BSBTWK601 Develop and Maintain Strategic Business Networks Assignment Project

 

 

Worlducation Case Study Analysis

 

Worlducation is a social start-up that manufactures tablet computers for primary school students. They not only focus on the hardware, but they also have a competitive team creating software, content and activities to better engage and educate the students.

 

Worlducation aims to change the way children learn at school by implementing artificial intelligence technology that can follow up on each child’s progress and adjust to their needs as they learn, creating the optimal path learning experience.

 

So far, Worlducation only sells their tablet computers business to business (B2B) as they realised that their content and hardware proved most effective when a whole classroom was using it, and a teacher was coordinating the activities. Also, this helped the sales team focus on larger sales, and minimised the potential number of problems that could arise from individual customers. However, the long-term plan is to also tackle a business to consumer strategy (B2C).

 

What makes Worlducation completely different from their competition is that they envision a world in which every child learns how to read and write – a world without illiteracy. Given this vision, for every classroom that buys their products, they donate and train a classroom somewhere around the world that can’t afford the same technology. Furthermore, they connect the two classrooms (those who bought the products and services and those who received the donation) so that they can grow together and collaborate throughout their learning cycle.

 

Worlducation has a complex supply chain that begins when a sale is made usually via a sales representative or through and online enquiry that is handled by the sales team. Sales are recorded in an internal Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP System) which notifies the operations team that an order needs to be delivered. The operations team verify the sales order and authorise the delivery of a manufacturing request to the factory in Hong Kong. Manufacturing team in Hong Kong notes the order specifications and delivery details and incorporates this within its production schedule. The order is manufactured, and the operations team arrange freight and shipping directly to the customer. New software is developed or adapted by the software development and the advertising team develops adverts to reflect the software capabilities. A call centre exists to take customer calls and resolve minor customer queries or complaints.

 

Worlducation headquarters are in Sydney’s CBD but they have a development team in Bulgaria, a manufacturing team in Hong Kong, and operation and sales and marketing staff in Colombia, Egypt, Iceland, Russia and the Philippines. The management structure is shown below.

 

 

You are the new Sales and marketing Manager at Worlducation. The CEO has asked you to focus on business development by maintaining existing strategic busines relationships and forming new ones to support and achieve the business’ strategic goals and objectives.

 

The previous Sales and Marketing Manager formed a strategic relationship with Flexischools (www.flexischools.com.au). Flexischools aims to provide parents with access to relevant services and information in one convenient place. The aim of the relationship is to share industry and customer related knowledge once a quarter and to advertise on each other’s websites free of charge.

 

At a recent management team meeting, the following networking objectives were established:

• Form at least one new strategic business relationship within 4
• Create an increased awareness of Worlducation amongst business leaders and influencers where 75% of industry leaders recognise the brand and its products.
• Share industry knowledge and experience with strategic partners on a regular
• Share manufacturing responsibility, opportunities and risks to reduce manufacturing costs by 15%.

 

Strategic Plan

 

Executive Summary

Founded in 2016, Worlducation is a social start-up that manufactures tablet computers for primary school students. Our focus is not only on the hardware, but also creating software, content, and activities to better engage and educate primary school students.

 

Worlducation aims to change the way children learn at school by implementing artificial intelligence technology that can follow up on each child’s progress and adjust to their needs as they learn, creating the optimal path learning experience. Worlducation envisions a world in which every child learns how to read and write – a world without illiteracy. Therefore, for each classroom that buys our product, we donate and train a classroom somewhere around the world that can’t afford the same technology. We then connect the classrooms together so that they can grow and collaborate throughout their learning cycle.

 

Vision Statement

To see a world without illiteracy.

 

Mission Statement

To be the change and facilitate a world without illiteracy by changing the way children learn at school and the number of schools that have access to technology.

 

Our values are:

Core values underpinning our activities are:

• Ethical principles
• Innovation
• Collaboration

 

Strategic Priorities and objectives

 

To be well led, high performing, profitable and accountable.

• Ensure that all financial operations, performance indicators and results support the strategic policies
• Identify new and expand existing sources of revenue and ways to help more classrooms in
• Achieve profits of at least 10% per annum
• Reduce manufacturing costs by 15%.

 

Increase our reach

• Increase range of products and services offered to reach a larger target market
• Increase sales to increase donations to needy

 

Continue building deeper customer relationships

• Customer-centred practice, with a focus on meeting their total needs for high-quality technology
• Strengthen the skills of our people, to better support customers
• Drive innovation to better meet customer demands

 

Attract, engage and develop the best staff

• Continuing the drive to a customer centred, high performance workforce and culture
• Strengthening the skills of our people, to better support customer needs
• Empowering innovation and responsiveness to change
• Continuing to enhance the diversity of our workforce
• Exploring the use of technology in human

 

The Market

The technology market is a growing and ever-changing industry due to the rapid rate that technology is being updated. Emerging technologies include artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IOT). There is an increasing focus on cyber security.

