247886954_The_Relationship_Between_Job_Insecurity_and_Employability_and_Well-Being_Among_Finnish_Temporary_and_Permanent_Employees

Niesen, W., Hootegem, A. V., Witte, H. D., Battistelli, A., &Handaja, Y. (2018, March 26). Scandinavian Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. SJWOP. Retrieved April 16, 2022, from https://www.sjwop.com/articles/10.16993/sjwop.36/

Griep, Y., Lukic, A., &Kraak, J. (2021, March). The chicken or the egg: The reciprocal relationship between job insecurity and mental health complaints. ScienceDirect. Retrieved April 16, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296320308742 

MBA600 Capstone Strategy Assignment Sample

Assignment Brief

Assessment Type: Individual reflective essay

Length: 2000 words (+/- 10% allowable range)

Weighting: 40%

Total Marks: 100

Submission: Online

Due Date: Week 13

Task

Individually, for essay writing help you are required to reflect on the learnings gained from undertaking the capstone subject and assessments by writing a 2000-word reflective essay.

Assessment Description

The purpose of this assessment is to foster students’ ability to coherently reflect on their undertaking of the Capstone: Strategy subject together with a reflection on their entire MBA.

Assessment Instructions

You are required to look back at their MBA course as a whole and identify the specific skills developed that will assist them in becoming effective practitioners in the workplace.

Learning is a persistent change in performance or potential that results from experience and interaction. Reflective learning is the process of stepping back from these experiences and reflecting on how skills, attitudes, mindset, and behaviors have evolved.

Your Reflective Essay Must Cover The Following:

• Introduction.

• A brief discussion on the value of reflective practice for managers and leaders

• A personal reflection on learnings from the capstone subject and consultancy research process.

• A personal reflection on skills developed over the MBA.

• A personal reflection on how these will assist in future career endeavors.

• Conclusions.

• Reference list.

The reflective essay should include a discussion of learnings from both a theoretical and practical perspective. Additionally, insights from undertaking assessments and research, capstone lessons as well as group activities from this and other subjects over the duration of the course. Specific examples should be cited to support and justify all points.

Assessment Information

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This material has been reproduced and communicated to you by or on behalf of Kaplan Business School pursuant to Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968 (‘Act’). The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further reproduction or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Kaplan Business School is a part of Kaplan Inc., a leading global provider of educational services. Kaplan Business School Pty Ltd ABN 86 098 181 947 is a registered higher education provider CRICOS Provider Code 02426B.

Assessment Submission

This file must be submitted as a ‘Word’ document to avoid any technical issues that may occur from incorrect file format upload. Uploaded files with a virus will not be considered as a legitimate submission. MyKBS will notify you if there is an issue with the submitted file. In this case, you must contact your workshop facilitator via email and provide a brief description of the problem and a screenshot of the MyKBS error message. You are also encouraged to submit your work well before the deadline to avoid any possible delay involving the Turnitin similarity report or any other technical difficulties.

Late assignment submission penalties

Penalties will be imposed on late assignment submissions in accordance with Kaplan Business School “late assignment submission penalties” policy.

Solution

Introduction:

Reflective learning helps people to reflect on their own skills, attitudes, behaviour and mindset. In this reflective report, it discussed the value of reflective learning and reflective practice for leaders and managers. It also discussed the experience of own reflective learning from the capstone subject and consultancy research process. Here, I also identified the skills and knowledge developed throughout the session of my MBA course. This course has been designed to build essential academic, business and cultural skills. Through this reflective report, I clarified the way acquired skills and knowledge from the MBA Capstone course will help me and assist me in future career endeavours.

Value of The Reflective Learning Practice for Leaders and Managers:

Reflective Learning Practice is a lifelong process of acquiring new skills and knowledge to enhance professional and personal skills. It helps in keeping the mind engaged and train the mind of humans to handle a wide variety of challenges. It boosts the confidence level, helps people to be flexible and boosts the confidence level of people. The reflective practice allows leaders and managers to explore their own leadership capabilities. Reflective practice reduces gaps in knowledge and skills, reduces conflict and reduces the environment of a problematic blame culture. Reflective practices help leaders to learn and acquire new skills in a faster way and enhance the ability to be flexible in new situations. It helps leaders and managers to deal with uncertain and unfamiliar circumstances and figure out the solution for controlling the unfamiliar situation. It helps in enhancing the problem-solving skills ability by enhancing the critical thinking and strategic thinking power of leaders and managers. It enhances the skills and deep understanding regarding business strategy (Husam& Abraham, 2019, p.38). Reflective practice helps leaders and managers to reflect on the particular moment and situation and enhances the ability to understate their own actions, assumptions and feelings of others. It leverages the ability to fix problems and enhances knowledge regarding business insights. It helps leaders and managers to become role models for their team members. It helps in identifying the gaps in professional and personal knowledge and skills to strengthen their existing capability and skills and acquiring new skills and knowledge from new experiences. It accelerates the own effectiveness and development of a leader. It helps managers and leaders in developing their aptitudes of basic reasoning, intellectual adaptability, knowledge regarding vital dynamics for figuring out better solutions to critical issues and enhances the ability of undivided attention. It enhances the capability of leaders and managers to explore themselves and enhances the self-capacity level to push the entire team members in a more fit, prepared and positive direction. It enhances the human administrative capability and potential of leaders and managers.

Reflection on Learnings from the Capstone Subject and Consultancy Research Process:

The MBA 600 course of Capstone strategy subject and consultancy research process helped me to gain the appropriate knowledge regarding the business model. It enhances my deep understandings of the business strategy and enhances the new concept regarding the business insights. It helped me to gain knowledge regarding business strategy theories. It enhances the knowledge regarding people, culture and contemporary leadership capability that enhanced my key concepts regarding managing human resources effectively. It helped me to gain knowledge regarding ethical guidelines, governance and sustainability policy for continuing the business effectively. It helped me to know the role of the board in the assessment of business risks and business strategy. It helped me to acquire knowledge regarding the importance of financial and economic communication and interpretation in business. It helped me to learn the techniques to assess business performance, business liquidity and financial position of the business. It enhanced my knowledge regarding marketing psychology and strategies to achieve business goals and objectives (Newton?Calvert& Arthur, 2018, p.166). It helped me to improve my understanding level regarding consumer behaviour and the way consumer behaviour is directly connected to the strategies of business to increase the market share of the company. I realised the MBA 600 course of Capstone Strategy helped me to develop a dynamic corporate-level strategy for creating and enhancing business value through disruptive innovation. It helped me to gain knowledge regarding the importance of diversity, emotional intelligence level and cultural intelligence level. It helped me to understand the importance of appraising the people from different cultural backgrounds within the organisation (Fraustino et al., 2019, p.46). It helped me to gain knowledge regarding developing dynamic capabilities for improving corporate agility. I realised that it helped me assess the opportunities and needs of customers exist in the organisation. It helped me to gain knowledge regarding designing an appropriate and innovative business model and securing the accessibility of business capital and resources. It helped me to understand changing, streamlining and improving the practices of an organisation based on the organisation needs. I realised that the course helped me to understand the importance of using the appropriate business theories in the relevant and appropriate place. It helped me to understand the importance of assessing the impact of external macro-environmental factors and internal microenvironmental factors on business strategies. I realise the importance of effective utilisation of business resources to increase cash flow, market share and sales of the company. I learned the importance of the utilisation of superior infrastructure and innovative technology in the business to improve the efficiency and quality of the internal business process. The overall journey of the MBA Course made me more empowered and confident for the future workplace.

Personal Reflection on Skills That Developed Through the MBA Course:

The MBA 600 course of Capstone strategy subject and consultancy research process helped me to improve my change management skills. It helped me to learn the appropriate steps of leading the change within the organisation. I learned the importance of Kotter's 8 step change management model step by step. It increased my ability to convince others regarding the importance of change. It helped me to improve my guiding power to my team members to overcome the natural resistance to accept changes (Rodriguez et al., 2020, p.5). I also learned about other change management models like Elizabeth Kubler Ross change management model and ADKAR model to bring the changes at the individual level. The content and resources of the MBA 600 course helped me to improve my communication skill level and professional etiquette level to convince customers and attract them to utilise the services of the business. I learned about different professional etiquette to continue the positive and fruitful communication with senior business executives, colleagues and team members etc. (Lee et al., 2020, p.308). I realised that it is important to communicate with others to understand their emotional states and needs. The overall course helped me to improve my problem-solving skill. It helped me to figure out the appropriate resolutions for any critical issues by assessing the business performance through VRIO analysis. I learned about different problem-solving techniques to support my team members in an uncertain situations (Ottonicar et al., 2021, p.67). Moreover, it helped me to gain knowledge regarding product life cycle stages. It helped me to improve my capability of developing appropriate product strategies by introducing new models and features through continuous innovation as per customers’ needs and requirements. It improved my knowledge regarding the different levels of pricing strategy as per the demand, quality, economic status of the country and value of the company and product. It also improved my knowledge regarding appropriate promotional strategies to build brand awareness and emphasise the brand position in the respect of the product life cycle. The overall concept helped me to improve my business management and employee management skill. Moreover, I realised it improved my customer service skill. It also enhanced my emotional intelligence level and I learned the different techniques to control my own emotion and others as well. It helped to improve my self-esteem level and confidence skill to control any situation and manage the business activities efficiently.

Personal Reflection on the Way Acquired Skills and Knowledge will Assist me in Future Career Endeavours:

My long-term aim is to become a successful business project manager and the MBA 600 course of Capstone strategy helped me to strengthen my entrepreneurial skills to achieve my goal step by step. Communication skills will help me to professionally interact with my seniors, other shareholders and my colleagues appropriately. It will help me to improve my negotiating power to manage business activities as a successful project manager (Fergusson et al., 2019, p.290). Knowledge regarding change management skills will help me to understand the appropriate moment to bring changes within the organisation. It will help me to effectively convince my team members and support them to bring the changes to improve the competitive level of the company. It will help me to bring creativity and innovation to the business. Knowledge regarding problem-solving techniques will assist me to improve my active listening skill and critical thinking power (Slade et al., 2019, p.2). It will help me to figure out the appropriate resolutions for any critical situation to continue the business activities as a leader. Employee management skills will help me to improve my leadership capability as a business project manager in future. The business management techniques will help me to figure out appropriate pricing strategy, promotional strategy and product development and distribution strategy for being competitive in the market in future. Effective knowledge regarding customer service will help me to easily convince potential customers (Cirocki and Farrell, 2017, p.5). It will help me to influence customers to utilise the services offered by my future company. Self-esteem and confidence level and emotional intelligence skills will help me for being active and flexible in any critical and uncertain situation. My future endeavour is to utilise my skills in a positive way to make a huge contribution to the place of the business world.

Conclusion:

In view of the overall experience, the content and resources of the MBA 600 Course helped me to realise that it is important to acquire the appropriate professional and personal skills and knowledge for becoming a successful businessman in future. I realise that it is important to be flexible and confident in the business world to achieve the long-term aim of the person. The overall course helped me to prepare myself as a future manager to lead my team members and business activities appropriately. I realised I need to give focus on strengthening my existing skills. Moreover, I need to improve my new skills by continuous learning and gathering feedback from others for being competitive in future.

References:

Cirocki, A. and Farrell, T.S., 2017. Reflective practice for professional development of TESOL practitioners. The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL, 6(2), pp.5-23.http://www.reflectiveinquiry.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/RP-special.pdf

Fergusson, L., van der Laan, L. & Baker, S., 2019. Reflective practice and work-based research: a description of micro-and macro-reflective cycles. Reflective Practice, 20(2), pp.289-303.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14623943.2019.1591945

Fraustino, J.D., Pressgrove, G. &Colistra, R., 2019. Extending understanding of service-learning projects: Implementing place-based branding for capstone courses. Communication Teacher, 33(1), pp.45-62.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17404622.2017.1372609

Husam, H.A. & Abraham, P., 2019. Employability skills development through assessment in higher education: Students’ voices on reflective assessments. Glob Acad J Econ Buss, 1, pp.36-42.https://www.gajrc.com/media/articles/GAJEB_12_36-42.pdf

Lee, O.S., Lee, K.S. &Gu, H.J., 2020. Influence of Perception of Importance of Communication, Self-esteem and Communication skill on Patient Safety attitude of Nursing student. Journal of Digital Convergence, 18(10), pp.307-314.https://www.koreascience.or.kr/article/JAKO202031064817445.pdf

Newton?Calvert, Z. & Arthur, D.S., 2018. Capstone Courses and Projects. High?Impact Practices in Online Education: Research and Best Practices, pp.165-182.https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=wmd0DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT212&dq=benefits+of+capstone+courses+in+higher+education&ots=CG7ocgm5Ex&sig=kaTYa-M9dEhQk8AkWBExIPoYvqA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=benefits%20of%20capstone%20courses%20in%20higher%20education&f=false

Ottonicar, S.L.C., Valentim, M.L.P. and Bouthillier, F., 2021. From Business Information Literacy to Decision-Making, Problem Solving and Innovation. International Journal of Media and Information Literacy, 6(1), pp.66-76.https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/from-business-information-literacy-to-decision-making-problem-solving-and-innovation

Rodriguez, J.A., Condom-Bosch, J.L., Ruiz, L. & Oliver, E., 2020. On the shoulders of giants: benefits of participating in a dialogic professional development program for in-service teachers. Frontiers in psychology, 11, p.5.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00005/full

Slade, M.L., Burnham, T.J., Catalana, S.M. and Waters, T., 2019. The Impact of Reflective Practice on Teacher Candidates' Learning. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 13(2), pp.1-8.https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1218300.pdf

PRJM6002 PRM530 Project Time Mgmt Assignment Sample

Assignment Brief

Due date: As set out in the Unit Outline, submission is via Turnitin (Blackboard).

Word Count: 1500 - 1800 words

ASSESSMENT INSTRUCTIONS

For assignment help Please read these assessment instructions carefully before attempting the assessment!
For this Assessment, you are to conduct your own research on the topic described (below) and review current literature and subsequently provide an essay on your research with cited references to Curtin University guidelines (Chicago referencing). Include a minimum of seven (7) references; some from scholarly journals, and from relevant texts that contribute to your essay. Articles need to be peer-reviewed.

You should support your arguments with evidence from your research. Use examples to illustrate your understanding of the issues and introduce your topic (inform the reader) and provide a conclusion to summarize your findings.

Topic

When planning a project and estimating the expected duration of the component tasks, an important factor is the productivity of the labour assigned to a task.

For any labour intensive, ‘effort-driven’ project tasks for example:

• building a wall;
• interviewing clients for their requirements;
• developing a software module; or any other such activity, the degree to which the project manager accounts for labour productivity will influence the planned duration of the task.

Select a significant task from a project (social or workplace) with which you have some experience. You are required to describe and analyze the productivity of work on that task and to answer the Assessment, steps 1 to 4, as follows:

Step Task 1

Briefly describe your selected project and an appropriate, effort-driven task selected from that project. Explain the resources (human) that are required for the selected task. - 150 – 200 words 10 Marks

Step Task 2

Define productivity (in the context of project work) and define worker productivity and state how these can be measured. Explain how the productivity of your selected project task could be effectively measured. 200 – 250 words 20 Marks

Step Task 3

Describe three factors that may significantly affect the productivity of the workers for your selected project task and explain in what way and by how much these factors could influence the estimate of the work duration of that task. 650 – 750 words 35 Marks

Step Task Word Count Mark 4

Describe one management technique, appropriate to your nominated project and task, which addresses one or more of the factors described above (in Step 3); and which could be implemented on your chosen task to improve the worker productivity. Explain how you would expect the productivity of the work (and hence the task duration) to be impacted by this technique. 500 – 600 words 35 Marks

Instructions and Formatting Requirements:

• This is an individual Assessment that requires you to present your own work, apply critical thinking and in a format that follows the structure, mentioned elow.

• Your Assessment is to be submitted as single soft copy (MS Word file) via Turnitin on Blackboard. Ensure that you comply with the Guidelines for Submitting Soft Copy Assessments - available on Blackboard under Assessments.

• All Curtin policies apply to this work and you should particularly note those relating to plagiarism and late submission. Marks will be deducted for non-compliance with the Assessment instructions.

• Refer to the additional information on Essay Style writing (on Blackboard).
o The word count shall be declared clearly on the cover page by the student.
o The following parts will not be considered in the word count. All other parts (including tables) will be counted.

• Table of contents
• Introduction
• Conclusion
• References
• Appendices

o Submissions of 15% over the word limit will not be marked. The paper will be returned to the student to reduce the word count and resubmitted within 24 hours. Failing to comply with this requirement will result in the submission being disqualified.

o No text can be submitted as an image. Inserting text as images is not acceptable and could be viewed as an attempt to hide plagiarism. If you are experiencing issues with formatting in MS Word, please submit your MS Word file in TurnitIn.
• Page size: A4; Line spacing: 1.5
• Font size: 11; Font style: Calibri Margins: standard
• File format: Please provide your submission (paper) as an MS Word file (not PDF)

Submission
Submission through TurnitIn in Blackboard Late submissions will be penalized as per the Curtin Late Assessment Policy in the Unit Outline

Solution

1. Introduction

The application of the skills, expertise, instruments, and techniques to fulfil the requirements of the project is known as management of the project. It is distinct from the management which is an illustration of an ongoing process in one sense, that is, it has a time span and should be delivered within the given duration. Effort-driven tasks are those tasks in which people are assigned or removed which alters the length of the project based on utilized resources. Importantly, it does not alter the amount of work required for the task. The study aims to choose a task from a project and analyse the productivity of the labor. It includes the description of the selected project and a suitable effort-driven task. The study also includes an explanation of the productivity of the workers and factors that significantly affect their productivity.

2. Description of the Project

The project intends to build a thematic restaurant, which also includes architectural work on the restaurant wall. In the successful completion of a project, predetermined time frames, and standards play an important role. As mentioned by Irfan et al. (2021) that improper planning, over-budgeting, and delaying of the projects have been among the primary features behind the failure of construction projects worldwide. Therefore, this project includes a predetermined time frame of one year and standards for its successful completion. The role of the project manager in a project is crucial as it acts as the safety coordinator, decision-maker, controller of the process, coordinator of the quality, and team worker. Meng and Boyd (2017) stated that it also plays a crucial in increasing the satisfaction level of the clients.

In the case of an effort-driven task, the current value of the task remains the same irrespective of the number of resources utilized to it. When new resources are added to the task, total work gets distributed among them. In this project, the selected effort-driven task is to create a set of architectural drawings on the walls of the restaurant within the time frame of 64 weeks, which is the required time to complete the task by one architect. Since the task is effort-driven, thus 8 workers are assigned to it, and the task is scheduled to be finished in 8 weeks. Therefore, eight human resources are required for the selected task.

