Qualification | Unit number and title | Pearson BTEC Level 5 HND Diploma in Business(QCF) | UNIT 16:Managing Communications, Knowledge, and Information | Student name and ID number | Assessors name | Kamiesha Lewis H1409030 | Abraham Pius | Date issued | Completion date | Submitted on | 25thJanuary 2016 | 08th May 2016 by 5.00pm | 03 May 2016 | Internal Verifier | Dr George Panagiotou | Assignment title | Google Inc | Instructions | * An electronic copy of your assessment must be fully uploaded by the deadline date and time. * You must submit one single PDF or MS Office Word document. Any relevant images or screenshots must be included within the same MS Office Word or PDF document. * The last version you upload will be the one that is marked. Your paper will be marked if you have indicated this as your final submission. * Review the mitigating circumstances policy for information relating to extensions. * The file size must not exceed 20MB. * Answer the criteria in order, clearly indicating the pass criteria number. * Ensure that all work has been proof-read and checked prior to submission. * Ensure that the layout of your documents are in a professional format with font style Arial, font size 12 for the text, font 14 for sub heading and font 16 for main heading, line spacing 1.5 and justified. * Use the Harvard referencing system; otherwise it will be considered as plagiarised work. * Ensure that you back-up your work regularly and apply version control to your documents. * Ensure that any file you upload is virus-free, not corrupted and not protected by a password otherwise it will be treated as a non-submission. * You must NOT submit a paper copy or email of this assessment to any member of staff at LSST. * Your work must be original with the appropriate referencing | Learner declaration | I certify that the work submitted for this assignment is my own and research sources are fully acknowledged.Student signature: Kamiesha Lewis.Date: 03 MAY 2016 |

Guidance | Welcome to the Managing Communications, Knowledge, and Information (Unit16), assessment paper. The scenarios and questions below need to be addressed fully for you to achieve a pass in this unit.In addition, you will need to address the merits and distinctions criteria within your answers to achieve a higher grade.MCKI consists of four tasks. LO1assessment method written business reportLO2 assessment method event planning LO3 assessment method Power point presentation LO4 assessment method business report |
STUDENTS Remember

TO CHECK THAT THE ANSWERS GIVEN METREQUIRED CRITERIA

TRY AND COMPLETE THE ASSIGNMENT CRITERIA AS YOU GO ALONG

DO noT LEAVE THINGS TO THE LAST MINUTE.

Assignment Aim | -------------------------------------------------
This assignment aims to provide the opportunity for demonstrating how communications, knowledge and information can be developed and used to improve communication within the organisation and with other organisations. It also covers how IT systems can be used as a management tool for collecting, storing, disseminating and providing access to knowledge and information. Introduction Google was founded in 1995 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin and it was the first popular search engine in the world. They created this search engine so that users can find any website or document on the web based on keyword or exact searches. Google provides free services for their users. Other than the search engine, they can also search books on Google Book Search, news on Google News, videos on Google Video (YouTube) and maps on Google Maps Google has changed the way people look at and share information. This has made them a leading search engine on the web and a global technology leader. Back in the mid 90’s Brin and Page, Stanford University graduates, worked on developing this unique technology. Since then, Google has grown to become one of the most recognized brands in the world as well as one of the top Internet destinations. As of 2013, Google has 16800 employees working in more than 70 offices in more than 40 countries around the globe. Their headquarters is located in Mountain View, California, USA. Strategic management has many benefits to an organization. Google is a pioneer in empowering its employees by making them shareholders making top management own 1/3 of shares but control 80% of votes to allow for stability over long time horizons.A company’s vision, mission and future goals are set from the strategic process. In addition, strategic management gives managers an advantage in allocating resources efficiently. Moreover, these strategies help give the firm a competitive advantage in the market. Statistics show that, on average. Additionally, Google is often lauded for the way the company treats its employees. Fortune magazine ranked Google at the top of its lit of the best companies to work for in 2007, 2008 and 2014 (Fortune, 2014). Perhaps that’s because Google’s corporate vision includes such axioms as, you can be serious without a suit.” (Google, 2014). In October 2014, according to the Inter brand ranking, Google was the second most valuable brand in the world (behind Apple) with a valuation of $107.4 billion. (Fortune, 2015).In conclusion, Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin named the search engine they built "Google," a play on the word "googol," the mathematical term for a 1 followed by 100 zeros. The name reflects the immense volume of information that exists. Google is successfully achieving its mission to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Engine Google is one of the premier Internet brands in the world. Google’s brand was valued at $114billion (2013), the company holds strong market position and continues to diversify its product and service to always stay ahead of competition. |

Guidelines for Analysing Large Case Studies 1. Flick through, fast read, then make mental notes of titles, headings, main features, appendices, etc.

2. Read thoroughly (once or twice) - highlight important phrases, make marginal notes of topics and concepts, write summaries of paragraphs and work out ratios and other figures.

