CONTIBUTE TO ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT
TASK 1 - KNOWLEDGE QUESTIONS
1 Identify three legislative areas that your organisation's development plan may need to address. Explain why it is important to address legislative and regulatory context in your development plan
2 Explain why it is important to incorporate culture into your development plan and outline factors that can be considered and implemented to support culture change
3 John Kotter's eight-step process for leading change includes creating a sense of urgency and communicating for buy-in. Describe ways to incorporate them into your development plan.
4 Outline at least two methods to ensure effective communication and consultation in your development program.
5 Describe how to maximise participation and support from managers and explain why it is important
6 Identify what technique or strategy you could employ to manage conflict within your development team. Explain your choice.
7 What technique or strategy would you apply to evaluate the effectiveness of your development processes?
8 Explain how sensitivity training can be used to change behaviour and improve dynamics.
TASK 2 - SCENARIO - PROJECT/OBSERVATION: CONTRIBUTING TO ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT AT AUSTRALIAN HARDWARE
Before you commence this section of the assessment you are to complete the checklist. This is similar to the one being used by your assessor during this assessment. This checklist should be reviewed by you to evaluate your readiness for assessment, and to confirm your understanding of the criteria by which this assessment task will be judged.
Once you feel you have the required skills and knowledge to demonstrate each of the following assessment criteria, you are ready to be assessed. Please speak with your assessor if you feel you are not ready to be assessed before the assessment has commenced.
Read the scenario
You receive an email from Sean Bamford, Managing Director: Business Operations.
Subject: Development plan for integrating retail outlets with online sales at Australian Hardware
At the last senior management meeting there was discussion about changing the structure of the retail operations of Australian Hardware.
The key factor behind this is the growing number of consumers who prefer to shop online. Although there is no evidence to indicate this is affecting Australian Hardware retail sales figures at the moment, it is senior management's view that we should better integrate our physical retail outlets with online sales.
As the Managing Director of Business Operations, you have been delegated the responsibility of overseeing this organisational development plan. You will report directly to senior management, as they will be jointly responsible for approving any plans that are developed.
Please refer to the development plan brief, provided below, for more details of what senior management has in mind. Refer to the ‘Instructions to the candidate' section for a detailed list of tasks that you will need to complete for this organisational development plan.
Regards,
Sean Bamford
Managing Director: Business Operations
Development plan brief
The Australian Hardware business plan is targeting an annual growth in sales of 15% over the next five years. There are many ways that have been suggested to achieve this growth, but senior management wants to focus on those strategies that will support growth in the long term, and not just over the next five years.
Our 150 retail outlets are located strategically to ensure that we can offer a premium retail experience to more than 90% of the population. We currently have an online sales capacity that is managed centrally and serviced through our warehouse facilities and warehouse staff.
The concern that senior management has with this current online and retail sales strategy is that they are not integrated. Here are some examples of the types of poorly integrated customer service scenarios that exist in the current approach:
- Customers will research a product online, then go to a retail outlet to make a purchase. The in-store pricing is usually higher than the online price and sales staff cannot match the price. Consequently, our retail sales staff:
- make negative comments about our online sales to customers
- develop the belief that our online business is directly competing with retail outlets' business
- develop low morale because they feel that the future of retail outlet sales is being threatened by online sales and their jobs are at risk.
- Customers who purchase a product online will come to the retail outlet for after-sales support. Although there is a support hotline, the customers prefer to have their problems resolved in person. The retail sales staff are highly experienced in product support, but in instances where a product was purchased online, there is a tendency to reduce and minimise the support that is offered.
There have been a number of customer complaints where support has been directly refused and customers have been told they need to access the support hotline.
- Retail sales staff have no access to details of sales made through the online system. This leads to a situation where Australian Hardware operations are segmented and it is difficult to establish a work culture that supports the whole organisation.
- Warehouse staff have limited product knowledge and sales expertise. The current online approach is putting greater emphasis on them to develop sales and customer service skills. There are many negative comments coming from warehouse staff. They believe their award conditions should change, as they are being asked to perform duties outside of their position description.
The proposed integrated approach that senior management is seeking should contain some of the following features:
- Pricing for online and retail outlets is the same.
- Customer sales record systems are integrated between online and retail outlets. Authorised retail sales staff should be able to access records of a customer's purchase details that were made either online or through a retail outlet. Consequently, retail sales staff providing after-sale support can record this information and use it to demonstrate achievement of key performance indicators.
- Retail outlet sales staff are integrated into the online sales system by being rostered onto the support hotline.
- Online sales are allocated to the sales budget of the nearest retail outlet. Retail outlet performance will therefore have online sales as one of its performance indicators.
One overriding factor that senior management would like to achieve is the development of a sales strategy that has a vision for the future and has no distinction between how the sale was made.
They provided an example of this as a major computer corporation that has a physical presence in major retail centres, which purely have an emphasis on product demonstration and support. Sales are made either online or in the store, but the sales vision is that returning customers will have a preference for using the online system. Consequently the online strategy is to market directly through email and social media and to promote products through a sophisticated website. The online sales experience should exceed the physical retail store sales experience.
Task
Complete the following tasks. Submit your responses in documents that are appropriate for each task.
1. Access the company business plan and the organisational charts. Using this document and the development plan brief, prepare a draft development plan for senior management to consider. The plan should include details on the following:
- The development plan's goals and objectives and possible measures of success
- Key personnel and their roles in implementing the proposed development plan
- A list of the stakeholders that need to be consulted, with an outline of what their needs and competing demands may potentially include
- A stakeholder consultation and communication strategy that outlines what
needs to be communicated, who will receive the communication and how it will be communicated
- Strategies that will be used to gather stakeholder feedback throughout the implementation phase
- A proposed time line with milestones to achieve full implementation in a 12-month period
- An outline of resources that will be required to implement the proposed development plan over a 12-month period
- An outline of possible risks and an assessment of the effects that may exist with the implementation of the development program
- An evaluation of the proposed development program in terms of the costs, benefits and potential risks
2. While senior management is considering your draft plan, there are several other documents that can be prepared in expectation that the draft development plan will be approved. Prepare each of the following and collate them into a single document:
a) A process to resolve problems that are raised by key stakeholders - this should also include a recommended process for allowing teams to develop problem-solving skills so they can actively contribute to the resolution process
b) A process to manage possible conflict that may develop
c) A plan that outlines appropriate steps, corrective actions and interventions for perceived problems that may be encountered through the implementation of the development program
d) A plan to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the development program as it is being implemented
Your assessor will observe you complete this task
You must complete the project unassisted by the assessor or other personnel, but may refer to reference material as needed.
Submission - Evidence you are to submit the following evidence for each assessment process:
- A draft organisational development plan. . Attach your draft organisational development plan and label as follows: "Your first name, your surname, BSBMGT615, Task 2, draft
organisational development plan."
- documents collated including:
1. A process to resolve problems raised by key stakeholders (with a recommended process that allows staff to contribute to resolution)
2. A process to manage possible conflict
3. A plan that outlines perceived problems with the implementation of the development program
4. A plan to evaluate effectiveness of the development program
Attachment:- Assessment-task.rar