BSBINN601 Business Activity

1. Why is it important to review and prioritise change requirements or opportunities with relevant managers and specialists?

Managers can offer an insight into the opportunities for change and their relative priorities.

Managers will be able to see what might and what might not work in practice. They may have views about how staff and customers are likely to respond to the proposed change and they have a pivotal role in making the change successful; without their support it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve the desired results from the proposed changes

1. Why is it important to undertake a cost-benefit analysis for high priority change requirements and opportunities?

It helps;

a) list cost and benefits

b) assign monetary value to costs

c) assign monetary value to benefits

d) prepare budget and sale projections

e) compare costs and benefits

2. Imagine the graphic design company has decided to invest $50,000 in new equipment, staff training and consultancy support to streamline its work flow. What are the potential tangible and intangible benefits to be achieved from this investment?

• improved effectiveness (eg, improved service delivery, improved access)

• improved efficiency (eg, reduced costs, more efficient use of existing resources)

• enabling or supporting other benefits such as:

- achieving best practice standard

- better brand awareness

- good customer goodwill

1. What is the purpose of a risk analysis when developing a change management strategy?

The purpose of risk analysis is to identify potential problems before they occur so that risk-handling activities may be planned and invoked as needed across the life of the product or project to mitigate adverse impacts on achieving objectives.

2. Imagine (Microsoft) a software and a graphic design company is introducing new technology and working practices. What barriers might be encountered?

· Staff resistance to learn new technology and adopt new working practices

· Rivalry between IT department and graphic designers – disagreements about priorities

· Staff lacking an understanding of the need to improve quality and productivity.

3. What mitigation strategies could be implemented to avoid the barriers identified in the previous question above?

· Run a pilot with the new technology to test its application in their own context

· Lease the technology so that the costs of updating are managed over time

• Recruit or develop an internal expert

· Ensure staff understand the need for the change and the consequences of not changing

· Involve staff in the design of the new system and working practices

· Train the staff in the new technology  Reward staff efforts.

1. Why is it important to develop a change management project plan?

· It avoids any doubt or confusion as to what should be happening, when and by whom

· It enables the planning and scheduling of key tasks so that they take place in a logical order

• It ensures that key tasks are not missed

· It enables accurate budgeting for the activities involved

· It acts as a communication tool to update interested parties about what is planned and what progress is being made

· It enables the systematic review of progress against the plan so that adjustments can be made if necessary.

2. What key information should be included in the change management project plan?

• Project title

· Key people involved (e.g. project team leader, project sponsor, project team members, other stakeholders and interested parties)

· Project objectives, ideally linked to organisational objectives

· What is/is not in the scope of the project (i.e. a specific statement of what the project is not looking at)

• Timescales
• Budget
• Monitoring and review arrangements
• Reporting arrangements.