3. Note assumptions the case makes challenge if suspect. Were the assumptions reasonable at the time?

4. Do not just accept what the company has to say. Consider the point of view of the writer.

5. Questions to be answered: * What is going on? (Analysis) * What is management trying to do?(Objective) * What did management actually do? (Performance) * What could management have done? (Alternatives) * What will management do? (Prediction) * What should management do? (Judgement)

6. Introduce any assumptions that you make explicitly. Base them on evidence such as examples of other companies or situations.

7. Analysing from assumptions, making predictions, and introducing judgement means there can be no correct answer. Discuss your ideas with others to see if there is consensus.

8. It is most useful to have models or frameworks for structuring thinking and analysis. Many of the lectures in the HND programme are designed to provide these. Use several to ensure that a full analysis is done. You will have to develop the skills of selecting suitable concepts and frameworks to apply.

9. Most of all ensure that your findings, and answers, are in the relevant context of the posed questions given the prevailing conditions in the organisation’s (case study) environment.

LO1: Understand how to assess information and knowledge needs. | As a newly appointed trainee business development manager in Google UK, write a succinct business report detailing how to assess information and knowledge requires for Google UKfurther expansion mission in the UK market.ACs below must be met in your report; AC1.1Discuss the range of decisions to be taken by the Google senior management team, in regards to this enlargement project in the UK. Guidance: ,consider the following- strategic plan, source of finance, location, UK business laws, selection and recruitment and personnel development, etc.AC1.2Examine the information and knowledge needed to ensure effective decision taking is possible across every level in Google UK.Guidance: focus on these levels for information; strategic, tactical, operational, and for knowledge required (tacit and explicit).AC1.3Assess internal and external sources of information and understanding that will be available for the workforce in Google UK.Guidance: internal sources –sales figures, personnel records, customer records, and financial documents such as trading, profit and loss accounts and the balance sheet.External sources are; government websites, trade/association journals, researches, newspapers, magazines and multi-media such as twitter, face-book and search enginesetc.AC1.4 Justify your recommendations for improvement to the Google management team.Guidance: your candid advice to the Google management team will help them in their quest to expand further in the UK market. For instance tailored made CPDs to the UK employees that will feed into the local market.To achieve M1 you need to conduct an audit assessing the internal and external sources of information within Google and their effect on staff efficiency and effectiveness. | |

LO2: Be able to create strategies to increase personal networking to widen involvement in the decision making process | Scenario TwoYou have been appointed a trainee customer service manager, for one of the Google proposed stores, opening soon in the Kent area; design a suitable networking strategy for a mega shop launch that will be attended by different stakeholders in the sector. To this effect you are instructed by your suppose line manager to start by creating a complete event agenda for this special occasion.ACs below must be met in full | AC2.1Identify stakeholders for this special event and communicate your proposed plan effectively to them.Guidance: anyone or group, with direct or indirect interest could be called stakeholders during the event. | | AC2.2 Make contact with your stakeholders and develop a relationship with them, and seek their views on the forthcoming product lunch. Guidance: consider the following; telephone, emails, letters, fax, word of mouth, Facebook and twitter, |
AC2.3Involve stakeholders identified in the occasion programme and make sure that their interests are incorporated into your event agenda. Guidance: find out from different stakeholders what their expectations and needs are for the day.AC2.4Design inclusive strategies which will make the event interesting and memorable for all stakeholders.Guidance: you should consider any promotional activity that will make the occasion interesting and memorable for all.To achieve M2:you need to use your pre event agenda to write a succinct post event reflection, focussing on the areas you would like to improve for the next networking event. To achieve D1 you need to critically evaluate the strategies designed to make the event successful for all stakeholders. |

