Assessment Task 2: Group Assignment
1) Assessment Details
Purpose: To further develop the knowledge from Assignment 1, and to analyse developmental aspects of the international management process with an understanding of the options relevant to the challenges.
Specifically, this assignment is designed to assist you in developing skills in analysing strategic challenges and opportunities in the global context and competencies to anticipate the potential strategies of global and local competitors in specific industries; in implementing strategies for mastering interpersonal encounters, including conflict resolution, in multicultural environments; managing your own and the personal growth of others in the global context.
Details of task:
For this task, you are required to work in groups of 3 students – one Office Manager and two colleagues, and imagine you are a work team at an international consulting firm. Your team needs to consider the 3 tasks/activities outlined below.
For activities 1, 2 and 3, your team must appoint an Office Manager to lead an office discussion about how your company should respond to the challenges/opportunities facing your firm. Each team member must act as Office Manager for one of the task activities. Everyone must contribute to the office discussion. Activity 4 is an alternative for activity 3 but needs approval from your lecturer to choose this topic.
The office manager must ‘report’ to the Firm Director by the deadline set by the office manager. The office manager will change for each activity. The Firm Director will give the office manager feedback about each task/activity and the office manager will in turn give this feedback to their office colleagues.
Activity 1. A small manufacturing firm approaches your office and believes there is a market for handheld tools that are carefully crafted for local markets. After spending two months in Europe, the president of this firm believes that his company can create a popular line of these tools.
1. What type of organization structure would be of most value to this firm in its initial efforts to go international?
2. If the company in Activity 1 finds a major market for its products in Europe and decide to expand into Asia, would you recommend any change in its organization structure? If yes, what would you suggest? If no, why?
3. If this same company finds after three years of international efforts that it is selling 50 percent of its output overseas, what type of organizational structure would you suggest for the future?
Activity 2. Your team has been asked to assist a local clothing chain/store to identify a suitable international textiles manufacturer to produce a range of men’s fashion shirts. This company has a strong reputation for high quality, fashionable shirts, but the closure of their local textile supplier has prompted them to explore international options for the production of their designs.
Your team has quickly shortlisted several factories (located in China, Bangladesh, Vietnam and India) with capability to produce the shirts and your client appears to be encouraged by the competitive quotes received. However, with the emergence of customer concerns relating to ‘ethical clothing’ and the social and environmental impacts of textile production, your team recommends more research into these shortlisted prospective suppliers.
You and your team have scheduled a progress meeting with your client. To prepare for this meeting, you need to draft a document for discussion – this document must:
• explain your rationale for why this additional research is required; • discuss the risks associated with not undertaking this work; • Present a plan of how you intend to research these issues.
Activity 3. Read the following articles:
1. ‘Three skills CEOs need most’ by H. Sazena, Ivey Business Journal, May/June, 2015
2. ‘Managing Oneself’ by P.F. Drucker, Harvard Business Review, January, 2005
3. ‘What only the CEO can do’ by A.G. Lafley, Harvard Business Review, May, 2009
Reflect and assess your past experiences, current skills level and motivation, discuss with your office manager ‘what do you think are the skills need to lead effectively in a global environment?’ ‘Why do you think you don’t have those skills yet?’ ‘How do your office colleagues from different culture view your identified skill shortage? Table and categorize the required skills sets/factors and provide a report outlining the constraint of international capacity of your office to your director for next year’s professional development.
Activity 4. (Tentative alternative for Activity 3)
Reflect back on the cases we have discussed over the past few classes, assignment 1 and group working experiences in this course. Based on this, what would you say are the key characteristics of effective business leader in the global environment? Note: Be mindful of the fact that leadership happens at all levels of an organization – not just in the CEO suite.
Note: You will also be asked to evaluate all team members at the end of the course. However, the lecturer keeps the right for final decision. Please keep a log of each team member’s contribution for each team activity. (Details on peer group assessment see attached)
2) Criteria used to grade the task
1) Style: Report
2) Due date: Ongoing (Week 6-Week 10)
3) Contribution to assessment: 35%
4) Word limit: 800 ± 10% for activities 1, 2, 3, 4
Content:
• Clear understanding of the consulting situation, thorough evaluation of the options and appropriate action/implementation steps
• Successfully apply relevant management theory, principle and framework from this course to the consulted activity.
• Academic written skills and appropriate citation format
• Professional and effective presentation
3) Task Assessor Lecturer
4) Suggested time to devote to this task
Approximately 24 hours per student outside of class time
5) Submission details
Due to the ongoing nature of the Assessment Task 2, the submission due date shall be decided by the lecturer with students. The last activity (Activity 3 or 4) will be due on week 10 (Partner to insert date) of the semester. Students are required An electronic copy is required to submit via Turnitin submission link on Moodle.
6) Feedback and return of work
Feedback and grades will be communicated via email within two weeks of report submission.