Resource Management Sample Assignment

You are employed as a researcher for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the UK.  Funding has been provided for a study of resource management in organisations.  The aim is to compare the management of physical and human resources in different sectors.
Your role is to carry out research into profiled organisations representing different sectors.   You will then choose a specific organisation to carry out further research.
You will present your research findings in a report.
You will find brief profiles of three businesses in Appendix 1 and a more detailed analysis of an organisation in Appendix 2.  In order to ensure your report is comprehensive you will need to carry out supplementary research into similar businesses in these sectors to ensure you provide detailed findings.

Task 1

In the first part of your report you must:

• Analyse the differing resource requirements of the three profiled businesses in different sectors. (AC 1.1)
• Explain the importance of resource management and how this is achieved within organisations. (AC 1.2)

Distinction task
To achieve a Distinction you must:
Evaluate internal and external factors which impact on resource management. (AC 1D1)

Task 2

In this part of the report, you should explain the importance of the effective use of physical resources by providing:

• An evaluation of how the use of physical resources is monitored and managed
• An evaluation of the measures to reduce the impact of resource wastage
• An assessment of the costs of high profile technological failures
• An assessment of the business case for the use of ethical and sustainable resources.

You should give examples from each sector that relate to the organisations profiled.
(AC 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4).
Merit task
To achieve a Merit you must:
Evaluate recent high-profile cases of resource wastage and their impacts
(AC 2M1)

Task 3

Referring to the profiled businesses or similar organisations, provide a section in the report on how to use human resources effectively.
Include:

• An assessment of the need for human resource planning in the workplace
• An evaluation of the methods used to monitor and improve employee performance
• An assessment of the effectiveness of reward systems in different contexts.

(AC 3.1, 3.2, 3.3).
Distinction task
To achieve a Distinction you must:
Evaluate the impact of employee engagement in an organisation you have researched (AC 3D1)

Task 4

For this section of your report, you will need to explain the data required to make judgements on the effective use of human and physical resources.  You can use the case study provided in Appendix 2 to assist you.  When using the case study you must ensure that you utilise all of the information provided.
In this section of the report, you will:

• Explain the data needed to review and make judgements on employee performance
• Explain the data needed to review and make judgements on the utilisation of physical resources

(AC 4.1, 4.2).
Merit task
To achieve a Merit you must:
Use examples to evaluate how resource management practices have contributed to business success or failure (AC 4M1)

Guidelines for assessors

Work submitted by learners must achieve the learning outcomes and meet the standards specified by the assessment criteria for the unit. To achieve a merit or distinction grade, the learners must demonstrate that they have achieved all the criteria set for these grades. Where work for the pass standard is marginal, assessors can take account of any extension work completed by the learners. The suggested evidence listed below is how learners can demonstrate that they have met the required standards.

Business 1 is an agricultural business in the primary sector.
‘Stems’ is a family business based on the concept of ‘picks your own produce’.  Four family members are permanent employees of the company and seasonal workers are hired as needed.  Some of the seasonal workers are students who need accommodation and this is provided on site in a number of wooden lodges and caravans.
The season lasts from June to October.  The main crop is strawberries but there are 20 crops in all and the family is hoping to expand on this range.  The crops cover 50 acres. Facilities are provided to attract customers and these include car parking, toilets, baskets/ boxes for the picked crops, a shop with snacks and drinks and a picnic area.
The farm has its own reservoir to provide water for irrigation.  A series of drains and filters carry the water to the crops.
A new development has been to make picking easier by growing plants in troughs filled with peat.  The troughs are supported by a steel structure. This gives the troughs height so that customers do not have to bend to pick the crops. It also reduces crop damage from pests such as slugs and woodlice.
Business 2 is an engineering business in the secondary sector.
AluPan is a private limited company run by two friends and business partners. The business consists of a factory manufacturing lightweight panel systems for ships, planes and rail cars. The panels are made of aluminium.
The factory relies on lightweight panel technology and specialist machinery. There are 10 factory staff who provide the necessary labour. They are relatively unskilled and can be quickly trained in the factory process. In addition the company employs 3 administration staff who answers the telephone, deal with initial queries and invoicing using systems set up on the computers in the office. Sales are handled by the partners.
Business 3 is a call centre operating in the tertiary sector on a 24/7, 365 days a year basis.
Spirus provides a professional telephone answering service for a range of organisations.
The centre employs 100 telephonists who each require 2 weeks training to be fully operational and some staff who are dealing with emergency issues for organisations have additional training.
The business is heavily dependent on technology using:

• CallScriptor software which creates scripts for agents
• web based technology which uses a client’s database on the call centre’s server
• an interactive voice response system with a menu of options, messages and music
• call recording