3. Productivity and its measurement

It is the belief of business fraternity, and governments that productivity is among the prime solutions to the improvement of living standards. But, in technical terms, productivity is the efficiency and effectiveness of the organizations, and the economy as a whole to transform the inputs into output. As influenced by Liao, Teo, and Low (2017), the relationship between resources utilized in the production process of a good, and its output is known as productivity. The productivity of an organization or economy increases when the growth in the output is greater than the amount of the input used in its production.

Productivity is not the reflector of the value of the output. It is only a measure of the amount of output produced from the utilization of the inputs. The relation between the resources utilized and the output is considered as the ratio of productivity (Priya and Aroulmoji 2020). The input in the process of the production could be the human resource or machines or both of them. However, output could be referred to as the unit or volume. As influenced by Priya and Aroulmoji (2020) productivity index is one when a worker completes a task in the given time frame. Thus the productivity of labor can be computed by dividing the total production with the inputs (Nakamura, Kaihatsu and Yagi 2018).

In the selected project task the productivity of the labor is measured by dividing the total set of architectural drawings by the number of the workers assigned to it. The amount of total architectural designs on the wall of the restaurant is 128.

Thus,
Productivity = Total amount of architectural drawings/No. of worker
= 128/8 = 16
The productivity of the workers assigned to the selected project task is 16.

4. Factors affecting the workers’ productivity

The productivity of the workers is among the major concerns of the project managers. Agrawal and Halder (2020) stated that many factors influence the productivity of the workers. It includes both internal and external factors. External factors affecting the productivity of the laborers are political unrest and environmental condition. Internal factors that have a significant impact on the productivity of the workers include individual worker's skills, workers' mindset, and dedication regarding work (Agrawal and Halder 2020). The lower level of productivity puts inflationary pressure on the budget of the project. Therefore, the project managers must recognize these factors that influence the productivity of the workers. The three factors that may significantly influence the productivity of the workers for the selected project task are:

? Engagement of the employee
? Environment of the workplace
? Technology

4.1 Engagement of the employees

The success of the project significantly depends upon the productivity level of the employees. Employee engagement is among those factors that influence the productivity of the workers. As mentioned by Barik and Kochar (2017) highly engaged employees lead to successful completion of the task and let the organization earn a significant level of profit. It is an approach at the workplaces that inspires the workers to stay dedicated to the goal of the project and perform at their best. Employee engagement is the extent to which workers are committed to their work and invest the efforts that are necessary for the completion of the project. An engaged employee is way more productive than their counterpart. In the effort-driven task of architectural drawings, the engagement of the employees would help in its successful completion. Osborne and Hammoud (2017) stated that US corporations cost USD 350 in a year. Therefore, it can be realized that employee engagement is an important factor that significantly impacts the productivity level of the workers.

In the selected project task, an employee works for 8 hours daily. If the employee engagement would be increased through successful management practice, the output of 8 hours of work could increase, and the task could be completed in eight weeks successfully.

4.2 Environment of the Workplace

Productivity is an important element of the projects, and it requires constant effort from the project managers to keep its level up to the requirement of the project. Environment of the workplace is the key aspect of the productivity of the workers. A negative environment at the workplace could lead to a lower productivity level of the employees. As stated by Massoudi and Hamdi (2017) that the environment of the workplace determines the motivation level, performance, and productivity of the workers. A better environment at the workplace is the most required element for improving the productivity of the workers. The productivity level of an employee is directly associated with the environment of the workplace. A positive environment motivates the employees and thus it assists in increasing the productivity level and successful completion of the project. Aldoseri and Almaamari (2020) stated that leadership has a crucial role in forming a friendly environment in the workplace that motivates and increases the employee satisfaction level. Therefore, a positive and friendly work environment would help in the completion of architectural drawings by increasing employees’ productivity.

4.3 Technology

The rapid changes in technological advancement have changed how businesses used to operate.Technological advancement in an organization could significantly increase the satisfaction level of employees as well as the customers (Van Zyl 2020). The growth in employees’ satisfaction level would lead to higher productivity which would ultimately increase the profit level of the organization. In project management, the use of technology at the workplace increases the productivity level of the employees and helps in its successful completion. The use of technology such as building information modelling (BIM) would assist in streamlining the architectural plans which would provide updates to every stakeholder of the project (Mesároš, Mandi?ák and Behúnová 2020). The use of technology- Virtual Reality (VR) - can help in visualizing the architecture and allow real-time changes in the designs. It increases the productivity of the workers as well because they get instant feedback for the work from stakeholders (Influenced by Shi 2019). Therefore, in this manner technology allows to increase the productivity of the workers and would assist in reducing the estimated duration of the architectural drawing task.

5. Description of the management technique

One of the primary techniques used by the leaders to increase the productivity of the employees is communication. Communication contributes significantly to the productivity of the team. Effective communication helps in mitigating the risk of failure of the project task. It is an important technique used by the project managers which assists the employees in understanding their job responsibilities (Influenced by Attaran, Attaran and Kirkland 2019). The use of information technology helps in effective communication, thus, effective communication helps the project managers in taking feedback and delivering information related to the project task.

Assessment of the employees is another technique used by the project managers. In this technique, project managers assess the strength and weaknesses of their employees. The assessment of the employees assists the managers in providing required training to the employees. The training program increases the overall productivity of the workplace and also increases the satisfaction level of the employees. Performance appraisal is a technique in the management process to evaluate the performance of the workers and recognize the skills of the employees (Islami, Mulolli and Mustafa 2018). Assessment of the skills of the employees helps the managers in assigning the job according to the employees' strengths. Teamwork is considered to be one of the most crucial aspects for the successful completion of the project. Khan and Mashikhi (2017) found that there is a significant impact of teamwork on the performance of the workers. Therefore, the project managers also utilize assessment techniques which creates an environment of teamwork. The technique of assessment and then letting the employees use their strengths helps in increasing workplace productivity. The strategy would help in the completion of architectural drawing tasks within the time frame.

The utilization of the project management software boosts the teamwork and productivity of the employees. In this technique, project managers employ the software which brings the entire stakeholders on a single platform. The stakeholders include team members, clients, and other officials of the organization. Proofhub is one of the software which assists the project managers in gathering all the stakeholders on a common platform and let productivity reach a new level (Chukwukelu and Ile 2019).

The project managers also use the technique of providing ownership to the employees. Provision of ownership to the employees means the managers provide liberty to employees for taking their own decisions (Influenced by Gubler, Larkin and Pierce 2019). It boosts the confidence level of the workers and thus their productivity. In this technique, project managers make the employee accountable for the job. This kind of method induces a sense of responsibility in the workers that let them work distinctively and impacts their performance. In the architectural drawings, this technique would help the employees to use their methods and bring the desired outcomes.

Project managers also provide incentives to the workers which induce them to perform effectively (Gosnell, List and Metcalfe 2020). It helps in motivating the employee to perform better, which ultimately increases the overall productivity level of the workforce. Therefore, incentives raise workers’ productivity and assist in the completion of the architectural drawing task before the assigned duration.

6. Conclusion

It can be concluded that from the above evaluation that discussed factors, and techniques of project management helps in increasing worker’s productivity. Therefore, the task of architectural drawing could be completed before the assigned duration of 8 weeks with the help of 16 workers.
 

7. References

Journals
Irfan, Muhammad, Sanam Zaib Khan, Nasruddin Hassan, Mazlan Hassan, Muhammad Habib, Salma Khan, and Hadi Hassan Khan. 2021. "Role of Project Planning and Project Manager Competencies on Public Sector Project Success." Sustainability 13, no. 3: 1421. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031421

Meng, Xianhai, and Paul Boyd. 2017. "The role of the project manager in relationship management." International Journal of Project Management 35, no. 5: 717-728. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2017.03.001

Liao, Longhui, Evelyn Ai Lin Teo, and Sui Pheng Low. 2017. "A project management framework for enhanced productivity performance using building information modelling." Construction Economics and Building 17, no. 3: 1-26. http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/AJCEB.v17i3.5389

Priya, Rajesh Shankar, and Vincent Aroulmoji. 2020. "A Review on Productivity and its Effect in Industrial Manufacturing." International Journal for Advanced Science and Engineering 6, no. 4: 1490-1499.

Nakamura, Koji, Sohei Kaihatsu, and Tomoyuki Yagi. 2018. “Productivity improvement and economic growth”. No. 18-E-10. Bank of Japan. https://doi.org/10.29294/IJASE.6.4.2020.1490-1499
Agrawal, Aman, and Srijeet Halder. 2020. "Identifying factors affecting construction labour productivity in India and measures to improve productivity." Asian Journal of Civil Engineering 21, no. 4: 569-579. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42107-019-00212-3

Barik, Smita, and Aastha Kochar. 2017. "Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement: A literature review." International Journal of Latest Technology in Engineering, Management & Applied Science 6, no. 4: 33-38. https://www.academia.edu/download/53002195/33-38.pdf
Osborne, Schrita, and Mohamad S. Hammoud. 2017. "Effective employee engagement in the workplace." International Journal of Applied Management and Technology 16, no. 1: 4. https://doi:10.5590/ijamt.2017.16.1.04

Massoudi, Aram Hanna, and Samir Salah Aldin Hamdi. 2017. "The Consequence of work environment on Employees Productivity." IOSR Journal of Business and Management 19, no. 01: 35-42. DOI: 10.9790/487X-1901033542

Aldoseri, Fatima Isa, and Qais Ahmed Almaamari. 2020. "Factors Influencing Employee Performance at the Banking Sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain: Literature Review." International Journal on Emerging Technologies 11(5): 304-309. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Qais-

Almaamari/publication/344242853_Factors_Influencing_Employee_Performance_at_the_Banking_Sector_in_Kingdom_of_Bahrain_Literature_Review/links/5f5fca7792851c0789676ff2/Factors-Influencing-Employee-Performance-at-the-Banking-Sector-in-Kingdom-of-Bahrain-Literature-Review.pdf

Van Zyl, Gerhardus. 2020. "The impact of new production technology on employee productivity in the SouthAfrican workplace." Journal of Economic and Financial Sciences 13, no. 1: 8. https://jefjournal.org.za/index.php/jef/article/view/507/974

Mesároš, Peter, Tomáš Mandi?ák, and Annamária Behúnová. 2020. "Use of BIM technology and impact on productivity in construction project management." Wireless Networks: 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11276-020-02302-6

Shi, Yangming, Jing Du, Changbum R. Ahn, and Eric Ragan. 2019. "Impact assessment of reinforced learning methods on construction workers' fall risk behavior using virtual reality." Automation in Construction 104: 197-214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2019.04.015

Khan, Sheeba, and L. S. Mashikhi. 2017. "Impact of teamwork on employees’ performance." International Journal of Education and Social Science 4, no. 11: 14-22. http://www.ijessnet.com/uploades/volumes/1598724863.pdf

Islami, Xhavit, Enis Mulolli, and Naim Mustafa. 2018. "Using Management by Objectives as a performance appraisal tool for employee satisfaction." Future Business Journal 4, no. 1: 94-108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fbj.2018.01.001

Attaran, Mohsen, Sharmin Attaran, and Diane Kirkland. 2019. "The need for the digital workplace: increasing workforce productivity in the information age." International Journal of Enterprise Information Systems (IJEIS) 15, no. 1: 1-23. https://doi: 10.4018/IJEIS.2019010101

Chukwukelu, Ebere Patience, and C. N. Ile. 2019. "Office Competencies Required of Business Education Graduates for Effective Performance in Modern Offices in Imo State." Nau Journal of Technology and Vocational Education 3, no. 1: 54-64. http://www.naujtved.com.ng/index.php/jtved/article/view/61

Gubler, Timothy, Ian Larkin, and Lamar Pierce. 2018. "Doing well by making well: The impact of corporate wellness programs on employee productivity." Management Science 64, no. 11: 4967-4987. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2883

Gosnell, Greer K., John A. List, and Robert D. Metcalfe. 2020. "The impact of management practices on employee productivity: A field experiment with airline captains." Journal of Political Economy 128, no. 4: 1195-1233. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w25620/w25620.pdf

PRJM6010 Project and People Assessment 2 Sample

Assignment Brief

Value: 40%

For this assessment you will be required to write an academic essay discussing one of the topics provided below in the light of theories and concepts discussed in the unit and their application to the project management context.

Please read the assessment instructions below carefully before attempting the essay!

Assessment Instructions for assignment help

• Please complete the essay in a Word document and upload to Blackboard via Turnitin.
• Submit Assessment 2 - week 6 (11:59pm THURSDAY 1st April)
• Word Count – 1500 words (10% leeway)
• At the top of the first page, you must have your first and last name, your student number, your email address, and the title of your essay.
• Include in-text references in your critical essay and a correctly formatted Reference List on.
• Ensure that your work contains minimal (read negligible) grammar, syntax or spelling mistakes!

Essay Requirements

You are required to write an academic essay discussing and critically evaluating one of the following topics:

• Decision making in project management
• Antecedents and outcomes of stakeholder satisfaction in projects
• Role of emotions in project management

You are required to find minimum 6 scholarly references from peer-reviewed academic journals that address your selected essay topic. References from other sources such as textbooks, reputable magazines (e.g., The Economist, Harvard Business Review) can be used as long as you have 6 (six) scholarly references. Websites are not acceptable as a reference, unless it is an online version of a reputable publication (e.g., Forbes magazine). Wikipedia is not acceptable as it has very little credibility since anyone can go in and change a Wikipedia page.

In your essay you will need to cover two main components:

1) summaries the key themes from the academic journals on your chosen topic; and

2) discuss how this topic is relevant for project managers based on your research of the academic articles. An essential component of the essay is to demonstrate critical thinking. All information supplied in the essay should be evidence-based (i.e., sourced from scholarly references) and not based on personal opinion.

Your essay must be based on a central argument or hypothesis that is clearly outlined in the introduction. An essay is not a report, where you briefly summarize what is known about a particular topic. Rather an essay is a critical evaluation of a particular argument or a hypothesis.
A suggested structure for your essay is Introduction, Main Body, and Conclusion (including limitations). Please provide a reference list (formatted according to Chicago style) at the end of your essay.
Note: the reference list is not included in the word count!

Solution

Decision Making in Project Management

Introduction

Among all the skills that project managers need to have for managing different projects, decision making is the most essential and valuable skill. According to Erdogan, Šaparauskas, and Turskis (2017, 272), proper decision making in project management is very important as it influences the success of projects to large extent. In a study, Samset and Volden (2016, 299) commented that the first phase of decision making in project management support project governance. In project governance the decisions taken by the project manager define the actions, verify performance and grant power. Hence, proper decision making is very essential. The essay aims to discuss how decision making is relevant to project managers and their significance in project management. The essay argues that decision making in project management is essential as it helps a project manager to maintain progress and compare the options available for taking the best course of action. For this purpose, the paper analyses the effectiveness of decision making in project management, its importance to project managers, and the different decision-making style that projects managers consider.

Main Body

Making an effective decision and applying them to work is the hallmark of high-quality performance within any organisation. In project management, every success, every opportunity held or missed, every mishap that happens is the result of the decision made by the project manager. Marques, Gourc, and Lauras (2011, 1058) discussed the factors on which the decision making of a project manager depends. The study identified that in project management, the decision needs to be made by evaluating the objective of the project and the current situation. On the other hand, the project manager also needs to evaluate the past present and future events that are going to happen as the consequences of the decision taken. Consideration of the above factors is essential for effective decision making. Further, Alias et al. (2016, 62) discussed the critical success factors in project management practice where they emphasised decision making as an essential CSF for the success of a project. The study state that the decisions that are taken at the initial phases of project design put a larger impact on the success of big projects than compared to the decision taken in the later phases. On the contrary, Verner, Sampson, and Cerpa (2008, 78) surveyed 24 projects and found that 88% of the projects failed due to inappropriate decision made at the later phase when it was the time to deliver the project. Thus, it can be said that effective decision making is vital not only at the earlier phase of a project process but throughout the project duration.

Good decision making involves the consideration of several other factors that can lead to the success of the projects. Too and Weaver (2014, 1392-1397) conducted a study to analyse the different features of a good decision-making process in project governance. The study showed that while decision making, the project manager must be focused on the objectives of the project and analyse the relevant data and information required for achieving the objectives. Organisational and project constraints are essential factors that need to be considered while decision making. This would make the decision realistic for the project situation. Moreover, Heagney (2016) stated that the risks that are associated with the decisions should be identified and a proper risk-mitigating approach should be implemented. The project manager must also follow a reasonable process that is fair and constant for achieving the desired result. While making decisions, the project manager should keep in mind that he has to respect the ideas and opinion of the team members while making the final decision. Bouwmans et al. (2017, 73) in their study found that a major reason for team conflict in project management happens because the project leader or manager do not consider or value the opinion of the teammates for making decisions for the project. Hence, participative decision making is also an essential component of the decision making process in project governance.

Decision making capability of a project manager put a considerable impact on the deliberate value of the benefit delivered. The decisions are mostly based on the information feed collected by the project manager. In research work, Eweje, Turner, and Müller (2012, 641) analysed the impact of information feed utilised by decisions makers in project management. The study showed that there is a positive correlation between decision-making practice and business performance. Ureña et al. (2015, 14) have found that the main challenge in project management is unreliable, inadequate or misleading information served to project managers, due to which there arose a conflict between the planning, policy and decision making. Hence, the project manager must consider an alternative approach to get complete information for decision making. The authors have suggested an approach to get complete information for effective decision making in project management. In the initial stage, projects managers have to discard the information that is incomplete in nature and process only those pieces of information that are complete, which means the information provides a complete set of data. In the second phase of the approach, project managers should penalise the experts who have provided incomplete information. This practice will discourage the supply of misleading information for future projects. If the missing data are essential for decision making, project managers should try to collect the data and complete the values for decision making (Ureña et al. 2015, 16). Thus, it can be seen that the decision made by project managers must be based on a complete information feed and discourage any misleading information supply.

Project managers are responsible for coping up with the decision-making activities like identifying, selecting, classifying and ranking. Each activity is associated with a certain risk if the desired outcome is not attained. In this regard, Ebrahimnejad et al. (2014, 950) identified a few decision-making tools that can assists managers to mitigate the risk. The first tool identified is Multi-Attribute Decision Making also known as MADM. This tool allows the project management team to access an effective framework for evaluating multiple and conflicting criteria (Liu, et al. 2019, 880-885). An important type of MADM is compromising programming which is widely used for real-life decision making. As several methods are having different constraints and characteristics, it is impossible to use them for making decision s in project management (Ebrahimnejad, Mousavi, and Seyrafianpour 2010, 576-577). Therefore, the researcher considers innovating an effective tool has would base on the fuzzy theory. The fuzzy MADM technique is used in decision making when the project manager faces several options and indicators for making an effective decision for the project’s success. Under the fuzzy theory, the decision-maker can use his knowledge, judgement and experience for deciding project management (Farsijani, Nikabadi, and Amirimoghadam 2015, 90). However, Abdel-malak et al. (2017, 329) criticized the fuzzy MADM approach as it is difficult to handle by some project managers as it involves assessment of numeric and logical values. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of this approach cannot be denied for decision making in project management.