LO3: Be able to develop communication processes | Scenario ThreeBased on your new position, as an assistant customer service manager, you are directed to prepare a power point presentation to demonstrate how you propose to develop a robust communication process in Google UK, and in-line with the modern realities in the industry. These ACs below must be met in your presentationAC3.1Report on any existing communication structure.Guidance: consider common channels of communications such as; email, telephone, letter, website, announcement board, internal memo and meetings formal and informal etc. AC3.2 Design methods to improve communication systems and suitability in Google UK.Guidance: redesigning of e-customer feedback form and structured step by step training for customer service department staff that will feed into promotion process etc.AC3.3Implementsimprovements’which will guarantee better communication system integration in Google UK Guidance: for example introduction of finger print technology that will support data centralisation in customer service department, for easy access and efficiency. AC3.4 Create a personal plan to improve own communication skills, and align with your new position, as an assistant customer service manager.Guidance: you are required to assess your communication skills and find out your strengths and weaknesses. List main communication skills that you should improve and suggest different approaches for implementation of your communications development plan. You should use a Personal-SWOT analysis and set SMART objectives for writing a Personal Communication Development Plan.To achieve M3you need to evaluate your communication skills adequately and identify strengths and areas of improvement by using effective judgements, and create an effective personal development plan to improve your own communication skills.To achieve D2you need to justify your conclusions through synthesis of ideas and propose realistic improvements to develop your own communication skills. | LO4: Be able to improve systems relating to information and knowledge | Scenario FourIt is essential that you come up with an effective plan that will bring creativity and innovation into your department, in-line with modern realities in telecommunication sector.You are required to prepare a power point presentation [10 slides] and present in front of a panel; time [10 minutes]and presentation dates for each cohort will be agreed by the programme leader in due course[AC4.1].Write a report and demonstrate how you intend to build and enhance on the existing structures and systems in the company, focus your responses on [AC4.2 & AC4.3]. ACs below must be met in your report; AC4.1Report on existing methods of data collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information and knowledge by Google UK. Guidance: analyse the existing approaches of information and knowledge collection, formatting, store and dissemination in Google UK.AC4.2 Carry out appropriate changes to improve the collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information and knowledge that will improve the systems. Guidance: Refer to your answer in AC 4.1- suggest better ways to improve the current system used to collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information and knowledge. AC4.3 Implements a strategy to improve access to systems of information and knowledge. Guidance: Identify various strategies to improve access to information system and knowledge and explain what steps Google needs to follow to implement those identified strategies. |
To achieve D3you are required to prepare a power point presentation, with speaker note [10 slides].Report on the existing methods of data collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information and knowledge by Google UK. |

Unit 16Managing Communications, Knowledge, and Information | Learning outcomesOn successful completion of this unit a learner will: | Assessment criteria for passThe learner can: | LO1 Understand how to assessinformation and knowledgeneeds | 1.1 discuss the range of decisions to be taken 1.2 examine the information and knowledge needed to ensure effective decision taking 1.3 assess internal and external sources of information and understanding 1.4 justify recommendations for improvement | LO2 Be able to create strategies toincrease personal networkingto widen involvement in the decision making process | 2.1 identify stakeholders for a decision-making process 2.2 make contact with those identified and develop business relationships 2.3 involve those identified in the decision making as appropriate 2.4 design strategies for improvement | LO3Be able to developcommunication processes | 3.1 report on existing processes of communication in an organisation 3.2 design ways to improve appropriateness 3.3 implement improvements to ensure greater integration of systems of communication in that organisation 3.4 create a personal plan to improve own communication skills | LO4Be able to improve systemsrelating to information andknowledge | 4.1 report on existing approaches to the collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information and knowledge4.2 carry out appropriate changes to improve the collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information and knowledge 4.3 implement a strategy to improve access to systems of information and knowledge. |

Reading List
Business Essentials. Managing Communications and Achieving Results. BPP Learning Media. July 2013
Campaign (Haymarket Publishing)
Harvard Business Review (Harvard Business Publishing) www.bized.co.uk-Bized provides a selection of teaching and learning resources www.ft.com-The Financial Times business sections www.thetimes100.co.uk-multimedia resources www.businessinsider.com/15-amazing-facts-about-apple-2010-10?op=1 www.statisticbrain.com/apple-computer-company-statistics/ retailindustry.about.com/od/retailbestpractices/ig/Company-Mission-Statements/Apple-Inc--Mission-Statement.htm www.statisticbrain.com/apple-computer-company-statistics

Task 1) 1.1 Growth opportunities and success are important for all business. They require different skills and metrics and a thorough understanding of customers’ priorities. Most of all, they require a genuine commitment — not just fair-weather promises — from the top. Following well developed principles that senior managers can apply and institutionalize to ensure the success of new growth opportunities is very important for a business.

The success in creating new business lies on developing a systematic, organizational capability to identify, shapes, and nurture new-growth initiatives. And the responsibility lies on the CEO and the entire senior management team.
Of course, achieving that goal isn’t easy. Most senior managers who recognize the urgency of new growth get hung up on a series of thorny issues: * Creating innovative new-growth initiatives without losing discipline and focus on the core business * Reconciling the pressure for short-term earnings with multiplying requests for seed funding * Supporting innovative thinkers and risk takers without signaling neglect of the core business * Sorting out the opportunities that could truly move the stock price from those that are likely to produce only marginal improvements * Finding the time to guide and coach new-growth teams without neglecting the other burning issues on the agenda
Managing these tensions is a long-term discipline rather than a These steps are very important.

1. Make operational excellence in the core business your cornerstone.
2. Treat growth as a discipline to be pursued at all levels throughout the company.
3. Develop many small, maverick ideas, not a few large ones.
4. Shift resources from product and technology innovation to customer and business innovation.
5. Organize to suit the needs of the new business as much as the core business.
6. Use selective acquisitions and alliances to catalyze growth.
These principles are described in detail in this article.

