1 ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS Interim/Final: Final/January intake First/Resit First Assessment Code: 010 Academic Year: 2016/17 Semester: 2 Module Title: Business Communications Module Code: MOD003313 Level: 3 Module Leader: Mike Raith Weighting: 100% Word Limit: 1300- words Submission Date: This assignment must be received by no later than 14:00 on Tuesday, 16 May 2017 WRITING YOUR ASSIGNMENT:  This assignment must be completed individually.  Your work must indicate the number of words you have used. Do not exceed the maximum number of words specified above; all assignments which do so will be penalised. The penalty will be the deduction of marks at the Marker’s judgement.  Assignment submissions are to be made anonymously. Do not write your name anywhere on your work. Write your student ID number at the top of every page.  Where the assignment comprises more than one task, all tasks must be submitted in a single document.  You must number all pages. SUBMITTING YOUR ASSIGNMENT:  You must submit your assignment using Turnitin software and obtain a receipt.  Requests for short-term extensions will only be considered in the case of illness or other cause considered valid by the Welfare Adviser ([email protected]). These must normally be received and agreed by the Welfare Adviser in writing at least TWENTY-FOUR (24) hours prior to the deadline.  Mitigation claims must be submitted by the student or in exceptional circumstances (e.g. when a student has been hospitalised) by a Director of Studies, Programme Leader or Student Adviser on behalf of the student no later than five working days after the deadline.  Work submitted up to 5 working days after the deadline will be marked. The penalty for missing the deadline will be the capping of the mark for the assessment at 40%.  Work cannot be uploaded to Turnitin after the 5 working day period following the deadline. A mark of 0% will be recorded unless an extension has been approved in advance of the deadline. Please refer to the Academic Regulations or your Student Handbook for full details. 2 Portfolio Tasks This is an individual Assignment Portfolio.  In order to pass the assignment, you must product work of a Pass standard in all three tasks. WORD & PAGE LIMITS: The following limits must be adhered to: Task Task description Length 1 Compose an email responding to a complaint related to miscommunication. 200 words 2 Draft a CV for a client applying for a managerial position in a care home Your CV must not be over 1 side of A4 in length 3 Prepare a report advising on the effects of Brexit on a micro-brewery 1000 words. 3 Task 1: email - To be completed by week 6 A client contacted the staff at Thorncrest Hotel to make a change to their planned event in the first week in June. However, the response from staff was confusing, so the client made a complaint. Read the correspondence and investigation notes, and write a semi-formal email (approximately 200 words) to the client that clears up the miscommunication and summarises in your own words any options available. Your response should clearly provide options for the client to choose from and an appropriate time scale. These options should be based on the issues and recommendations Lee and Nasli provided Tina. Email 1) From the client, Melissa, to the staff at Thorncrest Hotel Date: 04 April 2017 To… [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] From… [email protected] Subject: Request amendment to hotel booking Good morning, I hope all is going well for your team this morning. We are all excited about the coming event at Thorncrest. I wanted to ask quickly: is it possible to book an additional VIP function room for our event for up to 50 attendees? Best Wishes, Melissa, Melisa Kagohara Events Liaison BPG Group [email protected] 07555 878 555 Email 2) From Nazli, the hotel restaurant manager, to the client Date: 05 April 2017 To… [email protected] From… [email protected], Subject: Request for change Dear Melissa, No problem. We can easily add a VIP area to the restaurant. In order to organise this, we will need exact numbers however. Best wishes, Nasli Restaurant Manager Thorncrest Hotels London [email protected] Extension 315 4 Email 3) from Lee, the hotel Food & Beverage Manager to the client Date: 05 April 2017 To… [email protected] From… [email protected] Subject: Unfortunately, VIP facilities not available Hi Melissa, Unfortunately, it is not possible to grant your request. We do not currently have a suitable VIP facility available. Regards, Lee F&B Manager Thorncrest Hotels London [email protected] Extension 204 