There has been much debate over decades regarding the base of decision making in project management. As researchers have highlighted many facts, the decision-making process has become easier as project managers use peer theories for making decisions for projects’ success. The project managers are responsible to have a process that enables the whole team to decide rationally on the different facets of the project. They must consider the facts, values, means and ends that will help to make an appropriate decision throughout the project process. The decision models that consider the above-mentioned facets are Maslow’s pyramid and the Pareto principle. B. Soni and R. Soni (2016, 259) suggest that a project manager should understand the different need of the resources that are associated with the project. The decision based on the need’s hierarchy is generally accepted by all the team members. This makes the project successful as all the participants contribute with the full potential obeying the decision of the project manager. Besides, Ivan?i? (2014, 633-639) suggested that by using the Pareto principle, the project manager can prioritise the challenges and find effective solutions for resolving such. The project manager can use the 80/20 measurement scale for finding out the accurate issue that might hamper the project. Hence, it has been proven to be an effective theory that can be considered while decision making in project management.

Conclusion

The essay argues that decision making in project management is essential as it helps a project manager to maintain progress and compare the options available for taking the best course of action. For the analysis, it can be concluded that there are essential factors that are needed to be considered while deciding on projects’ success. The essentiality of complete information has been highlighted in this essay as it is the realm of good project governance. For obtaining important information and data, the best approach that project managers can consider is fuzzy Multi-Attribute Decision Making. Besides, consideration of important theory such as Maslow’s need hierarchy theory and Pareto’s principle should also be considered for effective decision making.

References

Abdel-malak, Fam F., Usama H. Issa, Yehia H. Miky, and Emad A. Osman. 2017. "Applying decision-making techniques to Civil Engineering Projects." Beni-Suef University journal of basic and applied sciences 6, no. 4 (December): 326-331.

Alias, Zarina, E. M. A. Zawawi, Khalid Yusof, and N. M. Aris. 2016 "Determining critical success factors of project management practice: A conceptual framework." Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 153 (October): 61-69.

Bouwmans, Machiel, Piety Runhaar, Renate Wesselink, and Martin Mulder. 2017. "Fostering teachers' team learning: An interplay between transformational leadership and participative decision-making?" Teaching and Teacher Education 65 (July): 71-80.

Ebrahimnejad, Sadoullah, S. Meysam Mousavi, Reza Tavakkoli-Moghaddam, and Mojtaba Heydar. 2014. "Risk ranking in mega projects by fuzzy compromise approach: A comparative analysis." Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems 26, no. 2 (January): 949-959.

Ebrahimnejad, Sadoullah, Seyed Meysam Mousavi, and Hamed Seyrafianpour. 2010. "Risk identification and assessment for build–operate–transfer projects: A fuzzy multi attribute decision making model." Expert systems with Applications 37, no. 1 (January): 575-586.

Erdogan, Seyit Ali, Jonas Šaparauskas, and Zenonas Turskis. 2017. "Decision making in construction management: AHP and expert choice approach." Procedia engineering 172 (January): 270-276. doi: 10.1016/j.proeng.2017.02.111

Eweje, John, Rodney Turner, and Ralf Müller. 2012. "Maximizing strategic value from megaprojects: The influence of information-feed on decision-making by the project manager." International Journal of Project Management 30, no. 6 (August): 639-651.

Farsijani, H., M. Nikabadi, and H. Amirimoghadam. 2015. "Six sigma project selections using fuzzy network-analysis and fuzzy MADM." Decision Science Letters 4, no. 1: 87-96.

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TSM11105 International Tourism Assignment Sample

50% of module assessment

Due to be submitted by 1pm on Friday 11th March on Moodle using Turnitin.

Target length: 2500 words (not including reference list). The Maximum length: 3000 words.

• Topic: Write an essay of 2500 words that addresses the following question for essay writing help.

Given the pressures of the global environmental crisis, is the growth of tourism still an appropriate development strategy

Essay Requirement

• Your essay should be based on secondary research and be supplemented with figures (visitor numbers and/ or statistics) and any contextual information you feel your research can contribute.

• Your essay should be fully referenced using the APA 7 style of referencing and follow an essay format, which means to be written in a continuous prose without headings and subheadings, tables and figures.

• References do not count towards your word limit, and they should be listed at the end of your report in alphabetical order.

• Essays that are submitted late without being granted an extension will be penalised (capped at P1%) if they are submitted within a week of the submission date. If submitted any later than that, your assignment will be marked at F5.

• Please contact Constantia Anastasiadou prior to the due date if you have valid reasons to request an extension – extensions after the due date will not be granted

Solution

Introduction

Amidst the present uncertainty, tourism is expected to grow by 4 percent in 2023, further solidifying its position as a significant and resilient economic sector. For communities across the globe to get the most possible benefits from tourism, it must be handled with caution in order to maximise the advantages that tourism can give (Chang et al., 2020). In this file I will determine if the development of tourism is still a sustainable growth strategy in light of the current global environmental crisis and strain. Tourism has had a recent surge in popularity around the globe, and this research will investigate the reasons behind this increase. Similar to this, the research will examine how a successful tourist development strategy may help the whole globe in a similar way. I will use a variety of data sources, including national and international statistics, as well as news reports, to create a detailed analysis that includes all of the most important facts and numbers in their comprehensive essay.

International tourism has climbed for eight consecutive years, according to the most recent United Nations World Tourism Organization World Tourism Barometer data, marking a historic milestone. In 2019 the number of persons entering from other countries increased across the board. While the high growth rates of 2017 and 2018 may be linked to factors such as Brexit uncertainty, the collapse of Thomas Cook, geopolitical and social tensions, and the global economic slump, the outlook for 2019 is expected to be more moderate. Europe, Asia, and the Pacific were hit the hardest by the economic slump, with Europe and Asia and the Pacific bearing a disproportionate amount of the burden (Hall, 2019).According to the UNWTO Confidence Index, the global economy is expected to increase between 3% and 4% in 2020, which is a cautious optimism. While 43% forecasted a decrease, 47% forecasted an increase for 2019. According to forecasts, both the Tokyo Olympics and the World Expo 2020 in Dubai are projected to have a significant influence on the tourism industry. According to UNWTO Secretary-General ZurabPololikashvili, tourism is a strong economic sector in these times of turbulence and uncertainty (Higgins-Desbiolles, 2018).The industry continues to outperform the world economy and calls upon us to not only expand but to grow better, despite recent lowered global economic views, international trade tensions, social upheaval, and geopolitical unpredictability.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) emphasises the need of sustainable growth in light of tourism's position as a key exporter and job creator. As the Decade of Action gets underway, tourists have a key role to play in global development policy, and they have the opportunity to make a substantial impact as the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals are completed in under 10 years(Higgins-Desbiolles, 2020).The Middle East surpassed the rest of the globe in terms of growth in international visitor arrivals, becoming the fastest-growing region on the global tourism map. Because of slower development in Asia and the Pacific, international arrivals grew by 5 percent, although they remained above typical.743 million international tourists descended on Europe last year, despite the region's slower-than-average growth rate of 4 percent (+4 percent), which was lower than the global average. (This represents 51% of the worldwide market). In the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, several Caribbean islands continued to recover, however South American immigration decreased as a consequence of the country's ongoing social and political upheaval (+2 percent). The cultural and heritage tourism in these areas have reduced drastically. According to the little statistics available, arrivals in North Africa increased by 9 percent in 2019, but arrivals in Sub-Saharan Africa increased by just 1.5 percent in 2019(Kapera, 2018).

According to Dependency Theory, modernization in developing nations has failed due to the capitalist system's uneven trade ties between developed and developing countries. Unbalanced trade relations arise when the global economic system favours affluent industrialised nations owing to their abilities to control and manage the global economy via capital accumulation, foreign investment control, and political influence. Dependency structures exist between the world's "core" of original capitalist nations and the world's "periphery" of newly independent developing countries. The global economic downturn has had little effect on visitor spending, particularly among the top ten spenders. France (+11 percent) and the United States (+6 percent), which are among the world's top ten outbound markets, had the highest percentage gains in foreign visitor spending.In Brazil and Saudi Arabia, two of the world's fastest-growing economies, tourists spent less money than in previous years. It can be noticed that outbound travel from China, the world's biggest source market, surged by 14 percent in the first six months of 2019, despite a 4 percent fall in expenditure.Since 1998, according to Pololikashvili, the number of destinations producing more than $1 billion in international tourist has almost doubled in number(Martínez et al., 2019). The responsibility of ensuring that all of the benefits are spread equally and that no one is left behind is one of the most important things that onehave to do. The United Nations World Tourism Organization has selected 2020 as the International Year of Tourism and Rural Growth, and one may anticipate that the business will play a vital role in stimulating economic development in rural areas, creating jobs, and preserving cultural heritage.

Tourism has a significant detrimental influence on the environment. They include issues with local natural resource depletion, pollution, and waste. In regions where resources are already limited, over-consumption of natural resources may have a negative impact on tourism. Tourism may result in soil erosion, increased pollution, the disappearance of natural habitats, and an increase in the number of endangered species being placed under threat. These consequences may have a long-term negative impact on the natural resources that tourism relies on. The tourism industry is presenting the promotion to demonstrate how robust and long-lasting it is. On the eve of the United Nations General Assembly in 2020, a worldwide debate will take place on the role of global collaboration in guaranteeing a better future for everyone, with tourism at the forefront of the discussion(Pan et al., 2018). Tourism is discouraged since it has a negative impact on the surrounding ecosystem. Just a few of the concerns include environmental effect, depletion of local resources, and waste generation. In tourist locations, overconsumption of natural resources is a prevalent concern, particularly in areas where resources are already scarce.

Natural ecosystems may be destroyed as a result of soil erosion and pollution caused by visitors, and endangered species may be placed under additional stress as a result of their presence. In the long term, these results may have a detrimental influence on the natural resources that are essential to the development of tourism. When it comes to water use, a typical tropical country golf course consumes the equivalent of 60,000 rural dwellings. Every year, around 1500 kg of chemical fertilisers, insecticides, and herbicides are applied to the crops in order to increase yields(Rasoolimanesh et al., 2020). Transportation accounts for 90 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than 5 percent of total global emissions. According to current projections, tourists will contribute to a 25 percent increase in CO2 emissions in 2030 relative to 2016. From 1,597 million to 1,998 million metric tonnes, there was a growth of 1.998 percent overall in production volume.

Modernization theory, which emerged in the 1950s and early 1960s, stated that development could only occur in developing countries as they became more industrialised and integrated with the more prosperous developed economies, and that development would occur in less developed countries to the extent that they imitated the developed countries' economic and cultural systems.This development is often hampered by global crisis.However, regardless of the global environmental crisis, the development of tourism and the tourist industry as a whole is vital for the future of the world economy. Travel's appeal and the growth of the tourism sector are influenced by a variety of variables. Here are some of the most important. Additionally, it's important to note that, when talking about tourism and the expansion of the tourism business, Sector 1 is only concerned with long-term expansion. It is vital at this point to have a grasp of what defines a sustainable development model in the tourism sector.Tourists, companies, and communities all get the benefits of sustainable tourism, which does not jeopardise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs in the process(Sheller, 2021). It maintains the created and experienced cultural past, as well as the traditional values of the host communities, while also preserving their socio-cultural authenticity and encouraging tolerance among people of diverse cultural backgrounds and backgrounds(Streimikiene et al., 2021). Among other things, it ensures the equitable distribution of socioeconomic advantages, such as stable employment and income-earning opportunities as well as social services, among all stakeholders and contributes to the reduction of poverty in host communities in order to ensure long-term economic viability.

Tourists of today and future, as well as the local communities that welcome them, benefit from sustainable tourism development, which both protects and generates new possibilities for them. If put into practise, it has the potential to result in resource management that satisfies economic, social, and aesthetic objectives while also maintaining cultural integrity, critical ecological processes, biological variety, and life-supporting ecosystems, among other things. This seems to be a great approach to take(Streimikiene et al., 2021). People are becoming increasingly aware that, while tourism is generally welcomed for the benefits it provides, the industry's environmental impact must also be considered, and efforts must be made to further strengthen the positive correlation between the environment's impact on tourism and the industry's ability to alleviate poverty. 'Sustainable Tourism' refers to tourism that is beneficial to the local economy while also causing no damage to the environment or social fabric of the places it visits. It is becoming more popular.

The majority of government officials all over the world have expressed support for tourism, and prior to the turn of the twentieth century, there were few efficient regulatory systems in place to take environmental concerns into consideration when considering the profitability of a commercial venture. They will only make significant changes to their business practises if they are compelled to do so by external circumstances that cannot be ignored or in order to gain a competitive advantage. This is true regardless of whether they are responding to exhortations or having the best of intentions (Sheller, 2021). It was the possibility of making large sums of money quickly by exploiting natural resources that were traditionally regarded to be freely available that drew the attention of government and corporate leaders, as well as a considerable number of local residents and businesses.

Sustainability in tourism is based on a set of norms and ideas that serve as a guide for those who practise it. A measure of the quantity of things that oneacquires and the amount of stuff that one may discard will help to limit waste and overconsumption in order to prevent the long-term implications of environmental devastation. However, this will be difficult. The preservation and promotion of diversity at the levels of the environment, society, and culture are needed in order to ensure long-term sustainable tourist development(Sheller, 2021). The long-term viability of tourism may be enhanced by the inclusion of strategic planning frameworks and environmental effect assessments in national and local strategic planning frameworks and environmental impact assessments. In order to keep their businesses viable while simultaneously safeguarding the environment, local economies depend on tourists for support, and this kind of tourism benefits both the environment and these businesses. By enabling visitors to engage in and learn about their surroundings, community participation not only benefits the locals of the region, but it also enhances the pleasure of tourists' holidays. Working together and avoiding any conflicts of interest requires continual contact between the tourism industry and local communities, organisations, and institutions, which must be maintained at all times. When employees are educated in sustainable tourism practises and employed at all levels of an organisation, the overall quality of the visitor experience is improved.

In reality, when animal interactions are carried out in a responsible way, this is precisely what occurs. The establishment of local economies based on attracting tourists to see and enjoy wildlife in its natural context reduces the likelihood of individuals being involved in wildlife poaching. In fact, ecotourism has a positive impact that extends beyond the tourist business, as it is becoming widely recognised that the preservation of native species is both financially and ethically beneficial to the industry (Rasoolimanesh et al., 2020). Sustainable tourism initiatives, such as conservation efforts for vulnerable or endangered species, are used to urge local people to maintain their environments and the wildlife that lives within them. In contrast to this, sustainable tourism generates income for the people who live in the area while also contributing to the preservation of the environment in question. However, sustainable tourism encompasses much more than simply viewing "landscapes." There are many other benefits to sustainable tourism as well. In addition to having a good influence on marine life and aquatic habitats, sustainable tourism has the potential to do so.

Poaching and habitat degradation may be avoided by sustainable tourism, and pollution can be minimised as a result of sustainable tourism. Because tourism generates more revenue, it is easier to accomplish collective cooperation to reduce pollution on an individual level. When compared to "poor tourism," sustainable tourism promotes the sharing of experiences, the learning from one another, and the enjoyment of one's surroundings among visitors and residents alike.Cash crops and insecure work are the result of mass manufacturing and unthinking mass transportation. Occasionally, a region's economic well-being depends on a single crop or a single enterprise, and it is only a matter of time until those circumstances shift."Sustainable tourism" encompasses a wide range of methods to accommodation, eating, farming, and cultural preservation, all of which are integral to the concept (Rasoolimanesh et al., 2020). When communities have boutique hotels, culinary schools, agrotourism, and tours that are incorporated into the tourism economy, they are less exposed to external events and the downsides of cash crop economies. Historically, rituals have served to bring people from various regions and continents together. They've been around for centuries, even at a time when most of us had substantially less, and as a result, they're almost unbreakable. Many old practises, on the other hand, are in danger of being lost as a consequence of globalisation.

Responsible tourism, regardless of the form of local culture and tradition that is being promoted, whether it is gin distilleries, handmade carpets, or any other sort of items, adds to the bringing together of merchants and consumers(Pan et al., 2018). The act of travelling is one of the most gratifying and fun things one may partake in throughout our lives when it comes to leisure pursuits. On their deathbeds, the great majority of people do not express a wish for more work time or for more costly clothing, according to research. Their top priorities include more time with family and friends, as well as more opportunity to travel and explore new places.

Conclusion

I would like to conclude that only in terms of the whole human needs, values, and standards of a decent life and a good society as understood by the societies experiencing change can development be accurately measured. UNDP created a Human Development Index (HDI) that considers development to have three aspects. Longevity and health, access to knowledge, and a decent standard of living.This aspect is supported by the concept of sustainable tourism.Sustainable tourism is beneficial to both the environment and the people that visit it. It is a win-win situation for everyone. Their usage is advantageous in terms of both economics and ecology, and their use is recommended in both cases. On our world, there are just a few natural landscapes or wilderness areas to explore. Every natural environment has been influenced by human activities in one way or another throughout the course of human history. Tourism is the only company or activity that has the ability to significantly modify the landscape. Woods, mountains, and regions famed for their rivers and lakes are among the natural sceneries that may be found in this area. The natural environment serves as the foundation for the tourist industry. Sustainability Tourism must be supported by both the government and non-governmental organisations in order to make significant improvements to the environment, regardless of the difficulties the environment is now facing.

