1 TO5102: Supplemental Assessment Information JCUB SP22 TO5102 Assessment Information – Supporting Data Part 1 Business Proposal (20%) 10% Written; 10% Presentation The Business Proposal is the first part of the Operations Manual assignment. This assessment will require you to develop a proposal for a tourism business. NB: Your Business Proposal and subsequent Operations Manual need to be developed for a new tourism or hospitality business. You need to confirm and gain approval for your business choice with Donna during Week 3 class. →Task: The business proposal includes two pieces of work each with an equal weighting. The first is a written Business Proposal and the second is a presentation to the class during Week 5. The proposal allows you to gather feedback from the class and your lecturer about your business concept. This feedback can be used to improve the quality of work submitted as part of the Operations Manual. Your written proposal should be approximately 6 pages in length and contain the information required for Part 1 of the Operations Manual. Your in class presentation should summarise the main points of your written proposal and be designed to intentionally seek your peers feedback. Part 2 Operations Manual (40%) The Operations Manual details the range of procedures and processes that will apply to the day to day operations of your proposed business. The operations manual is divided into a number of sections and includes revised and refined information from your Business Proposal (Part 1). →Task: You are required to develop a written Operations Manual that describes how you will manage the day to day aspects of your proposed business. The manual will include the business proposal plus: procedures for managing service quality, human resources, suppliers and partners, strategies for managing demand, revenue maximisation and cost control, legal compliance, sustainable management and marketing. These topics follow closely the areas explored in the modules for this subject. The manual should be between 20 -25 pages in length (excluding appendices etc). Guidelines for the Operations Manual What is an Operations Manual? An Operations Manual details the procedures and processes that affect the day to day operation of a business. Comprehensive operations manual are often hundreds of pages and are updated frequently as new policies and procedures become necessary. It is therefore a ‘living document’ which management and staff can use to manage the business on a daily basis. In this subject you have been asked to design an Operations Manual for a NEW business. You manual will be limited to 20 -25 pages (not including the title page, TOC, references and appendices).2 TO5102: Supplemental Assessment Information JCUB SP22 What should your Operations Manual contain? You should use knowledge gained from class modules (lectures, readings, case studies & other subjects) to complete your Operations Manual. A structure for the manual is presented below, using questions to guide your thinking about inclusions. You may find that some questions are not relevant to the type of tourism operation you are proposing. You will find there is some overlap between different sections. Do not repeat information – rather refer the reader to relevant coverage in another section. The style of your writing should be in Report Format, with headings numbered using decimal format (e.g. 1.1; 1.2 etc). 1. Title Page a. Identify the business and the document b. Identify the location & telephone numbers of the business or where the principals can be reached c. Identify the person/s who wrote the manual 2. Table of Contents 1.0 Business Proposal 1.1 Description of the Business  What business are you in? What sector of tourism is the business operating in?  What are you selling?  What are the benefits (as opposed to features) of what you are selling?  How do your products &/or services differ from competing products or services?  If your product is new or state of the art or otherwise unique, what makes it different?  If your product or service is not special, why would people buy from you?  When will your business open?  What hours of the day and days of the week will you operate? 1.2 Location of Business  Where are you located?  Do you lease or own your space?  What kinds of other businesses are in the area?  Why did you pick this site over others? What are the advantages/ disadvantages of the location?  How will this choice of location affect your operating costs? 1.3 The Market  What are you key target markets?  What is the estimated size of these markets?  What percentage from each market would you expect in the first year of operation?  What is each market’s growth potential? Are any demographic or other market shifts taking place?  What are their characteristics in terms of socio/ psycho demographics, origin, preferences?  Why would these target markets visit you and not the competition? 1.4 The Competition  Identify you five closest competitors  How are their operations similar and dissimilar from yours?  What have you learned from watching their operations?3 TO5102: Supplemental Assessment Information JCUB SP22  How will you operation be better than theirs? 1.5 Management  Who is on your management team?  What is your business background?  What management experience do you need to manage this operation?  What education (including both formal and informal learning) are needed to manage this business?  How will you access the skills you need? 2.0 Operational Procedures 2.1 Human Resources (HR)  What are the HR needs of the business? What positions are needed? How many are full time, part time, casual, volunteer?  Duties & responsibilities. Who does what? Who reports to whom? Who makes final decisions?  What skills will your employees need now? In the near future? In 5 years?  What are you plans for recruiting/ training staff?  How will you deal with seasonality of staff needs? How will you manage staff turnover? 2.2 Marketing & Public Relations  How does the design & presentation of your facility entice travellers to visit?  What promotional tools will you use to attract & retain your target markets?  How will you expand your markets?  How will you manage the public relations aspects of the business?  What procedures to you have to deal with crises?  How will you measure the success of marketing efforts?  How can you use latest technology to market your business globally? 2.3 Visitor Experiences & Service Quality  What quality control systems will you implement to ensure high quality visitor experiences?  What performance standards will you use & how will you measure quality?  How will you manage relationships with customers?  How will you deal with complaints?  Who will you manage the tangible presence/s of your business (e.g. buildings)? How does the servicescape influence visitor behaviour & encourage satisfaction?  What are you doing to ensure aesthetic appeal – cleanliness, maintenance, comfort, security etc? 2.4 Partnerships & Alliances  What alliances 7 partnerships would be beneficial to survival of the business?  What will you do daily to develop and nurture partnerships?  Who are your suppliers? How deal with them? How maintain good relationships? 2.5 Demand & Capacity Building  How will your products/ services be priced?  What revenue/ yield management strategies will you use?  Are your target markets seasonal? How will you manage this? How can you smooth out the effects?  How does your facility design help to manage capacity issues such as crowding, queues, visitor flow?4 TO5102: Supplemental Assessment Information JCUB SP22  How might you use technology to help manage demand/ capacity? 2.6 Finance  What sources of revenue will exist in your business?  How do you plan to maximise revenue?  What cost control & reduction strategies will you use?  Provide a budget of projected operational costs & income for your first year of operation. 2.7 Legal Compliance  What legal responsibilities do you have for employees, visitors & others affected by your business?  What are the perceived risks/ threats to clients, guides, others affected? How will you manage any risks associated with claims of negligence?  How will you legally protect the business against claims arising from overbooking, overcrowding, delay, disappointment? 2.8 Sustainable Management  What procedures can be put in place to manage economic, social and environmental sustainability of your business?  Will you have a code of ethics for visitors? For employees?  Would the business require environmental accreditation? What is most appropriate?  What environmental standards will the business adhere to?  What environmental risks do you face and how will you mitigate these?  What social impacts will you have on the community & other users of the land & how mitigated? 3.0 References References are required and should be presented in the Reference List. This should be presented in APA format & sorted alphabetically by the first author’s surname. Referencing marking criteria relate to both your use of in text citations AND how appropriately you present the Reference List. Appendices Label your appendices: Appendix A; Appendix B … This section includes information too bulky for the body of the report, but useful to the reader. Remember to refer the reader to your appendices in the text of the report. How To Present Your Operations Manual The operations manual should follow these guidelines:  Notations & references must use APA format  Use 1.5 line spacing  Typeface: 12 point Arial, Calibri or Times Roman  Number every page  Write your name and business on every page (use the header and footer wisely)  Staple the report together (do not use paper clips, pins or folded corners)  Always keep a paper copy of your work as insurance against loss or misadventure. Back up your files in more than one place.  Submit an e copy to Safe Assign; and the hard copy to Donna at the beginning of the lecture in Week 9.