Kent Institute Australia Pty. Ltd.Assessment Brief ABN 49 003 577 302 CRICOS Code: 00161E RTO Code: 90458Version 2: 11thOctober, 2019 Page 2 of 2 TEQSA Provider Number: PRV12051ASSESSMENT BRIEF 04 COURSE: Bachelor of Business/Accounting/Information TechnologyUnit Code:MGTP102Unit Title:Management PrinciplesType of Assessment:Assessment 04 – individual Case StudyLength/Duration:Case Study– 2000 wordsUnit Learning Outcomesaddressed:1. Describe the core concepts and theoretical frameworks ofmanagement;2. Examine key stakeholders and explain their roles in managing anorganisation;3. Analyse and interpret management issues in organisations;4. Apply analytical and problem solving skills to develop effectivestrategies to solve managerial issues.Submission Date:Assessment 04 is due by 23.59 on Friday 15th October 2021. No latesubmissions will be accepted.Assessment Task:Individual written assignment consisting of a case study with relatedquestions.Total Mark:40 marksWeighting:40%Students are advised that submission of an Assessment Task past the due date without a formallysigned approved AssignmentExtension Form (Kent Website MyKent Student Link>FORM–AssignmentExtension Application Form–Student LoginRequired)or previously approved application for otherextenuating circumstances impacting course of study, incurs a 5% penalty per calendar day,calculatedby deduction from the total mark.For example. An AssessmentTask marked out of 40 will incur a 2 mark penalty for eachcalendarday.More information, please refer to (Kent Website MyKent Student Link> POLICY – Assessment Policy &Procedures– Student Login Required) Kent Institute Australia Pty. Ltd.Assessment Brief ABN 49 003 577 302 CRICOS Code: 00161E RTO Code: 90458Version 2: 11thOctober, 2019 Page 2 of 2 TEQSA Provider Number: PRV12051ASSESSMENT DESCRIPTION:Your assessment will comprise of an individual written assignment of 2,000 (10% +/-) words. The assignmentwill be in the form of the case study below with related questions.You are expected to outline the theoretical concepts relevant to the issues described in the case study, apply thetheory and answer the questions.A Tale of Two CompaniesThis is the tale of two computer companies, Logica and Software Solutions. Logicasells, services and supportsdesktop computing solutions for large corporate and government organisations. Software Solutions developscustomised desktop based computer software to meet the needs of corporate clients.Logica:Logica had been established by an entrepreneurial and very charismatic person, Colleen Thompson, who grewthe business from just her and an assistant to a 250 person organisation with branches in all the capital cities ofAustralia. It now counts in its client list the largest corporate organisations in Australia.Logica sells computer hardware and off the shelf software as well as providing hardware maintenance andrepairs and software training and support to its customers.Logica expanded through the acquisition of other smaller providers and had successfully incorporated theseorganisations.Each branch, structured on geographic lines, had a General Manager and a functional structure with thefollowing departments reporting to the General Manager:Sales,Hardware Support,Software Support &Training,Administration.It has a very small Head Office comprising the Managing Director (Colleen Thompson), Finance Director,Marketing Director.Staff are required to wear business attire and unless visiting clients were expected to be at the office from 8.30am to 5.30 pm. Because of the commodity nature of the product the organisations strategy is focused on costleadership, and improvement of internal processes.Staff are rewarded through performance based commission pay systems based on the amount of profitgenerated by each individual. This works well for the Sales Department but causes problems with the HardwareSupport and Software Support Departments. The staff in these sections feel compromised because they can’tspend the necessary time to solve the customer’s problem because of pressure to invoice and close out calls.Software Solutions:Software Solutions was also established by an entrepreneurial and very charismatic person, Ted Keeling. Theorganisation is only young and comprises just 30 staff. With the exception of Ted, an Administrator, and areceptionist, all the staff work in project teams developing customised software solutions for customers. Asneeded, teams are created to address customer