Business+Organisation+&+Environment

// 1. // Prepare a SWOT analysis for //Reach out//

Laura and Neil contribute different attributes Laura has first-hand knowledge of autism and Neil has first-hand knowledge of business Employment of Andrew Grandin improves organisation’s image USP of PEC cards Simple business model which allows for a surplus – can easily focus on main goals Laura has established a large following on her blog Reach out has an intrinsic desire to help families with autistic children – an ethical organisation Reach Out is able to provide a more affordable service to their customers Reach Out is resourceful in their use of university students In a strong cash position after only 4 months of operation No liabilities – wholly funded by Neil and revenue generated. || **__Weaknesses (Internal)__** Laura was impatient and pursued her ideas without compromising with Neil Laura and Neil don’t share same vision / goals for the Reach out Students not 100% reliable – poor management by Andrew Poor communication between Neil and Andrew (Andrew does not know how to use a computer) Not using qualities staff may lead to legal issues. Competitors have qualified staff || __Increased use of social networking__ allows avenue for reaching potential customers __Greater awareness of autism__ increases the possibility of raising funding __More university students are able to provide care for autistic students__ __Greater demand for PECS cards due to greater awareness of autism__ in the community __Private sector companies perceived__ as “taking advantage” of families with autism. __Increased demand for ethical activity by consumers__ increases the opportunity for funding from both the private and public sector. __Increase in need for CSR__ (private sector companies wanting to improve their image) increases the opportunity for funding from the private sector. || **__Threats (External)__** __Economic recession__ – prevents Reach out from increasing their prices __Less and less funding available from the government__ __Improvements in media technology__ have increased awareness of communities in terms of business activity. Reach out’s use of unqualified staff may bring unwanted media attention and pressure group activity. __Improvements in ICT__ have meant improved access to information where people are now able to help themselves by doing their own research on the internet. The demand for reach out’s services may decline as a result. __Increased legal action taken by consumers__ – this could mean legal action taken against Reach out should any children be harmed as a result of Reach out’s unqualified staff. __Increased health and safety legislation__ could make it more difficult and costly for Reach Out to provide their services. ||
 * **__Strengths (Internal)__**
 * **__Opportunities (External)__**


 * //If you are asked to prepare a SWOT analysis in the exam, make sure you write in paragrpah form in full sentences. Avoid using bullet points in a table. You are better off discussing fewer points in more detail than listing a large number of points. (HEBE)//**

2. Prepare a STEEPLE analysis for //Reach Out//


 * S**ocial
 * T**echnological
 * E**conomic
 * E**nvironmental
 * P**olitical
 * L**egal
 * E**thical

3. Identify and explain the reasons for Laura and Neil starting //Reach out//

//Laura has a passion to help autistic kids as her son has also been diagnosed with autism. Neil was moved by Laura's story on her blog which he read and wanted to help her as he saw potential in Laura's blog. Furthermore, Neil is already retired and is free to work in a non-profit organisation.Their vision statement: "no child with with autism will be left behind"//

4. Identify the likely contents of //Reach Out’s// Business Plan business -partnership, laura's house product - helping autism - pecs market - parents with kids with autism finacne - donations by neil / reacho out online personeel - laura/neil - owne Andwer - manage - therapist- employees/ workers market - reach out online

5. Identify the problems that Laura and Neil experienced in starting //Reach out//

· Negative cash flow in their first month after start up (May 2010) · Lack of startup capital – Neil donated the cash · Decision making process – laura intuitive- -> “impatient and pursued her ideas” · supervise the therapists – too time consuming, Andrew was employed for this reason

6. Compare and contrast the features of a profit-based organisation with those of a non-profit organisation.

Firstly, it is important for non-profit organizations (NGOs) such as Reach Out to market their goods/services in order for the public to be aware of their service for children with autism. However, as opposed to profit-seeking firms which market their goods/services in order to persuade new customers to purchase their products, a non-profit seeking firm merely uses marketing in order to inform the customers about their organization and to raise awareness rather than to make a profit. The main objective of ‘Reach Out’ is “to provide online support for families of children with autism and to offer them communication resources at a greatly reduced price”, therefore, the surplus they make is from providing their service. On the other hand, the need for Reach out to market their goods/services does not equally match with the need for profit-seeking firms as they rely on marketing to a great extent. Profit-seeking firms need market research to create a desirable product, at the right price which is promoted effectively and available in the right places, thus alternatively, NGOs do not rely on marketing to the same extent. Fundamentally, it is important for NGOs to market their goods/services as this will create awareness and will cause the NGO to possibly receive funds and donations in order for them to provide a service of a 'good cause' which is their fundamental aim. Although ‘Reach Out’ does not focus on profit as an objective, they still need surpluses in order to keep their service running. Additionally, public sector businesses are usually non-profit organizations, as their aim is to provide a service. Whereas, most private sector businesses tend to be profit seeking firms, however, as ‘Reach Out’ is based in the private sector and is still an NGO, this shows that all NGO’s are not based in the public sector (actually no NGOs are in the public sector - HEBE), and this can vary depending on the objective of the organization.