 

Due to the global pandemic, the issues with the manufacturing industry have impacted on the supply of hardware components.

 

The trend for consumer spending during the pandemic has taken a downturn but this has not affected the ICT industry as due to more people working from home, consumer appetite for tablets has increased.

 

Situation Analysis

 

Strengths	Weaknesses
·           Value and quality ·           Strong management ·           Customer loyalty ·           Friendly organisational culture ·           Level of available finance for investment	·           Brand name not developed as well it could be ·           Growing organisation
Opportunities	Threats
·           Schools needing to upgrade technology ·           Opportunities to offer a range of services ·           Opportunities for synergies across all services and products	·           High level of competition ·           Economic downturn meaning less spent generally ·           Failing to satisfy clients demands

 

Marketing Strategies

Our marketing strategies aim to:

• Build our
• Generate leads
• Convert those leads
• Have every part of the business supporting each other

 

We plan to develop our market share by:

• Improving our marketing and advertising so that 75% of customers recognise our brand
• Continually improving the quality of service given to clients to increase referrals by 10%
• Maintaining effective communication channels with all stakeholders to ascertain industry requirements and then develop products and manage services accordingly
• Continually improving communication channels with all our stakeholders, ensuring a flow of 100% timely and accurate information to facilitate effective planning and decision making
• Targeting identified growth markets with planned, market appropriate campaigns employing a variety of promotional strategies and advertising mediums
• Offering attractive fee structures to our clients
• Continually improving the skills, knowledge and effectiveness of our team through our commitment to training and development
• Regularly reviewing the effectiveness of all our operations and making improvements when and where necessary.

 

External Communication Policy and Procedures

 

This policy adheres to national laws and regulations where Worlducation does business. It applies to any information that is material and proprietary. Information is material if it is likely to have an impact on the financial performance Information is proprietary if it provides Worlducation with a competitive advantage.

 

This includes annual and quarterly reports, news releases, verbal communication (with external people such as analysts, investors, and the media), senior management presentations and information on the web site and intranet.

 

Employees must not discuss material, non-public matters, or developments with outsiders (including family members, relatives, or friends).

 

Spokespersons

There are four main groups of designated spokespersons for Worlducation Corporation:

 

National and international media	The Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Office
Local media	Managers
Trade media	Marketing and Sales Manager
Business development	CEO, Marketing and Sales Manager

 

Any news release being issued to the media or public must be approved by Worlducation’s executive management team. This includes (but not limited to) blogs, newspapers, magazines, adverts, social media and press statements.

 

Emergency communication

Crisis and emergency situations that may affect Worlducation and its employees include items such as fires, explosions, accidents, floods, hazardous material emissions, acts of violence or terrorism and many others. In the event of a crisis, safety should be your immediate concern. Employees should notify their direct manager and/or facilities manager, who will in turn notify the executive team as soon as possible. When dealing with the media during a crisis make sure you are available for comment and:

• state the facts truthfully
• do not from disclose names of the injured or deceased
• show empathy – express concern for employees and the community as appropriate
• do not offer opinion or speculate
• describe steps you are taking to manage the crisis
• say “I need to confirm that information first” if you are unsure.

 

Communication of Financial, Market, and Customer Information

Any reports, slides, presentations, or any other written material that contains Worlducation financial information must be accurate and complete.

 

Business development

Any communication related to business development must align to the business’ strategic and those responsible for business development have the freedom to choose appropriate methods for developing and maintaining strategic business relationships.

 

However, always include face-to-face meetings to establish rapport and build trust. If this is not possible, a telephone conversation should be held.

 

Communication must be professional and friendly and always uphold Worlducation’s code of ethics.

 

Social networking policy

 

Worlducation employees must use these forums appropriately and responsibly, especially when discussing or disclosing any information related to Worlducation or to their employment at Worlducation.

 

While social networking opens up new opportunities to have a positive impact on our brand reputation and business growth, it also carries significant business risk when used inappropriately. Failure to follow Worlducation’s social media and networking policy or other abuse of social media and networking tools may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.

 

In the event anything in the policy may conflict with local law concerning internet use and data privacy, local law will control the interpretation and application of the policy.

