Reference no: EM131433445

Assignment: Applying the P-O-L-C

Purpose:

The third assignment, a consultancy report, provides students with the ability to demonstrate that they have mastered the course content and can apply theories, concepts and ideas learned throughout the course to a situation that emulates a real world situation. Students will read the case study that focuses on the four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading and controlling (P-O-L-C) and respond to the required elements of the assignment.

Writing reports in business is commonplace so writing a consultancy report provides students the opportunity to demonstrate a skill that employers are looking for from an employee.

Outcome Met by Completing This Assignment:

• integrate management theories and principles into management practices

• employ effective planning processes to develop strategies, goals, and objectives in order to enhance performance and sustainability

• organize human, physical, and financial resources for the effective and efficient attainment of organizational goals

• demonstrate leadership skills by communicating a shared vision, motivating and empowering others, and creating a culture of ethical decision-making and innovation

• develop measures and assess outcomes against plans and standards to improve organizational effectiveness

• identify the essential characteristics of decision making and indicate the range and types of decisions a manager makes

Instructions:

You have been hired as a consultant to help Mike Davis and his family to solve the problems with his business both day-to-day and over the long term (strategically). You will create a consultancy report that covers the four functions of management. In creating the consultancy report, you must also demonstrate how the four functions of management are interrelated showing how issues in one function impact other functions.

In speaking with Mike, Ethan and Daisy, you already know the following about the business owners:

1. failed to develop or share a mission statement;
2. failed to determine the best way to organize resources, including personnel;
3. underestimates the importance of recruitment, job design and descriptions, and training;
4. assumed that motivation will occur naturally;
5. fails to define standards and other measurable outcomes;
6. ignored negative information;
7. delayed actions to improve organizational outcomes.

Be succinct in your writing but persuasive so that the recommendations will have positive outcomes for the business.

Students are not using buzz-word and are not defining terms using a dictionary. Students are expected to present the material in a professional manner describing and explaining to the owners. As a consultant, you should be secure in your presentation to Mike, Ethan and Daisy. Avoid telling the owners that they should do this or must do that but write in an action-oriented manner. Students are expected to make connections between the facts of the case study and concepts, theories, and ideas presented in the course material.

Step 1: Review "How to Analyze a Case Study" under Week 3 Content.

Step 2: Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) document. This consultancy plan should be presented in a professional manner using single space, double-spaced between paragraphs. The final product will be between 6-8 pages in length excluding the title page, diagrams and reference page.

Step 3: Title page with your name, the course name, the date, and the instructor's name.

Step 4: Since students are probably not familiar with writing a consultancy report, the following resources have been provided to assist in writing the report.

Outline for Consultancy Report

Step 5: In writing a case study, the writing is in the third person. What this means is that there are no words such as "I, me, my, we, or us" (first person writing), nor is there use of "you or your" (second person writing). If uncertain how to write in the third person, view this link: https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/first-second-and-third-person

Step 6: In writing this assignment, students are expected to support the reasoning using in-text citations and a reference list. If any material is used from a source, it must be cited and referenced. A reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated in-text citation and vice versa. View the sample APA paper under Week 1 content.

Step 7: In writing this assignment, students are expected to paraphrase and not use direct quotes. Learn to paraphrase by reviewing this link: https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_paraphrase2.html

Step 8: In writing this assignment, students may use external resources but the majority of resources will come from the course readings with a wide array of readings used.

Step 9: Review the grading rubric for the assignment.

Step 11: Create an executive summary. Although a report must be complete when presenting to a client, the expectation is that there is an executive summary so that the client can read quickly the main features of the report. The executive summary should be written in a way that makes the client want to read more so it must have enough information to see the potential behind the recommendations without having to read the entire report.

So you aren't sure how to write the executive summary. Check out this resource to help you write the summary:

How to Write an Executive Summary: https://articles.bplans.com/writing-an-executive-summary/

Step 12: Respond to the required elements of the assignment. Be clear and concise in the writing and make sure the questions are comprehensively answered.

• In creating the consultancy report, students will first assess the business and identify specific areas of strengths and weaknesses of the business as it relates to the components of the P-O-L-C. In completing this section, do not create a heading for each element of the P-O-L-C but write from the perspective of the consultant discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the business;

• Select a management model (class hierarchy, democratic hierarchy, collaborative management or collective management) and explain why the selected model is most appropriate for Outdoor Adventure Paintball Park;

• Develop roles and responsibility of the owners and employees (Be creative in completing this task); Discuss why these positions are necessary to the business;

• Discuss communication and the flow of decision making in relation to the management model;

• Make specific recommendations for improving the management of Outdoor Adventure Paintball Park. Cover all aspects of the P-O-L-C. This area of the paper specifically addresses the areas of strengths and weaknesses identified above and puts in place a plan for the short and long -term success of the business;

• Create a balanced scorecard that will help Outdoor Adventure Paintball Park align its business activities to the vision and strategy of the organization, improves communication and monitors performance against goals.

