MBA600 MBA Capstone | Developing Portfolio of the Work

PART A: Activity 

1.Theoretical skills are essential to develop fundamental knowledge regarding the topic, for example in order to understand the concept of marketing the theory of marketing mix is essential to understand.

Applied skills are the second stage of understanding a concept, the theories that are learnt has to be placed in a case study in order to determine the rational application of the concept.

After applying the theory and gathering knowledge with the use of case studies, it is important to make use of the concept in the practical world, to gather information or to understand the concept.

It is important to align new information that is gathered in the practical field and what is applied of the theories to get a holistic approach.

Increasing the price of the pizza can impact the buying decisions of the customers which would impact the revenues and sales on the long-run and not solving the issue at all.

Increasing the fees of the franchises is one will impact the decision of the distribution channel, it is important to maintain a balance in between the people a company does business with, the company has a contract with the franchises and they cannot incorporate any changes before the term is over (Oshima and Emanuel 2013).

Lowering the cost of suppliers will reduce the cost of production; the excess money can be distributed among the people.

Best choice will be to renew the contact with the franchisers (Oshima and Emanuel 2013).

Reframing: Activity

The possibilities are being visionary and adapting to change aligned with the course of the industry and the betterment of the company at large. Change is not equivalent to excuse.

;">Workshop 2

4. Theoretical lenses: Activity

From the union perspective:

1. Maslow’s Motivation theory: Motivation of the employees will fall
2. Performance management: The performance may impact
3. Conflict management: Rise of internal conflict among the management and the employees.

Workshop 3

5. Differentiation: Activity

The product that is selected is a new I Phone cover one of the group members had recently purchased. The product is from icoverlover.com.au and the strategies that the company undertaken in to ensure competitive advantage is based on the business on e-commerce. Free delivery feature is also one of the major attractions (Ray Gehani 2013).

Workshop 4

6. HR Innovation: Activity

Human resource is one of the most important departments in an organisation as employees are essential. Facebook and Google have come up with a number of ways to engage and motivate the employees. Appreciation is one of the most effective and significant way of encouraging the employees, the company can make it a part of the job role of the supervisors or the managers to make sure they appreciate the work of the employees on a daily basis, and in an occasion of making a break through achievement the employee should be appreciated and encouraged, with the team, the appreciation should be made in front of the team in order to encourage others as well.

Workshop 5

7. Better decision making: Activity

Decision making process in an organisation is based on rational and analytical support, if a decision is made on hiring new people, it will be based on the fact that the company is trying to grow their strength and business and in order to accommodate the kind of work flow the company will need more people to ensure smooth business function (Oshima and Emanuel  2013). In order to make the decision making process better the executive manager must have an open mind and a visionary outlook to view the situation better and also have a broad overview of the issue. The five steps that has been mentioned is logically in sync with the decision making process ensuring a far-sighted approach to the decision that is made, as every decision has a short term and a long term impact (Gregory et al. 2012).

Workshop 7

8.  Role of Marketing Manager in Research

Data collection can be conducted in two ways primary i.e. gathering new information and secondary which is based on information that is already available.  The manager has to understand the variables of the topic and decide which methods will be suitable for the research. there is also a mixed method where both the methods are used in order to approach the topic of research holistically in the case of a new product launch the manager has to take the perspective of the customers as well as of the industry, therefore the mixed approach is the most appropriate, official documents and government records can be used to understand the industry where as to get the perspective of the customer primary research can be undertaken. The proposal has to be agreed upon and the process has to be validated by the manager.

The people who are involved in the research of a new product launch is the product development department (Lewis 2015).

The data is managed by the people who have developed the product in the first place as they have the maximum knowledge of the item and will be able to provide the maximum input in the research process.

Workshop 8

9. Consider change implementation

Tesco is a multinational British organisation that has been facing issues with equal payment among the employees it has been reported that female shopfloor workers earn up to £3 an hour less than male warehouse staff. Therefore the problem that has been identified in workplace is unequal payment.  Based on the values and principles that the company follows the workplace culture and the HR decisions are made. Following are the recommendation to deal with such issues:

Apology: the company must apologies to the employees for the unequal pay structure of the people working on the same job role yet receiving less remuneration based on their gender.

Develop a new remuneration policy and make the policy and the communication process clear in the minds of the people so that there is transparency in the process.  A transparent culture has less chance of conflicts (Hayes  2018).