 

Section 1: Plan networking activities

 

To complete this section, you must read through your business’ strategic document (e.g., Strategic Plan) and one policy and procedure relevant to strategic networking. If you are using your own business, attach the documents to this section of your Project Portfolio.

 

Business strategy Which document did you read to obtain information about the business strategy? What are the key features of your business’s strategy document (at least five)? What are the strategic objectives of your business? Summarise the numerical information contained in the document and explain how it relates to strategic networks.
Networking objectives What are the networking objectives of your business?
Organisational requirements Which policy and procedures are relevant to strategic business networking? Identify and summarise the requirements of at least one policy and procedure.

 

Existing business relationships Identify at least one existing business relationship. Summarise the relationship: ·           who the relationship is with ·           how your businesses provide value and advantage to one another. Does the relationship have strategic importance? How does the relationship help your business reach its strategic goals and objectives? Does this relationship align to your business’s networking objectives?

Potential business contacts Identify and describe at least three potential business relationships and contacts for the relationship. How will the relationship help your business reach its strategic goals and objectives? How will the relationship align to your business’s networking objectives?

 

Select business contact Which business contact will you focus on for the remainder of this assessment? Why?

 

Research contact methods.

 

Upcoming conferences Identify at least one potential conference you may attend to establish contact with your selected business contact. What are the details of the conferences you have identified?
Professional associations Identify at least one professional association whose members may be appropriate business contacts for the selected business relationship. Provide the details of the associations you have identified.

 

Other business networking opportunities Identify at least two other opportunities (or methods) you may use to contact your selected business contact.
Research sources List your research sources here (at least two).
Evaluate contact methods What are the advantages of each contact method? What are the disadvantages of each contact method?

 

Use the template below to select communication methods and plan your communication with the selected potential business contact. If your business requires a different template to be used, use it instead and attach it to this section of your Project Portfolio.

 

Strategic Business Relationship Contact Plan [Insert Name of contact] Date: [Insert date]

Initial contact How will you make initial contact? When will you make the contact? What subject matter will you communicate as part of this contact? What are the advantages and value of the business relationship for both your own business and the business contact? What are any other details related to the communication? Confirm that the details for initial contact adhere to your business’ policies and procedures.

Follow-up contact How will you follow-up the initial contact? When will you follow up? What subject matter will you communicate as part of this contact? What are any other details related to the communication? Confirm that the details for follow-up contact adhere to your business’ policies and procedures.

Future correspondence Which communication channels will you use for future correspondence (at least two)? Confirm that these channels adhere to your business’ policies and procedures.

Problems and risks Which unpredictable problems and risks may occur when making and maintaining contact with the potential business contact (at least two)? How will you take responsibility for addressing these problems and risks?

 

Attach:

Strategic documentation (if using your own business)                     ☐   Policy and procedure (if using your own business)                           ☐   Strategic Business Relationship Contact Plan (if you used            ☐ a different template)

 

Section 2: Undertake networking activities

 

Complete this section to provide evidence of how you initiated and followed-up contact with one business contact.

 

Initial contact Draft your LinkedIn message here.
Schedule follow-up Insert a screen shot of how you scheduled a meeting here (e.g., added it to Google Calendar or Apple calendar).
Follow-up initial contact If not already viewed in person by your assessor, attach proof of your meeting to this section of your portfolio (e.g., video of conference call or voice recording of a telephone conversation). Provide an example of how you used a friendly, professional tone. Provide an example of how you used clear and detailed

 

business language and terminology. Provide an example of how you asked questions to seek the business contact’s view and opinion. How did you clarify your understanding of what the business contact said?
Reflect on communication What did you do well as part of your communication? What can you improve on? Did you experience any problems during the communication? How did you solve the problems? If you did not experience any problems, identify at least one problem you could have experienced and say how you would’ve solved it.
Attach:	Meeting with business contact (if not already viewed in                   ☐ person by your assessor)

 

Section 3: Maintain networks

 

Use the template below to plan how to maintain your existing and new strategic business relationships. If your business requires a different template to be used, use it instead and attach it to this section of your Project Portfolio.

 

Strategic Business Relationship Maintenance Plan Date: [Insert date]
	Existing business relationship: [Add details]	New business relationship: [Add details]
How will you maintain the strategic relationship?
Opportunities for further collaboration with the business contact: How do the opportunities align with the strategic objectives of the business?
Benefits of the collaboration opportunities:	Identify at least three.	Identify at least three.
Risks of the collaboration opportunities:	Identify at least three	Identify at least three.

 

Attach:

Strategic Business Relationship Maintenance Plan (if you             ☐ used a different template)

 

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