Courses: MSc Accounting and Finance
Learning outcomes and pass attainment level specific to this assignment:
On completion of the course of study, students should be able to:
1. Synthesise a range of research data to argue the business case for change
2. Compile a project plan which justifies and sets out the processes required for effective
change
Please use the feedback given on your initial submission of your coursework to inform this submission.
ACC7030 Project & Relationship Management 2022/23
Issued: 19th September 2022
This assignment constitutes 50% of the assessment for this module.
This is an individual assessed assignment. PLAGIARISM WILL BE PENALISED VIA THE UNIVERSITY’S DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURE.
Coursework Hand-In Deadline: 12 Noon Monday 7th November 2022
The coursework must be electronically submitted by the above deadline. Prior to submission you must also submit your assignment on Turnitin (instructions available on Moodle). Your SUBMISSION must include a Coursework Front sheet for each task, attached.
References
All sources should be cited and referenced using the Harvard Referencing system. The principles of the Harvard Referencing system are detailed in the leaflets available in the library. You should NOT use the general Internet references e.g., www.google.com, www.yahoo.com and Wikipedia etc. All references should be from the credible sources e.g., books, articles, journals, magazines etc.
Feedback
Feedback on performance, problems, and presentations will take place in the seminar sessions. It is not practice to read drafts of work in progress, however you may discuss any relevant issues in the seminar slots. Your coursework will be marked and assessed as detailed in this brief.
Presentation
1. Ensure that there is a good usage of grammar and correct spelling throughout.
2. Referencing is presented in Harvard style.
3. Ensure the coursework is well structured and neatly presented.
4. Attach cover sheet to the front of your submission.
Word Limit: Task One: 1000 words + 10% (word count excludes any tables, pictures, charts and appendix).
Extensions: Any claim for extenuating circumstances must be made through the official University channel.
Coursework Case Study
Task:
You are employed as the Finance Manager at Brum Brew, which is a fictitious medium-sized Craft brewery, based in Birmingham. The company employs 75 staff, and is currently in its 6th year of operation. Its mission statement is:
‘To deliver unparalleled customer experience, placing our customers first, via a collegiate cultural approach. One that focusses its USP on sustainable premium brews sourced only from natural ingredients, to become the UK’s 1st choice purveyor of craft beer’.
Brum Brew’s principal shareholder is the Managing Director with an optional employee share scheme recently initiated.
The Managing Director has decided on a strategy of Digital Transformation of the organisation resulting in the recent implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP system (see MSD link) . This includes Finance Management, Manufacturing and Supply Chain components. By using a Microsoft ERP system solution together with Brum Brew’s existing Office 365 suite of tools and apps (see Office 365 link), she hopes to eradicate any past and future data compatibility issues across the organisation.
As part of this Digital Transformation, Brum Brew have also recently developed their own website with some basic eCommerce features (a member of Brum Brew’s IT team volunteered to develop this). Also, as Brum Brew’s Finance Manager you have started exploring Office 365 apps and the use of Power BI (see Power BI link) to create reports and performance dashboards.
This recent expansion into eCommerce has created an increase in product demand but also an increase in Customer Support. Customers, Distributors and Retailers sometimes phone, send emails, post on social media or even arrive on site to try to get a resolution to their query. Different people across the organisation are dealing with the queries resulting in varied responses and different levels of customer service. The queries can range from an order status enquiry, product returns, product suggestions and general feedback. Responsibility for these queries is unclear, there are no consistent policies or processes and some go unanswered.
The Operations Manager is feeling stressed as most customer issues end up being delegated to one of the Operations Team often disrupting productivity.
With a current economic crisis, Brum Brew’s Managing Director is determined to meet the increase in demand and customer engagement without increasing labour costs. She is keen on automating Customer Service with the use of ‘chat bots’, FAQ’s (frequently asked questions) on the website, removal of landline phones, ask employees to run apps on their phones, employ artificial intelligence for social media monitoring and customer insights.
The Managing Director is also mindful of data security as recently Brum Brew experienced a breach of their systems. The hacker is believed to be a disgruntled ex-employee that was made redundant after the recent change to Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP implementation but this not been proven.
The Sales Manager, wants Brum Brew to invest in a CRM system and the creation of a small Customer Service team. The Sales Manager has conducted some initial research into CRM’s such as MS Dynamics 365 (see Dynamics 365 Customer Service), Monday.com (See Monday.com CRM) and Salesforce (see Salesforce Customer 360) which according to Gartner.com is the leader in this field.
Both the Managing Director and Sales Manager agree that business improvement changes are needed in the area of Customer Relationship Management to support the company’s mission statement “to deliver unparalleled customer experience”.
To address these business process improvements, they have asked YOU to consider their differing requests, provide a systems solution and project manage this change in the business.
Some research into CRM generally will help inform your coursework assignment. Some example reading is here:
What Is CRM? Full Meaning of CRM System & Applications | CRM.org
CRM 101: What is CRM? | Technology | Deloitte Digital + Salesforce
What is CRM?| Microsoft Dynamics 365
Project constraints:
• To be implemented within 6 months with minimal disruption to operations.
• Incorporate any recent historical customer information.
• Some organisation restructuring is expected.
• Staff involved in the project will need their time to be budgeted for. You are required to provide an estimate of these staff costs attributed to the project.
• There is no specific finance budget for the project, only a request from the MD to be “as low cost as practical”.
Resource Constraints:
Annual salary
Managing Director £50,000
Finance Manager/Project Manager (You) £37,000
Operations Manager £33,000
Operations Employees x 10 £24,500 each
Quality Manager £30,000
Sales/Marketing Manager £31,500
Sales/Marketing Employees x 4 £24,000 each
IT Manager £30,500
IT Employees x 2 £24,500 each
Coursework Structure:
1.0 Project Introduction
1.1 Problem situation
1.2 Rich picture
1.3 CATWOE
1.4 Problem (Root) Definition
2.0 Project Definition and Management
2.1 Project scope, time/quality/cost constraints, and technical requirements
2.2 Project deliverables, link with issues identified in your Rich Picture
2.3 Project stakeholder management and communication
2.4 Project risk management
3.0 Project Planning
3.1 Project work breakdown structure
3.2 Activity Schedule and estimate of project staff costs
3.3 Project network diagram
3.4 Project Gantt chart