1.2
1. Make operational excellence in the core business your cornerstone.
It may sound like a paradox, but having an efficient, profitable core business based on high-quality products and services gives you the license to go further in solving customers’ problems. It also gives you the funds to support new-growth initiatives. The core business helps uncover other customer needs that involve using products more effectively: No product sale, no surrounding needs to serve.
Cardinal Health, based in Dublin, Ohio, is an outstanding growth innovator that has never let up on operational excellence in its core business, distributing drugs to pharmacies, hospitals, and managed-care providers. Even as it pursued new businesses such as pharmacy management, reimbursement services, and contract drug packaging over the past decade, Cardinal was steadily consolidating and improving its distribution centers.
In 1994, Cardinal had 40 distribution centers with average annual center sales of $125 million. Today, it operates only 24 centers with average annual sales of $900 million, well above the industry average of $450 million.

Every dollar saved on distribution costs becomes a dollar available for new-growth investment. This relentless focus on efficiency has allowed Cardinal to stay profitable and fund new growth (Exhibit 1). Moreover, the value that Cardinal Delivers in its core transaction helps gives it access to many of its upstream and downstream businesses.
By making core business excellence a cornerstone of growth, senior managers can alleviate concerns about losing momentum and discipline as people become excited by the new-growth concepts. However, just watch out for the trap at the other extreme: using the focus on core operations as an excuse to defer any serious focus on new growth. This can easily become a permanent state of mind. While there is always some improvement or change to be managed in the core business, improvements must be managed simultaneously with efforts to pursue new growth, not at the expense of such efforts.
2. Treat growth as a discipline to be pursued at all levels throughout the company.
Companies that treat growth as within the sole the purview of a corporate strategy or business development group rarely create meaningful, serial growth. While their participation is important, such groups by themselves may lack sufficient funds or operating experience to spearhead serious new growth. Innovative growth also needs to include operating managers as part of their day-to-day interaction with customers and the marketplace.
At Cardinal, there is no corporate unit in charge of growing new businesses. Instead, everyone at the company from CEO Robert Walter on down makes growth the central concern of every day’s decisions. Every manager knows that growth is a critical component of his or her report card.
Cardinal managers focus on two dimensions: absolute growth and relative growth. The absolute rate of growth supports overall financial health, generates profits to reinvest in the business, and helps attract and motivate the best talent. The relative rate of growth is important because Cardinal competes in the fast-growing healthcare sector. Growing at a high absolute rate while trailing the overall market’s growth rate would not be acceptable at Cardinal, because it would mean that Cardinal’s offerings were being viewed as mediocre or less relevant by customers. Over time, the company would lose ground.
How does Cardinal get harried operating managers to focus on growth strategy? By imposing a standard that holds them responsible for the success of their businesses. Managers know that they can’t perform on the metrics of absolute and relative growth without a relentless focus on growth strategy. Of course, they also realize that building new businesses and achieving growth targets provide the critical funds they need to invest in future growth opportunities. As a result, Cardinal has grown faster than the healthcare distribution market by over 50 percent annually, not including acquisitions.
Managing growth is demanding and scary. It’s also creative and energizing. Don’t hoard the experience at the top executive level. Instead, distribute both the responsibility and the opportunities to grow as widely as possible through your organization. That’s how unexpected champions can emerge from the ranks.
3. Develop many small, maverick ideas, not a few large ones.
A culture of growth alone is not enough. Someone has to come up with the breakthrough ideas and translate them into real offerings. In addition, bad ideas have to be killed quickly, before they consume significant time and money. How can senior managers unleash broader creativity to fuel next-generation growth while keeping new initiatives from running amok?
Part of the answer lies in devolving authority and responsibility for growth to the operating managers closest to the action. Another part of the equation is illustrated by an approach to grass-roots innovation taken by Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls. During the 1990s, the firm shifted its focus from assembling automobile seats, a commodity product, to providing auto makers with integrated interior modules and, more recently, with complete cockpits. Thus, it moved from providing a high-quality product to addressing auto manufacturers’ needs to reduce the risk and complexity of vehicle design and improve efficiency in vehicle assembly.
Johnson Controls encourages people to spend time pursuing unconventional paths of inquiry. But it also imposes a staged evaluation process with the goal of “failing fast” on bad ideas. Jim Geschke, vice president and general manager of electronics integration, describes the innovation process this way:
“We have an innovation machine. The front end has a robust series of gates to go through. Early on, we’ll have many ideas and spend a little money on each of them. As they get more fleshed out, the ideas go through a gate to decide whether to continue or stop. A lot of ideas get filtered out, so there are far fewer items and the spending on each goes up.” (In simple terms, the gate consists of a cross-functional team, based within the business unit, which meets periodically to discuss new ideas and review the progress of every initiative. The team makes the crucial funding decisions.)
“Several months later, each idea will face another gate,” Geschke continues. If the idea passes, that means it’s a serious idea that we are going to develop. Then the spending goes way up, but the number of ideas goes way down. By the final gate, you need a credible business case in order to be accepted.”
Having an idea turned back at a gate is not viewed as a catastrophe or career setback. Indeed, it is expected in most cases. “We learn a lot from failing,” Geschke explains. “So if you don’t pass the gate, that’s not, viewed as a miss, that’s viewed as a hit, because now we know what not to do.”
Is the Johnson Controls system for innovation the best one? Not for every business. You need to tailor gate-keeping techniques to the economic and marketplace realities of your own industry. Examine your industry, your markets, and your customers, and then develop an informed sense of the breadth of new-growth opportunities available. Then create a process finely tuned to encourage and support the right number of maverick ideas, winnowing them as needed to focus on those with real profit potential. Your new-growth process is every bit as important to your company’s future as your manufacturing process or your financial analysis process, and it deserves the same kind of attention.
4. Shift resources from product and technology innovation to customer and business innovation.
Most CEOs will tell you that growth is one of their top three priorities. Yet in terms of the time and energy they actually spend on various activities, growth usually ends up fifth or sixth. And most spend hardly any time on nurturing new forms of growth.
That’s because new growth is hard. It involves leading the organization, the board, and even investors in uncomfortable change. New-growth initiatives deserve resources commensurate with their importance. Most large companies spend hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars on product R&D without any certainty about what will actually will turn into revenue and when. By contrast, most new-growth initiatives are starved for funding, subjected to onerous budget reviews and held to impossibly high standards of certainty about their payback potential. Since companies can’t afford to invest willy-nilly, senior managers should consider devoting 10-15 percent of their product innovation budget to customer innovation instead. Air Liquide is a great example of how a century-old, tradition-bound supplier of industrial gases was able to make this shift.
Air Liquide, based in Paris, had always excelled at technical innovation, but by the late 1980s and early 1990s, revenues and operating income were stagnating and technical innovation was leading nowhere-until it was unleashed in a way that helped improve customers’ systems economics.
In the early 1990s, Air Liquide launched technology that allowed a smaller gas production facility to reside on the customer’s site, instead of large centralized plants. On-site production was less capital-intensive, and products could be customized for individual customers.

