What you need to do to complete Assignment 3 Assignment 3 requires you to consolidate what you learned in the course (Weeks 1-11) by 1) choosing and analyzing a case study 2) creating a

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How do I complete Assignment 3

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What you need to do to complete Assignment 3

Assignment 3 requires you to consolidate what you learned in the course (Weeks 1-11) by

1) choosing and analyzing a case study

2) creating and populating a professional profile on LinkedIn and reflecting on it

3) reflecting on what you learned in the course and how it will help you in your future career

and

4) writing an academic reflection that includes the above three

1) Analyzing a case study

Case studies are used to describe events and situations that happen in real life over a period of time. The process of analyzing a case study involves reading through the case very carefully and finding actual/potential problems/challenges included in the case and then proposing solutions to solve these problems/challenges. This usually involves answering the following questions:

what is happening? why it's happening? how to solve the problem?

When answering these questions, you must use relevant theories and research to develop and propose solutions to these practical situations.

Please refer to RMIT Learning Lab's 'Wri�ng a case study (h�ps://emedia.rmit.edu.au/learninglab/content/wri�ng-case-study) ' for further information on how to analyze a case study.

Case study analysis

In Assignment 3 we ask you to CHOOSE ONE of the following three cases and analyze them using relevant theories, frameworks and concepts from topics 1-11 in the course.

Module 1 (Topic 1 to 4): Management Work

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KTS Saving and Credit Society (https://rmit.instructure.com/courses/91910/files/25900193/download?download_frd=1)

Module 2 (Topic 5 to 8): The Context of Managers' Work

Sustainability Culture.pdf (https://rmit.instructure.com/courses/91910/files/25900190/download?download_frd=1)

Module 3 (Topic 9 to 12): The Functions of Management

International TQM challenges.pdf (https://rmit.instructure.com/courses/91910/files/25900194/download?download_frd=1)

A resource has been created for you to demonstrate what is expected of a high-quality case study analysis. Please see 'Analysing a case study' page.

2) Creating a LinkedIn Pro�le

As part of the requirements of Assignment 3, you must also create and fill in a LinkedIn profile with:

a personal statement your education digital badge(s) of any RMIT micro-credential(s) you have completed (not necessary to include them if you have not completed any RMIT micro-credentials)

Once you have filled in your details, you must populate your profile by developing and engaging with your network by following at least:

3 LinkedIn influencers 3 companies 3 academic institutions

You must also engage with your network by:

Liking or commenting on 6 posts on LinkedIn

Once you have filled in and populated your profile, you can compare your profile to the Example LinkedIn Content.pdf (https://rmit.instructure.com/courses/91910/files/25900197/download?download_frd=1) .

IMPORTANT: Please ensure that your LinkedIn profile is set to 'Public' so that it can be viewed by the person marking your A3.

3) Academic Re�ection

Once you have completed the above, you will write a 2000 word academic reflection that includes the following sections. You may write the academic reflection in the First Person but make sure that your writing is not too informal.

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The academic reflection will have the following seven sections:

A cover sheet/title page which includes: the assignment name, your name and student number, your tutor's name, and your tutorial day and time

1. 1 Introduction to describe the overall structure of the academic reflection (200 words) 2. 1 section for analyzing 1 case study (750 words). This should be the same case study that

you chose from the above list 3. 1 section to explain how you chose to populate your LinkedIn profile (250 words) 4. 1 section to reflect on what your future career may be and how you will use 2

theories/skills you learned from the course in your future career (700 words) 5. 1 Conclusion to summarize writing in the previous sections of the academic reflection (100

words) 6. 1 section that clearly provides the URL to your LinkedIn Profile (not included in the word

count) 7. Your reference list should have between 6 – 12 academic journal article citations for the

case study as well as the other sections on the LinkedIn profile and reflecting on your learning. The reference list is not included in the word count. All references used must be journal articles published within the past 10 years (i.e., 2012-2022)

Remember to consistently link each section of the report to a relevant/appropriate management theory, framework, and/or concept that you learned this semester. Being specific, instead of making general statements, will improve the quality of your effort – and your mark. Remember, you are attempting to demonstrate your learning from this course in application.

Your academic reflection will automatically go through Turnitin when you submit it on Canvas. You must ensure that the Turnitin similarity percentage for your reflection is 20% or less.

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KTS Saving and Credit Society: managing communication

Anne Christine Wanjiru Kabui

Anne Christine Wanjiru Kabui is based at Department of Business and Entrepreneurship, South Eastern Kenya University, Kitui, Kenya and Department of Business, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.