// 7. // Explain the term public-private partnerships (line 22) and give possible examples of this in relation to //Reach out//

// · ////Public-private partnership is when private businesses aim at helping government project which focuses on public benefit. // // · ////N-pharma – multinational company wants to sponsor Reach out giving them $10 000 per month in return for advertising on their website about their new research into autism. (N-Pharma is not a Public sector organisation, therefore this is not a good example of a public-private partnership - HEBE) // // · ////The university is synergising with Reach out by providing reach out with ‘therapists’ allowing the university students to complete their degree and become teachers. (assuming the Universoty is governemnt funded, yes, this is an example of a public-private partnership - HEBE) //

8. Distinguish between a vision statement (line 44) and a mission statement (line 45)

A vision statement outlines a firm’s aspirations, for example, where the organization sees itself in the distant future. For example, the vision statement of ‘Reach Out’ is “no child with autism will be left behind” (line 44). Conversely, a mission statement refers to a simple declaration that broadly states the underlying purpose of a firm’s existence. The mission statement of ‘Reach Out’ is “to provide online support for families of children with autism and to offer them communication resources at a greatly reduced price” (line 45). The mission statement brifly outlines how the orgnaisation will achieve its vision statement. (HEBE)

9. Evaluate N-Pharma’s decision to implement a corporate social responsibility programme (line 138)


 * Adv || Disadv ||
 * More publicity – to big customer base || If Reach out become unethical then N-Pharma’s reputaton may decrease also ||
 * Allow consumers to view their current aid in Autism help in drugs and social || If their drugs are tested unethical their CSR report may not be helpful to their goods. ||

10. Identify //Reach out’s// internal and external stakeholder groups.

The interntal stakeholder groups include the management such as Laura, Neil, Andrew and the student therapists. Larua is the director of communication and networking, Neil is the director of finance and strategy, Andrew oversees the scheme and manages the therapists and the student therapists help the autistic children and their families. The external stakeholder groups would be the customers and readers of Laura's blog....as well as other charitable orgnisation, the government (Health department and tax department?) HEBE


 * // Make sure when identifying stakeholders groups, you identify the groups and use the individuals as examples. e.g. Owers (Laura and Neil), Management (Andrew), Employees (student therapists), customers (families with children with autism). HEBE //**

11. Identify and explain actual and possible conflicts between stakeholder groups and discuss strategies to overcome these.

Firstly, stakeholders are individuals or groups with a direct interest in an organisations performance. A strategy is a medium-long term goal aimed at a particular objective. Secondly, Laura and Neil are owners of the business; therefore their main aim is to “provide on line support” and “offer communication resources at a greatly reduced price” (L45/46) for families who have children with autism. However, Neil has a more “scientific” decision making process whereas Laura has an “intuitive” decision-making process, this causes conflicts between the two stakeholders as Neil believes one of the three “options” he devised in order to “generate further income” thus being able to higher more therapists and help more families; nevertheless Laura wants to “start producing subsidized PECS cards” in order to help families with children who have autism be able to communicate more effectively. The conflicting ideas could lead to further conflicts later if the businesses surplus begins to decrease then Neil may want to be stronger about his options to increase more revenue if the non-profit-organisation is to make any surplus in order to stay alive. To overcome these conflicts Laura and Neil could talk to other owners of different charities and discover ways of keeping within the vision and mission statement as well as generate further income; whilst Laura “could see some long-term advantages in branding” through talking to other members may make her realise the business side and take Neil’s options into further consideration and be less intuitive in her decision making as there is a high risk of losing revenue as shown in the first month in May there is a negative closing balance. Therefore an overdraft may be necessary however, there business appears to double each month as the therapist scheme commission doubles. Thirdly, the mission statement aims at helping customers therefore the customer and the owners should have little conflict however, the employees in the business i.e. Andrew the “part-time manager” and the therapists are the cause of conflict because “complaints were e-mailed” about “punctuality” of therapists and “not turning up at all” the conflict between the therapists and families can cause further repercussions on the business as the families may decide they do not want the service anymore thus turning towards competitors. The therapists requested flexible working patterns for the university students, however autistic children need a strict routine in order to fully benefit them therefore it is not an ideal working pattern. This issue could be resolved by a strategy where lecturers inform the students when the lectures are going to be and the lecturers are aware of the student’s commitments, and they arrange a time in preparation and complete understanding that this is the time they have to commit to. Another strategy is to give the families a timetable that can change each month this still providing consistency and the children can also be aware when the therapist is coming to decrease any disruption in their plans as autistic children prefer consistency. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Lastly, conflict between the “part-time manager” Andrew and the owner Neil, as “andrew had lied” in his interview about computer knowledge and there were “barriers” in communication which takes extra time thus costing more revenue due to increased lack of organisation.. This issue could be solved through a a strategy using instructions and directions, Neil and Laura could create a list of things that Andrew needs to do and maybe how to do them. Whilst this takes time it could lead to better efficiency and they would keep their good will and public relation opportunities.

12. Compare and contrast scientific and intuitive decision-making process. (HL)

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Firstly, scientific decision-making is when an individual bases their decisions on numerical or factual evidence; so that decisions are made in an objective manner (like neil ). Intuitive decision-making is when an individual goes against the statistically proven route or when an individual’s conscious or subconscious causes them to make a particular decision based on their subjective view. This is also known as hunch or bias decision making (like Laura). <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Secondly, scientific decision making can result in finding out information that is unexpected and against the original hypothesis therefore intuitive decision making can provide a shorter and cheaper method and result in a similar conclusion. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Thirdly, both methods can cost the business, the scientific method is more time consuming, thus slowing down the working process and can result in increased costs spent because data needs to be gathered after an objective is formed, a hypothesis created, the idea is tried and tested, them improvement can begin. Intuitive decision making consists of a fast past decision which could go either in favour of the business or against the business thus costing the business extra capital to improve or change direction and objectives. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Therefore both methods can cost the business extra capital however scientific decision making is safer although more time consuming whereas intuitive is faster approach but maintains high risk of failure.

13. Evaluate the value of Neil’s fishbone diagram (Appendix 2) (HL)