The Consultancy Report Outline

I. Title Page

A. Title of Report

B. Introduction to Report

C. Name of Client

II. Executive Summary

A. Summary of the background and findings

III. Background (Sections)

A. Introduction to Sections.

B. List each section with its corresponding letter label (C, D, E, etc.) of the sections

discussed in the background.

IV. Client Profile

A. Places of business

B. Educational and training background

C. Career experience

D. Civic interests and activities

E. How and why your client became interested in this business

F. Your client's business philosophy and/or attitude towards business

G. Any other information that contributes to a portrait of your client as a person

V. Defining the Park's Objectives

A. A description of short-term and long-term objectives

B. Prioritization of primary and secondary objectives for the Park

VI. Consultant's Observations

A. Strengths that relate to the POLC

B. Weaknesses that relate to the POLC

C. Ideal management model

D. Roles and responsibilities of the owners and employees

E. Communication and flow of decision making in relation to the selected management model

VII. Consultant's Recommendations

A. Recommendations for improvement to management covering all aspects of POLC

VIII. Balanced Scorecard

IX. Summary

A. Summary of conclusions

B. Summary of recommendations

X. Bibliography ("Bibliography" or "Works Cited")

EXPLANATION OF THE OUTLINE MATERIAL

I. Title Page

The title page of a formal report works in collaboration with the cover page to provide a solid introduction to the consulting report. Your report will certainly have a sense of permanence; it will likely be filed and periodically reviewed and consulted. Therefore, the title page should include specific information regarding the report:

• Names of the consultant including contact information and the name of the organization you're working within.

• A very good and specific title that reflects, as much as possible, the main points of the report

• The name of the consulting business or organization if appropriate

II. Executive Summary

An executive summary is designed primarily to serve the person who, at least initially, does not intend to read the entire report. It usually states the main points of each section and emphasizes results, conclusions, and recommendations, usually in around three pages.

Executive summaries are ideally suited to the needs of readers who are seeking advice about a decision or a course of action. These summaries are called executive summaries because some decision makers rely wholly upon their advisors to read and evaluate the rest of the report.

For the purposes of this assignment, the executive summary concentrates on the consultant's conclusions and recommendations. This would involve summarizing the problem/opportunity, conclusions, and recommendations. It's not a bad idea to develop an executive summary during the early stages of the writing process, as this summary can help to provide focus to the conclusions and recommendations.

Keep in mind, however, that this will also be a document that will need to be revised to properly reflect your report.

III. Background

The Background Section should reflect the history of the businesses.

IV. Client Profile

The purpose of the Client Profile is to both "bring the client to life" and to tie the information together by explaining how it helps portray your client as a member of the business community.

Do not hesitate to interpret information and to draw conclusions. If your client is a group of people of whom your contact person is a member, you may want to treat the group as a "collective client." Do a profile of the group as a whole (for example, the history and makeup of a governing board.)

Some things that you will want to include in the Client Profile:

• Places of business

• Business philosophy

• Career experience

• How and why your client became interested in this business

• Any other information that contributes to a portrait of your client

V. Defining the Objectives

This section should include:

• A description of the firm's short-term and long-term objectives

• Prioritization of primary and secondary objectives

VI. The Consultant's Observations and Conclusions

This section should clearly describe the observations and conclusions on the strengths, weaknesses, ideal management model, the roles and responsibilities of the owners and employees and the communication and flow of decision making in relation to the selected management model. Students are to assess these areas using the POLC model.

VII. The Consultant's Recommendations

This section should clearly describe the recommendations of the consultant based on the conclusions made.

Important Note: The organization of the conclusion and recommendation section should be marked by clear headings and subheadings. Also, this is a good time to reflect back on the research that your team conducted. Your ideas should not appear as if they developed out of "thin air." Use sentences that point your reader back to the research that conducted by the consultant.

VIII. Balanced Scorecard

This section should clearly demonstrate how the balanced scorecard can be used to improve the business. Students are not merely presenting a table but should explain the reasoning behind the development of the scorecard.

IX. Summary Conclusion

This final section pulls the report together, offers some words of assurance to the client, and states the consultants (I hope) pleasure in having undertaken this consulting project. In pulling the report together, carefully summarize your findings and what you see as the prospects for your client's business.

X. Bibliography

"Bibliography" or "Works Cited" - call this section what you want. Whatever the case, you must list all resources that you used for this report. Therefore, it is imperative that you keep track of all the sources that your team used in the report. Furthermore, in the text of the report you must cite your sources whenever you use ideas or data generated by someone else. You must cite these sources, even if you do not quote or paraphrase from them directly.