The growing trend in the Savings and Credit societies in Kenya has been tremendous and necessitating of new approaches to management and governance issues. Moving away from a small and personal business, to an elaborate modern business that requires professionalism has been a big challenge for us as an organization especially in the domain of communication among staff members, communication with the board, with the members and with other key stakeholders’, said Mr Cyrus, the acting CEO of KTS in May 2015. He went on to explain that the balance between time for work, meetings and individual consultations to ensure that none had been overdone at the expense of others and that none were overlooked. This balance was faced with the challenge that, when members do not feel listened to, or that their opinion does not count, the whole essence of communication and smooth management facilitation is lost:

Substantial effort is being made toward these ends, especially following results of a recent study because, if all the members in KTS do not communicate, make themselves understood as well as understand relied messages, then managing the organization will be impossible so will be

the achievement of its core mandate, he said.

KTS visit

On a beautiful and warm afternoon, Anne walked into the premises of KTS and was welcomed with a smile from the guard in charge. “Sir, I haven’t been here before, could you kindly assist me find my way to Mr Cyrus’ office? “Gladly, Japheth the guard walked Anne through the corridors explaining what each of the offices we walked along hosted. “Here we are”, Japheth resounded when we got to one of the offices and the far end of the corridor. “Feel at home and walk in once ready”, he said before he walked away. Cyrus was very busy with a stack of papers in one of his hands and a calculator in the other and, as Anne walked through the door, the secretary ushered her into his office. “Welcome, madam Anne, we have been expecting you”, Cyrus greeted. As they were about to progress, the phone rang and on the other end was another member of staff in need of his immediate attention. “The visitor we were expecting is already here. Allow me a few minutes with her and I will be right there”, Cyrus explained to the caller:

Thank you for taking an interest in our organization and for wanting to review us for case study analysis for academic purposes. I am promising you our best cooperation and we also hope to

learn from you about one or two thing we could do better, Cyrus said.

We shall use boardroom two and you could have a chance to speak to management and members of staff plus a few of the owners/customers of our organization and this will hopefully give you an all-round picture of our organization. This will be important for us as an organization

so we know where we are, what to work on and the challenges at hand.

I wish to acknowledge the great assistance of Cyrus Mutinda during the interactions with the entire SACCO fraternity and his great assistance in facilitating my visits and interactions with the firm members. I would also want to acknowledge the immense assistance I have received from Dr Katuse while preparing this case study.

Disclaimer: This case is written solely for educational purposes and is not intended to represent successful or unsuccessful managerial decision-making. The author/s may have disguised names; financial and other recognizable information to protect confidentiality.

DOI 10.1108/EEMCS-03-2015-0044 VOL. 6 NO. 2 2016, pp. 1-13, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2045-0621 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 1

Anne was impressed with the welcome, appreciated that, despite its busy schedule, the organization was open and willing to cooperate. The entire group of participants was not informed of the details of her visit in an effort to ensure that they carried on as natural and neutral as possible with no prior preparation of what to say or not to say:

The findings will be availed to the management to facilitate improvement and to give an indication of what is already working. Value addition and continuous improvement is part and parcel of progressive growth in organizations, Anne was careful to explain to Cyrus.

Background of KTS

KTS is a saving and credit cooperative society (SACCO) operating in Kenya, where it is considered a large SACCO with an asset base of Kshs 2.4 billion and a large membership of above 13,000 members. It was registered in 1976 and started operations in 1978 with an initial membership of 11 who were all in one profession, but, over the years, there has been consideration to extend and accommodate members from other professions both in private and public sectors in an effort to raise their asset base and serve more people. The SACCO is located in the South Eastern region of Kenya, and all its five branches are in the same region. A SACCO is a microfinance institution where members come together to contribute for the common good of all, and it is unique because shareholders are the customers which gives them the democratic right to run the business. In most cases, the membership is drawn from members of the same profession. The SACCO is owned by members who make deposits and obtain loans from it, has a board of directors who are elected members to sit in the executive board, its operations are run by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), deputy CEO, Finance Manager, Marketing Manager, Front Office Service Activity Manager, Internal Audit Head, Head of Communication and Technology and Credit Section Head, each who has a deputy and a team of employees in each department. All these parties need to communicate in good time and effectively to enhance efficiency of the operations of the SACCO. Due to the socio-cultural factors that predominately govern behavior and interactions in Africa, the organization has specific dynamics in their internal communications that have blended culture and modern management.