problems so new teams are being formed continually.Kent Institute Australia Pty. Ltd.Assessment Brief ABN 49 003 577 302 CRICOS Code: 00161E RTO Code: 90458Version 2: 11thOctober, 2019 Page 2 of 2 TEQSA Provider Number: PRV12051Software Solutions has an excellent reputation for customer service and the quality of its technical solutions. Itis developing customised software for many of the same corporate customers that Logica services.Software Solutions has its offices in Sydney with everyone co-located in the one location. The culture is veryrelaxed with flexible work hours and a casual dress code. Each month at the monthly staff meeting, staff arebriefed on their performance against budget and awards are made for exceptional customer service and mostinnovative solutions. The recipients of the awards are nominated by fellow staff members.Staff are paid a competency based salary together with bonuses based on the achievement of team objectivesset at the outset of a project.Merger:Colleen had identified that one of the problems with Logica was its inability to meet the customers’ softwaredevelopment needs and had been looking for an organisation with this capability to acquire and merge withLogica. She identified and acquired Software Solutions for this purpose.As part of the deal, Ted had been contracted to work at Logica for three years.Answer the following questions (Each question is worth 10 marks and should be approximately 500 wordslong)A) What is organizational culture and how do we identify it? Compare and contrast the organisationalcultures at Logica and Software Solutions. Would you recommend Colleen force Software Solutions toadopt the culture at Logica and why?B) Considering the three contingencies that determine the organisational structure, which organizationalstructure would you recommend Colleen implement in the merged business and why? Address thefollowing dimensions of organisational structure, centralisation, formalisation, span of management (tallv flat).C) What is departmentalisation? Describe the main features and list the advantages and disadvantages ofDivisional and Functional departmentalisation. Which of either Divisional or Functionaldepartmentalisation would you recommend to Colleen for the merged organization and why?D) As the business goes through the change brought by the merger, what leadership style should Colleenadopt and what behaviours would it involve?ASSESSMENT SUBMISSION:Assessment 04 is due by 23.59 on Friday 15th October 2021. No late submissions will be accepted.The assignment must be submitted online in Moodle. All materials must be submitted electronically in MicrosoftWord format (other formats e.g., pdf or mac file may not be readable by markers). No paper based or hardcopysubmission will be accepted.Please note that this is an individual assessment and any similarity score greater than 20% will be treated asacademic misconduct.No referencing of sources is required for either part of this assessment.Kent Institute Australia Pty. Ltd.Assessment Brief ABN 49 003 577 302 CRICOS Code: 00161E RTO Code: 90458Version 2: 11thOctober, 2019 Page 2 of 2 TEQSA Provider Number: PRV12051MARKING GUIDE (RUBRIC):Kent Institute Australia Pty. Ltd.Assessment Brief ABN 49 003 577 302 CRICOS Code: 00161E RTO Code: 90458Version 2: 11thOctober, 2019 Page 2 of 2 TEQSA Provider Number: PRV12051MARKING GUIDE (RUBRIC) SELF-REFLECTIVE SUMMARY: CategoriesDetailScoreCommentsDescription of the unitcontent and activities to bereflected upon.(What did I do, read, see,hear, feel?)Describe objectively and openly whathappened including the concept, theoryor framework which was presented ineach topic.20Reflects upon the contentpresented and relates it totheir previous experience.(How does the newexperience fit with myprevious experience?)Explains what they observed, raisesquestions, makes connections toprevious learning. Seeks to understandthe concepts by examining openlytheirown experiences in the past as theyrelate to the topic.20Evaluate the experienceand gain new insights(What I learnt?)Clearly identifies and explains what theylearned from the presentation of thistopic.20Strategies to use thelearning in the future(How I will use what Ilearned?)Description of the how the newlearning/ insights will be useful to themin the future either as a student or inbusiness.30Writing SkillsCohesiveness, articulation of thoughts,evidence of work, presentation, spellingor grammatical errors.10Total Score100