References

Chang, C. L., McAleer, M., & Ramos, V. (2020). A charter for sustainable tourism after COVID-19. Sustainability, 12(9), 3671 https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/9/3671

Hall, C. M. (2019). Constructing sustainable tourism development: The 2030 agenda and the managerial ecology of sustainable tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 27(7), 1044-1060. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09669582.2018.1560456

Higgins-Desbiolles, F. (2018). Sustainable tourism: Sustaining tourism or something more?. Tourism management perspectives, 25, 157-160. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09669582.2020.1791141

Higgins-Desbiolles, F. (2020). The “war over tourism”: Challenges to sustainable tourism in the tourism academy after COVID-19. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29(4), 551-569. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09669582.2020.1803334

Kapera, I. (2018). Sustainable tourism development efforts by local governments in Poland. Sustainable cities and society, 40, 581-588. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2210670717314725

Martínez, J. M. G., Martín, J. M. M., Fernández, J. A. S., &Mogorrón-Guerrero, H. (2019). An analysis of the stability of rural tourism as a desired condition for sustainable tourism. Journal of Business Research, 100, 165-174. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S014829631930205X

Pan, S. Y., Gao, M., Kim, H., Shah, K. J., Pei, S. L., & Chiang, P. C. (2018). Advances and challenges in sustainable tourism toward a green economy. Science of the Total Environment, 635, 452-469. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S004896971831194X

Rasoolimanesh, S. M., Ramakrishna, S., Hall, C. M., Esfandiar, K., &Seyfi, S. (2020). A systematic scoping review of sustainable tourism indicators in relation to the sustainable development goals. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1-21. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09669582.2020.1775621

Sheller, M. (2021). Reconstructing tourism in the Caribbean: connecting pandemic recovery, climate resilience and sustainable tourism through mobility justice. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29(9), 1436-1449. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2211973617301319

Streimikiene, D., Svagzdiene, B., Jasinskas, E., &Simanavicius, A. (2021). Sustainable tourism development and competitiveness: The systematic literature review. Sustainable development, 29(1), 259-271. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/sd.2133

BE460 Organisation and Leadership in a Globalised World Assignment Sample

Assignment Brief

You are expected to write an essay of no more than 2,000 words

All submissions must be presented in typescript (MS Word format), 12pt, 1.5 line spacing.Note that late submissions will not be accepted unless full details of extenuating circumstances are provided. For details on extenuating circumstances please see the link in Moodle. If you have any query about extenuation, please contact “Academic Services Southend” (Gateway Building, 4th floor).

Essay Question

“Examine the role of organisational change by analysing a case study of change management in an organisation of your choice”.

The case study can refer to managing change in any type of organisation. You can thus choose to discuss issues of change in a for-profit company, public organisation, voluntary organisation, or social enterprise.

Indicative answers

A requirement for this essay is to describe and interpret how organisations change, what managers and leaders do to support change, and how employees may experience change based on evidence from your chosen case. The case chosen can be both about successful or unsuccessful change management as a departure point for your elaborations.

You should focus on internal organisational issues: for example, how leaders or managers communicate any required changes; how changes are introduced in different departments, and what kind of employees are involved and a what level. Often, this is about specific individuals and teams being involved as well as their motivation or resistance to change. Additionally, you can explain the reasons and effects of the case’s organisational change in relation to external stakeholders such as customers, suppliers and business partners as any of these can have an influence on how change is perceived, lived, and managed internally.

You will discuss or interpret organisational change with at least one change theory learnt in the dedicated lecture on organisational change (i.e. life-cycle theory; evolutionary theory, teleological theory and dialectical theory). It is likely that you may need to interpret different types of change with more than one theory or model.

You should describe the specific organisational context at the outset. The type and profile of the company should be brief but it is necessary. The context should include briefly e.g. business strategies as a background, as they prompt changes for employees. The essay will cover interventions or programmes that require effective change management. For example, an intervention for organisational change and how leaders or managers helped the process of change of groups, departments and individuals. You can also look at various types of training programmes to enhance new skills in departments and teams. You should add if such programmes are supported by particular HR policies.

Your elaborations may include selected concepts and points of analysis beyond “organisational change” for helping to illuminate aspects that are interrelated in the case. For example: resistance to change, organisational culture or teamwork and collaboration. You should explain all used terms also conceptually, at least briefly, not just merely mention them in one sentence as an ‘add on’. This will support a deeper discussion of different change practices, after you described events and behaviours.

Final recommendations given by a student can be based on relevant academic literature too, not just practical insights. Whilst any recommendation may be easier to imagine based on analysed unsuccessful or less effective approaches to managing change, they can be offered also for positive processes you have seen in the case study. That is, if the organisational change you analysed had been successful overall, you can still suggest as to what might be changed, emphasised or developed because organisations aim to maintain effective changes also in future.

Solution

Introduction

The 21st-century economic activities are characterized by regular as well as systematic changes in organizations. This is primarily due to the existence of a large number of rival companies in every sector of an economy. This is again due to the emergence of globalization and almost every country in the world is in this global competition. In addition, there is a continuous pressure of innovation that forces industries to change their organizational structure. This essay focuses on different aspects of change management that took place for the merger of two companies Astra and Zeneca. Moreover, the effectiveness of such a change would depend on the leaders of an organization. In this essay the UK based leading pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca has been chosen for the analysis of this topic and this company adopted the tool of merger as its organizational change management. This company enjoys larger economies of scale after this change.

Discussion

Internal challenges faced by an organization (AstraZeneca)

Challenges due to diverse workforce: An organization faces internal challenges primarily due to the diverse nature of the workforce. Especially in the United Kingdom, there are several races that constitute the workforce. As a result, in an organization like AstraZeneca, it is evident that there would be several employees from different cultural as well as linguistic backgrounds. In addition, there are differences in talents, skills, knowledge and efficiency. Therefore, there may be some differences in opinions. If the leaders of the company are efficient in managing such issues, the problems could be resolved much easier by means of direct communication for best assignment help.

Improve operating efficiency: There may be a lack of operating efficiency in several companies and also world competition puts these companies in huge internal challenges (Dirani et al., 2020). Moreover, global leaders of the industry may face higher economies of scale and that forced other companies in the market to face huge internal challenges. This was the case with the companies Like Astra and Zeneca. They were forced to match with the economies of scale of other leading companies, such as Merck and Glaxo-Wellcome. As a result, they decided to merge, so that they can improve their operating efficiency by better utilization of assets.
Lack of communication: Another major factor that is responsible for any kind of internal challenge is the lack of communication (Delanoy and Kasztelnik, 2020). If the workforce of an organization does not get a clear vision about the goals of their organization, they become demotivated, resulting in the issue of internal crisis. The selected organization for the analysis of this essay AstraZeneca adopted the measure of automation in the department of human resources management may deal with this type of internal crisis.

Strategies to solve those issues

The pharmaceutical industry is highly competitive in nature and continuous innovation in this industry takes place. As a result, change management of several companies of this industry is a common practice as it was adopted by the two companies Astra and Zeneca and resolved their internal issues by merger in the year 1999. However, apart from mergers, there are several strategies of change management (Ali, Darmaningrat and Winardi, 2018). There are primarily four stages of change management, namely, understanding the issue, planning the change management, implementing those changes, and lastly communicating those changes.

Improvement in research and development: Several companies adopt this crucial strategy to sustain in the market competition. AstraZeneca’s biggest strength is that this company focuses on its effort to improve R&D, and this is primarily their core business strategy.

Improvement in marketing: This is another important tool of organizational change management. This may improve the performance of the company in the long run by enhancing the growth of the organization. AstraZeneca is one such company that has an excellent capability of marketing.

Innovative biopharmaceutical strategy: This strategy is an outcome of research and development, and AstraZeneca gives huge emphasis on this strategy. They exploit their strength of technologies of protein engineering, immunotherapies, small and large molecules.

Merger: This is an important strategy to solve the internal issue and sustain the global competition. Global leaders of the industry may face higher economies of scale and that forced other companies in the market to face huge internal challenges. This was the case with the companies Like Astra and Zeneca. They were forced to match with the economies of scale of other leading companies, resulting in, the decision to merge, so that they can improve their operating efficiency by better utilization of assets.

Implementation of strategies and communicating them: Any suitable combination of strategies should be implemented in the proper way and that should be communicated correctly to their stakeholders.

Reasons for organizational change

There are several reasons for organizational change management, such as cost-cutting, competitive innovations, failure, social changes, changing technology, changed market demand, changed government policies and so on (Rosenbaum, More and Steane, 2018). Companies in the pharmaceutical sector face challenges continuously due to competitive innovations, social change, changing technology, changed market demand and many more.

Larger economies of scale: After the merger which was the main change main change management tool adopted by two companies Astra and Zeneca, the company AstraZeneca enjoys larger economies of scale and now they can compete with global leaders of this industry. A large amount of employment is generated all over the globe and this company’s pre-tax profit has been increased by a huge amount after this organizational change. As a result, every stakeholder of this company has gained after this drastic step of merger.

Competitive innovations and changing market demand: One example of changing market demand is the change in production patterns in the previous two years due to the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic. This company was committed to supporting the global drive of fighting the Covid 19 pandemic over several fronts. There was a need for a huge clinical investigation as well as a potential medicine and vaccine development. There was an urgent necessity for the huge manufacture of these medicines and vaccines (Islam et al., 2019). Most obviously, the workforce of this company was not prepared to take such a huge challenge and so the organization faced a huge internal challenge (Stouten, Rousseau and De Cremer, 2018). However, the excellent leaders of this company managed to address this internal challenge during an emergency.

Changing technology: There are rapid changes in the use of technology as well as the innovation of new technologies. A company should adopt an organizational change to cope with these new technologies. The merger of Astra and Zeneca is a step towards strong research for adopting new technologies.

Social Changes: Another important reason for organizational change is social changes and its impact on the pharmaceutical sector is huge. However, due to the merger of the two companies to form AstraZeneca reached the expectations of new product launching, the enhanced scope of research, the creation of new jobs, an increase in the value of shareholders and so on.

Figure 1: Reasons for organizational change
Source: (Stouten, Rousseau and De Cremer, 2018)

Theory of organizational change

AstraZeneca is a very popular pharmaceutical concern that applies evolutionary theory for its organisational change management. This company focuses on organisational change management to handle their management perception and practice properly. In this part, this firm focuses on ecological models of change, which suggest perspective-changing guidance that applications give a better chance to develop their condition. This organisation chose Theory O and theory E in their change management process.

Theory O: This theory identifies those needed changes to a developed organisational culture that support learning and high-performance employees. This theory is similar to 'The critical path' and ‘Learning process strategy’ (Vargas et al., 2019). This theory approaches companies to integrate their culture that expands their capabilities and enhances their structure. AstraZeneca chooses this theory for their organisational change management process to change their organisation capability, behavioural changes, human capability, and many more that support their individual growth too. This theory approaches AstraZeneca as being able to change their corporate cultures such as values, norms, beliefs, and that help to increase their capability too.

Figure 2: Organisational change
Source: (Vargas et al., 2019)

Theory E: Theory E suggests programmatic changes for this organisation. This theory hardly changes economic initiatives. AstraZeneca focuses on this theory to develop their economic system, structure, and financial performance. This theory helps this firm to focus on legitimate measures for their corporate success (Cimini et al., 2020). This theory primarily focuses on increasing shareholders' value and suggests more effective strategies to increase cash flows and share prices. Through the help of this theory, this organisation was able to develop its financial performance and ability to economic improvements.

AstraZeneca focuses on those theories for their changing process which gives more simple and comfortable forms and ideas to increase their performance. Those throes approach different parts that help to balance their internal external factors and that also manage the change process. However, there are several resistances arise either from the stakeholders of each company or from other companies with which any of these companies had previous deals. In case of merger of Astra and Zeneca, Astra faced a resistance from one of its rival companies Merch with which it had a marketing deal. The UK company had to pay a large amount to get out of that deal. Merger is, however, a long process as there are several preparations needed for this change.

Business strategies

This organisation focuses on delivering life-changing medicines that contribute to the values of patients and society too. Their unique business strategy and structure give this firm more capability and presence. In this situation, in the world, the burden of disease and is changing increases the uncomfortable situation and for that reason, AstraZeneca focus to derived their scientific medicines at the doorstep of patients. Their fundamental strategy is very simple and clear. This firm focused on innovative science and leadership quality as their business strategy which claimed a better form of this company.

Innovation Science: Their business strategy includes innovative science that helps to expand their business and can deliver life-changing medicines (Balawejder, Sampson and Stratton, 2021). This scientific innovation gives a global presence and gives strength to this firm to emerge in their market. Their main strategy is to focus on those medicines which have created a specific market demand and changing life experience too. Their innovative strategies increase their market demand and availability of their brands too. Their innovations and science application increase their product sales and this business strategy and plan help this organisation to increase its productivity.

Leadership: AstraZeneca focuses on leadership quality and strategy to develop their business and change management process. This organisation focuses on leadership strategy which bridges the gap between strategy and performance (Ramazan et al., 2020). This firm focuses on leadership quality and their performance which help to maintain their business property and highlight an accurate business strategy too. They always focus their leaders to maintain their performance and their approaches give more plans and techniques to develop their business. Their main focus is to direct and motivate their leaders properly to develop their talent and that allows a lifetime goal for this organisation (UZCATEGUI et al., 2018). In this business strategy application, AstraZeneca achieved proper learning of their organisational transformation.

Recommendations

There are several recommendations for organizational change management for the company AstraZeneca. The merger of two companies was not possible overnight. There are several considerations that should be considered. Firstly, it is recommended to identify the need for change as well as planning for the same. Secondly, it is recommended to identify the strategy of the change. For example, Astra and Zeneca chose the strategy of a merger as the tool of organizational change. Thirdly, it is recommended to focus on issues like innovation for ageing people, chronic ailments as well as in medical treatments, the convergence of technology and healthcare, changing status of drugs, drug prices, reforms in healthcare, OTC growth, off-patent medicines, branded drugs and so on (Mishra and Schmidt, 2018). Fourthly, it is recommended to utilize social media platforms more effectively to improve relationships with prospective patients. Fifthly, it is recommended to understand the necessity of humanizing the organization. Sixthly, it is recommended to understand the present needs of society. Moreover, it is also recommended to the company to understand organizational change management, such as cost-cutting, competitive innovations, failure, social changes, changing technology, changed market demand, changed government policies and so on. Companies in the pharmaceutical sector face challenges continuously due to competitive innovations, social change, changing technology, changed market demand and many more. The company should try to make some new innovations in the segment of effective communication and marketing. However, this company is one such company that has an excellent capability of marketing.

Conclusion

It is revealed from the above analysis that organizational change management is the most important tool for sustaining market competition. Two companies Astra and Zeneca adopted the strategy of merger for organizational change. This analysis was based on several theoretical frameworks to understand the need for organizational change management. Global leaders of the pharmaceutical industry face higher economies of scale and that forced other companies in the market to face huge internal challenges and issues.

Reference list

Ali, A.H.N., Darmaningrat, E.W.T. and Winardi, D.D., 2018, November. Change Management Strategies of E-Learning Adoption In Secondary Schools: A Case Study of Public Junior High Schools in Surabaya. In Proceedings of the 2018 2nd International Conference on Education and E-Learning (pp. 140-145). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3291078.3291108

Balawejder, F., Sampson, S. and Stratton, T., 2021. Lessons for industrial policy from development of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. Industrial Strategy Council, Research Paper, marzo de. Available at: https://industrialstrategycouncil.org/sites/default/files/attachments/Covid-19%20vaccine%20-%20lessons%20for%20the%20IS.pdf

Cimini, C., Boffelli, A., Lagorio, A., Kalchschmidt, M. and Pinto, R., 2020. How do industry 4.0 technologies influence organisational change? An empirical analysis of Italian SMEs. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alexandra-Lagorio/publication/338188294_How_do_Industry_40_technologies_influence_organisational_change_An_empirical_analysis_on_Italian_SMEs/links/60a2113a299bf14769a2c1ee/How-do-Industry-40-technologies-influence-organisational-change-An-empirical-analysis-on-Italian-SMEs.pdf

Delanoy, N. and Kasztelnik, K., 2020. Business open big data analytics to support innovative leadership and management decision in Canada. Business Ethics and Leadership, 4(2), pp.56-74. DOI:https://doi.org/10.21272/bel.4(2).56-74.2020

Dirani, K.M., Abadi, M., Alizadeh, A., Barhate, B., Garza, R.C., Gunasekara, N., Ibrahim, G. and Majzun, Z., 2020. Leadership competencies and the essential role of human resource development in times of crisis: a response to Covid-19 pandemic. Human Resource Development International, 23(4), pp.380-394. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13678868.2020.1780078

Islam, R., Osman, N., Othman, M.F. and Raihan, M.A., 2019. Impact of global leadership behaviors on performance of multinational companies. Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews, 7(3), pp.661-670. Available at: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/268004307.pdf

Mishra, P. and Schmidt, G.B., 2018. How can leaders of multinational organizations be ethical by contributing to corporate social responsibility initiatives? Guidelines and pitfalls for leaders trying to do good. Business Horizons, 61(6), pp.833-843. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Paresh-Mishra/publication/328024063_How_can_leaders_of_multinational_organizations_be_ethical_by_contributing_to_corporate_social_responsibility_initiatives_Guidelines_and_pitfalls_for_leaders_trying_to_do_good/links/5c588221458515a4c757f8e5/How-can-leaders-of-multinational-organizations-be-ethical-by-contributing-to-corporate-social-responsibility-initiatives-Guidelines-and-pitfalls-for-leaders-trying-to-do-good.pdf

Ramazan, K.A.Y.A., Öncü, M.A. and Mesci, M., 2020. the mediating effect of organizational learning on the relationship between the cost leadership strategy and business performance: A study on travel agencies. Journal of Economy Culture and Society, (62), pp.323-343. DOI: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1393830

Rosenbaum, D., More, E. and Steane, P., 2018. Planned organisational change management: Forward to the past? An exploratory literature review. Journal of Organizational Change Management. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-06-2015-0089

Stouten, J., Rousseau, D.M. and De Cremer, D., 2018. Successful organizational change: Integrating the management practice and scholarly literatures. Academy of Management Annals, 12(2), pp.752-788. DOI:https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2016.0095

UZCATEGUI, C., GARCIA, D.E., GARCIA, O., ZALDUMBIDE, D. and SOLANO, J., 2018. Relationship of leadership, strategy and business environment of the Ecuadorian SME competitiveness. Revista ESPACIOS, 39(32). Available at: https://www.revistaespacios.com/a18v39n32/18393210.html

Vargas, V.R., Lawthom, R., Prowse, A., Randles, S. and Tzoulas, K., 2019. Sustainable development stakeholder networks for organisational change in higher education institutions: A case study from the UK. Journal of Cleaner Production, 208, pp.470-478. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.10.078

BE284 Strategic Management Assignment Sample

• You are expected to write an essay of no more than 2,000 words (max. 2,200; minimum 1,800words).

• Please state the number of words in your assignment on the cover sheet/first page of your assignment.

• Please use 12-point font and 1.5 line spacing in your assignment.

• Note that late submissions will not be accepted unless full details of extenuating circumstances are provided. If you have any query about extenuation, please contact Academic Services (Gateway Building, 3rd floor); ebsadmin-southend@essex.ac.uk.

• Submission of individual essay Week 30 (of University calendar - Monday 25 April

BE284 Essay Question:

Using appropriate concepts and theories, analyse and evaluate Airbnb strategy to change its business model and become an empire in the hotel industry. Use the case study ‘The rise of a unicorn: Airbnb’ to answer the following questions:

1. Carry out a PESTEL analysis and five competitive forces analysis of Airbnb and identify the opportunities and threats.