In order to get the above mentioned recommendation implemented, the HR department should be involved and should ensure all the employees are entitled to equal pay and equal benefits based on their job role and their position (Millar et al. 2012).

For a new workplace occupational health and safety policy the company has to communicate about the importance of the policy and how it will impact the course of action of the employees clearly (Newman  2012). The people have to understand why the policy has been drawn because the severity of the situation will enable the employee to remember the safety regulations at all times. As it is a new percussion that will be taken by the company the management should encourage the employees to go through the policy thoroughly (Nordin et al. 2012). The management should be prepared for some kind of resistance from the employees during the case of a change; however as this is a case of occupational hazard and safety policy the employees will understand that the decisions are taken for the betterment of the employees. In case there is some miscommunication, it should be immediately addressed by the management with the help of effective communication processes (Nordin et al. 2012).

In order to work through the people it important to understand the issue and grievances of the people in the first place and then device plans and policies to address these issues, in case of a safety and hazard policy the company has to make the people understand that it is for the betterment of the people. The process of change should be first informed and then initiated by the company not the other way around. The leadership style in the process is transformational, where change is welcomed and the leaders think of the long term impact the change rather than focusing on the small impacts.   

The communication strategy that has to be undertaken in the process is the two way communication facility. The management of the company should be open to answer any questions or any kind of clarifications that they may have for the policy implementation. If a communication is just one-sided it becomes difficult to identify the impact of the process,  it is important to use the communication tool to implement and to judge the effective performance of  the policy.

I think of myself as a transformational leader as I think change in an organisation is very essential to grow and expand in the future, growth will lead to changes in the path, with the help of logical reasoning and analysis of the situation change decisions must be made. The process of change should be led by the leader and communication plays significant role in implementation of the change. Depending on the urgency of the situation and the severity of the situation policies and decisions are made (Pollack 2012). 

Workshop 10

10.  Business metrics Activity

As a manager of a retail unit the following metrics will help in benchmarking several objectives and can be used as measure in terms of performance management and measurement.

Sales revenue as it is the metrics that showcases the growth and performance of the whole company. The governing objective is to offer a better performance than the previous year. A company always looks ahead to growth and hence a certain percentage is anticipated to reach by the end of the next year. The business function of a retail company is based on the performance of the employees. And it is easily quantifiable with the help of the accounting procedures and processes.

Customer loyalty and retention the objective of achieving a valuable customer relationship is important for an organization as it ensures revenues on a constant basis, it is the objective of the company to turn a potential customer to a loyal customer with the high quality performance in service. The customer loyalty will also help in advocating of the brand among the other potential customers as well (Horkoff et al. 2014).

Net Profit Margin This business metric showcase the efficiency of the organisation at generating profit compared to its revenue. With the help of this metric the company can forecast the long-term business growth, and check whether the income of the company exceeds the costs of running the business. This can be calculated by the monthly revenue and reduce all the sales expenses. The finance department of the company plays an important role in the process.

Cost of Customer Acquisition this is an effective business metrics, Cost of Customer Acquisition (CAC) is calculated by dividing all the costs spent on acquiring new customers (marketing expenses) by the number of new clients acquired in a specific time frame.  This concept should always be calculated with Customer Lifetime Value (Chowdhary et al. 2014).

11.  Bench marking Activity:

Benchmarking is the process of comparison in between the business performance with another organization of the same industry. This is done with the help of performance matrices of the best practices.  The features of benchmarking are the quality of the products or service, operations of the business, the functions which are involved in running the business this may include improvement and re-engineering. Another most important aspect of the process is to validate the objectives in order to measure the performance.

The aspects of a business that can be bench marked are: the performance of a team or an individual; the quality of the product or service, the supply chain efficiency, the HR practices, the organization culture, the leadership style etc.

Internal, generic, completive, functional, are the four most important types of benchmarks on the other hand the two more are innovative and exemplary.

The six steps of benchmarking are:

1. Planning
2. Data acquisition
3. Analysis
4. Integration
5. Action
6. Maturity  

The one key ingredient that is important to understand in the concept of benchmarking is metrics.

The three desired state are:  effectiveness, related to quality or purpose, efficiency which is related to the quantity and use of the resources and lastly is appeal which is related to the satisfaction of the people associated with the company.

