Assignment title

Managing Communications, Knowledge and Information

The purpose of the assignment is to check learner’s

1. Understanding of how to assess information and knowledge needs
2. Ability to create strategies to increase personal networking to widen involvement in the decision-making process
3. Ability to develop communication processes
4. Ability to improve systems relating to information and knowledge.

Instructions to learners:
1. Please read the assignment brief carefully and follow the evidence criteria.
2. This is an individual work, collaboration is not allowed.
3. The assignment must be typewritten with 1.15 spacing of justified alignment using Times New Roman font, font size 12.
4. Word limit for the report is 3000 words
5. An electronic copy of your assessment must be fully uploaded by the deadline date and time. You may submit one single PDF or MS Office Word document or Google document.
6. The electronic copy should be named as “YourFullName_Unit16”
7. Hard copy of the assignment must be submitted latest by 10pm, 21 June 2017. Assignment will only be accepted for marking if the hard copy and the electronic copy uploaded are the same.
8. Label work with appropriate tasks/criteria’s/number
9. Use the APA referencing system and provide references [e.g. (Smith, 2011)] within the text and an entry in a references list. Otherwise it will be considered as plagiarized work. Your work must be original with the appropriate referencing.

Additional Instructions

1. The reports should be typed to the following format:

i. Title page
ii. Table of content
iii. Executive summary
iv. The Main Content/Body
v. Conclusion/Recommendations

2. The following criteria are relevant to all tasks.

i. Select/design and apply appropriate methods/techniques (M2)
ii. Use critical reflection to evaluate own work and justify valid conclusions (D1)
iii. Demonstrate convergent/lateral/creative thinking. (D3)

Scenario

M Limited is a well-established real estate development company. It provides complete solutions for home construction, which includes designing, financing and construction of property. Depending on the investment, the company retains the right to use or lease a part of the property for 30 to 35 years.

The company has 4 departments; Admin & HR, Finance, Procurement, and Projects. All of the general office jobs are held by locals. Projects department hires most of their staff on contract basis, depending on the nature and number of the developments they have going on at any given time. Most of the workforce consists of semi-skilled workers from Bangladesh. The company hires technical employees from Sri Lanka and the Philippines on a need basis as well. In its prime, the company had enjoyed a steady growth of profits. Since the retirement of the founder of the company back in 2011, it had only undertaken a handful of projects. However, the company continues to maintain their revenue more or less at the same rate with the rental income it continues to receive from past development, and from the few projects it undertakes each year.

8 months back, the board of the company overhauled its management. The new management has hired a team of consultants to carry out a management audit of the company. In their report, the consultants have stressed the need for improving communication and maintenance of records.

The following is an excerpt from the their report;

“The stagnant state of the company is apparent throughout its functions. There is high turn-over among general office staff, and absenteeism has increased. New recruits are not familiar with the standard operating procedures of the company as a result, letters and emails go unanswered, and records of incoming and outgoing correspondences, invoices and bills are poorly maintained. Outdated documents are not properly archived. For compliance purposes, financial records have been maintained using commercially available software. All other records are kept manually. Work visa of some expatriate staff has expired but this has not been communicated with the local recruitment agency that handles visa process for the company. Attendance records of project teams have not been communicated to Admin & HR department on time. There are several inconsistencies in procurement practice. Emails and meeting requests by foreign suppliers have been pending. It is apparent that inadequate internal and external communications has led to delays in project completion.”

The management team is exploring 2 options to drive the company out of the stagnant state. Option 1 is to diversify in to the booming guest house market of Maldives. The budget travel market has become popular with inbound tourists and locals alike. If this option is chosen, the company will have to build relationships with new stakeholders. Option 2 is to pick up pace in

the real estate market, and explore options of purchasing land from Male’ and Hulhumale’ and develop luxury condominiums to be sold or leased. While this is different from their existing business model, the company can use their existing business relationships to expand on this.

New management team wants a more involved workforce, with improvements in information systems and making the company more accessible to clients and suppliers.

Task 1 (LO 1: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4)

Consider the 2 options that the management of M Company is considering and explain the range of decisions involved in determining which option M Company should go ahead with.

To complete this task you must:

1. Discuss the range of decisions to be taken. (P1.1)
2. Examine the information and knowledge needed to ensure effective decision making. (P 1.2)
3. Assess internal and external sources of information and understanding. (P1.3)
4. Justify recommendations for improvement (P1.4)
5. Identify and apply strategies to find appropriate solutions (M1)

This provides evidence for Learning outcome LO1 – assessment criteria P1.1,P1.2,P1.3,P1.4; with Merit criteria M1and M2 and Distinction criteria D1 and D3

Task 2 (LO 2: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4)

Assume that M Company decided to invest in the guest house market. You have been hired to set up, launch and head the new venture.

To complete this task you must:

1. Identify stakeholders for decision-making process. (P 2.1)
2. Make contact with those identified and develop business relationships. (P 2.2)
3. Involved those identified in the decision making as appropriate. (P2.3)
4. Design strategies for improvement. (P2.4)

5. Take responsibility for managing and organizing activities (D2)

This provides evidence for Learning outcome LO2 – assessment criteria P2.1,P2.2, P2.3, P2.4; with Merit criteria M2 and Distinction criteria D1, D2 and D3

Scenario 2

Task 3 (LO 3: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 & LO 4: 4.1, 4.2 and 4.4)

Choose an organization you are familiar with or one that you can get access to information from. Assume that you’ve been hired by this organization. Your tasks and responsibilities include reviewing and improving the existing communication process, and improving the information and knowledge system. Write your findings,  recommendations and justification as a report.

To complete this task you must:

1. Report on existing processes of communication in an organization. (P3.1)
2. Design ways to improve appropriateness.(P3.2)
3. Implement improvements to ensure greater integration of systems of communication in that organization. (P3.3)
4. Report on existing approaches to the collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information and knowledge. (P4.1)
5. Carry out appropriate changes to improve the collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information and knowledge. (P4.2)
6. Implement a strategy to improve access to systems of information and knowledge (P4.3)
8. Present and Communicate appropriate findings (M3)

This provides evidence for Learning outcome LO3 – assessment criteria P3.1, P3.2,P3.3,; Learning outcomeLO4 – assessment criteria P4.1,P4.2, P4.3; with Merit criteria M2 and M3 and Distinction criteria D1 and D3)

Scenario 3

Task 4 (LO 2: 2.4 & LO 3: 3.4)

Assume that you are in charge of building and maintaining stakeholder relationships. Examine and identify the tools that can be used to improve your own personal networking skills. Describe how these tools can improve stakeholder relationships.

Draw up a plan to improve your own communication skills.

To complete this task you must

1. Design strategies for improvement. (P2.4)
2. Create a personal plan to improve own communication skills (P3.4)

This provides evidence for Learning outcome LO2 – assessment criteria P2.4 and Learning Outcome LO3 – assessment criteria P3.4; with Merit criteria M2 and Distinction criteria D1, and D3)