2. Based on the data from the case (and any other sources available) and by deploying VIRO framework and Porter Value Chain model analyse resources and capabilities and identify the strengths and weaknesses of Airbnb.

3. Develop a SWOT analysis and suggest 3 corporate strategies that Airbnb can pursue for the next 5 years to Airbnb.

4. Discuss how your suggested strategies, regarding to Airbnb’s culture and history, can help Airbnb to achieve differentiation, or cost leadership strategies in the next 5 years.

• You may use material from outside the case if you wish to.

• Please cite any material that you use in your essay, using the Harvard referencing style.

Notes: Writing an essay for assignment help

• The introduction to your essay should provide a summary of your arguments that you use to answer the question. It should also set out in broad terms the structure of your essay.

• The main section of your assignment should provide the detailed arguments that answer the question. You should use appropriate evidence to support your arguments and you should make your interpretation of that data as clear as possible. You should not leave the interpretation of the data that you use to the reader.

• Do not be descriptive.

• Whenever you include some text in an assignment, you are, in effect, saying ‘this is important’. Always, therefore, ask yourself ‘why does the reader need to know this?’ Make the relevance of that material as clear as you possibly can.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Describe the key questions and associated challenges to be addressed in formulating an organisation’s competitive and corporate-level strategies

2. Appreciate that to sustain competitive advantage an organisation must harness its internal resources and capabilities and react appropriately to changes in its external environment

3. Critically apply a range of tools and techniques to illuminate the key questions of competitive strategy and corporate strategy

Solution

1. Introduction

The purpose of the study is to explore the transformation of the Airbnb business to complete and comprehensive hospitality industry. The purpose of Airbnb is to improve the quality and efficiency of the organization within the context of the work. The organization allows the property holders to register their property for rental purposes and cookie-cutter hotel rooms. The study is to explore the comprehensive analysis of the company with their surrounding environment. The strategy of the company is to be analyzed in the light of the external and internal environment considering its uniqueness and efficiency within the context of the workplace. The paper is to further analyze the leadership strategy utilized by the company in managing its resources.

2. PESTEL analysis

The pestel analysis provides a comprehensive knowledge of the different environment within the context of the workplace. The external environment of the organization is analyzed effectively.

Table 1: PESTEL analysis
Porter’s Five Forces

Porter’s five forces analyze the strength and challenges of the external environment where the company is moving.

Competitive Rivalry

There is significant competition as the major players such as Tripadvisors, Booking.com and HomeToGo. The competition is found to be high.

Power of the suppliers

The hosts are the suppliers as they are responsible for managing the effectiveness and efficiency within the organizational context. The power of suppliers is high as the service quality depends on the host efficiency.

Threat of Substitute

The threat of a similar product is high as there are several organizations engaged in managing the property in a significant and effective way(Biberet al., 2017).

Customer bargaining power

The bargaining power of the customer is high as they may easily switch to another organization without many experiences (Muller, 2020).

The threat of the new entrants

The new entrants could hardly make similar kinds of market share and property registration. The new entrant threat is low within the context of the workplace.

Opportunities

The company has the expansion opportunity. The company may also improve its network. Theconstant innovation and network expansion of the company will allow achievingcompetitiveadvantage. These are the potential opportunities that the company will gain.

3. VRIO framework and Porter Value Chain model

3.1 VRIO model

Table 2: Value Chain analysis

The organization is found to have focused more on the effectiveness and efficiency in managing the unique experiences it offers to the customer. The organization provides affordable accommodation to the consumer and improves their living experiences in a significant and effective way (Reinhold and Dolnicar, 2018). Customer finds the proper value in their money when they are interacting with the organization. Airbnb creates value for the customer and improves their effectiveness and efficiency within the context of the workplace. The customers are made partners and develop a significant relationship between the guest as well as the hosts.

3.2 Porter value chain model

The primary activities of the organization in the value chain analysis consist of inbound logistic operation of one logistic marketing and sales and service.

Figure 1: Porter value chain model
(Source: Simatupang, Piboonrungroj& Williams, 2017)

Inbound logistics of the organization is more concerned with the toad services. The inbound logistics of the organization does not require the extra cost of transportation. The global hospitality service brokerage company utilizes physical resources and incorporates mugs, pillows and other items from regular use. Airbnb Corporation is associated with the transformation of raw materials.

Service is the primary activity of the organization and managers that dream the world regularly. The company develops its support activities and proper management. It has incorporated a large number of properties as a part of the organization by allowing the property to register property on the website (Reinhold and Dolnicar, 2018).

Strength and weaknesses

The company has enough resources and opportunity to expand its operation. These are the potential strength of the organization. It will enable the organization to enhance its effectiveness and efficiency within the organizational context.

The company’s business model is conveniently imitable and it may affect the environment and erase its profitability within the highly competitive market situation.

4. SWOT analysis and suggest 3 corporate strategies

Strengths

The company is a lodging company and has a presence in 192 countries. It is a well-established brand and continues to focus on product expansion outside of its core business activity.

The company explores the opportunity for cheaper alternatives to hotels with global recognition. The company has a strong social media presence. It also provides good customer service in the context of the workplace.

Weaknesses

The company has been facing significant issues as a result of law and regulation violations. The computer may easily be the business system (Muller, 2020). The company has higher prices in some of the localities and it affects the efficiency of the business model. The review system of the organization is found to be highly ineffective.

Opportunities

The company has encouraged the use of mobile phones for booking and reservation and therefore it has developed a mobile application. An alternative model is a new concept and it has a significant opportunity to grow and develop. The incorporation of the dead asset has a deep impact on the organization.

Threats

The company is found to have faced a large number of cases in 192 countries. The changes in the regulation of the country affect its ability to operate. The company has already faced a large number of places in different parts of the globe. The rising competition has a potential impact on the organization.

4.1 Corporate strategy of Airbnb

Simplication of the customer journey with mobile applciation

The potential marketing activity of the organization plays a significant and crucial role in managing the operation and improving the quality of life. The launching the application will simply the customer journey in booking and reservation within the context of the workplace. The mobile application implementation will enhance its effectiveness and efficiency. The marketing activity using social media will enhance the capability and efficiency of the organization (Alhava, Laine and Kiviniemi, 2017).

Finding alternative funding for network expansion

The company may use crownd funding and sales of its equity for improvinf the business operation and business expansion. The organization must expand its network and operation to manage and explore the positive business strategy. The company is found to have incorporated a large number of organizations in managing its business success. Business expansion is essential for the organization and it is necessary to incorporate a large number of hosts to manage time and effectively overcome the barriers (Reinhold andDolnicar, 2018).

Adding remittance fee

The company needs to add fee in order to manage the better and effective increase in the margin. The simplification of the customerjourney is required to help its effectiveness. The effective and efficient management of resources is managed significantly within the context of the workplace. The simplification of the guest journey will improve the customer experiences with the world-class services offered by the organization.

5. Suggested strategies

The effective management of resources will help to manage and explore the organization of significant and effective (Reinhold and Dolnicar, 2018). Effective management of innovation of the mobile innovation will improve its market expansion making it easy for the host and customer to register their property and leadership approach within the context of the organization.

The company will manage its operation for the next 5 years using its potential techniques and innovations that will continue to expand its operation and enhance customer satisfaction (Muller, 2020). The company will obtain funding from crowdfunong and ales of the company equity. Theimprovement in the company requires better funding opportunity. The bank loan may affect the organization. It requires interest free funding option.

The expansion of the network of the organization by incorporating a large number of properties and hosts can be achieved with proper and effective social media marketing. A large number of hosts with a large number of properties will be attracted by the premium services offered to the organization. The use of social media marketing will allow the organization to reach within the context of the workplace (Alrawadiehet al., 2020). Network expansion will be improved its effectiveness and efficiency differentiating the company from the existing market leaders within the context of the workplace.

The simplification of the customer journey in the context of reservation booking and reaching the places will improve the consumer attraction towards but wrong. It can be done using the mobile application and further network expansion. The simplified process could be achieved with the use of technology and the organization will achieve technological efficiency within the context of the workplace (Alrawadieh et al., 2020).

5.2 Airbnb’s culture and history

The strategies of the company that have been suggested are concerned with the differentiation and cost leadership approach. The company has achieved a successful journey from a mattress company to a 31 billion company (Alhava, Laine and Kiviniemi, 2017). The effective management of resources is largely dependent on the efficiency of the culture and history. The company is found to have developed a unique business model that allows the stranger to sleep in another house and it has turned out to be a 31 billion company.

5.3 Differentiation, or cost leadership strategies

The company is found to have focused more on its differentiation strategy with the use of a unique business model that makes it different from other organizations and from another competitor as it focuses on allowing the changes in the stranger’s house and making it happen to earn a lot of money (Muller, 2020). The constant innovation of GPS tracking systems and improvement of the training helps to enhance a better and more effective outcome.

6. Conclusion

It can be said that an effective and efficient approach towards the management of resources and capability will help to improve effectiveness and efficiency within the context of the workplace. The development of the company is largely dependent on effective use of resources and capability and proper management of the resources. The newly added policy of the organization will be executed to ensure long term development of the organization.

7. References

Alhava, O., Laine, E. and Kiviniemi, A., 2017. The construction industry needs an AirBnb of its own!. WELCOME TO DELEGATES IRC 2017, p.566.https://repository.vtc.edu.hk/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1242&context=thei-fac-de-sp#page=569

Alrawadieh, Z., Guttentag, D., Cifci, M.A. and Cetin, G., 2020. Budget and mid-range hotel managers' perceptions of and responses to Airbnb: evidence from Istanbul. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJCHM-01-2019-0015/full/html

Aznar, J., Maspera, J. and Quer, X., 2019.A Game Theory approach to Airbnb and hotels competition. European Journal of Tourism Research, 21(21), pp.119-123.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10548408.2017.1308292

Biber, E., Light, S.E., Ruhl, J.B. and Salzman, J., 2017. Regulating business innovation as policy disruption: From the Model T to Airbnb. Vand. L. Rev., 70, p.1561.https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/vanlr70&section=40

Farronato, C. and Fradkin, A., 2018. The welfare effects of peer entry in the accommodation market: The case of Airbnb (No. w24361). National Bureau of Economic Research.https://www.nber.org/papers/w24361

Muller, E., 2020. Delimiting disruption: Why Uber is disruptive, but Airbnb is not. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 37(1), pp.43-55.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167811619300679
Reinhold, S. and Dolnicar, S., 2018.Airbnb’s business model. Peer-to-peer accommodation networks, p.27.https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/30986/640674.pdf?sequence=1#page=38

Reinhold, S. and Dolnicar, S., 2018. How Airbnb creates value. Peer-to-Peer Accommodation Networks; Dolnicar, S., Ed, pp.39-53.https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/30986/640674.pdf?sequence=1#page=50

Simatupang, T. M., Piboonrungroj, P., & Williams, S. J. (2017).The emergence of value chain thinking. International Journal of value chain management, 8(1), 40-57.https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJVCM.2017.082685

Ye, P., Qian, J., Chen, J., Wu, C.H., Zhou, Y., De Mars, S., Yang, F. and Zhang, L., 2018, July.Customized regression model for Airbnb dynamic pricing.In Proceedings of the 24th ACM SIGKDD international conference on knowledge discovery & data mining (pp. 932-940).https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3219819.3219830

MGT302A Strategic Management Assignment Sample

Individual/Group - Individual
Length - 1,000 words, +/- 10%
Learning Outcomes

a) Describe and evaluate the objectives, aims and the primary aspects of a strategic plan whilst taking into account the vision and mission of the organisation.

b) Discuss and evaluate the processes and forces that influence the strategic decision-making process in relation to business strategy.

Instructions for Essay Writing help

This assessment requires that you consider each of the following:

? A brief summary of the theory of Porter’s Value Chain Model.

? Analyses of OPTUS’ value chain by finding specific application to each of the value chain components and providing an overall summary showing which parts of its operations create value and which do not.

? Your opinion on the usefulness and limitations of the Value Chain Model, using a Torrens Library academic journal article of your choice.

This Assessment is a ‘Reflective Essay’ Which Means:

? It is an academic analysis, using your own opinions as well as those of others. It still follows typical essay conventions, for instance, it should have a logical series of paragraphs and is structured with a beginning, middle, and end. It is appropriate to use headings for this essay.

? You need to critically reflect on your own thoughts and rationale, then integrate these reflections with appropriate theoretical concepts.

? It should be written in both the first and third person as directed in the suggested structure below.

A suggested structure for your essay is as follows:

? Introduction (approx. 100 words). Define the purpose and scope of your essay, including what you intend to cover. Identify, in a compelling way, why the topic is important. Explain its context. This section should be written in the first person.

? A brief summary of Porter’s Value Chain Model (approx. 200 words). Clearly and succinctly outline the theory underpinning the approach (does not have to be detailed). Use a number of academic references (lean heavily on the provided sources in Blackboard) to support the description provided. This section should be written in the third person.

? Application of the model (approx. 450 words). Here, taking each component in turn, describe and analyse the OPTUS value chain. Be purposeful and specific in applying each component of the model. Integrate relevant academic references. This section should be written in the third person.

? Usefulness and limitations (approx. 150 words). Explain the usefulness and limitations of the Value Chain Model, supporting your arguments with at least one academic journal article of your choice from the Torrens Online Library.

Note, the model does have critique and a balanced reflection should show the usefulness of additional methods of analysing the internal environment. Use references to support and justify your position. This section should be written in the first person.

? Conclusion (approx. 100 words). Summarise what you have undertaken in the essay along with the relevant conclusions and your own opinions. This section should be written in the first person.

Solution

Introduction

Strategic management is one of the most important parts of any business as it allows the organisation to shape their business approach more flexibly. It makes the business more consistent that is essential in the competitive business environment of the 21st century. This study is based on the strategic management of Optus using “Porter’s value chain model”. I feel that considering this study will allow me to understand the company's business environment better. Moreover, this study also helped me to shape the business strategy of Optus properly by applying "Porter's value chain model". I will also be able to understand the usefulness and limitations of "Porter's value chain model" through this study which makes the study more significant in terms of relevance.

Summary of Porter’s value chain Model

Porter's value chain model is one of the most effective tools that help to streamline the business process in an organised way to deliver better value to the business. As per the study of Anthony Jnr (2019), "Porter value chain model" shed light on primary attributes such as "inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service" along with some support attributes such as "procurement, film infrastructure, technology development and human resource development". Value chain analysis of the company greatly allows the company to deliver better value to the company that leads to the mutual benefit of both company and customers. Company expenditure can also be controlled with the application of the “Porter value chain model”. It can enhance the level of profitability for the organisation that can deliver a competitive edge. As mentioned by de Moura &Saroli (2021), the “Porter value chain model” regulates drivers such as capacity utilisation, economies of scale, activity linkage, market entry timing, policy or practices of differentiation & cost and institutional factors. It can make the business more responsive which is essential for business survival in the competitive business environment. Quality assurance can be also greatly facilitated through the “Porter’s value chain Model”. It will make the products and services of the company more desirable.

Figure 1: “Porter’s Value Chain Analysis”
Source: (As influenced by Anthony Jnr, 2019)

Application of The Model

Inbound logistics

Inbound logistics plays a major role in the value chain of the company as it ensures the availability of required raw materials for the products or services required for the company. As per the official information Optus maintains a very healthy relationship with its suppliers which becomes key strength of the company as it allows the company to maintain better availability of their offerings. As per the official information output logistics of Optus relies on Ariba Network, SingTel and SAP Ariba (Optus.com.au, 2022).

Operations

Telecommunication, business investment and IT operations are the key operations associated with Optus. As stated by Cokins, Pohlen, &Klammer (2021), flexibility and reliance on operations help organisations to develop better profits. Hence, considering these operations Optus can generate their desirable profit that makes their operational attribute quite significant.

Outbound logistics

Singtel, MayneNickless, Cable & Wireless, BellSouth and AIDC Limited are the main outbound logistic service providers of Optus (Optus.com.au, 2022). The company does not possess an outbound logistic system that puts an impact on their distribution of service. It is one of the areas that the authorities of Optus need to work on.

Marketing & sales

The marketing and sales operations of the company rely on both traditional and online mediums. As per the study of Nor et al. (2020), consideration of both online and offline marketing and sales can ensure better reach to the targeted customers that deliver a better return in business. Hence, in this area, the telecommunication business of Optus delivers promising results.

Service

Telecommunication services, as well as financial services, are the key services of Optus allowing the business to maintain consistency in the growth.

Firm infrastructure

Firm infrastructure ensures the operational resilience of the company. Therefore, an organisation must possess a clear and effective infrastructure. The infrastructure of Optus is distributed among accounts, R&D, service and marketing & sales department which are quite basic (Optus.com.au, 2022). It is effective in quick decision-making however, lack of involvement of some crucial departments such as the operational monitoring team or department might create inconsistencies. Hence, this area needed improvements.

Human resource management

The human resource department of Optus delivers promising results by executing administrative tasks, recruitment and training activities.

Technology development

Optus recently worked on AI, 5G and lossless transmission that allows the company to offer seamless services.

Procurement

The procurement of Optus relies on service agreements and local supplier selection. However, the company does not emphasise more on the international level procurement resulted in a lack of acceptance of services at the international level.

Figure 2: “Value Chain Analysis of Optus”
Source: (Created by author)

Usefulness and limitations

"Porter's Value Chain Analysis" deeply emphasised the micro details of the industrial aspects. For this reason, I feel that maintaining synchronisation among the core activities linked with a broader strategic view becomes difficult and leads to failure in most cases. According to me,itmight be a very problematic aspect for Optus as company growth in the challenging market can be restricted for lack of effective broader and long-term strategic view. The article by Anthony Jnr (2019) also indicated that any organisations should focus on both primary and supportive activities in order to attain sustainable value chain. As opined by Presutti& Mawhinney, (2013), the main purpose of applying the value chain analysis is to evaluate company operations and properly shape them to deliver optimum value to a business as well as consumers. I think it can deliver a competitive edge that is useful. However, the value chain analysis is unable to establish proper linking between the activities that can be considered as one of the potential limitations(Anthony Jnr, 2019). I also observed from his article that it also makes monitoring of interrelated activities complicated which can be also considered as a limitation.

Conclusion

Strategic management is one of the key success criteria to maintain long-term consistency in the business process. However, from this study I feel that strategic management process of any business is only viable when a suitable strategic framework or model can be applied. The similarity has been also observed in the case of Optus, in which "Porter's Value Chain analysis" framework has been applied. From this study, I can conclude that along with consideration of micro factors of business it is crucial to monitor the broader perspective. Otherwise, the business is not going to be suitable for the long-term which might result in losing competitive positions in the business.Therefore, as per my perception shaping business strategy by applying "Porter's Value Chain analysis" can deliver extra flexibility to the business of Optus, that might lead to gaining competitive position easily. 

