Question 1 (20 marks) Mark, Sophia and Ben are partners in a small book selling business called TWB Book. They have no written agreement. When they decided to open their business, it was agreed that each partner could purchase goods on behalf of the partnership up to a value of $5,000.00. Purchases above this amount were to be agreed to by all partners. In the beginning of this year, Mark attended a trade fair in Sydney. There, he met representatives from Lemon International Ltd, a company dealing in children's entertainment films who was eager to do business with TWB Book. Believing that this would be a good line of business to diversify into, Mark placed an order for several films worth $8,000.00. Sophia and Ben did not know about this order until the films were delivered at their shop, with a bill for $8,000.00. Sophia and Ben were furious on learning of this transaction and contacted Lemon International Ltd to pick these goods from their partnership premises, arguing that Mark had no authority to purchase them on behalf of the firm. Discuss the rights and liabilities of the partners and Lemon International Ltd. Question 2 (20 marks) Johnny and Ash are extremely keen advertising executives with a large organisation. They believe they would be successful running their own business given their confidence in their own ideas and expertise. They decide to form their own company Brilliant Ideas Pty Ltd in which they will be the sole directors and shareholders. Before any of the formal arrangements have proceeded, they stumbleCase Study: 'Fast Forwarding' is a Melbourne courier company which was established 5 years ago. It has rapidly grown over the last 12 months and the business has expanded their operations nationally. Fast Forwarding has always prided themselves on being able to deliver anything to anywhere in Australia that the customer requires - and fast. Services the business offers range from same day, overnight and standard courier services. Starting as a small courier company, Fast Forwarding has become successful because initially all 5 staff starting with the business were informed about the organisational processes and policies. Value was and is still placed on keeping staff informed on any operational changes and what impact these will have on the business. All staff had been given clear guidelines on their roles and responsibilities and any problems or concerns have always been dealt with immediately- this was the communication strategy for the organisation. After some considerable growth in the business, it now employs over 85 staff across three offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane in varying roles of warehouse, administration, sales and marketing. Recently Fast Forwarding has hit a lull and business has dropped. A major account with an engineering spare parts supplier has just been lost in the last month due to a lack of support that the current IT system could offer in tracking deliveries. The client, Build with Us, required on-line ordering of services and tracking of their deliveries at all times. In the past there have been delays in the delivery of items and this has been attributed to the manual recording of dispatch items that Fast Forward uses. You have been hired as the Continuous Improvement Manager to streamline their practices, improve productivity and help put practices into place to get the business back on their feet. On your investigation you have found that employees are nervous as to the impact that losing the major client will have on the business. There have been many formal complaints made to Management on the lack of information that is being discussed with them, and that they do not feel valued anymore. There is a site manager in each state and they hold a phone conference meeting each month, but the meetings with site department managers and their teams do not occur regularly. As part of your investigation on current work practices, you also identify that many of the staff are making costly mistakes as they try and implement operational changes that management enforces. Many of the staff you speak to explain that they receive no BSB51107 Diploma of Management HFCI Facilitate Continuous Improvement Student Guide v 2.0 August 2010 Page 4 support or training to implement the new work practices and they are upset that management is blaming the staff for the loss in production. You have found that the company grew at such a rapid rate that the management systems were not updated and reviewed to meet the needs of the larger operations, and therefore formal policies and procedures have not been updated to suit appropriate actions required. Fast Forwards Continuous Improvement Policy is listed as Appendix 1. Part A You decide that you need to re-build the structure of the continuous improvement process before you can implement making any improvements. You are to review the companies Continuous Improvement Policy and Procedure, and strengthen this strategy by developing new ways in which the company can actively encourage and support staff members to participate in decision making processes. Update the current Continuous Improvement Policy and Procedure and ensure that your new process and system includes: How all the organisations continuous improvement systems will be communicated to all stakeholders How all team members are informed of outcomes of continuous improvement efforts Part B You realise that there is still a major missing gap regarding supporting staff to implement the company's continuous improvement processes- mentoring and coaching. From further investigation with Senior Management, you identify that that there currently is no process to support staff via coaching and mentoring. You are to develop an effective mentoring and coaching process to ensure that individual and teams can be supported. Ensure that it includes an easy to understand overview of the definitions of mentoring and coaching and then communication skills required by the mentor/ coach to undertake that role for an employee. Part C It was a massive shock to all staff when the company Build with Us decided to take their business elsewhere. It is very clear to you that Fast Forwarding has not been monitoring the companies systems and performances closely, and this in turn did not allow them to recognise company performance improvements to be implemented. Develop a new company strategy that will ensure that all systems and processes are used to monitor operational progress and customer service and in turn help to identify ways in which planning and operations could be improved. This should also include how work team performance will be monitored against customer service, and what formats can be used to present this information clearly. BSB51107 Diploma of Management HFCI Facilitate Continuous Improvement Student Guide v 2.0 August 2010 Page 5 Part D Following the communication strategy used to inform staff of new changes that you listed in the Continuous Improvement Policy and Procedure, you are now required to inform all stakeholders of the new company strategy to monitor company operations. Part E You realise that future planning for Fast Forward is going to be very important for the success of the business. across offices they would like to use for the new venture. They purport to enter into a lease for three (3) years by signing the contract as directors of Brilliant Ideas Pty Ltd. Before the security deposit under the lease becomes payable, but immediately after the company has been formed, Johnny and Ash have second thoughts about proceeding with the venture. Their employer had learned of their new plan and offered them more money to stay. They have decided to accept it, and do not want the lease any more. Is there a binding contract between the lessor and Brilliant Ideas Pty Ltd? Advise the lessor