One important side effect of on-site production was a higher level of ongoing interaction between customers and Air Liquide staff. The on-site teams soon discovered that their industrial customers had a variety of pressing needs that Air Liquide might be able to address, such as minimizing risk, improving quality, reducing emissions, and improving their supply chain systems. Because of a company reorganization that gave more autonomy to local teams, on-site staff now had the authority and the mandate to act on new opportunities to help customers in a variety of ways. Air Liquide began to realize that all of its R&D and production knowledge, which it had struggled to turn into meaningful product differentiation, was relevant to customers’ industrial processes.
The company gradually expanded from its core commodity gases to offer a set of new services ranging from gas management contracts to performance guarantees, chemicals management and consulting, supply chain management, clean energy alternatives, environmental consulting, and licensing of software tools and systems. By seizing these new opportunities, Air Liquide has expanded its potential markets, gained a greater share of customers’ wallets, and improved customer loyalty.
The financial results have also been impressive. From1996 to 2001, Air Liquide has seen a 10 percent average annual growth in revenue, a 14 percent growth in operating income, and a 9 percent growth in market value.
5. Organize to suit the needs of the new business as much as the core business.
Next-generation opportunities are often materially different from the core business, with different economics, capital structures, and methods of capturing value. To succeed, these businesses need to be understood and structured in this light.
This might seem obvious, but most companies have spent considerable time and effort creating common metrics, rewards, titles, pay grades, and organizational structures in order to better align their organizations. The last thing senior managers want to do is open a Pandora’s box of exceptions. However, form must follow function, and different business structures make sense for initiatives that are different from the core operations.
John Deere Landscapes (JDL), which operates over 200 outlets where landscapers can buy landscaping and sprinkler products, has thrived in part because it is separate from the parent, Deere & Company. Managing the relationship between parent and offspring represents an ongoing challenge for Dave Werning, who heads the landscapes business, and the Deere team. They master the differences between the economics of distribution and those of manufacturing. The financial hurdle rates set for JDL are currently the same as those for Deere’s other divisions. In time, they will need to be adjusted; but for now, since JDL is growing quickly, the pressure to meet targets that may not be realistic is minimal.
Werning, John Jenkins (president of the Commercial and Consumer Equipment Division) and CEO Robert Lane also must work hard to keep the JDL business separate from the equipment business. JDL was launched with a tacit agreement among the three executives: There is a wall between JDL and the rest of Deere that contains a one-way window. Werning and his lieutenants can look into Deere and borrow ideas and resources, but the reverse cannot happen. At least during its initial growth phase, JDL is insulated from the financial, strategic, and administrative pressures of the parent company.
In some cases, insulating JDL may be a matter of survival. The debate over co-locating dealers with JDL outlets is an example. It’s tempting for Deere management to push JDL to create new store branches in locations that work for Deere dealers but would not work for JDL. That would amount to hijacking JDL’s business in an attempt to benefit the core business. Adapting that strategy could cripple or even kill JDL.
6. Use selective acquisitions and alliances to catalyze growth
Many companies that decide to pursue new-growth opportunities try to do so entirely with home-grown resources. In terms of staff, responsibility is often passed to strong performers who are already stretched thin or to people who have been passed over for other opportunities, and who may be mediocre performers. In terms of hard assets, companies often try and make do with what they already own rather than look outside the company. While it is important to save money and use available assets when possible, most new-growth businesses require people and assets that differ from the core business in some important way. Selective acquisitions can fill this gap.
Johnson Controls’ 1996 acquisition of Prince, a supplier of vehicle interior systems and components, is a good example. An environment that promoted innovation at Prince complemented the culture that Johnson was building in its automotive business, and Prince’s product line helped Johnson rapidly expand the scope of its offerings.
Johnson continues to look for good ideas from outside by partnering with leading companies from complementary industries to develop new products. This approach saves resources for both firms while shortening the time to market. Started as a way to help build scale and scope rapidly in the electronics segment of the business, the approach is now a part of all product areas.
A word of caution about acquisitions and partnerships. Unlike traditional acquisitions, which are often focused on cost savings or synergies with the core business, the acquisitions that matter most in a new-growth context are those that speed development, bring in required skills, open doors to strategic markets, and otherwise improve the odds of success for your new-growth initiative. Keep profitability in mind when making acquisitions, but in the context of a new business, that may take extra time to bear fruit.
Keen insight and a great business design are important to achieving new growth outside the core business. But the most demanding work is executing the plan. And time is of the essence, because the value that a new initiative can create depends on speed to market.
Executing new-growth strategies will never be easy. That’s true by definition, since a new-growth initiative is a discovery expedition into unknown territory. The precise methods you should use to develop the business are ones that you will discover as you travel, and they will be different for every company. The general principles presented in this article have been gleaned from our study of companies that have created new growth, as well as others that ended up on the rocks. Only you can decide where these principles can take your company.
1.3 Profit and loss accounts and balance sheet
By law it is expected for companies to produce financial statements each year. These statements appear in the Company Reports. There are two main financial statements:

1. The profit and loss account, and
2. The balance sheet.
1.The profit and loss (P&L) account.
This account can be updated regularly and shows how much profit or loss a business is making. A profit can be made in several ways, for example: * from trading, in the case of a High Street shop, i.e. buying and selling items such as clothes and furniture * From manufacturing, for example a company like Kraft produces chocolate bars and other foodstuffs. It buys in raw materials such as cocoa and sugar which it processes to make chocolate.
The top section of a P&L account is known as the trading account for a business that buys and sells items e.g. a bookshop. What is known as the gross profit is calculated by deducting cost of sales from turnover.

For example:

Turnover is sometimes referred to as sales revenue and is calculated by multiplying the number of items sold by their average price.
For example if the average price of a book is £10.
The number of books sold is 10,000.
The turnover is therefore: 10,000 x £10 = £100,000
Cost of sales is the cost of buying in the items to trade them. In this case the cost of buying the books. For example, the bookshop may buy in books at an average cost of £5 each. Assuming that it has bought in 1,000 books.
Cost of sales is therefore: 10,000 x £5 = £50,000
Gross profit is calculated by deducting cost of sales from turnover.
Gross profit is therefore: £100,000 - £50,000 = £50,000
We now need to examine the next part of the P&L account.
As well as the cost of sales, a business will incur overhead costs. These costs can not directly be related to each unit of output made or sold - hence the name overheads.
Overheads are typically referred to as expenses in the P&L account.
Typical expenses for a business include items such as heating and lighting costs, as well as insurance and advertising. General administrative costs of running a business appear as administrative expenses.
We can now set out a P&L account in the following way:

The P&L account of Superior Traders as at 31 December 2004
Less Expenses:
The net profit of the business is calculated by deducting the expenses from the gross profit figure.
Turnover - Cost of Sales = Gross Profit
Gross Profit - Expenses = Net Profit
The balance sheet
The Balance Sheet, is like a snapshot taken at a particular moment in time giving a summary of the overall financial position of a business.
Businesses need to use assets in order to generate wealth. Assets are the things that a business owns or sums that are owed to the business at any one moment in time.
The business obtains the finance for these assets from two main source:
1. Internally (inside the business) from capital raised from the business owners (the shareholders in the case of a company).
2. Externally - for example, in the form of loans, and other forms of finance which will need to be repaid.
When you set up a business, the business become a legal body in its own right. Internal finance (shareholders' funds) is owed to shareholders.
External finance is owed to people outside the business - liabilities.
The Balance Sheet will therefore balance because,
In simple terms this shows that the value of a businesses assets is financed by the two groups - 1.Internal (owner's capital), 2.External (liabilities).
A balance sheet typically appears in a vertical format.
The balance sheet starts off by listing all the assets. Next, come the liabilities. Finally, the owners' capital is shown - to balance the balance sheet.
This is what a typical Balance Sheet looks like. The components of the Balance Sheet are explained below:
The Balance Sheet of Superior Traders on the 31st December, 2004