Internal communication in KTS

Cyrus is the Deputy CEO and was sitting in for the CEO who was abroad on a business trip, and he was able to mobilize a random and representative sample of the entire team of the company comprising of managers, employees, board members and the SACCO members who are owners and customers of the business. For privacy, reduced intimidation and the ability to allow each member to talk freely, Anne met and spoke to each person alone in the boardroom, as the others continued to do their regular work. Anne promised confidentiality and anonymity of what was shared by the individual and explained that what was being undertaken was for academic purposes in teaching as an illustrative aid. Anne further explained that individuals were free to share what they felt comfortable with, and were able to decline if they were not comfortable with sharing information. The majority of those who partook were open and free, very engaging and asked Anne questions about the project; however, a few were quite hesitant and did not divulge much which was respected.

Having come from a perspective where individuals got jobs because of who they knew and not due to their qualifications, there was a tricky tradeoff to balance, but substantial effort was being made by management toward this end, especially through staff meetings which deal with issues at lower levels before forwarding them to senior management. Previously, there has been a culture where individual employees sought the attention of the CEO on matters that could have sufficiently been addressed at departmental level, and sometimes, senior management or board members have given instructions to junior employees without allowing the communication to flow through the respective managers and departmental heads.

PAGE 2 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 6 NO. 2 2016

The current team of management was trying to address this, and they acknowledged that, although it was not easy, it was doable. To ensure the smooth flow of operations in the daily running of the SACCO, departmental heads were encouraged to hold weekly staff meetings to ensure all members are at par and know what is expected of them on a real-time basis as well as a forum designed to address emerging issues was available to all members often enough during the staff meetings. These forums allow for the clarification of unclear issues and also the possibility of giving and receiving feedback from colleagues and supervisors. Individual consultations were also encouraged for private and personal issues.

Communication within KTS was gauged differently by different employees, with some feeling it was fairly good and open, enabling the flow of information back and forth, as employees could walk into any office and seek direction which would be received immediately and, if any clarification was required, it was obtained immediately. The boss would also offer instructions verbally and expect results in any form, verbal or written. Others felt that too much verbal communication was used that had no reference points and documentation, and this leaves the discretion of owning information to the providers of the information. This was especially felt as a challenge where, in the case of the change of the officer in charge, points of reference would be scanty if not absent:

When a new person joins the department and there is no documented communication, it is very challenging because you have to solicit verbal information which will sometimes not be the same from different parties that were involved, was a comment made by the communication officer.

Some organizational members also felt that certain senior executives did not respect the organizational structure and chain of command and tended to make direct communication to junior staff members which caused confusion in the communication flow and created a sense of disrespect. KTS does not have one specific network of communication but instead uses a mixture of different networks depending with who is offering the message and for whom it is intended:

When a member walks into my office with a complaint, and upon an enquiry from my junior official I am told they got direction from a board member on how to address the concerns, it leaves me at a loss. I do not know how to respond to the member without raising concerns while at the same time I cannot reprimand the junior because they only acted on instructions, it is a delicate balance.

This is mainly because, outside of work, most of the people have other social relationships which makes it easier to talk to an individual on a personal level instead of following the formal channel recommended for all formal operation.

Employees of KTS expressed a desire to have more free interactions with their management, both formal and informal, which they felt would enable and facilitate better working relationships in the workplace. They felt the workplace should not only be a techno-economic system but also a social system as well, as this would highly boost their morale:

Feeling listened to and that our opinion counts will be very helpful. When as employees we seek audience and it is not granted, we sit back and always discuss these issues within our social circles. Sometimes this is delicate, because some of us later discuss it with management behind our back, was a sentiment shared by the majority of the junior officers.

Senior management, on the other hand, felt that it was critical to evaluate the balance between time for work, meetings and individual consultations to ensure none was overdone at the expense of others and that none were overlooked.

Communication to SACCO members (savers and depositors) was done through notices pinned on a staff notice board, which some members felt was not good enough as not

VOL. 6 NO. 2 2016 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 3

all members frequent the offices and hence may not get the communication. Over time, SACCO has embraced digital communication through mobile phone short messages (SMS), the KTS website, Facebook and personal emails to reduce paper, cut costs and enhance real-time communication which will be both effective and efficient. This has, however, had both a positive uptake by the younger members and relatively slow uptake by the older members. There was still spiral communication through word-of-mouth where members have not fully adopted technology, especially in receiving financial status updates through SMS with most still demanding a printed copy for filing. Slowly but surely, the organization has been helping older members accept the changing times. When departments have to communicate to members, the information have to go through the CEO and get approval by the board before it can be sent out to members to ensure that what is sent out to members is fully processed information. For peer release, salary notices or education workshops, they are updated on the website for members to access freely and share among themselves by word-of-mouth for those with no internet access.

