Assesment 1: Due date Friday, 27 April 2018, 2:20 PM
Word length: 2000 - 2500 words
Case Study: Reliable Training Centre (RTC)
The Reliable Training Centre (RTC) started 20 years ago with 10 staff members. It provides basic security officer training in various major capital cities in Australia (eg. Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth). The RTC’s head office is located in Melbourne. Now, it employs about 30 highly skilled trainers and 20 administration and support staff.
RTC is open five days a week from Monday to Friday. The RTC offers nationally accredited security officer training programs. Over the years, RTC training gained reputation for its curriculum, training methods and highly qualified staff. Many aspiring candidates have completed security officer programs at RTC with the intention to find employment in banking and other sectors.
The program lasts four weeks involving 20 full days of training from 9am to 6pm. All centres in all major cities run the course 12 times a year, i.e. once a month between January and December. A program usually starts on a Monday and ends on a Friday of week-4.
At the moment, RTC records their employees' details, Students, Courses, Enrolments, Payments, Class schedules and Grades manually. Although, this system is working fine, recording data in the manual system is laborious and time consuming. Moreover, RTC is unable to provide quick answers to several questions including: (1) Total number of students who have completed the security program so far (2) Number of students enrolled at each site (3) Busy periods (4) Amount generated through security programs at each site and so on.
RTC records bookings/registrations through walk-in enquiries, postal mails, faxes, and emails. Through the paper-copy course brochure, all prospective students can select which dates they want to attend from the list of available programs, dates and provide their details to register as a student in the program. Students can select to be trained at a RTC office located in any preferred Australian capital city. At the time of registration, students are required to make payment by cash or credit card. In case of phone bookings, students are required to complete Payment form providing their credit card details or attach a cheque to it before sending it through to RTC for processing. The receipt will be sent to the student by post within 5 working days. In case of enrolment cancellations, students will be charged 12% of total fee.
At this point of time, RTC only runs two nationally accredited basic certificate programs which cost $10,000 per individual trainee per program. Any group or corporation that sends more than 1 but up to 4 students in a single booking/registration will be granted a 5% discount in a payment, 5 to 10 students 20% discount, and 11 or more students 30% discount.
There are eight subjects to complete in both programs. There are two assignments per subject. Students must pass all the assignments in all eight subjects to qualify for a certificate. Occasionally, some students who are sick or have another commitment cannot complete an assignment in time. All assignments are marked on a 100% weighting. Guidelines for grading are: (1) award a ‘Fail’ grade for any subject average mark in the range of 0%-49%; (2) award a ‘Pass’ grade for any subject average mark in the range of 50%-100%; and (3) award a ‘Result Outstanding’ grade for any students who cannot complete and submit a particular assignment in time with an approved extension. Marks are recorded in RTC’s grades register but grades are made known and given to students in transcripts on completion. A student transcript records results of all subject assignments as ‘Pass’, ‘Fail’, or ‘Result Outstanding’. To complete the course and be awarded a certificate, it is compulsory for all students to clear all assignments within the specified timeline.
The RTC management team believes that a computerised system will not only help them to record the transactions easily but also help them to generate reports to understand the total number of students completed programs so far, no of enrolments at each campus, peak times, payments received/outstanding, total revenue generated, etc. In addition to this, they believe that an ERP system would be helpful in minimising inconsistencies with data and be able to manage cash flows effectively. The RTC management is keen to use the technology and implement an ERP system with the help of an expert (you) to manage their operations.
Your Task:
For this assessment, you will develop a report for “Reliable Training Centre (RTC)”, which includes:
• An argument to persuade management that an ERP is required,
• Feasibility analysis,
• Issues that may arise due to incomplete elicitation of requirements and misalignment between the business processes and organisational strategy
• Risks associated with BPR and ERP customisation
• Current business processes
• Proposed changes to the business processes
Persuade management that an ERP is required. Your argument should consider at least:
• The reason for organisational change,
• Alignment of an ERP with the organisation's goals.
• Benefits and limitations of ERPs in the context of this organisation, and
• The organisational commitment, especially from management, for this organisation.
Remember that there is no right answer or recommendation. Successful arguments can be made for many options. Your task is to present a persuasive and argumentative piece of writing in report form. From your research and discussions in the report, you are expected to draw and justify your own conclusions.
For this assignment, you are required to use academic literature to support and illustrate your report. It is important that you look at how issues and potential problems inter-relate and explain the linkages in order to present the risks/issues. It is up to you to explain and justify why the risks you identify may be a problem. Use literature to develop your recommendations for strategies or actions that can avoid or mitigate the risks. Be aware that it may not be possible to avoid or mitigate all risks.
Your audience are non-technical. However, you can assume your readers are intelligent people who understand business arguments. Remember that there is no single right answer that will address all risks and recommendations. It is your choice to nominate which of the risks you believe are the most critical and up to you to select the most appropriate mitigation strategies for your recommendations. You will be assessed on your ability to persuade the reader, so it is essential that you develop factual and logical arguments in your risk and recommendation justifications.
Hints:
Your report should include an Executive summary, Table of contents, Introduction, Discussion, Conclusion and recommendations.
You must use trade and academic literature to inform and support your report. A minimum of 10 references (sources published 2012 or later) are required, at least 5 of which must be from academic sources (journal, conference or edited book chapter papers). Failure to include these will result in a deduction of marks. A high achieving student will probably have between 15 and 20 references.
What you should submit:
You are required to submit your report as a Microsoft Word document