What does the balance sheet show?
1. The fixed assets show assets that will be kept in the business to generate wealth for the company over a period of time e.g. machines, computers and buildings.
2. In contrast, the current assets, are turned into cash in the short period. For example, a trading company will buy stock, which it then sells on credit. When the debtors pay up, they will pay in cash. This cash can then be used to buy more stock.
3. Creditors due within one year, shows the short term liabilities of the business, i.e. money that the company must pay within the next twelve months.
4. Net current assets shows the current assets minus the current liabilities. It is important to have enough current assets (money coming in in the short period) to pay short term creditors (short term liabilities). In the example shown the current assets are £2,000 and the current liabilities are £1,000.
Therefore net current assets = £1,000.
5. Creditors due after more than one year are the longer term liabilities of the business, for example long term bank loans and mortgage repayments.
6. The total net assets of the business is calculated by taking away all the liabilities (short and long term) from all of the assets (short and long term).
Total net assets = (Fixed assets Current assets) - (Current liabilities long-term liabilities).
7. Finally the Balance Sheet is balanced. The Total Net Assets figure is £1000
(i.e. assets are greater than liabilities by £1000). The assets that are not financed by external liabilities are financed by the owners - therefore the owners' capital is £1000.

1.4

Task.2)2.1
Ways to Communicate with Your Stakeholders

One of the most important elements in stakeholder communications is to identify the target audience. Be deliberate and seek out input from all known groups to find the unknown groups. It will be hard when too late in the project a critical person or group is identified that has not received any of the communication through course of project and has valuable links that need to be addressed. So make sure you avoid this scenario and take all the steps early to create a document with all stakeholders you need to manage communication with. Once you have that the ways below can help you keep communication active, frequent and ongoing collaboration so there is strong support for you project.
Formal Methods for Communicating– If they don’t exist already create them. Make occasions when info should be presented.

2.2

1. Meetings – One of the most common ways to communicate. They can vary from only 1 person to thousands based on message and audience appropriate. It is up to you to maximize every minute of the time spent to have dialogue. Make sure it is a dialogue and not a monologue. It is the best way as you have the verbal and non verbal cues that enhance the communication and avoid misinterpretation.
2. Conference Calls– These days this is the most common as it does not require the time and expense of travel. The dialogue can take place though its dependant on voice intonation and clarity of the verbal message. They only require cost of phone call and there are many paid and free services that will facilitate use of a conference call line for many people to dial into. Its also a common way for classes to be recorded and replayed when its convenient for you.
3. Newsletters/ Email/ Posters – This strategy is one way communication and utilizes emailed updates, hard copy brochures, posters, newsletters mailed or emailed. One of the weaknesses is that messages are delivered and you cannot guage if they were read and understood, deleted as sometimes there is no feedback. That immediate feedback is valuable for strengthening your message and making sure impacts and feedback are quickly received.
Informal Methods – It is important to not only rely on formal channels but to utilize informal communication as well. The impromptu channels are often more information rich and critical for relationship building.
4. Hallway Conversations, Bathroom conversations – These meetings are great for one on one communication, but also be clear and do not establish false expectations with casual comments dropped.
5. Lunch Meetings, Drink at the bar after work – These casual environments can be great for connecting, getting feedback, ideas, and work to build support
6. Sporting events – tennis, golf, etc are an easy forum to get the input on what support exists, feedback on ideas, brainstorming to strengthen your communication and build stakeholder support
7. Voice mail – this is often underutilized since email is so common but still shown to be more often listened to than an email will be read. By using voice intonation for excitement, urgency, etc it can be more compelling. This can be a solo voice mail, a voice mail broadcast to large team or you could pursue use of automated calling to get the word out depending on the size of audience
Project Communication Plans
It’s not enough to just have a plan. It is critical to seek to understand what your stakeholders desire both spoken and unspoken. The expectations must be carefully managed from beginning to end. Every team and project varies in its rate of change, so pick the most advantageous communication channel, frequency and make sure its effective. Just as having the plan is important, monitoring its effectiveness, adding and canceling supplemental ways of communicating will be required.
Communication is a constant, error on the side of over communicating as there are always people that didn’t hear, understand or make connection when they heard it the first time. Activities in return for the support.
2.3 Identified the potential stakeholders — as well as their priorities, concerns and skills — and start to build the relationships. There are a number of creative approaches to follow when engaging stakeholder, it is good to approach it as a continuous learning process — modifying and adding new strategies to your expanding engagement toolbox. Step Six provides some basic strategies and tools to help you begin to develop those relationships and sustain them throughout the research process.