It is important to ensure that all the metrics are associated with the goal of the organisation.

Workshop 11

12. Soft skill activity

Communication: listening is the most important aspect of communication most of the time there is misunderstanding as people want to say things and not listen to what the other person has to say.

Courtesy:  I will develop habits which will help me be more courteous.

Flexibility: I will try to keep an open mind in order to understand the situation form a broader perspective. This will help in adapting better (Gade  and Chari  2013).

Integrity: I will try to keep my vision positive and explore options which are based on ethical principles.

Interpersonal skills: By developing an understanding of the other person.

Positive attitude: I will try to incorporate yoga and meditation in my routine in order to develop a positive outlook

Professionalism: I will learn from my seniors and co-operate with the work culture

Teamwork: encourage, motivate, inspire   (Gade  and Chari  2013)

Work ethic: base it on the personal values and principles.

Responsibility: I will try to take responsibility outside my comfort zone

PART B- Self reflection

PartC: Self reflection on team

Participating in the team activities helps in the accomplishment of a number of capabilities by social learning from the co-workers in the team. The development of the idea of organizational culture and the division of the assignment based on the capabilities and proficiencies is an important aspect of the team work in the activities. The activities also help in the development of the different proficiencies of working in a team ably. The knowledge gained from the interaction with the different people who choose to work in the field with the different topics related to the overall situations in the organizations.

Team work also helps me understand the importance of adapting and working with the different people with different origins and background for better research. One of the important in the teamwork exercise is the understanding of the individual capabilities and the way I can develop myself to improve my performance in a given environment. One of the important feature in this case is I have learnt is importance of research and development of proper methods in approaching and completing a task. The data analysis helps me develop my ideas and present them in a better way with better results and better understanding among others.

I have also learnt whole working in a team the virtue of communication in working towards a common goal in the society. One of the important factors affecting the team work is the understanding and communication along with the sharing of the opinion and ideas which helps in bringing out the best ways to approach and deal with the task. The teamwork is according to me a way of making me aware to the organizational culture and how people should push aside their differences and focus on the task at hand to achieve a common goal.

Reference list:

Chowdhary, P.R., Pinel, F.A., Palpanas, T. and Chen, S.K., International Business Machines Corp, 2014. System and method for model-driven dashboard for business performance management. U.S. Patent 8,843,883.

Gade, S. and Chari, S., 2013. Case-based learning in endocrine physiology: an approach toward self-directed learning and the development of soft skills in medical students. Advances in physiology education, 37(4), pp.356-360.

Gregory, R., Failing, L., Harstone, M., Long, G., McDaniels, T. and Ohlson, D., 2012. Structured decision making: a practical guide to environmental management choices. John Wiley & Sons.

Hayes, J., 2018. The theory and practice of change management.

Hoque, K., 2013. Human resource management in the hotel industry: Strategy, innovation and performance. Routledge.

Horkoff, J., Barone, D., Jiang, L., Yu, E., Amyot, D., Borgida, A. and Mylopoulos, J., 2014. Strategic business modeling: representation and reasoning. Software & Systems Modeling, 13(3), pp.1015-1041.

Jiang, K., Lepak, D.P., Hu, J. and Baer, J.C., 2012. How does human resource management influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating mechanisms. Academy of management Journal, 55(6), pp.1264-1294.

Lewis, S., 2015. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Health promotion practice, 16(4), pp.473-475.

Millar, C., Hind, P. and Magala, S., 2012. Sustainability and the need for change: organisational change and transformational vision. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 25(4), pp.489-500.

Newman, J., 2012. An organisational change management framework for sustainability. Greener Management International, 57(05), pp.65-75.

Nordin, N., Deros, B.M., Wahab, D.A. and Rahman, M.N.A., 2012. A framework for organisational change management in lean manufacturing implementation. International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 12(1), pp.101-117.

Oshima Lee, E. and Emanuel, E.J., 2013. Shared decision making to improve care and reduce costs. New England Journal of Medicine, 368(1), pp.6-8.

Pollack, J., 2012. Transferring knowledge about knowledge management: Implementation of a complex organisational change programme. International Journal of Project Management, 30(8), pp.877-886.

Ray Gehani, R., 2013. Innovative strategic leader transforming from a low-cost strategy to product differentiation strategy. Journal of technology management & innovation, 8(2), pp.144-155.