References

Anthony Jnr, B. (2019). Sustainable value chain practice adoption to improve strategic environmentalism in ict-based industries. Journal of Global Operations and Strategic Sourcing, 12(3), 380–409. https://lesa.on.worldcat.org/search/detail/9172423337?queryString=Sustainable%20value%20chain%20practice%20adoption%20to%20improve%20strategic%20environmentalism%20in%20ICT-based%20industries&clusterResults=true&stickyFacetsChecked=true&groupVariantRecords=false

Cokins, G., Pohlen, T., &Klammer, T. P. (2021). Supply chain costing and performance management (Second). Wiley. https://lesa.on.worldcat.org/search/detail/1249714864?queryString=Supply%20chain%20costing%20and%20performance%20management&clusterResults=true&stickyFacetsChecked=true&groupVariantRecords=false

De Moura, G. B., &Saroli, L. G. (2021). Sustainable value chain management based on dynamic capabilities in small and medium-sized enterprises (smes). The International Journal of Logistics Management, 32(1), 168–189. https://lesa.on.worldcat.org/search/detail/9055282317?queryString=Sustainable%20value%20chain%20management%20based%20on%20dynamic%20capabilities%20in%20small%20and%20medium-sized%20enterprises%20&clusterResults=true&stickyFacetsChecked=true&groupVariantRecords=false

Nor, A. M., Gray, T. S., Caldwell, G. S., & Stead, S. M. (2020). A value chain analysis of malaysia’s seaweed industry. Journal of Applied Phycology, 32(4), 2161–2171. https://lesa.on.worldcat.org/search/detail/8664803193?queryString=ti%3AA%20value%20chain%20analysis%20of%20malaysia%E2%80%99s%20seaweed%20industry.%20&clusterResults=true&stickyFacetsChecked=true&groupVariantRecords=false

Optus.com.au, (2022). Corporate. Retrieved on: 3rd March, 2022, from: https://www.optus.com.au/about/corporate

Optus.com.au, (2022). Optus Supplier Portal. Retrieved on: 3rd March, 2022, from: https://www.optus.com.au/about/corporate/suppliers

Presutti, W. D. & Mawhinney, J. (2013). Understanding the dynamics of the value chain (1st ed., Ser. Supply and operations management collection). Business Expert Press.https://lesa.on.worldcat.org/search/detail/829304766?queryString=porter%27s%20value%20chain%20&clusterResults=true&stickyFacetsChecked=true&groupVariantRecords=false

MGMT20144 Management and Business Context Assignment Sample

• This is a business case analysis essay that will be 1600 words +/- 10%

• Cover page: The essay must include a cover page that contains your name, student ID number, campus, assessment title, and lecturer/tutor.

• Format: Word document with appropriate layout and use of headings/sub-headings. Times New Roman, 12 size font and line spacing (1.5).

• This individual written assessment is designed to:

– Assist you to develop your knowledge of management and business contexts

– Give you the opportunity to enhance skills in research, professional responsibility, and written communication.

• All submissions must be uploaded through the Assessment Item 1 link on the unit Moodle page. Email submission to the Unit Coordinator is NOT accepted.

• The business case analysis can be uploaded as a word document.

• Penalties for late submission are applied according to the policy. This is 5% of the total marks for this assessment item deducted for every day the assignment is late.

Task description

1. You must first select ONE Australian organisation of your choice from the companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Search the company directory on the ASX website and select one Australian company for your assignment: https://www2.asx.com.au/markets/trade-our-cash-market/directory

2. Conduct research on your chosen organisation by selecting ONE or TWO of the below- mentioned topics (from week 1-5), with a focus on critically analysing the impact of a range of internal and external contextual factors on the performance and decision making of your chosen organisation:

? What is the governance structure of your chosen organisation and how does it ensure the effectiveness of the organisation's corporate governance?

? Which external environmental factors are influencing your chosen organisation’s performance and/or decision- making?

? What are the major risks your chosen organisation faces and how are they influencing its performance and/or decision making?

? What business practices does your chosen organisation adopt and how are they influencing its performance and/or decision making?

? What functional departments does your chosen organisation have and how are they supporting its business activities?

3. Your business case analysis must include at least eight (8) peer reviewed journal articles published after year 2010 from reputable journals (please see a list of recommended journals in the next page).

• Try to include the doi for each journal article in the reference list. For example: Derouiche, I., Hassan, M., & Amdouni, S. (2018). Ownership structure and investment-cash flow sensitivity. Journal of Management & Governance, 22(1), 31-54. DOI:10.1007/s10997-017-9380-x

You could search the library databases via the online ‘advanced search’ function of the CQUniversity library. By choosing the ‘advanced search’ function you can select the actual journal you wish to search. Recommended to use key concepts in week 1-5, e.g., unitary boards, PESTEL, risks, business practices etc. as search items to find the most relevant article to incorporate.

Solution

Introduction

The essay for assignment help discusses the external environmental factors influencing the performance and decision-making of 4DMedical Limited, an Australian organization enlisted in the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)(Apostolopoulos, Apostolopoulos, Makris, &Stavroyiannis, 2021). It covers the governance structure of 4DMedical Limited and how the structure ensures the effectiveness of the corporate governance of the organization. The essay throws light on the major risks 4DMedical Limited faces and the consequence of these risks on the performance and decision-making of the organization. The essay also contains the business practices adopted by the chosen organization i.e., 4DMedical Limited, and the influence of the same on productivity and governance. Diving deeper, the essay discusses the functional departments of 4DMedical Limited and their support in business activities.

Case organization synopsis

4DMedical Limited is an Australian organization chosen from the companies enlisted in the Australian Securities Exchange. It is a global medical tech firm managing the analysis software of XV lung ventilation. It uses the 3D images of the lungs combined with time to give more accurate observation. Hence it becomes really important to study the governance structure, business practices, and functional departments of the organization. These include the external environmental factors and the major challenges faced by the company that has direct as well as indirect influence on the performance, productivity, and decision-making of the company.

Body

b) Which external environmental factors are influencing your chosen organization's performance and/or decision-making?

The external factors influencing 4DMedical Limited can be listed using Porter’s 5 forces. The model measures the competition faced by the organization and how the productivity of the company changes accordingly.

Challenges faced by rival companies

Companies like IDEA-Bio Medical, Mercuries, NeoChord, EMPIX Imaging, Sisu Global Health, and Fluidda are some of the rival companies of 4DMedical Limited(Rahimi Zarchi et al., 2018). The strategies adopted by these companies are usually relatively strong as compared to 4DMedical Limited. Due to this fierce competition, the performance of the chosen organization is greatly affected. Because of the common services provided by the competitor companies, It becomes difficult to increase the charges of the services and products offeredby 4DMedical Limited. Because of these competitors, it becomes difficult to make decisions about increasing the price of the products also.

Potential of New Entrants into the same industry

With the developing technologies, more new companies are entering the same industry as 4DMedical limited. The emergence of a similar 3D Imaging Company with potential services weakens the stability and reduces the performance of the chosen organization(Rahimi Zarchi et al., 2018).

Power of suppliers

Another external factor that influences 4DMedical is the suppliers of the company. A healthy supplier-buyer relationship means the raw materials and the updated technologies available to the company at the earliest at a good price. If there is a lesser number of suppliers in the industry for 4DMedical, it would result in a large amount of money spent on switching a supplier. On the other hand, a larger number of suppliers would mean a decreased cost of switching among the competitor companies (Wang, Yu?Lin, &Ellinger, 2011). Hence the organization spends a minimal amount of money on the inputs thereby making good profits and good performance.

Power of Customers

The 4th force of porter’s 5 force model is the power of customers. It is also one of the external factors contributing to the organization’s performance. When there is a largernumber of customers of 4DMedical, the performance of the company also increases (Maimone Ansaldo Patti, et al 2016). The organization can also increase the price of the service it is offering accordingly.

Threat of Substitutes

The invention of new technologies that can surpass the XV lung imaging, and ventilation analysis of 4DMedical serve as a threat to the company. Substitute technology can affect the performance of the company negatively(Hameduddin, 2021).

The porter’s 5 forces model not only increases the profits of the company but also helps in identifying the loopholes and developing new strategies. These external factors indirectly affect the decision-making of 4DMedical also.

The 4D medical is subject to some external environmental factors, that the company has no control over. The main external factor that affects the company’s performance and decision-making is the global economic fluctuations. Any global phenomenon may result in an external demand or supply side shock or boom that eventually hit the company's demand and supply and their overall performance as well(Aikaterini, Ioannis, &Vasilagos, 2019). Domestic and foreign inflation, as well as exchange rate, influences the company’s performance directly. The real value of the company’s assets and liability depends on inflation and the exchange rate. An unanticipated change in the country’s tax or wage law may affect the total cost of production as well as the price which in terms may affect the company’s decision-making(Hussain et al., 2021). There are possibilities of new firms entering the market and hence increasing the market competition which may go against the company’s favour. Another external challenge the company deals with is the sufficiency of funds for additional development of the company as whether it would be able to raise funds from the external market or not is something they cannot guarantee(Gibson, & Dibble, 2013). That means whether the company will or will not be able to take any expansionary policy, is uncertain and subject to risk. The company’s claim for a patent may not be recognized or partially recognized which again may harm the company’s interest(Hussain et al., 2021). Furthermore, the external factors are included below to analyse the chosen company's external environmental factors much more efficiently, where the PESTEL analysis has been used to depict the factors properly.

? Political

4D Medical is a part of the healthcare industry, and the government policy’s regarding the healthcare sector have a great impact on the company's performance. If the government's policy regarding the subsidies in the medical field or the pattern of government expenditure in the health care sector changes, it may have a positive or negative effect on the company accordingly(Hannila et al., 2022). Similarly, the change in GST (goods and service tax) in this field as well as the change in income tax law may have a severe impact on the company.

? Economical

The global economy along with the domestic economy can affect the company’s performance. Besides inflation and exchange rate, the nominal interest rate plays an important role as the interest rate is the factor that determines the level of savings and investment in the economy, which eventually determines the real value of the company’s assets and liability, the number of funds the company will be able to raise through the share market, etc(ChairulAnam, 2020).

• Social

The company's performance may be affected by social and cultural beliefs and misinformation. If there are any cases of unexpected spread of rumour that is based on false information or belief and turns people around from seeking medical assistance, there may be a drastic shift in the demand for the products produced by the company(Hannila et al., 2022). The presence of unprofessional influencers on social media who are sharing information that has no scientific base is becoming a burning issue day by day.

? Technological

The healthcare industry is highly dependent on the technological field. 4D medical uses SaaS technology in its production and bears a risk of technological supply error. There may be termination of their contract with their cloud supplier, and in case they are unable to find a new partner right away, the service provided by them may be disrupted(ChairulAnam, 2020). However, technological inventions and the country’s policies to develop the technological infrastructure will have a positive effect on the company’s performance.

? Environmental

4D medical dedicates its main focus on lung diseases and its vision is to create a world where people with lung diseases have “better outcomes and more hope.” Their field of attention has a direct connection with the environment (Bialowolski & Weziak-Bialowolska, 2014). With constant urbanization, pollution is increasing, accompanied by poor air quality. Besides, people's average exposure to harmful substances is increasing which increases the number of lung diseases and other medical issues(Hannila et al., 2022). While 4D medical provides an exact solution to this problem, it affects the company’s performance. On the other hand, the government laws about the environment and resource conservation will affect the company as well.

? Legal

Another important factor that is directly related to the health care industry is the legal sector. The imposition of new laws or changes in the existing ones can play a crucial role in the company’s decision-making. The laws regarding HIPPA, healthcare employer’s liability, Patient safety, etc. are some key factors that directly affect the company. The company is liable for its production, and customers can take legal action against the company in the case of the emergence of an unexpected feature or defect in the product produced by them, which increases the company’s risk. Besides the changes in laws about administration, tax restrictions, energy conservation also impact the company’s overall performance.

Conclusion

The essay provides a piece of knowledge on the external environment of 4DMedical Limited, an Australian organization enlisted in the ASX. The essay successfully discussed the governance structure and the external environmental factors influencing 4DMedical limited. The essay provided a brief analysis of the challenges faced by the chosen organization, the business practices adopted by it, and their influence on its performance and decision-making. The essay also provided an insight on 4DMedical Limited’s functional departments and their contribution to the productivity of the company.

References

Aikaterini, G. N., Ioannis, S., &Vasilagos, T. (2019). Do external environmental factors affect strategic choice decisions of innovation?: The case of service organizations in a cross-cultural comparison. Journal of Transnational Management, 24(3), 185–230. https://doi.org/10.1080/15475778.2019.1633507

Apostolopoulos, Apostolopoulos, S., Makris, I., &Stavroyiannis, S. (2021). Rural Healthcare Enterprises in the Vortex of COVID-19: The Impact of Public Policies on the Internal and External Environment. Administrative Sciences, 11(3), 82–.https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci11030082

Bialowolski, P., &Weziak-Bialowolska, D. (2014).External Factors Affecting Investment Decisions of Companies.Economics.The Open-Access, Open-Assessment e-Journal, 8(1).https://doi.org/10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2014-11

Gibson, C. B., & Dibble, R. (2013). Excess may do harm: Investigating the effect of team external environment on external activities in teams. Organization Science, 24(3), 697-715.

Hameduddin. (2021). Employee Engagement Among Public Employees: Exploring the Role of the (Perceived) External Environment. American Review of Public Administration, 51(7), 526–541. https://doi.org/10.1177/02750740211010346

Hannila, H., Kuula, S., Harkonen, J., &Haapasalo, H. (2022). The digitalisation of a company decision-making system: a concept for data-driven and fact-based product portfolio management. Journal of Decision Systems, 31(3), 258–279. https://doi.org/10.1080/12460125.2020.1829386

Hussain, A., Jamil, M., Farooq, M. U., Asim, M., Rafique, M. Z., &Pruncu, C. I. (2021). Project Managers’ Personality and Project Success: Moderating Role of External Environmental Factors. Sustainability (Basel, Switzerland), 13(16), 9477–.https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169477

Maimone Ansaldo Patti, D., Mudambi, R., Navarra, P., & Baglieri, D. (2016). A tale of soil and seeds: the external environment and entrepreneurial entry. Small Business Economics, 47(4), 955-980..

RahimiZarchi, Jabbari, A., Hatam, N., Bastani, P., Shafaghat, T., & Fazelzadeh, O. (2018). Strategic Analysis of Shiraz Medical Tourism Industry: A Mixed Method Study. Galen, 7, e1021–e1021. https://doi.org/10.22086/gmj.v0i0.1021

Wang, Y. L., & Ellinger, A. D. (2011). Organizational learning: Perception of external environment and innovation performance. International Journal of Manpower. 32.5/6 :512–536.

MBA401 People, Culture and Contemporary Leadership Assignment Sample

The Assessment Task

Students will complete an individual essay which will explore and analyse the leadership of a contemporary leader.
Length: 1,500 Words (+/-10%)

Assessment Description

Students will research and analyse ONE contemporary leader drawn from a list provided by the MBA401 Workshop Facilitator. Students may not use any other leader, apart from those shown on the list provided for the purposes of this assessment. Students will select a leader they consider as being influential to them in their day to day living or career. Students will apply theoretical concepts covered in the subject to assist them to interpret the actions of the leader they have chosen.

The following elements should be included in the essay:

• The effect of the leader on the top management team of the organisations they have led.
• The effect of their strategic leadership in developing the human resources of the organisations they have led.
• The effect of the leader on the development of ethical practices within the organisations they have led.

Please refer to the assessment marking guide to assist in completing the assessment criteria

The essay will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Evidence of good academic practice in relation research, appropriate sourcing and referencing (see here for further details);

• Evidence of a development of a body of knowledge in the field of contemporary leadership and people;

• Level of analysis;

• Clarity of argument;

• Appropriate use of theory and relevant literature

List of CEOs to be explored for the assessment.

Choose one leader from the following list to explore for the MBA401 Assessment 1. Students may not choose any other leader for this assessment.

Leaders

Georgie Harman - Beyond Blue
Shemara Wikramanayake - Macquarie Bank
Oliver Morton-Evans - Neuromersiv
Tarun Gupta - Stockland
Matthew Halliday - Ampol Ltd
Alison Deans - Cochlear Ltd
Paul Perreault - CSL
Melanie Perkins – Canva

Solution

Introduction

With the rapid globalization and increased competitiveness in the global business environment, development of effective leaders and leadership behaviour has become a significant concern for all organizations. Leadership strategies and behaviours largely influence organizational members, which makes it essential to analyse them (Day, et al., 2014). The essay here aims to understand the effect of leaders on top management team of organizations, impact of strategic leadership in developing human resources and effect of leader on developing ethical practices in the company. For this purpose, Tarun Gupta, the CEO, MD and Director of Stockland has been considered as a potential leader for best assignment help.

Effect on Top Management Team

Tarun Gupta was appointed as the next Managing Director and CEO of Stockland in 2020. He was chosen as the next executive leader for having deep commercial experience and proven track record of managing and leading various large property operations (Stockland, 2020a). Tarun has been successful in gaining a strong reputation amongst property investors and high regards in the industry, which made Stockland’s chairman to depend on his leadership for the future of the company. Furthermore, he has had wide range of experience with regards to retirement living, investment management, community development and commercial property in his career (Stockland, 2020a). He has also performed numerous senior roles during his 26 years tenure at Lendlease where recently he served as the Group CEO. Thus, the widespread knowledge, skills and experience made Tarun as the perfect choice for the next CEO of Stockland.

The top management and senior leadership team of Stockland comprises of the CEO, CFO, Chief Legal & Risk Officer, Chief People & Stakeholder Engagement Officer, Chief Investment Officer, CEO Commercial Property, CEO Communities and Chief Innovation, Marketing and Technology Officer (Stockland, 2022). This senior management team under the guidance of Tarun’s leadership has been contributing towards the success of the organization. He has brought with him different skills and abilities alongside industry experience. Such skills and abilities have been beneficial for him to adapt in the new organization and further generate a positive influence on the top management team as well (Desai & Paton, 2014). This is evident from Gupta’s expected ability of better understanding property and housing business of Stockland with the Indian customers shaping the market. Tarun Gupta has been able to develop a vision for the top management team about how Stockland can be a significant part of providing affordable and entry-level housing to the migrants (Bleby, 2021). His leadership skills include being cautious about potential risks and strong work ethics that further influences the senior leadership team working with him. Moreover, Tarun also undertakes a humble approach for leading the top management team by embracing a collective organizational vision to attain greater good rather than focusing only on personal glory (Ou, et al., 2014). He emphasizes on realizing the unique potential of every top executive and empowering them to work towards the collective vision. This has been evident from his initiative of reshaping the Stockland Group with the help of senior leadership team for managing issues of problematic retirement business and bringing third-party capital from international market (Boyd, 2022). It has made possible to generate more cash for distributions in the company by leveraging its development capability and partnerships. Thus, this has contributed to the expansion and growth of business at Stockland.