Forming, strengthening and maintaining good relationships between researchers, the community and other relevant stakeholders is essential to ensuring genuine stakeholder participation and engagement. In your work you will encounter different groups of stakeholders, and their level of involvement will vary. Some will be part of formal advisory structures that meet on a regular basis; others you will request meetings with to sustain relationships and provide updates. Still others — like the host community — will be more loosely defined, and you will need to engage them in a more public way. In all of your engagement activities — regardless of which stakeholders you are targeting — strive to be inclusive and responsive to local needs, and strive to provide opportunities for stakeholders to genuinely influence decisions around the research.
Remember, it is just as important to know when to engage your stakeholders as it is to know who to engage and how to engage them. Community preparedness and stakeholder engagement related to research requires a long-term investment and, ideally, should not be linked to any one trial. Instead, sites should engage stakeholders in an ongoing and sustained manner, throughout the research cycle, forming supportive relationships that extend beyond individual studies.

2.4 Why you need to engage stakeholders and sustain relationships . 1
Stakeholder Engagement .
Task3
3.1

1 Build partnerships and alliances.

Action: Make contact with various stakeholders, set-up meetings and invite them to planned trial events.
Result: You will develop relationships with a diverse range of relevant stakeholders and begin to establish the necessary buy-in for the successful conduct of your trial.
Explanation: The first step in building partnerships is to make contact. Using the information you collected about potential stakeholders in Step Five, begin reaching out to various stakeholder groups, requesting meetings and inviting them to trial launch events. Building partnerships and alliances ensures that stakeholders have a vested interest in the research and secures them as important allies. It is essential to establish these partnerships early on — ideally before a trial begins — to ensure community and stakeholder participation throughout all stages of the research process.
Tips
Organize “motivator meetings” to inform local and government officials and other stakeholders about the trial’s objectives, potential benefits for trial participants and elements of prevention research. Hold separate meetings for different categories of stakeholders.
Provide opportunities for stakeholders and participants to ask questions provide testimonies and raise concerns. Document and use these responses to improve strategies for effective stakeholder engagement.

3.2 Design methods to improve communication systems and suitability in Google UK.
2 Establish local stakeholder advisory mechanisms.

Action: Establish one or more formal advisory mechanisms for your trial site or research project. For local community representatives to provide a contribution to the research methods and design, you may need to invest in some capacity-building activities. This will be covered in Step Seven: Developing Local Stakeholder Capacity. Include stakeholders in your decisions on how to establish advisory groups. Develop guidelines for the group’s purpose, scope and structure.
Result: You will have an active and engaged group of local stakeholders who can contribute to your trial and facilitate two-way communications with the surrounding communities.
Explanation: Local stakeholder engagement occurs formally and informally. One strategy for formal engagement is to establish one or more advisory mechanisms or groups. In many cases, this has taken the form of a CAB. Although CABs have their merits, a CAB — as it is traditionally conceived — might not be the best strategy for every setting.
Research sites have used a variety of models for advisory mechanisms. Some sites follow the traditional CAB model where a diverse range of stakeholders are recruited or elected to serve on the board. Others have established participant advisory groups made up exclusively of current and former trial participants. Still others have separated stakeholder groups — establishing one group for community leaders, NGOs, community-based organizations (CBOs), service providers and other stakeholders and a separate group for trial participants — or they have chosen to adapt and implement alternative models, like those that rely on

3.3

Some examples of local stakeholder advisory

mechanisms | | | | 3.4 Create a personal plan to improve own communication skills, and align with your new position, as an assistant customer service manager. | | | | | |
TASK 4

4.1 Scenario FourIt is essential that you come up with an effective plan that will bring creativity and innovation into your department, in-line with modern realities in telecommunication sector.You are required to prepare a power point presentation [10 slides] and present in front of a panel; time [10 minutes]and presentation dates for each cohort will be agreed by the programme leader in due course[AC4.1].Write a report and demonstrate how you intend to build and enhance on the existing structures and systems in the company, focus your responses on [AC4.2 & AC4.3]. ACs below must be met in your report; AC4.1Report on existing methods of data collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information and knowledge by Google UK. Guidance: analyse the existing approaches of information and knowledge collection, formatting, store and dissemination in Google UK.AC4.2 Carry out appropriate changes to improve the collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information and knowledge that will improve the systems. Guidance: Refer to your answer in AC 4.1- suggest better ways to improve the current system used to collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information and knowledge. AC4.3 Implements a strategy to improve access to systems of information and knowledge. Guidance: Identify various strategies to improve access to information system and knowledge and explain what steps Google needs to follow to implement those identified strategies. |
To achieve D3you are required to prepare a power point presentation, with speaker note [10 slides].Report on the existing methods of data collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information and knowledge by Google UK. |

Ref .Lsst handouts.