Email 4) From Melissa, the client, to Tina, the Hotel Events Manager Date: 06 April 2017 To… [email protected], From… [email protected] Subject: We have an issue Tina, We have an issue. You may be aware that I requested a VIP section for our coming event. Both your restaurant manager and your food and beverage manager replied to this request with conflicting information. This has left me rather confused. Could you please clarify whether or not we have the option to add a VIP section. Melisa Kagohara Events Liaison BPG Group [email protected] 07555 878 555 5 Investigation notes: Results of Tina’s investigation into the issue. Lee: I don’t think we should offer a VIP room because all Hotel VIP rooms have been reserved by other clients. If you want to give them a room, we do have other small non-luxury business meeting rooms available that could be used. It is possible but a lot of work. I disagree with having a VIP section in the restaurant. It will look bad. Nazli: I think we can do it in the restaurant; no problem. I can create two sections in the restaurant: one for VIP attendees and another for standard attendees by setting up a barrier around the VIP section. It is not luxurious. (Approximately 200 words) (Total = 15 marks) 6 Task 2: Report – to be completed by week 9 The staff at Thorncrest Hotel have been working together to prepare for a large event. However, communication is breaking down with the team criticising each other and arguing. Examine the issues and write a report for the management at Thorncrest explaining the possible causes of the breakdown in communication, and then making recommendations on how to prevent future conflict. Scenario: Project Management Group has a Communication Breakdown Thorncrest is a four star hotel in a large city that attracts guests from around the word. They recruit staff from a variety of backgrounds and cultures, and also insist that staff maintain the highest standards of professionalism. After a series of communication breakdowns and conflicts among the staff, the Human Resources Manager conducted an investigation. A summary of the testimonials gathered from staff Tina (Events Manager): “I like everyone on the team. But I do find Lee’s resistance to change frustrating. We must move the brand forward in new directions. He hasn’t said anything direct to my face, but I know that he is criticising the change behind my back. Also, I know they are good at their job, but I just don’t understand how Sara and Joseph can possibly get things ready on time. I always see them multi-tasking, and they don’t respect deadlines.” Nazli (Food & Beverage Manager): “I don’t know. I just think that Gwen and Lee don’t respect authority. I’m not used to people questioning my instructions. Don’t they understand that I need them to report their progress directly to me? Sara understands respect; I always see her reporting directly to her line manager.” Joseph (Facilities): “It’s the last straw. Sara and Nazil are always on my back telling me what to do. I know what to do. I always have things ready, and they always interrupt me asking about next week. Next week? When do I have time to think about next week? I think they don’t respect me, and I don’t like it. If I didn’t have my friend, Lee, to talk to, I think I would have quit a long time ago.” Lee (Restaurant Manager): “I don’t like to say it, but Gwen is a typical rude American. Always in people’s face. Tina is just the same, always criticising and always making changes. We have a very good menu. Why do we need another?” Gwen (Bar Manager): “I know Lee doesn’t like me. It’s frustrating because I know we could solve the problem if he would just be direct with me. The truth is, I respect Lee a lot. He does his job efficiently, not like Sara and Joseph.” Sara (reservations): “I have a million things to do right now and don’t see why this is important. Everything could be solved if Tina and Gwen stop being so rude.” 7 Guidelines In your report, you should  Introduce your report with a 100 word summary paragraph  Analyse the situation (450 words)  Make recommendations (150 words)  End your report with a 100 word conclusion paragraph The report should be correctly formatted  Title page  Contents page  Summary/ Introduction  Sub-headings  Analysis  Recommendation  Conclusions  References  Page numbers  Page headers Note:  Each paragraph should be focused around a single idea with clear topic sentence.  