Appendix 2
A case study for International Meducare
Context
International Meducare is a not for profit, voluntary organisation operating in the tertiary sector, which exists to provide global and humanitarian aid in order to support individuals, relieve their suffering and save lives. The head office is based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The organisation moves quickly in an emergency situation, liaising with other aid agencies, so that people in need can be reached swiftly. In addition a key focus of the aid is to provide training to the indigenous population, where the problems exist, so that the initial intervention is sustained and self-reliance is developed.
The training provided can be varied.  Depending on the need it can focus on re-establishing health care systems, improving farming techniques, working with local people to build irrigation networks or drainage systems, developing craft production networks or funding bursaries for aspiring entrepreneurs and managers. In carrying out this work International Meducare will work with the local communities their leaders and politicians.
International Meducare is committed to ensuring that all the work of its staff both in the head office and in the programmes themselves is of the highest quality.  The work of individual staff is carefully monitored and each relief programme has built-in monitoring and evaluation processes, so that the organisation can learn from what has worked well, whilst also identifying the areas for development.  In these monitoring and evaluation processes the organisation also ensures that the deployment of all physical resources including medicines is managed, so that they are cost effective and performance measures and procedures are in place.
International Meducare aims to work openly, be transparent with stakeholders and be accountable for everything it does.  The organisation works to the voluntary, self-monitoring Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief.  International Meducare also pledges to work to the Sphere Project – Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response.
In recent years International Meducare has sold on-line some of the craft products produced by people in the countries where the organisation is working. There is also merchandise including an annual calendar and Meducare tee shirts, caps and flip flops.
Resources
Given its purpose, International Meducare is labour intensive and the physical resources needed are broad ranging and can be expensive, particularly where medicines are required. These are often needed in volume and at short notice. Meducare has a distribution centre to the north of Cambridge near the motorway and main road networks.  This centre has stocks of items such as blankets, tents, dried food and non-perishable medical supplies.  There are monthly stock takes of all items and the data is used to predict how well the organisation is prepared to deal with an emergency situation. Information from the stock take is analysed by the Logistics Department and decisions about additional supplies are taken there. Managers who have responsibility for specific and planned international initiatives have authority to access the materials held at the distribution centre and items used are charged to their individual delegated budgets.
Staff at International Meducare are employed in a full time or part time capacity and there are also volunteers. There are 2,100 staff in total who are currently working in 19 countries but this number increases when there is an emergency as more part time staff and volunteers are recruited. Staffing at the head office in Cambridge is 25. These posts are focussed on management positions at a strategic and operational level, so there is an overview of all the current programmes.  Some staff focus purely on logistics and responding to any new emergencies.
Appointing, training and monitoring the performance of these staff is key to successful operation of the organisation and the individual projects. All staff participate in an induction programme which includes job role specific elements. In addition staff have monthly one to one meetings with line managers and there are formal appraisal processes. All of these meetings are based on qualitative and quantitative evidence and directly relate to the job role in general and specific tasks and/or projects which have taken place in the recent time period.  The meetings lead to project and personal learning and development targets as appropriate to the individuals concerned.
Managing the income and costs associated with the work at Meducare is critical.  Budget holders are responsible for managing the spend on their delegated budgets with sign-off limits set for different management levels. This means that anything of significant cost must be agreed with the CEO for the organisation. Monthly management accounts are produced by the Finance Department and these are sent to budget holders irrespective of where they are working in the world.
In preparation for a round of appraisal interviews the Head of HR has generated some information for staff, which is attached.

Aspects of International Work

Meducare’s main in-country projects in recent years have been varied. Two examples have been working on issues regarding water and sanitation and gender based violence.  All charities are challenged to demonstrate the difference that is made in real terms and the impact of their work and this is also the case for Meducare.
The KPIs for these initiatives were:

1. The number of countries where work has taken place.
2. The total number of projects.
3. The number of local people trained.
4. The number of Meducare people involved in the intervention.
5. The cost per head of training for local people and Meducare field staff.
6. Cost of production for information materials associated with the projects.
7. Cost of waste of unused information materials.
8. Cost of water treatment chemicals.
9. Cost of materials for drilling wells and managing the flow of water.
10. Money spent on chemicals for dealing with human waste.
11. Reduction in the number of cases of disease caused by poor water and sanitation.
12. Reduction in cases of gender violence over a 12 month period.
13. The proportion of income spent on head office administration and salaries in comparison to total income.
14. The number of self-help projects emerging from the original intervention.
15. The profit gained from sales merchandise.

However KPIs will not necessarily show how good or bad the work has been and this needs full consideration, in order to fully understand the impact and sustainability of the intervention.

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