Effect of Strategic Leadership

Strategic leadership involves a set of behaviours and attitudes undertaken for developing an organizational vision, strategies and fostering a culture of change. This leadership helps in providing the future direction to a company by displaying the purpose of growth and context for success (Azhar, et al., 2013). Tarun Gupta has been utilizing strategic leadership approach for telling the people what to do and how to do it to ensure the long-term growth, survival and success of Stockland. In this regard, his strategic priority has been to focus on the company’s purpose of offering better ways to life for all through values of community, excellence, accountability and respect (Stockland, 2021a). He further emphasizes on building a strong organizational culture with efficient brand and customer focus, which further motivates employees, managers, workers and other organizational members to work towards the same.

Gupta realizes that it is essential to keep the employees motivated and encouraged in the organization for managing and developing the human resources. His strategic leadership approach involves being concerned with the different activities and strategic choices of the human resources residing at the centre of the organization (Carter & Greer, 2013). With the changing dynamics of the global business environment, this strategic leadership at Stockland acknowledges the importance of diversity and inclusion for developing the human resources. The company focuses on enhancing the diversity of the workforce and fostering an inclusive culture with the help of strategic leadership. Here, the senior leaders and managers emphasize on maximizing the potential of all employees by appreciating and acknowledging their individual gender, backgrounds, ethnicity, physical abilities, family status, sexual orientation and thinking styles. This helps in encouraging diverse thoughts, informed decision-making processes and better business outcomes for the company.

Furthermore, strategic leadership also enables Stockland in developing an inclusive leader mindset and organizational culture. Here, the leaders focus on inclusive collaboration, empowering others, diverse thinking and ensuring psychological safety of the employees (Gotsis & Grimani, 2016). Strategies of open communication, fair treatment, cultural and emotional intelligence and continuous learning are often undertaken for building such an organizational culture to develop the human resources. The strategic leadership at Stockland further includes harnessing diversity alongside providing a true sense of belongingness and inclusion within the workforce (Stockland, 2020b). Here, every employee is provided with equal growth and development opportunities, fair and equal treatment, promotional chances, compensation and benefits, wellbeing and accessibility to information. This culture is maintained through appropriate and effective strategic leadership practices of flexibility, gender equity, wellbeing, accessibility and cultural inclusion and recognizing LGBTI+ minorities (Stockland, 2020b). Thus, it helps in enhancing social connection with the employees, providing them with opportunities and ultimately developing the human resources.

Effect on Development of Ethical Practices

Leaders are considered as crucial for moral actions in an organization by demonstrating virtuous and strong moral character. Ethical leadership involves both transactional and transformational approach for motivating their followers to behave in an ethical manner by using rewards and punishment systems (Fehr, et al., 2015). Tarun Gupta, as the CEO of Stockland, displays appropriately normative conduct through his personal actions and other interpersonal relationships in the organization. This promotion of ethical conduct takes place through two-way communication, decision-making and reinforcement in the company (Demirtas & Akdogan, 2015). Here, such ethical leadership behaviour helps in shaping attitudes of employees and other organizational members, thereby motivating them to act ethically. This is because the ethical judgments of the leaders have strong influence on the followers or employees in the organization.

In today’s business environment, establishing a culture for promoting and supporting ethical behaviours has become essential for the companies to attain sustainable growth, positive brand image and strategic superiority (Demirtas & Akdogan, 2015). In this regard, Stockland focuses on fulfilling its long-standing commitment and track record towards using an ethical and sustainable way for conducting business. Effective senior leadership enables the company to continuously innovate and pilot test the scalability of different circular models for reducing its environmental impact. This leadership also provides significant importance on enhancing and supporting the local communities and ensuring their personal wellbeing (Stockland, 2021b). Thus, Gupta’s leadership commitment has been able to continue the business operations in an ethical and sustainable way with the help and support from employees and partners.

Stockland undertakes a holistic approach for dealing with sustainability issues that has helped it to create liveable communities and delivering highest standards of social, environment and governance. The company focuses on challenging the status quo and achieving sustainable economic, social and environmental outcomes (Stockland, 2021b). This has helped it to reduce property emissions, enhance employee engagement score, increase savings from emissions reduction and increase community investment of health, education and wellbeing initiatives. These have been possible because of the CEO ethical leadership and sustainability initiatives undertaken in Stockland. Such ethical leadership has enabled organizational members in following actions and policies for enhancing the company’s environmental, social and economic performance (Wu, et al., 2015). Thus, effective leadership helps in developing ethical practices by fostering an ethical climate in organizations.

Conclusion

The essay aimed at analysing the effect of leader on top management teams, influence of strategic leadership in developing human resources and impact of leaders on the development of ethical practices in organizations. For this purpose, it considered Tarun Gupta, CEO of Stockland for studying about the effects of leadership on individuals in the organizations. It was found out the leaders influence top management teams by providing them with a clear direction and vision. These leaders also undertake various strategies of diversity and inclusion to treat all employees equally and develop the human resources. Lastly, effective leadership also helps in developing ethical practices in organizations. 

References

Azhar, A., Ikram, S., Rashid, S., & Saqib, S. (2013). The role of leadership in strategy formulation and implementation. Studies, 1(2).

Bleby, M. (2021). New Stockland CEO’s plan to house Australia. https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/leaders/new-stockland-ceo-s-plan-to-house-australia-20210621-p5830w
Boyd, T. (2022). Stockland CEO’s great strategic leap. https://www.afr.com/chanticleer/stockland-ceo-s-great-strategic-leap-20220223-p59yv3

Carter, S. M., & Greer, C. R. (2013). Strategic leadership: Values, styles, and organizational performance. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 20(4), 375-393. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051812471724

Day, D. V., Fleenor, J. W., Atwater, L. E., Sturm, R. E., & McKee, R. A. (2014). Advances in leader and leadership development: A review of 25 years of research and theory. The leadership quarterly, 25(1), 63-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.11.004

Demirtas, O., & Akdogan, A. A. (2015). The effect of ethical leadership behavior on ethical climate, turnover intention, and affective commitment. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(1), 59-67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2196-6

Desai, M., & Paton, D. (2014). The Effects of Leader Succession and Prior Leader Experience on Post-Succession Performance (WITHDRAWN). In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2014, No. 1, p. 15280). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.

Fehr, R., Yam, K. C., & Dang, C. (2015). Moralized leadership: The construction and consequences of ethical leader perceptions. Academy of Management Review, 40(2), 182-209. http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amr.2013.0358

Gotsis, G., & Grimani, K. (2016). Diversity as an aspect of effective leadership: Integrating and moving forward. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 37(2), 241-264. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-06-2014-0107

Ou, A. Y., Tsui, A. S., Kinicki, A. J., Waldman, D. A., Xiao, Z., & Song, L. J. (2014). Humble chief executive officers’ connections to top management team integration and middle managers’ responses. Administrative science quarterly, 59(1), 34-72.

Stockland. (2020a). Stockland appoints Tarun Gupta Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. https://www.stockland.com.au/media-centre/media-releases/stockland-appoints-tarun-gupta-managing-director-and-chief-executive-officer

Stockland. (2020b). Our Management Approach to Employee Diversity and Inclusion. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjGlNyE09D7AhVtTmwGHeKdAeAQFnoECBsQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stockland.com.au%2F~%2Fmedia%2Fcorporate%2Fpdf%2Fabout-stockland%2Fsustainability%2Fdiversity-and-inclusion-management-approach-fy20.ashx%3Fla%3Den&usg=AOvVaw3rO5Yy1wLZ7eAhCYUXCmL4

Stockland. (2021a). Strategy update: Building on our strengths. https://www.stockland.com.au/~/media/corporate/investor-centre/fy22/strategy-update/stockland-strategy-update_210211108.ashx

Stockland. (2021b). ESG Review. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjNrcm9-ND7AhVBTGwGHXkICPAQFnoECC0QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stockland.com.au%2F~%2Fmedia%2Fcorporate%2Fpdf%2Fabout-stockland%2Fsustainability%2Ffy21%2Fstockland-fy21-esg-review.ashx%3Fla%3Den&usg=AOvVaw2P5CEKXSxTsHRD5GFKsrpD

Stockland. (2022). Stockland Board and Senior Leadership. https://www.stockland.com.au/about-stockland/board-and-executive

Wu, L. Z., Kwan, H. K., Yim, F. H. K., Chiu, R. K., & He, X. (2015). CEO ethical leadership and corporate social responsibility: A moderated mediation model. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(4), 819-831. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2108-9

BST720 Leadership, Work and Organization Assignment Sample

Please read the following instructions carefully.

Please refer to the assessment criteria provided on page 3 of this document prior to undertaking the assignment. Please take time to think about and read around your topic, both in terms of theory and in practice before trying to write your answer.

This assignment is in the form of an essay.
- Essay is 2,000 words +/-10% and excludes references and appendices.

The Case Study – Uber: #What DoYouDo
(Source: Harvard Publishing).

This case-study is based on a 2017 blog post by a former Uber employee, Susan Fowler and created for pedagogical purposes. Fictitious names for some roles have been used. In this blog, Fowler was brutally honest about sexual harassment, the sexism, the bro culture and the failure of HR and Senior Management at Uber1.

Please read the case study carefully

You have recently been recruited as the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) of Uber and you have an upcoming meeting with the Senior Executive Team (SET) in two days. You will be sitting alongside Ariana Huffington, founder of Huffington Post (the only woman on Uber’s Board) and Kalanick, the CEO of Uber.

YOUR ESSAY

You will provide a critical evaluation of organisational culture in Uber; identify the problems and provide a set of recommendations for consideration by the Senior Executive Team (SET).

Overall comments on the written part:

This part of the assignment provides you with the opportunity to interpret organisational culture in a number of ways but try not to be too broad in your discussion.

You may wish to consider some of the following in relation to Uber:

• leadership and consequences as well as impact/influence on organisation culture

• the relationship between leadership and followership in organisations in perpetuating organisation culture. You may also want to critically consider the different ways in which these roles are recognised, rewarded and developed in organisations

• You may decide to look at gender diversity as well as organisational practice to ensure the answer is grounded in terms of a critical organisational analysis

• The role of HR in leadership, organisation culture and change

Important to any discussion would be a clear structure and ‘line of logic/analysis’ which leads you to some recommendations that will be practical to the organisation. It must be noted that this is an academic paper with a practical application.

Sources of Information:

Your lectures will not have captured everything and you can/should use material from other sources. Look at your reading lists as well as online journals, newspapers, videos etc. But do not overwhelm yourself, be practical and try to focus your search and your reading. And be critical in your writing.

Structure of Essay:

Guidance will be given in your workshops; you may use the following sequence:

• Introduction
• Body (main discussion area based on thematic areas/arguments)
• Recommendations
• Conclusion
• References
• Appendices

Assessment Criteria for Written Assignment

• Your written work will be done as an essay. It IS AN ACADEMIC PIECE OF WORK and must be written accordingly.

• The assignment has been designed to encourage theoretical, ethical and practical thinking around core conceptsstudied on the module. Marks are awarded according to

Assessment criteria (see page

• Be very, very careful not to copy texts, even single sentences. Plagiarism is absolutely forbidden. To make sure that you are not accused of plagiarism, ensure that essays are fully referenced and have a bibliography. Keep direct quotesto a minimum and always attribute theirsource with full referencing (name of author, date of publication, page number of original text. You should use the Cardiff Harvard system of referencing which is summarised on the student intranet as well as the library webpages. Here are two links that may guide you:

• https://xerte.cardiff.ac.uk/play_4191#page1

• https://intranet.cardiff.ac.uk/students/study/study-skills/academic-writing-communication- and-referencing/citing-and-referencing-support

Please take all these points above into consideration before starting any written work.

Solution

Introduction

Work culture and organizational behaviour is something which is one of the most important concerns that is needed to be in any organization. Leadership is one of the crucial jobs of HR practice upon which the whole organizational culture depends. This assignment is an essay on work, leadership and organization of Uber. This essay will critically analyze this service based company on the basis of an case study named “Uber: #WhatDoYouDo”. Susan Fowler, a former Uber employee had posted a blog in 2017 revealing sexual discrimination, sexism and sexual harassment within that organization. This essay will critically discuss the role of leadership, HR practice, and organizational culture with consideration of this incident.

Company background: Uber is a globally renowned cab service company which was founded by Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick in 2009. The company has its headquarters in San Francisco, California, and runs its operations in more than 900 metropolitan areas throughout the world. This company was formerly started up to offer cab services but now it provides services like rentals, couriers, food delivery, bike or scooter riding, package delivery and many more like these. Uber only offers riding services, they do not own any car, they only share a 25% commission from every ride or booking. This company had managed to earn approximately 14.1 billion USD in 2019 from rides and food delivery services (statista, 2022). They have been able to raise their profit from food delivery services to 3.9 billion USD during the lockdown period last year. Uber technologies run its functional operations with more than 22800 employees globally.

Critical Discussion

Organisational leadership

Leadership has a tremendous impact on organizational culture as leaders act like the pillars in a workforce of any organization. Leaders not only guide a team, but also they conduct the actual functional operation in any business. Leaders are the ones who manage their whole team and make an organization perpetuate. Efficient leaders need to display a positive vibe in them so that other team members can follow them. It is found that employees in an organization are very much influenced by their leaders in terms of motivation to perform well. A good leader makes his subordinate employees feel themselves as important parts of an organization, which leads those employees to try harder in terms of good performance. Leaders are those ones who help their team members to understand their job roles clearly and achieve success in short goals (Hauff et al. 2018). These short goals in various tasks lead to the overall progress of a business. Managers or team leaders help a team to prioritize among several activities which not only saves time but also saves energy as well as resources. In this modern and digital era, international companies such as Uber can implement a contemporary leadership style instead of an autocratic one. Leaders as well as management need to make decisions on applying different strategies according to requirements of different situations for assignment help.

There are several negative impacts of improper leadership as an inefficient leader can lead to a mess in the whole functional operation in a business. A manager or team leader needs to maintain adequate communication with other team members. Strong words or rude attitude of a leader can demotivate their subordinate employees and it can break their confidence as well. Managers or team leaders have to play a vital role in an organization as only they can control a healthy atmosphere inside an office or any kind of workplace. Proper communication only can help employees to understand the instructions given by their manager or supervisor. A leader needs to convey messages or instructions in clear as well as firm language, otherwise the team members can be misguided (Hauff et al. 2018). In this case, Susan had received an unethical indication from her boss which is strictly against effective leadership. Unprofessional as well as emotional words need to be avoided by a leader while giving instructions; otherwise a misunderstanding can take place, which can disrupt a healthy atmosphere in a workplace.

Organisational culture and HRM roles

Members of a HRM team always try to retain their most efficient workforce as much as possible as it lies under their job roles on behalf of a business firm or organization. This is a quite common tendency of HR professionals but this incident reveals something else that is more like ignoring a serious complaint coming from a newcomer is not at all acceptable at any cost. Susan was also a part of the workforce in this business and there was a huge probability of getting her as another star to the workforce in Uber technologies. Moreover, HR professionals are there to solve any kinds of issues raised from their employees for the sake of a good and healthy work culture in an organization (Yang et al. 2021). They can at least create an investigating team to verify complaints if there are any, coming from their employees. This tendency of the HR management team can be considered as not only an issue of negligence but also a case of biases towards older employees. Any of the employees, whether he or she is one of the most committed or efficient towards a job, should not be allowed to conduct any sort of unethical behavior to other employees within an office. These kinds of behavior are huge barriers for creating an efficient organizational culture.

Employees remain motivated towards their work when they get appreciation as well as positive reinforcements from their team leaders. As per Susan’s blog, she did not get the desired transfer even after proving herself in several jobs and scoring perfect in terms of performance. Rather than she got a negative review from her manager for personal issues. No manager is supposed to target any employee and rate her negatively without any documented reason (Van Mierlo et al. 2018). This is strictly against an efficient leadership practice in an organization. A potential employee can expect appreciation instead of wrong as well as illegal indications from her colleagues or managers. A healthy atmosphere and competent work culture should not support or entertain these kinds of incidents in their office.

Equality and gender diversity in organisational culture

According to her blog, Uber technologies was full of sexism as well as sexual discrimination, as female engineers were accounted only 6 among 150 engineers of the workforce in this company. She had mentioned in her post that female engineers even after scoring well in terms of performance did not get leather jackets that were given to all male engineers as the company was getting a huge discount for a bulk order of male jackets. They were not ready to buy jackets with fewer discounts for only six women at the office. This is clear racism! Employees regardless of their gender are supposed to be treated equally and deserve to be rewarded according to their performance. Female employees, in a good organizational culture, deserve to get equal appraisal or consideration from the supervisors as men.

According to Forbes report, there is at least a 7% of discrimination in the payment process between male and female employees in this company, that is male engineers are paid 7% more than female ones for equivalent designation (Forbes, 2022). Even it is clear from their report that chances of getting a promotion is totally ‘gender blind’ here! This tendency among any workforce is strictly against the work policy of the HR professionals. HR management members are supposed to display a behaviour of complete equality irrespective of gender, skin colour, or cultural as well as religious belief. The management of Uber technologies is to be terribly criticized. Uber management claims to pose fourteen moral values and meritocracy are one of them, but this tendency of them is completely contradictory to their claimed values (uber, 2022). It is clear that they do not always support meritocracy in reality and let people get what they actually deserve according to their merit and performance. Another significant value that this cab service company claims to pose is toe-stepping or sharing ideas regardless of their post or seniority during a meeting. The fact is, employees as well as senior managers in this organization use this idiom for being rude and behave badly to others inside their office. Often newcomers have to face this kind of behaviour from their seniors. Job roles of the HRM is not only creating business strategies and executing action plans, but also they are supposed to show respect to every employee as a human and consider the moral values and ethics of each of them.

Role of HR in leadership, organisation culture and change

Leaders have the power to control or defuse any scopes of gossiping inside an office. In addition to that, leaders or managers are the one who can deal with any complaints coming from one of their employee bases. Fowler met other female engineers in her office and got to know their stories of getting the same indications from that very same person. She decided to escalate this to the higher authority, but was not entertained again. She was even threatened for talking to other girls or gossiping at office premises. Here, the HR professional is quite right as defusing or at least discouraging gossip inside office premises are duly expected from management, but in this case, they could have listened to her as her problem was more serious than gossiping.