Harvard referencing guidelines are available on the ARU Library webpages  Proof read your grammar and punctuation before submitting (Approximately 800 words) (Total = 70 Marks) 8 Task 3: CV – to be submitted by week 11 Bette Davis has been working as manager of Bromley Saints Care Home for two years. Recently, the local Health and Social Care Trust has decided to close the care home, and Bette has been made redundant. As a result, she has contacted BComms Recruitment Consultancy to ask for help applying for work as a manager in other care homes. Your task is to review Bette’s letter and use the details she gives you to create a professionally formatted 1 Page CV for her. 12 Smithy Road Bromley London BR1 1DS 4 April 2017 Ms. Joan Crawford BComms Recruitment Consultancy 313 Mare Street London E2 0EE Dear Joan, Thank you for taking the time to help me create my CV. I hope the details I give you hear will be enough. I went to school at St. Mary’s in Aberdeen in the 70s and liked it very much. I passed my O Levelswhich are like ‘GCSEs’. My favourite subjects were art and history. I didn’t like math very much but studied it anyway. I also studied geography, physics, music and English. All of my grades were ‘C’s, so they are level 2 qualifications. I worked in a supermarket immediately after finishing school in 1976. I continued working there for seven years. Then I did an NVQ course in hairdressing at Aberdeen College. I worked as a hairdresser for Pete Tong’s Salon from 1984 until 1991. I liked it a lot. I handled money. I styled a lot of women’s hair and also did some beauty treatments. Pete left me to open and close the store a lot. Then in 1991, I had to take 2 years break from work to look after my dad because he was very ill with dementia and a stroke. Eventually, he went into a care home because my husband and children needed me to go back into work. In 1993, I was inspired to go into work as a care worker. I got a job working with disabled clients in Bromley, London. I helped them to stay living in their own homes. I helped them get out of bed in the morning. I dressed them. I did cooking for them and cleaned their house once a week. We had a lot of fun together when I planned fun activities and trips for them. I helped the GP also to keep check on the clients. Sometimes I checked their blood pressure, and I monitored their prescriptions. I did this until 1999. 9 Then I changed jobs to work in the Pine Parks Care Home in London. I assisted with all personal care. I helped them dress, wash, clean and eat. Sometimes I helped the kitchen even to serve meals. I tried to help the clients feel comfortable. I always wrote in the care logs and handover notes for other care workers like me. Pine Parks helped me a lot to put me on courses for first aid, hygiene and health and safety. All of the qualifications I got in connection with Bromley College. I got tired of earning not much money, so I applied to Anglia Ruskin London University. I got accepted in 2011 and quit my job in Pine Parks. I studied very hard on the Business and Health and Social Care Management Degree. I got a 2:1 with honours. After I graduated in 2015, I got a job as a manager in a small Care Home called Bromley Saints. I loved it very much. I had not many staff and not many service users. But I ran it very efficiently. I made all rotas for working. I hired all staff on my own. I taught them many things they did not know, and I always listen. The service users and their families were very happy. The CQC inspection gave us a lot of praise, especially in management. I did everything that we were supposed to. Confidentiality was important. Organisation was important. I made sure that everything was done properly. My old area manager from Bromley Saints, Paul Henreid, said he will be my reference. His email address is [email protected]. My friend Olive Higgins can also give a reference. Her email is [email protected]. I hope I give you enough details to help me create my CV. Best regards, Bette Davis [email protected] 07998 555 556 Guidelines The CV you create should be 1 page and should include  Title  Contact details  A Personal statement  Education  Work Experience, focusing on o Job title o Period of employment o Responsibilities  References Note:  You should only include relevant work and education history in a CV.  Your CV format should be based on the advice given on ‘My Career Management’, which you can access through the VLE. You should access the ‘CV Builder’, watch the videos, take notes and use the advice to help you draft your CV. These will be shown to you in class.  The CV should be 1 page. However, if you are using the CV builder programme, the CV is permitted to go over 1 page, but cannot go over 2 pages. (Approximately 1 page) (Total = 15 Marks)