As the SACCO business is by members and for members, they are involved in executive decision-making where their views are captured during Annual General Meetings (AGM). The entire membership is invited to the AGM and is expected to make a contribution to the policies being discussed. This worked well initially when there were just a few members, but over the time, as the numbers have increased, there has been a need to shift to the delegate system to ensure all members are listened to and able to participate. The feeling that it is not objectively possible to listen to 13,000 members in one sitting and incorporates all their viewpoints in the policy making was shared across the organization; however, the challenge on how to choose the delegates remained unaddressed. Some of the members were also of the opinion that the process of delegate selection will leave every major decision in the hands of a few members which will not be fair to all. The dilemma then was on what takes precedence: is it the desire to have an objective-driven AGM with delegates representing the entire membership or is it the preservation of trust issues where members are afraid that, in their absence, the delegates will propel their individual interests and not the interests of the general membership?

In KTS, employees received an appointment letter indicating all the responsibilities they were to undertake, which also leaves room for other duties assigned by their supervisor or manager. It was felt that this was followed to the letter and employees felt they knew what was expected of them. The station heads were working toward resolving a previous culture where junior officers reported directly to the CEO, and are now in the process of ensuring that the administrative structure is followed and that employees report to and receive instructions from just one manager. This has had a lot of challenges, especially with employees learning how to handle personal relationships alongside work relationships, as most employees have complex relationships, with many having known each other previously.

Conclusion

An open-door policy was practiced within the KTS, though it presented a few challenges; for instance, members who knew each other at a personal level seemed to enjoy the policy more compared to those who met at the workplace for the first time. During breaks, staff tended to sit with those they were familiar with and have informal discussions with new members of staff. Employees rated the open-door policy as fairly good and practical, and it is of importance to note that this feeling was not shared across the board, as some members felt that the open-door policy only worked depending with who you are and what position you hold. Management feel, on the other hand, that they were trying to undo the culture of people not respecting the scalar chain of command, directing their concerns to the CEO even before addressing them with their immediate supervisor. “The balance of undoing a retrogressive organization

PAGE 4 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 6 NO. 2 2016

culture versus allowing all employees to feel listened to, is delicate”, was the sentiment of Cyrus and the team of top management in KTS:

Having grown from a small group of 11 friends who had their affairs run by one clerk, to an organization with over 50 employees in head office and branches, over 13,000 members, a board of nine members and three supervisory committee members, you can only imagine the dynamic and drastic change in internal communications within KTS.

Cyrus said to Anne to conclude their discussion. Anne left the SACCO with much to consider with regards to the organization’s communication networks (Figure 1).

About the author

Anne Christine Wanjiru Kabui is a 30-year-old lady, pursuing a doctoral degree in strategic management at the University of Nairobi Kenya and is currently lecturing business courses, especially management courses at the South Eastern Kenya University.

Figure 1 Organization structure for KTS

Page 9 of 9

……………………

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Deputy CEO/ Finance Manager

Audit Manager

Audit Assistant

Admin Secretary

Assistant Secretary

Branch/FOSA Manager

Credit Manager Marketing Manager

ICT Manager

System Admin

Tellers

Branch Cashier

FOSA Supervisor

Customer Service Officer

Marketing Officer

Loans Supervisor

Security Officers

Support Officers

Branch Loans Appraising Officer

Accountant

Assistant Accountants

Society Cashier

Registry Officer

Registry Superintendent

Loan Officer- Appraisal

AGM

Supervisory Commi�ee

Keywords: Management, Communication, SACCO

VOL. 6 NO. 2 2016 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 5

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Assessment Task 3: Exploring the functions of manage‐

ment (Individual)

Due 21 Oct by 23:59 Points 40 Submitting a file upload File types doc, docx, and pdf Available 18 Jul at 0:00 – 30 Dec at 23:59

Start Assignment

Course code and title: BUSM4176 Introduction to

Management

Assignment name: Exploring the functions of management

Weight: 40%

Assignment due date: Week 13 (Friday 21st October 2022 at

11.59pm) 

Length: 2000 words (± 10%), excludes the reference list

Turnitin Similarity Score: 20% or less (excludes  the

Assignment cover page and reference list)

References: 6-12 academic journal articles

Guidelines: Click here for instructions on how to complete

Assignment 3

Learning Objectives Assessed:

Learning outcomes

This assignment task addresses the following Course Learning Outcomes

CLO1: Evaluate leadership and management research and justify the application of management theory in contemporary contexts.

CLO2: Research management theory and explain how this theory applies to contemporary and socially responsible practices.

CLO3: Effectively collaborate with others to locate appropriate resources to organise information and generate management solutions.

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CLO4: Critically reflect on the relationship between management theory and management research evidence and communicate your know

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