It has been also found out that a nasty booze culture was common in the Friday night party arranged at Uber office premises. These parties were full of sex, drugs, Marijuana and many like this and they call it “Bro culture”. This is not an example of a healthy office culture as not all employees are supposed to be comfortable with these kinds of party culture, and if they do not, their decision should be respected by other employees. Fowler could not fit herself into this culture and decided to change her job though she was not the only one who wanted to quit job at Uber. This company had at least 25% of female engineers by 2015 and the number had reduced to only 3% by 2017 (susanjfowler, 2022). However, Uber management claims to have now somehow changed their policies and work culture and has been able to raise their female employee number to 40% by the year 2021. A rich organisational culture not only maintains stability in the workplace but also increase the employee retention that also helps to minimise the overhead cost. Hence HRM plays an important role in organisational culture. The culture is not a healthy culture in Uber and there should be limitations. Such cultures also degrade the goodwill of the company as well. Uber HR must consider such aspects and try to maintain a healthier approach towards organisational cultural aspects. Human resource leaders are vital to corporate growth. They help achieve strategic goals and objectives by providing complex and innovative leadership strategies. HR leaders mediate between senior management and employees and defend matters on behalf of employees. They promote awareness and guide all levels of the organization through change and transformation. They train both managers and employees on company culture and best practices for living and working together (Zhao et al., 2020). In addition, HR leaders develop metrics and other performance indicators and continually make changes based on overall performance. When an organization has at least one person overseeing these activities, it ensures that the strategies remain effective and bring return on investment (ROI) for change. Personal empathy reinforces leadership qualities in HR activities because it helps HR professionals assist employees with personal problems. These problems can occur when an employee is facing a death in their family or is in a difficult work environment like Uber where bad culture impacted the organisational growth aspect.

Whether change is needed, needed, right or all three, respect is an important part of it. And human resources have an important role to play in ensuring that change is defined, developed and implemented respectfully. The behavioural skills required by HR professionals allow employees to participate in necessary change in their own hands through things like relationship management, critical evaluation, and leadership mentoring and roaming. Change is important for HR as human resource work will keep on changing along with it and in this case, Uber desperately in need of cultural change. Changes in HR are long-term structural changes. Therefore, although many HR principles are still the same, the way HR is run will and will continue to change. These changes will require organizational leadership, but for change to occur, change must occur from the bottom to up. Therefore, for it to be truly successful, the focus must be on change in human resources at all levels (Cohen, 2016).
Importantly, the human resources department of Uber should be encouraged to seek potential contributors to convert and encourage other employees to join the program. Since there are people in the human resources department with organizational and personal competencies, getting their help to sustain change is an important factor in the change management process.

Recommendations

These kinds of incidents are harmful for the reputation of an organization and can impact on their sales rate as well. Chances of these kinds of events can be reduced or avoided through proper actions taken by the governing bodies and managing directors in an organization. Managers of this company can be given training on leadership practice as some of them are found to misuse the power of a leader. They need to understand the concept of an efficient leadership so that they can implicate that knowledge in their daily activities for the sake of this organization. All employees including team leaders and managers need to participate in gender equality awareness programs arranged within the office premises. Employees can be given activity tasks such as role playing activities that can make them feel things from a woman’s perspective. Strong HR policies can be created as well as activated in the work culture as soon as possible and tough penalties can be declared in case of violation of those policies. More female employees can be hired in the HR management team so that they can deal with these matters with empathy. ‘Green HRM’ practice can be introduced within the work culture of this company so that a healthy work atmosphere can be retained and an efficient organizational behavior can be ensured (Peng et al. 2020). Safety and security of female employees can be ensured thus more female candidates can be encouraged to join this company.

Conclusion

Leadership and work culture are inevitable parts of an organization for which an efficient leadership practice and a healthy work culture is necessary for a good reputation of a company. This essay has discussed critical evaluation of the case study of Susan Fowler who worked as an engineer in Uber technologies. This essay has critically discussed the role of leadership, HR practice, and organizational culture with consideration of this incident. It has analyzed and criticized this cab service provider company on the basis of a blog posted by Susan in 2017. This essay has also recommended some potential strategies that can be suitable for this organization to regain their reputation.

Reference list

Cohen, D. (2016). What is HR’s Role in Managing Change? [online] SHRM. Available at: https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/special-reports-and-expert-views/pages/deb-cohen.aspx [Accessed 13 Jan. 2022].

Forbes (2022) Uber's Gender Pay Gap Study May Show The Opposite Of What Researchers Were Trying To Prove Available at; https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox/2018/09/23/gender-paygap-uber-case-study/?sh=650a3f9eb555 [Accessed on 12.1.22]

Hauff, S., Guerci, M., Dul, J. and van Rhee, H., 2021. Exploring necessary conditions in HRM research: Fundamental issues and methodological implications. Human Resource Management Journal, 31(1), pp.18-36.

Peng, J., Yin, K., Hou, N., Zou, Y. and Nie, Q., 2020. How to facilitate employee green behavior: The joint role of green transformational leadership and green human resource management practice. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 52(9), p.1105.

susanjfowler (2022) Reflecting On One Very, Very Strange Year At Available at; Uberhttps://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-one-very-strange-year-at-uber [Accessed on 12.1.22]

uber (2022) About Us Available at; https://www.uber.com/in/en/about/?utm_campaign=CM2058205-search-google-brand_77_-99_IN-National_driver_web_acq_cpc_en_Generic_Exact_uber_kwd- 169801042_496400217099_122940583368_e_c&utm_source=AdWords_Brand [Accessed on 12.1.22]

Van Mierlo, J., Bondarouk, T. and Sanders, K., 2018. The dynamic nature of HRM implementation: a structuration perspective. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(22), pp.3026-3045.

Yang, F., Huang, X., Tang, D., Yang, J. and Wu, L., 2021. How guanxi HRM practice relates to emotional exhaustion and job performance: the moderating role of individual pay for performance. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 32(11), pp.2493-2518.

Zhao, S., Liu, M., Zhu, C.J. and Liu, H. (2020). The role of leadership in human resource management: perspectives and evidence from Asia Pacific. Asia Pacific Business Review, [online] pp.1–5. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13602381.2020.1779496.

BE253 Creating and Managing the New and Entrepreneurial Organisation Assignment Sample

Assessment Brief

Assessment for this module is based on coursework which will take the form of an individual essay on the following topic:

The Development of an Individual Creative Action Plan

Students are expected to write an essay on the student’s propensity to enterprise, self- assessment of entrepreneurial capability; identification and validation of opportunity and the creative conception of new venture idea (word count – max., 2,000 words).

Assessment task

For your “Individual Creative Action Plan” (ICAP) you are expected to discuss your new venture idea focusing particularly on:

• Your own self-assessment for starting and managing the new venture.
• The source of the business/social venture/project idea/innovation.
• How did you identify the opportunities that led you to the consider idea for the new venture?
• How you intend to go about developing the idea, resourcing it, identifying its market and its business viability and developing an outline business model?

What follows is a guide for the ICAP including the key points that should be covered:

• Your own Self- Assessment: How have you carried out your self-assessment? What tools (tests from the Internet) did you use? What do the results show? Do they reflect what you know about yourself and your entrepreneurial characteristics, strengths and weaknesses? Try and be as objective as you can and do not rely simply on SWOT analysis. (20%)

• The Business Idea and Unique Value Proposition: Explain the main idea/innovation you intend to bring to market, along with the uniqueness of the idea i.e., the unique value proposition. How does it address an economic and/or a social problem? How will your idea solve that problem? Think about the new value your business/social venture brings to your customers and the wider community. . (Note: This is an important part of your assignment. You should focus on explaining the uniqueness of your idea and the value it adds to your potential customers). (20%)

• Source(s) of ideas/innovation: Explain the main source(s) of ideas/innovation for your new venture. For example, you can focus on explaining sources of idea based on Drucker’s seven sources of innovation. (5%)

• Identification of resources: Explain the main resources (finance, people, networks) you will need to start your new venture. You should focus on explaining the resources you’ll be using, taking into consideration their advantages and disadvantages. Who will be your suppliers and distributors? Try and think of a sum of start-up capital you may need to start or grow and explain why. (10%)

• The Market for your Venture: Here, you should provide a summary of the market you wish to enter and why, your knowledge and understanding of the market and how it works, how will you enter and what share of the market you might obtain, why it is a good market to enter and what are the alternatives. You should also explain who your customers are going to be and how will you attract them to your venture

• The Business Model: Consider what could be the business model that might generate overall value of the business to you and your customers; how will this value be generated (income streams; brand value; value of goods and products; sustainability, etc.). Think of the business model for a similar and existing venture to help you determine what could be learnt from such a venture (5%).

• You, your team and Your Network: focus on the mix of competencies and capabilities of your team you will need and why, how you complement each other, how that will be relevant to your venture; what are your current and prospective networks, who will you connect with and why? (10%)

• Limitations and Barriers: Consider what might prevent you from starting up, or what might affect the development of your start-up? How might you overcome those barriers? (5%)

• Conclusion and Implications – Conclude with suggestions of what can be learned from your Individual Action Plan. (5%)

The percentages in brackets denote the importance of each of the above points that need to be covered in your ICAP.

Solution

The Business Idea

In order to establish a self-owned venture, it is very significant to understand the needs of the market and the choices of the people in the area where the business is determined to be set up. The choice and interest of the individual also matter in that step and needs to be taken into consideration. Therefore, the idea that has been thought of is of setting up a bakery business as a loyal customer base is self-generated in this process. The business is planned to be set up in the main city as analysis has been done that people are looking for ways in which they can maintain their diet and are looking for alternatives from the current bakery procedures.

Self-assessment

Figure 1: Entrepreneur test
(Source: Psychometrictest, 2013)

An online self-assessment test has been conducted to check the entrepreneurial skills which helped in understanding about me and my entrepreneurial knowledge. These mark the entrepreneurial characteristics and have, helped in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the business idea. A brief overview of the strengths and weaknesses along with the opportunities and the threats are provided below for management assignment help.

Strengths

• Separate food processing equipment for different kinds of food.

• Marketer with experienced staff

• Customer-oriented

• Great location

• Experienced staff in Gluten Diets Weaknesses

• No prior experience of running bakery

• No industrial experience in production

Opportunities

• Unlike other food items mostly, baked food items are not seasonal

• Movement progress towards a healthier lifestyle Threats

• Entry of new competitors which might result in a slow initial growth

Unique value proposition

We have separate food processing equipment for different kinds of food items and the baked items which is the strength. The staff members who will be working are hired professionals in this business and tend to have at least 6 months of experience in the bakery business. Location wise, the business is thought to be set up in the city area which also comes as one of the perks. Coming to the weaknesses it can be noticed that the experience in the production field might be less for most of the members and the threat of new entries can be expected until a particular set of the customer base is set up and a base is not generated. The unique business idea is to produce gluten-free products for the customers and take a step forward in moving towards a healthier lifestyle. This has been done as people are becoming more health-conscious and are trying to be as choosy in food consumption as possible. Offering Gluten-free bakery products can help them to maintain their healthy diet and also enjoy the delicious servings without having to worry. Gluten-free products are rich in fiber and it maintains the freshness of the items which are produced (Mahmood et al., 2020). The age group of people of 30 years and above is to be targeted for this business as they are emerging in the society as the adults who are conscious about their food intake and are looking for alternatives to serve their choices. This is planned to be achieved by wearing gloves for the preparation and serving of food. Proper sanitization of the place after the tables is left by the customers and also offering online food delivery system for the people who are trying to avoid crowded places.

Another benefit of including gluten-free bakery products is that it promotes healthy weight gain (Kurniawan et al., 2019). People who are also trying to gain weight but not just fat can consider trying our products as they are healthy and at the same time can serve their choice as well. This unique idea is therefore planned to add value to the business and further help in adding to the potential customers.

Sources of Innovation

In order to understand and reflect on the sources of information, Drucker’s seven sources of innovation has been used-

• Unexpected occurrences

It is often stated that unexpected failure and an unsuspected occurrence of an incident can be the source of innovation opportunities. Therefore, many while looking for ways to establish a new venture have considered this process.

• Incongruities

Incongruity can also sometimes lead to the innovation sources as a rhythm of the needs are identified in this process. This has been helpful in thinking of the bakery venture idea as in the market, steady growth has been observed after the analysis with the given unique idea.

• Process needs

The needs of the place can also give rise to new sources of innovation, as it marks the establishment of such a business that can be consumer-oriented and can help in up-liftmenof the place (Buta, 2019).

• Industry and market changes

The changes in the market sometimes can also act as the source of a new idea or venture.

• Demographic changes

While deciding on a new business set-up, demography plays a significant role and it has been one of the least risky entrepreneurial choices that have been known to be most rewarding.

• Changes in perception

Changes in the perception of an employee and the manager or the customer and the employer can also lead to a source of innovation (Yang et al., 2019).

• New knowledge

Innovation based on new ideas and knowledge has been historically proven to be of higher value (Ahsan et al., 2018).

Identification of Resources

Finance: The financial resources include personal investment and outside equity financing where a team will be involved. The initial budget is estimated to be $30,000.
People: the human resources include the high-level experienced staff that is hired for the bakery business.

Networks: premises and equipment including the industry experts can help understand the networks and establish better funding to reach out to the customers and set up a proper base. Suppliers will by own employees and distributors belong to the employees of my delivery department.

The market ventures

In order to establish a bakery business, the licensing and franchising market is decided to be targeted. For deciding the best choice for the customers, it is necessary to understand their needs at the moment.

Demographic segmentation: After a proper market analysis, it has been observed that the people above the age group of 30 are concerned about their health and are always in search of alternatives in the bakery products.

Psychographic segmentation: Taking this into consideration, the healthy way of serving the customers is decided by providing them gluten-free bakery products keeping the values of the customers on mind.

Behavioral segmentation: People who have a standard income and tends to acquire a strong purchasing power, people belonging to the economically empowered section of the society are targeted audience.

There are several benefits of entering this business market. Being one of the largest sectors in the world while improving the consistency and aroma as required. The seasonal availability is also high and one of the best choices of bakery business is that it is not seasonal and can be delivered all time of the year (Chun, 2018). Long-term preservation can also be observed in this particular field. Meetings and gatherings can be held in the main city where the target audience can be requested to join so that they can be acknowledged regarding the health benefits. In this way, the market for the venture is planned to be established.

The business models

The business model that has been thought of for this particular business venture is B2C business. This is a business-to-customer oriented e-commerce platform where the sales are involved between the business clients and the consumers on a direct basis (Buschow and Laugemann, 2020). The value that will be generated for the various platforms are mentioned below-

Figure 2: Business value segments

• Customer segments

The customers can be attracted towards purchasing from this store through clear advertisement relating to the health and dietary benefits that will be gained.

• Value propositions

Value propositions can be maintained through proper verification of the choices of the people and maintaining the production processes through complete safety towards the environmental concerns (Lin and Wang, 2019).

• Channels

The channels of the members can be generated through the funding process through the profit generated in the direct B2C sales considering the stakeholders, suppliers and distributors.

• Customer relationships

This can be enhanced with the help of advertisements where the customers can be made aware of the details of the products and services, which are planned to be offered in the business

• Revenue streams

The financial reports can be directly considered to be approached for the revenue streams. Key resources

• Key resources

The key resources can be the kitchen equipments, food materials and the financial resources along with the human resources.

• Key activities

Hiring of the staff members, advertisement, set up are the main key activities.

• Key partnerships

The key partnerships are will be with the distributors and suppliers of the business.

• Cost structure

The experienced people as they can provide better suggestions for the generation of other resources and what budget can be estimated with the help of this.

Amy’s Bread and Bakery, in New York City, is one of the renowned bakeries in America which follows the B2C business model for improving the business and reaching out to the customers in the best possible manner (Kropp et al., 2016).

Initially, it has been planned that 5-6 members will be hired for maintaining the financial resources and keeping a record of the monthly details. Apart from this, three cooks will be hired with serving staff members. All the staff that is hired will have a minimum of 6 months of experience in this bakery field so that no new risks will occur and it will be easy to gain the attention of the customers when they will be greeted with already experienced staff. The members will connect to the target audience in the direct advertising processes such as meetings and gatherings or connect with them on the digital platform such as social media websites or company websites. This can be of a great benefit to win against the other competitors in the market as initially, people do not have enough revenue but since our budget is quite affordable for us, we are planning to keep all the experienced staff members.

Risks and limitations

The financial risks can be high as the members who are supposed to be hired will be experienced and hence might ask for higher pay from the starting itself. Secondly, it is the first time that we are thinking of starting a business completely on our own with a new venture idea and hence the confidence level is set low. Another barrier might be observed in the time management processes as the management authorities will be limited initially and I have to look after the details of the business, the resource requirements and the availability of required funds for the procedures to be carried out in the most desirable manner.

Conclusion

It is not always necessary to succeed in the first go, we can always gain more confidence and experience through failures and hence taking this into consideration, the business can proceed. Relating to the needs of the customers is significant, and is the first step, hence we have planned out the market analysis and based on that prepared a SWOT analysis. After considering the self-assessment test, it has been observed that the entrepreneurial skills are well and can be considered for the business establishment. Also, the 9 segments of the business entry in the licensing and franchise market entry are referred. As this has been a great help, to understand where we stand and also make it clear to all the employees as to what is expected from them in the business. The risks, which are likely to occur, can be mitigated by keeping the business according to the plan and initially not taking huge targets. The training of the employees will not be required as they will be professional and experienced in this field already and this can be of great help to the people. The customer base can be further generated with the help of direct advertising techniques and using online media to connect to them regularly. Their online actions and feedback can also be noted for proceeding further with the business.

References

Ahsan, M., Zheng, C., DeNoble, A. and Musteen, M., 2018. From student to entrepreneur: How mentorships and affect influence student venture launch. Journal of Small Business Management, 56(1), pp.76-102. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jsbm.12362

Buschow, C. and Laugemann, R., 2020. What makes a media entrepreneur? Factors influencing entrepreneurial intention of mass communication students. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 75(3), pp.321-334. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1077695820912146

Buta, S., 2019. Innovation and skills are generated by the exploitation of knowledge. The USV Annals of Economics and Public Administration, 19(1 (29)), pp.100-106.http://annals.seap.usv.ro/index.php/annals/article/viewArticle/1135

Chun, D., 2018. The effect of characteristics of entrepreneur on venture business managerial performance: By separating the duration of firm's survival. Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship, 13(4), pp.1-12. https://www.koreascience.or.kr/article/JAKO201831854887197.page

Kropp, F., Lindsay, N.J. and Shoham, A., 2016. Entrepreneurial, market, and learning orientations and international entrepreneurial business venture performance in South African firms. International marketing review. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/02651330610703427/full/html

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